crab problems??

[kev]

I have just bought my first tank and completed stocking it this weekend.

I wanted cardinal tetras and was going to work my way from their seeking advice on appropiate species to add to the tank. So I selected 15 tetras and worked my way round to the barbs. i was advise against Tiger barbs as they would attach but 6 banded barbs sould live along side them O.K

I had seen some crabs while in the store an requested advise on them. I was interested by the small (i think them might just be called red crabs). I sought advise if they would escape, need salt or attack the small fish. They advise that they would escape (i have plugged all my holes with thick sponge. They don't need salt and the won't attack my small fish. I bought 3.

I have over the last week lost I believe 3 tetras. One i found floating on the top clean in half. one died I believe from natural causes it seemed weak and was not able to swim against the current of the filter. the third the only trace i have found is what i believe to be a skeleton. It had no guts left on and was a small circle of bone followed by long thin strip of bone (is this a skeleton.)

I have introduced larger fish this weekend - 4 platys (orange with black tails and fins) and 6 red eye tetra. all seems peaceful now but i am worried that my fish are going to slowly disappear. What should I do. Was i given wrong advise or is it just a freak occurance.

please help

 

[impur]

First of all you have WAY to many fish to cycle your tank. You must cycle the tank when starting it up, this will develope a biological filter to take care of ammonia and nitrites produced by the fish and their waste. You will probably loose many more fish I hate to say. You need an ammonia and nitrite test kit first off. You should monitor ammonia and it will increase until it peaks, then decline. This will be important if you wish to keep your fish alive. You will need to do small water changes. Here is an article on cycling, i suggest you read it and do more reading on the biological make up of an aquarium. Unfortunately some fish shops are only in it for the money and looked at you as a cash machine. You made a good choice coming here though, lots of ppl here to help. to the board

Cycling your tank info linkage

 

[wetwetwet]

You didn't actually say if your tank was cycled or not

....but even if it was, with a new set up you have to stock very slowly to allow the bilogical filter to adjust to the increase in load or possibly suffer a mini-cycle with ammonia and nitrite spikes

btw HiYa and kev


'O' and watch that you don't feed too much - uneaten food can quickly pollute a tank - what they can eat in 2-3 mins

 

[val]

The crabs are definitely at fault. 3 crabs can do a lot of damage if a fish is tiny and slow, or even just sleeping. You can move the crabs to a species tank or maybe have the pet store take them back, if they will.

Valerie

 

[Feline]

I have 2 crabs n they r living on their own in the "crab tank" Their favourite food is either live/frozen fish! And they'll need a dry land to air, esp. after they molted. U'll also need some personal space for them 3 coz they'll fight when they meet! So I guess u'll hav to put them in another tank!

 

[kev]

I have contacted the Pet shop - they are going to take the three crabs backs and replace my tetras.

I am a bit worried that i have introduced fish to early. I have added "cycle" to the tank and it said to wait 2-3 days before adding any fish I added tham after 7. but reading this it sound as though I should have added them alot slower. What should I do to minimize any loses. I had planned to start doing water changes every couple of days - Just 2-3 gallons at a time. Will this help. Also the cycle says that it can be used to nutralize nitrate and ammonia if i find that the water is high in either should i add a small amount of this to control it. The filter I am using is matured.

Thanks for your help so far - much appreciated

 

[pebbles]

you say the filter you are using is matured, so i presume it is from another tank,if this is the case you should get a faster cycle and also a much lower peak in ammonia and nitrites,. do you test your water to keep an eye on the ammonia etc. this will give an idea of how well the tank is cycling.any chance of some gravel from where the matured filter came from, this will help things along as well.even allowing for the matured filter you have added fish rather quickly,i would check your water and do small water changes if necessary,hope this helps pebbles

 

[kev]

I returned the crabs so that should solve the problem. I will probably get a species tank when I have a little more room.

I did my my first water test here are the results. As far as I can see they appear OK

PH - 7.5 -8.2
Ammonia - 1.0
Nitrite 0.5-1
nitrate 20-40

The only figure that really concerns my is the nitrite, should it be OK or should I do something to help it lower. i did a 15-20% water change last night. How often should I do this and should I be adding "cycle" to help it along

Thanks

 

[impur]

When your tank is cycled, your ammonia and nitrites will be 0. Anything above that is toxic to fish. You are still in the process of maturing your tank so your levels are to be expected. Keep an eye on the fish. If they display odd behavior do a small water change. Do not replace the filter media. I have seen to many people do this and it destroys the process. Keep testing and you will soon see the ammonia start to fall while the nitrites rise.

 

[kev]

Is the PH anything to worry about. I read that for a community tank it should be 7.0 should i attempt to lower it?

 

[impur]

You might want to narrow it down more. That is a wide range you got posted. Get an exact reading. It shouldn't vary. IF it comes out of your tap at 7.6 that is fine. Odds are your lfs keeps their fish at that level also. I wouldn't try to buffer it at all. Especially while cycling, it will just add more stress to the fish.