It sounds like your fish are having ammonia poisoning problems. As homebunny said above, don't put your filter cartridge in tap water to clean it out and definitely do not let it dry out, that is where your good bacteria is going to build up for your cycle.
If you are getting no readings on your tests, perhaps you added something to the tank to throw the tests off? Any cycling chemicals or anything besides water conditioner?
Do NOT use the PH stuff, messing with PH is not necessary and a bad thing to do unless you are trying to keep or breed special fish, usually fish not found in pet stores. |