A Dillema

[james..]

Hi,

I bought a tank (10 gallon) on Friday of last week (27/2) from my local fish shop (It came with food, filter, pH test kit and a water conditioner) and the store employee said to wait 3 days and come back and buy fish.

So I did, 2 neon tetras and a catfish of some sort (pink and white coloured, I'm not sure what it's called) - basically over the next two days, both the tetras died consecutively. This was a disappointment and I had no idea what happened.

Well I read the idea of tank cycling and I'm confused as of what to do now - the catfish is alive (I use alive loosely - it just hangs near the bottom gulping for air very fast (I'm not sure though, it that what catfish are meant to do? I have no idea)

So what do I do about the catfish? Hope it dies? Leave it there? Remove it and just wait for the cycle to finish?

Please, any advice would be greatly appreciated?

 

[QHowes]

HI James

What you experienced was very common, i did the same thing when i baught my first tank. You will need to perform a cycle. If you are not sure how to do this refer to the PINNED article on Cycling your tank. It is most likely too late for your catfish to survive, however maybe you could go to the LFS and pick up a small fish bowl and transfer him into that for a few days.

Here is the link for Cycling: http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...showtopic=10099

Quinton

 

[james..]

Too late, I think he will be dead by tomorrow.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[jaywings19]

Ditto what QHowes said about "Cycling" your tank. A few other things to be aware of:

1. Did you dechlorinate the water before filling your tank? Or was it straight tap water?

2. Did you test the tank water for temperature, pH, and hardness before getting the fish? Water conditions might not have been compatible with the Neons and Catfish.

3. Did you slowly introduce the fish to the tank by floating the bag in the tank for 15-20 minutes, then slowly adding tank water to their bag over intervals? Or did you just dump the fish in your tank?

All of the above are common newbie mistakes. Hopefully, you'll take the time to read up about starting a new tank and introducing fish before running back out to buy more livestock.

 

[Bol]

James, I agree you should learn about "cycling". It'll help a lot, both now and in the future.

However, I'm going to possibly go against the grain, and say you might not have done anything "wrong", except for starting with the wrong fish.

What you did (assuming you dechlorinated the water at the start) is the "standard" way of starting the cycle of a tank -- set it up, wait a couple of days, and introduce a couple of fish. However, this method is hard on the fish, so it's usually recommended you start with hardy fish, such as zebra danios. Neon tetras, unfortunately, are (generally considered) no where near hardy. Sometimes they die if you just look at them cross-eyed.

Also, many of my cory catfish seem to breathe very rapidly. They also tend to just sit in one spot for long periods of time -- especially if there's only one of them. They seem to be more active when they're in groups of three or more.

Good luck.

 

[james..]

Bol, what you said was right I think.

I think I did all the right things except I chose the wrong type of fish.

Hmm, Maybe it will cycle with just a catfish and I can add new fish later.

 

[QHowes]

I used plattys for mine. They are generally and pretty hardy fish. I used a handfull of gravel from a frends tank that was cycled and there was enouhgh bacteria there to spread thorughout the tank. Other than that just feed your fish as normal and everything worked fine for me.

 

[faewyn]

James, Dont be hard on yourself, we all make mistakes, I have had coldwater fish for 18 years and also had tropical fish in cold water, that lived.. eg, guppies, danios, neons for long times etc. I used to have alot of native river fish that i kept and filtering the river water problay helped them stay healthy.
I had times where they died within 24 hours etc.. What did i know? I was only 8 when I started.

I started my tropical setup only 3 months ago, I didnt even think about cycling the tank as I never read about it, nor was I explained this by the LFS

I put my water in, turned heater on, undergravel filter, did pH testing, dechorl the water, and did a 25% water change the next day I went out and got:
5 tiger barbs
2 guppies
2 mollies
2 gold fish
1 red tail shark
and a heap of plants...

In 3 months all i have lost is 1 mollie & 1 tiger barb - about 5 weeks ago.
I have not ever run into diseases with fish for years and years, and they were gold fish. I am learning about medications and diseases now, and have purchased many of products..

Now i am more wiser, I will never put fish in a non cycled tank again, all the stress and the potential diseases I could of caused has freaked me out.
All i can think is that, I have been so lucky over the years I did lose alot of fish.btw I have been using the same gravel for 11 years, and prior setting up my tropical set up my tank was in storage for 15 months.. wonder if that has anything to do with it?

Good luck in keeping great fish!
faewyn


faewyn

oops: lots of SP errors