Argh! Fish nightmare

• Dechlorinator
• Some clean new sponges - pot scourers are good as long as they have no chemicals in them, I use plain old Aldi ones
• A gravel vac - or a piece of hose.
• Bucket(s)

• Don't worry about saving fry, big fish eat little fish and although it sounds cruel they are quite nutritious
• Start a programme of daily water changes. Use dechlorinated water that is a similar temp to the tank. Try to change at least 25% daily but more is better (75%). If I'm not mistaken that's a 25 litre jerry can in one of your pics.
• Before changing the water wipe the inside of the glass with a sponge. Don't bother about removing every spec of algae initially - you just want to make it better.
• If / once you have a gravel vac use it. There is no need to get everything in one go. Work through the tank doing a different section every day. Be careful not to kick up too much muck from the gravel while you are doing this.
• Use the water that you take out to clean your filter media, filter case, heater, rock, ornaments etc. Again no need to do it all in one go
• Don't feed more than the fish can eat in one minute. May be tough with kids but for now twice a week is plenty
• Your filter probably has some bacteria. These grow very quickly as long as there are some. The daily water changes will help lessen the effect if some of the bacteria have died off.

seangee said:

Deep breaths - and a nice cup of tea.
A lot of people are asking for info which frankly is not going to make much difference right now.
Since you have already taken down the small tank give it a good clean and start as if it is a brand new tank. The info posted on the nitrogen cycle will be useful for this but its not today's priority.

Things you will need

• Dechlorinator
• Some clean new sponges - pot scourers are good as long as they have no chemicals in them, I use plain old Aldi ones
• A gravel vac - or a piece of hose.
• Bucket(s)

The tank is a bit of a mess but frankly I have seen far worse and its easily fixable with a bit of time and patience. Talk to your local fish shop and see if they are able to take any of the fish you don't want as well as the fry. As for an action plan:

• Don't worry about saving fry, big fish eat little fish and although it sounds cruel they are quite nutritious
• Start a programme of daily water changes. Use dechlorinated water that is a similar temp to the tank. Try to change at least 25% daily but more is better (75%). If I'm not mistaken that's a 25 litre jerry can in one of your pics.
• Before changing the water wipe the inside of the glass with a sponge. Don't bother about removing every spec of algae initially - you just want to make it better.
• If / once you have a gravel vac use it. There is no need to get everything in one go. Work through the tank doing a different section every day. Be careful not to kick up too much muck from the gravel while you are doing this.
• Use the water that you take out to clean your filter media, filter case, heater, rock, ornaments etc. Again no need to do it all in one go
• Don't feed more than the fish can eat in one minute. May be tough with kids but for now twice a week is plenty
• Your filter probably has some bacteria. These grow very quickly as long as there are some. The daily water changes will help lessen the effect if some of the bacteria have died off.

Just take it slow and steady and you should see a remarkable difference within a week. When I say you don't need to clean everything at once I do mean don't even try. There is a lot of muck (and possibly pathogens) lurking in there and you don't want to release it all into the tank in one go. That's why its best to do those activities immediately before or during the water changes so you immediately dilute anything that does get released.

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Jennops202 said:

That’s brill I’ve got a gravel vac today, had loads of clean sponges under the sink. So will ContinuE with water changes and gradual cleaning. And start setting up the smaller tank tomorrow when pump arrives. I’m feeling a lot calmer now. Will see if my lfs will take some fish off my hands at the weekend.
Also got a bottle of “Aquarian weekly cleaner” today (impulse buy on amazon lol) will that help?

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Jennops202 said:

Hi again last question for a while, after a good inspection it looks like there are a few live plants in the water in varying degrees of messyness! Is there anyway of saving these!? Or are they for the compost heap?

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AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

Yep, they can be saved! They're slow growing ones, so still worth getting more fast growing ones, but these look pretty healthy, all things considered Right before your next water change you can brush the muck off of them with your fingers, and pinch off any obviously dead leaves. The green leaves are good, and the plants are alive and well under all that. Doing it right before the water change gives you a chance to suck up the nastiness that you brush off, so it doesn't pollute the water more.

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AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

Where are you seeing harlequins and anything other than endlers and swordtails?
Some of the female Endlers might actually be female guppies, or hybrids, but looking more like Endlers size wise to me, or they'd be much bigger than the male Endlers in those photos, and those are definitely Endlers.

Endlers and swordtails are both hardwater fish, so they're compatible tank mates, but we do need to know the info from your water company website to see if your water is in the best range for them.
Does that mean you'd like to keep some of the swordtail and endler adults, and just try to prevent breeding?

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Jennops202 said:

Hi again last question for a while, after a good inspection it looks like there are a few live plants in the water in varying degrees of messyness! Is there anyway of saving these!? Or are they for the compost heap?

Click to expand...