I can't seem to start a new thread, either. But, I'm having huge problems with my fish. I'm no expert, but I wouldn't call me a beginner either. I currently have several well established, well running tanks in my home. My grammode cichlid is 6 years old now. Most of my other tanks are aged just as much. However, I've been trying to run a community tank in my 75 gallon tank for nearly two years and the only fish I've managed to keep alive in it are a handful of cories and an upside down catfish. Neons, guppies, mollies, platies, they all die within either minutes, days, or a few weeks. All of my typical water parameters are correct, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 20 - 40 ppm nitrate, depending on when I had the last water change. I have atypically high PH (8.2) and super hard, Michigan well water. So far as I know, at least the livebearers should be able to acclimate to my tank. However, nothing will live. I have no idea why.
Earlier today I decided to try again. I bought 7 neon tetras and 4 longfin danios. The neons all died within 3-4 hours. The longfins are still swimming around, but I'm horribly scared that I will wake up to dead fish in the morning. I'm willing to do or try just about anything. If I cannot get fish to live in this tank, I think I will just give up. Seriously - something has to be able to live in this water!