Advice And Help Needed Please.

[OldMan47]

The fresh start will be your dechlorinator. The filter start is the subject of a big debate going on right now in the scientific section but few of us have ever had much luck with that kind of thing. You can go ahead and use it if you want since it also will cause no harm.
It would be better if you got a liquid type test kit but your strips are telling you that you have acceptable pH and very high nitrites. If it is correct, your fish are struggling to breathe while swimming at the surface of the water. A massive water change is in order.

 

[Chris7]

OK so how to do the water change as i don't understand. Originally i put tap water in, I am guessing there is no point at all in taking water out of the tank and adding more tap water. So what water do i add. Can i collect rain water and add this, Or should i put some tap water in buckets with the dechlorinator to try get it to the correct level then add this.

 

[Chris7]

OK, after my earlier post i did another nitrite test and it was the same a very dark pink colour 1.5mg (whatever that means) its not good i know. So i looked on you tube to see how people do a water change. I used a siphon and took out half the water while sucking up dirt and old food from the bed, I then put the same amount of water i took out in a tub and added enough filter start and dechlorinator for the whole tank to the water in the bucket, I put in a mix of cold water and boiled some hot water in the kettle to make it the right temp for the fish. I then added this to the tank and will do a check again when i get home from work for nitrite.

Is the way i have done this correct.

P.S i also cleaned out the filter and it was filthy, I just scrubbed it in the water i had taken out of the tank and the pump is working twice as good as it was before and pumping much more water around the tank. Hope this helps too.

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi Chris.

As you're new to the hobby I'm going to, very simply describe the basics of fishkeeping, which no one seems to have done yet! I'll keep it simple (don't take it as patronising in any way!) as I know how confusing it can be at the beginning.

Fish produce ammonia as a waste product. The ammonia is very toxic. Luckily there is a family of bacteria that eat the ammonia and turn it into nitrite. Nitrite is also toxic to fish.

There is another family of bacteria that eat nitrite and turn it into nitrAte, which is only toxic to fish at very very high levels. We keep the nitrate in check with regular, partial water changes.

Growing a colony of those good bacteria in the filter is what we call 'cycling'. Once you have the bacteria, your tank (well, technically your filter) is 'cycled'.

As there are no fish living in your water supply, there shouldn't be any ammonia or nitrite in your tap water. So you take some of the water from the tank out and replace it with new water from the tap to make sure the fish aren't being poisoned.

As your tank is already established from before you had it, it should already be cycled, but sometimes the bacteria don't like being moved and the colony dies back a bit. This is probably why you have a reading for nitrite in the tank. You need to keep doing water changes, large enough to reduce the nitrite to zero, until the bacteria recover.

You might also have ammonia present so, until you can get a test kit for that, I's suggest you do a 50% water change every day.

The bacteria do cling quite strongly onto the filter media (that's all the stuff inside your filter), so hopefully you haven't washed too many away, but in future be a bit careful cleaning the filter. You want to clean it quite gently so you get rid of the clumps of dirt and poo, but not so much you dislodge the bacteria.

The way you've done your water change is perfectly correct, though if you're treating water in the bucket, you only need to treat for that volume, not the whole tank.


Now lets move on to your fish.

The black one with the red fins is a rainbow shark.

In the picture you've posted with three fish in it;

the one at the back that is blue/grey with vertical stripes is, I'm 99% certain, a convict cichlid
the one in the middle with the spots and the yellow end to it's tail is a green terror
The silver/gold one at the very front is an arulius/filament barb

I'm afraid to say, your tank really isn't big enough for those fish. Keeping fish in too small a tank causes them to be stunted, and not grow properly. This significantly shortens their lifespan. It may already be too late for those fish, if they've been in there three years, but they might well grow to nearer their proper size if you could get them a bigger tank.

Now you know what species they are, you can read up on them yourself and make a decision as to what you're going to do.

Hope that helps you with some of the basics; best of luck!

 

[Chris7]

OK Fluttermoth thank you so much, So many questions and helpful ideas in just one post. I can't thank you enough for your help and with regards to identifying my fish. I thought the shark was a cory fish after a little research. He is very strong and aggressive when he swims around the tank and buries into the stones.

Right..... Now for more questions lol.

As your tank is already established from before you had it, it should already be cycled, but sometimes the bacteria don't like being moved and the colony dies back a bit. This is probably why you have a reading for nitrite in the tank. You need to keep doing water changes, large enough to reduce the nitrite to zero, until the bacteria recover.

You might also have ammonia present so, until you can get a test kit for that, I's suggest you do a 50% water change every day.

Since my test this morning (the nitrite being 1.5 meg and a bery dark pink colour) i did a 50% water change. I tested the water just now and its almost clear giving me 0.1mg. So its pretty much there on that level. Do you still think i need to do a 50% water change tomorrow or just check it for nitrite again and see how it goes.

