fish grave yard

[lilkey625]

I had a 20 gal tank and i just tranfer to a 40 gal, i took about 15 gals at of the old tank water and i thought i did everthing right but when i woke up this morn ing my tank is a grave yard, no one made it though it but the frog that i dont really like

 

[ncjharris]

Sorry to hear about that.

Its a real downer when something causes fish to die, and you have no idea what it is.

Tell us exactly what you did, and we may be able to give you some pointers, for next time?

 

[BOD]

using old tank water doesnt help...its the bacteria from the substrate and filter thats what is needed..if you didnt put this in the tank...thats probably why your fish died....sorry for your loss

 

[lilkey625]

i had to change to a bigger filter for my new tank so i let the new filter run in the old tank for a couple of days hoping that it would help because its one of the wheel ones. i put stress coat in the water. i thought if you used the old water, there would be enough bacteria in it for the new tank well thats what the fish store told me. i have a couple of troppers that i didnt see before, a knife fish, guppy and a feeder fish. if i change to Semi-aggressive or aggressive fish will i have to get rid on my knife fish?

 

[annka5]

The old water will have had a teeny tiny amount of nitrogen-cycle bacteria in it (at best) - it's the filter media and gravel which have the majority of the bacteria. It's really annoying when the LFS gives bad advice, so, sympathy to you.
Transfer the old filter (media) and gravel into the new tank (you can but the gravel in a muslin bag or clean pair of old tights so you can take it out once the new gravel has been seeded with bacteria). The chances are that most (all) of the bacteria will be dead by now, but it might be better than nothing.
You could also try to get some used filter media from your LFS as this will have the good bacteria in it.
You need to do large water changes daily until the ammonia and then nitrite has fallen to zero, otherwise you risk losing the rest of your fish.

 

[lilkey625]

well the rest of my fish just gave up and join in hole in the yard... i feel so bad for killing them. so this is what i have now.... my old plants and 15 gals of my old water. i want to replace the old gravel with new bigger gravel. how long will i have to wait to replace the fish. i dont want to make the same mistake twice and kill more fish

 

[lilkey625]

is it ok to use river rock?

 

[Ethos]

^
NO
Sorry.

Its never OK to use anything from nature to use on a tank unless your an expert. Not thatsd I'm dissing you or anything, but I dont think your an expert.
Dont worry, I'm not either. I'm only intermediate.

 

[SPLiSH]

Sorry to hear about your fish.

Was there anything in the 20 gal that could have reacted witt something in the 40?

 

[Synirr]

"River rock" isn't necessarily rock straight out of a river. You can actually buy "river rock"... they're smooth, polished stones.
Whether or not you can use them depends on the type of rock it is and how exact and constant your water has to be... there's a pinned article on this, I think. Certain types of rock can have an effect on pH, but unless your fish are really delicate or you don't do water changes like you ought it isn't really a problem. You've just got to watch the water and make sure everything is ok

If the rocks are the kind you purchase, you can boil them for a while and they ought to be ok. Sometimes they have a coating that helps make them shiny which can be harmful to fish, but the boiling process should take care of it.

You should also boil them if they're straight out of a river to kill any harmful bacteria and such that might be on them.

 

[twinsmom]

Sorry for your loss I made many mistakes myself when I started. I know all about bad LFS advice. The best thing to do is a lot of research on your own. It is also a great idea to ask questions here. There are many pinned topics that are all about starting a tank. Cycling a tank is the most important thing to do. If you want to get a jump on this, you can by a product called Cycle, which I used to aid in my cycling, or there is a new product out called Bio-Spira Link
which is supposed to help speed up the cycling process, and the growth of benificial bacteria. I never used it, as my tank was already running before I heard about it. As far as river rocks go, I was always told to never use anything but what is sold specifically for a fish tank. I have seen a lot of gravel that looks like more natural "rocks" than little pebbles in assorted colors. Hope I was helpful to you

 

[IMCL85]

Hey buddy its sad to hear that but u should off just let ur new tank run for 1-2 weeks before adding fish to it. Ur tank is not even cycle at all. stuff and bacteria have not yet grown. I dont recommand add old water to new tank. Rather use all new water instead.

 

[lilkey625]

I added bio spira yesterday and i have one fish in the tank and he seems to be pretty happy. im going to test the water later but i think everything is going good thanx for the help

i will never listen to the fish store anymore, they done nothing but kill my fish