Can You Please Offer Some Advice? Im Not Sure What Wouldbe Best?

[Blondie_Kate]

Hi Guys,

Right tank details: 50L hex, planted with: 5 black tetra's 6 black widow tetra's a albino cory and a peppered cory.

Right how they all went in:
We did a fish cycle (black tetras) as recommended by the pet store as we had tried doing it fishless for approx 3 months with no change to our water results.
We lost only one fish.
When the water was ready we added the widows and a the pepper. all was fine.

About 2/3 weeks a go i noticed that the widows were loosing their colour slightly so we started varying thier diet to give them a bit of veriety but didnt really notice much change.

I then realised that cory's shouldnt be on their own as bugsy (peppered) was acting a little depressed, anyways we went to get another 2 but the pet shop we went to didnt have any only albino's. so we got one; fat sam

I have noticed that ALL the fish sometimes float with their heads at the top of the tank. i assume this is for oxygen? we alway put the bubbles on when we see this and it seems to help?
Anyway fat sam has been getting along fine in the tank and i went back to the same shop when they had peppered in stock and i picked one up yesterday.
I have just come home to find this poor little cat fish dead. and the black tetras floating at the top for air.

now a few questions:
Should the filter give air into the tank? i dont think our filter is working very efficiently and this may not be helping, is there a way to test this?
Is the light the reason for the widows loss of colour? is there something we can do to make the light dimmer?

im assuming the new fish was bad to begin with so should we do a water change or leave it to less stress the fish?

Thanks in advance. x

 

[leeandstacie]

May sound stupid but is your filter breaking the water surface at all - ie making bubbles

 

[leeandstacie]

May sound stupid but is your filter breaking the water surface at all - ie making bubbles

Well Im off to bed but it sounds like your water isn't areated enough - put the type of filter on this post and someone will tell you how best to use it

Good luck

 

[bauhaus]

Have you tested your water to get your stats, if so, posting them will maybe help someone find a problem?

 

[Blondie_Kate]

Hiya its a fluval 2+ and no bubbles i can see ever.

water tested yes but by the shop not us and they only show us the colours not numbers or anything

 

[star4]

You say you "put the bubbles on" and the fish seem to get better, so why switch them off again? If your filter is at the surface it should cause aggitation to the water and oxygenate it, if it is set well below the water line then it wont. From what I have read widow tetras prefer slower moving water (not kept them just myself, but did look into them) and are carnivirous, so feeding them more live food may help. I am not sure if the lights would be a problem, but some floating plants would help provide some hiding spots if they seem stressed.

With having a fish die this will cause polutants in the water, so a water change would be a good idea.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Blondie_Kate]

hiya,

Thanks ill do a water change then thank you.

No the filter is belowthe serface, i shall move it to try and create some airation.

as for the bubbles they are rather rather strong so we do have them on but only for an hour or two as the widows do end up puffing at the bottom hidden in a corner

Is there a way to stem airflow?

 

[buckiejim2]

Hi Kate.

Seems you have a few beginners problems here. First and foremost never ever add fish to a tank where you already think you have problems ie fish offcolour. The fish you added would die first as the ones you already had were being slowly acclimatised to the probs in your tank.
Next the filter you have sounds fine and as long as there is some surface disturbance theres no need to add further bubbles. Oxygen comes into the tank via the surface hence its why we should have a good surface area contrary to what some so called young experts seem to think nowadays.
So ok what went wrong - Forget about what a shop tells you regarding water tests. Get your own dip n read test kit which will test all the major things. I strongly suspect ammonia and/or nitrite. Regardless of how long you did a fishless cycle your filter will not have built up enough bacteria to cope with the extra load of the new fish and the food you were feeding. It is vital with a new tank to be very carefull indeed with food for a few weeks to let the filter build up.
Advice now - iof any fish are still alive stop feeding them for a couple of weeks now. After 2 weeks gradually start to feed once a day and increase it to 2 times a day after a further week. SMALL portions. Dont add any more fish till the fish have all perked up and are feeding well. Best of luck.
BJ

Hi Guys,

Right tank details: 50L hex, planted with: 5 black tetra's 6 black widow tetra's a albino cory and a peppered cory.

Right how they all went in:
We did a fish cycle (black tetras) as recommended by the pet store as we had tried doing it fishless for approx 3 months with no change to our water results.
We lost only one fish.
When the water was ready we added the widows and a the pepper. all was fine.

About 2/3 weeks a go i noticed that the widows were loosing their colour slightly so we started varying thier diet to give them a bit of veriety but didnt really notice much change.

I then realised that cory's shouldnt be on their own as bugsy (peppered) was acting a little depressed, anyways we went to get another 2 but the pet shop we went to didnt have any only albino's. so we got one; fat sam

I have noticed that ALL the fish sometimes float with their heads at the top of the tank. i assume this is for oxygen? we alway put the bubbles on when we see this and it seems to help?
Anyway fat sam has been getting along fine in the tank and i went back to the same shop when they had peppered in stock and i picked one up yesterday.
I have just come home to find this poor little cat fish dead. and the black tetras floating at the top for air.

now a few questions:
Should the filter give air into the tank? i dont think our filter is working very efficiently and this may not be helping, is there a way to test this?
Is the light the reason for the widows loss of colour? is there something we can do to make the light dimmer?

im assuming the new fish was bad to begin with so should we do a water change or leave it to less stress the fish?

Thanks in advance. x

 

[star4]

Personally I think your best option is to leave the air (bubbles) running, you can adjust the flow eastly with an Algarde gang valve (there are other makes but Algarde is the most common) you just cut your airline and add the valve inbetween. This will allow you to slow down the bubbles.

 

[Blondie_Kate]

Hi BJ,

Can fish really survive two weeks without food?

Yhe tank has been well set up now for 3 months and the only new fish added recently is fat sam who is still swimming like a mad cory (i am told this is normal for albinos).

The tests i have found are not cheap so at the moment that will not be an option. I trust the shops tests as they would not let us take any fish untill the levels were right. he talked about all the correct things as lots of people do on here and have not let us down yet (the cory that died was not from there) they have a very good reputation and i will get the water tested again to check our levels.

thanks star i shall see if i can pick one up

 

[star4]

They are not expensive only £1 or so. The fluval internals are good, I have had a 4+ now about 7 years in various tanks and its never let me down.

Best of luck