The black one with the red fins is a rainbow shark.
the one at the back that is blue/grey with vertical stripes is, I'm 99% certain, a convict cichlid
the one in the middle with the spots and the yellow end to it's tail is a green terror
The silver/gold one at the very front is an arulius/filament barb

WOW.... A shark sounds pretty cool to have in your tank lol. Thanks for the info i will now read up on them to see what they like and stuff.

I'm afraid to say, your tank really isn't big enough for those fish. Keeping fish in too small a tank causes them to be stunted, and not grow properly. This significantly shortens their lifespan. It may already be too late for those fish, if they've been in there three years, but they might well grow to nearer their proper size if you could get them a bigger tank.

OK, so what if i was to put the shark in a tank on its own, How big would this tank need to be. The other fish seem pretty happy, Have plenty of room around the tank to fish but i suppose you know what your talking about so i might have to make plans to sell them on maybe or trade them in. I will look into it. I take it i need to be looking at smaller fish and how many can i get into a 68l tank.

Again thanks for your help, Much appreciated.

 

[fluttermoth]

Since my test this morning (the nitrite being 1.5 meg and a bery dark pink colour) i did a 50% water change. I tested the water just now and its almost clear giving me 0.1mg. So its pretty much there on that level. Do you still think i need to do a 50% water change tomorrow or just check it for nitrite again and see how it goes.

As you have nitrite being produced, you've probably got, at least some bacteria growing, but without an ammonia test it's impossible to be sure how safe those levels are; I would do the water change anyway. And get a test kit for ammonia as well, as soon as you can!

WOW.... A shark sounds pretty cool to have in your tank lol. Thanks for the info i will now read up on them to see what they like and stuff.

Of course, it's not a real shark, not even closely related! It's just given that name because it looks a little bit like one

OK, so what if i was to put the shark in a tank on its own, How big would this tank need to be. The other fish seem pretty happy, Have plenty of room around the tank to fish but i suppose you know what your talking about so i might have to make plans to sell them on maybe or trade them in. I will look into it. I take it i need to be looking at smaller fish and how many can i get into a 68l tank.

All those fish are equally aggressive so they'd all go into a four foot tank together, but that would be the smallest I'd recommend. I suppose just the shark on it's own would be ok in a three foot. It's impossible to be exact about numbers without knowing the exact species of fish, but around a dozen one inch fish, or six or eight two inch fish. I wouldn't really be happy putting anything that grows bigger than a couple of inches in what is really quite a small tank, although you might get away with something like pair of dwarf cichlids or a bristlenose catfish; both of those have lots of character and are very appealing to kids, even though they're quite small. You could pick one of those and have a few small shoalers as well.

Again thanks for your help, Much appreciated.

You're very welcome, I'm glad it was useful

 

[Chris7]

OK, So at the moment i will not be buying another tank until i learn a little more about the whole fish thing.

I have talked my boy around moving the fish on. So now all i need to do is find somewhere that will take them. Then i need to think about what to get to replace them.

I will keep doing a water change and at the weekend try and buy a ammonia test and see what results i get from that. I will keep posting my results.

 

[fluttermoth]

Best of luck! If those fish have been in there three years, there's no massive rush to move them on, but I do think you and your son (and big kudos to him too, for letting his favs go!) have made the right decision. I can understand you not wanting to take on a bigger tank at this point too; the one you have is actually a very nice size for a beginner, once it has better stocking!

You could ask if your local fish shop will take them in, or you could try putting an ad on Gumtree/Freecycle/Craiglist, whatever's most active in your area. If you're in the UK, there's a site called Aquarist Classified that's always a good bet for rehoming fish

 

[Chris7]

Cool thanks. I will try them out and see what happens.

When i need help again i will be sure to find you

Hopefully the more i learn the more i can help others too.

EDIT: I have just seen a 4 foot tank going on freecycle. I am going to try and get it, This way i could keep the shark

 

[Chris7]

Just a little update, I changed the water again today about 50%. As i was doing it i noticed the Convict Cichlid was sitting on the bottom of the tank it looked like he was heavy breathing. I left him there for a while and i noticed the other fish taking a interest in him. In particular the Rainbow Shark, He was butting it and trying to push him around the tank (or eat him) im not sure whats wrong with him. I had a smaller tank i put some water in and moved the Chichlid out of the tank and into the little one. When he was in here he was struggling to keep at the bottom of the tank and started spinning around and then ended upside down. I moved it into a small bucket with shallow water and he can now stay at the bottom and look ok. I read up a little bit and perhaps he is bloated. I will try keep him in the bucket for as long as i can then try do the pea trick in a day or two.

Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Chris7]

i moved him back into the main tank and he was all over the place. i put him in a large net and hanged it in the side of the tank so the other fish could not get him so he could keep at the right temp. He is no better off this morning and isnt moving at all. he's still breathing. I tried to give him a little bit of pea but he wasnt interested at all. I even held the pea right to his mouth for a few mins and he would not eat it. I think its best to kill him and i have been reading up on the best way to do this as just taking him out of the water to die does not feel right. I have a small container with a few inches of water and ice cubes in it. That is in the freezer in about 5 mins time i am going to put him in there as this is the easiest way i can think of.