Fresh-Water Newbie

i am going to check levels and prob just to be safe do another massive change today (with buckets of tank temp water). i will report results. i looked and these dwarf blue gourami do have a disease that 1 in 4 have but it shows them getting "sores" on them, none of mine ever had anything like that. one just died and the other 2 were turning brown. is there any other disease that could be wiping out all my fish?? just like most people i didnt think it was such a big deal to keep fish and also the angels and goldfish came from a "several year" terrible environment. just hoping these guys stabilize..

I had a total of 6 DGs die from DG Disease. But that disease does manifest itself in open sores, lethargy, not eating, etc. Never heard of them turning brown. You're just having one stellar bad run of luck.

ok have not done a water change, wanted to check levels before and after. shook everything up really good and these should be dead on..

ph 7.6 (think i should work on lowering this a little?)
ammmo .05-.10
trite 0
trate 20 (should this be 0? i read its ok to have some nitrate)

gonna do a water change in a bit i guess and i'll retest.

20ppm nitrates is fine. The level needs to get WAY higher before it is a problem for the vast majority of fish. No worries. Your ammonia level is also acceptable - no need for a water change, but you can do one. Anything under 0.25ppm is fine.

well if i dont need to do a water change then i wont. the fish are already freaked out enough. also im trying to figure out how much to feed these guys. do a big feeding once a day, 2 smaller ones, or what? i always see "feed them as much as they will eat in 5min" but they will eat everytime i feed them and wipe it all out lol.

in a little while im about to clean up and reseal a 29gal i got a great deal on (with lid/light, whisper, gravel, heater, and 2 big cool stone things)and maybe tonight have it up and running on a "fish-less cycle" (i have to re-read the instructions for doing it). prob put alot of the small stuff in there and once im "safe" on my 55gal put some different stuff in it.

ALSO i bought another 55gal with a sweet cherry stand and canopy for a good price. gonna use the stand/canopy on my current 55 for now then eventually prob set up the other 55

didnt know i would "get into" fish keeping as much as i have lol. now if i can keep from killing them i will be in good shape..

again thanks everyone for the help

you're already through the worst of it. The rest will be smooth sailing from here...

hopefully so my friend, hopefully so.. ive learned ALOT in the past month or so.. any advice on feeding??

uhoh! my status just went to "fish crazy" haha..

55gal i bought

29gal i bought. gonna re-seal and prob paint the wood grain and top black

King said:

well if i dont need to do a water change then i wont. the fish are already freaked out enough. also im trying to figure out how much to feed these guys. do a big feeding once a day, 2 smaller ones, or what? i always see "feed them as much as they will eat in 5min" but they will eat everytime i feed them and wipe it all out lol.

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Until you get constant ammonia and nitrite at 0 ppm, feed all they will completely finish in 30 seconds, once per day or once every other day. After you have no water problems, all they will finish in 30 seconds, twice per day and algae wafers for plecos every other day. Always leave at least one day per week without any food (to reduce likelihood of digestion system problems).

and my current set up..

ok cool, once a day for now as much as they will eat in 30sec, twice a day in the future, leaving off one day a week, and i have been throwing in algea wafers every couple days already, GOT IT

with the algae wafers the fish usually eat them before the pleco gets any. the cory cats nibble on them some though. saw some gourami and platies eating on them today lol. and the gold fish will grab them out of mid-water and swallow them.

King said:

with the algae wafers the fish usually eat them before the pleco gets any. the cory cats nibble on them some though. saw some gourami and platies eating on them today lol. and the gold fish will grab them out of mid-water and swallow them.

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Put the wafers in before you head to bed then. Less visually stimulating to the others, that way the plec and cories can find them.

ahhh.. good idea! another question: how long should i leave the light on everyday? i been leaving it on about half the time.

I can't believe you still have those goldfish!

Here's a little tip for feeding that I found helpful ... a fish's stomach is about as big as his eye, so if that helps you visualize amounts a bit, all the better.

Things are looking up, my friend! And look at you with MTS!

King said:

ahhh.. good idea! another question: how long should i leave the light on everyday? i been leaving it on about half the time.

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6-7 hours max or you'll end up with an algae problem.

oh wow, that short of an amount of time out of 24hrs a day? ok my "guess" at that was wrong also LOLOL..

I have mine on for two hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening.