Hi Folks,

2 weeks ago I purchased four small kuhli loaches and four SAE's to add to the cleanup crew. This morning I removed the last of the four losches - all dead. All other fish are fine incl. Discus, Rummy Nose, BN, Harlequins, Cardinals and of course the SAE's.

Admittedly I have missed water changes for the last 10 days <cringe> and the water is high in Nitrates and Phosphates (so a week of 20% water changes and a canister clean is on the agenda).

Could this have been the cause, or is there something more sinister lurking that I need to keep an eye out for?

Current (pre-WC) parameters are:
Temp: 30.5C
pH: 6.5
Ammonia: 0
NitRITE: 0
NitRATE: 40ppm
Phosphates: 0.5-1.0ppm
GH 70ppm
KH <20ppm

GH and KH lower than I'd usually like but I'm thinking this is not as big an issue as the nitrates and phosphates.

Tank is "medium" planted 6x1.5x2 with 10cm of 1-3mm gravel with "dino dung" for the swords, val, crypt and apontogen (?sp).

Cheers,
Scott