fish soon be all dead

[browolf]

hi,

this is what happened:

bought tank about 3 weeks ago
put water in.
put gravel in.
took water and gravel out (found out we werent supposed to put garden gravel in)
put new water in
left for a week
went to shop bought 7 zebra danios and new gravel on monday and put in

it's thursday and 4 have died already and 2 are gone awol in the last hour and 1 looks ok atm. the ones that died had red bits on the bottom. about half way along the fish.

now this is really my partners project, she's done everything until now. I think she thought it was going to be easier. tbh when she went to buy them i was only expecting 3 or 4. anyway i figured i'd better get some help cos she seems even more depressed than usual atm.

the tank is a hagen tropiquarium 55 with a trio 2000 filter and a 100w heater set to 77. in the tank we have 1 real plant and some plastic ones stuck on a fake log thing.
the filter out vent is about an inch below the waterline the filter out vent is about an inch below the waterline. this hardly riples the surface. is it too low?

for her i wondered if someone can say where we've gone wrong.
I have a few questions.
1. is a week long enough for the chlorine to go?
2. should we of had the lid up? (its not a perfect seal anyway)


thanks for your time

andy

 

[tstenback]

Yes a week is plenty of time for the chlorine to go. Before you added the gravel did you wash it? The tank is also a ten gallon( i think) so to cycle this you should only have 2 or 3 fish in there. If you are unsure of what cycling is try here. Leaving the lid up is not necessary and often undesirable as fish do jump. I would suggest that you get a water conditioner (liquid that removes chlorine and chloramine) and add that to your tank when you add new water. You may have left the water long enough for the chlorine to dissipate but i dont think the chloramine will. Also the filter is fine. Read the articles before trying again and if you have any questions just post them on the beginners forum (lots of expertise over there) HTH

 

[Markos84uk]

Hi Browolf.

Sorry to hear about your fish

I'm also new to fishkeeping, I just had mine a couple of days... anyways.. some questions that others on here might want answering...

Did you read into or do, fishless cycling?

When you bought the tank, were you given a bottle called 'Cycle' or anything similar?

Have you bought test kits for Ammonia, NitrITE and NitRATE?

Immediatley do a 40-50% water change... BUT MAKE SURE YOU HAVE CHEMICALS TO DECHLORINATE THE WATER.

Make sure your temperature is not fluctuating more than a degree if possible.

Also, I advise you to do a test for Ammonia (as above) and the other toxins and these are extremely poisonous to fish. Buy a book that explains properly the cycling process and understand it.

The filter does need to agitate the water surface, the problem could be lack of Oxygen as you also have one plant. If the tank is small then seven fish may be too many. General guide line i will use is 1 inch of fish per gallon OR Find the surface area of the water e.g W x D = surface area 12 x 24 = 288/10 = 28 inches of fish

As for the red bits on the fish, I'm really not sure about that, sorry.

I am definatley not an expert on fish, but I read my book, and gave you advice taht I personally would do. Some may disagree slightly, but I really hope that this helps and you get your tank sorted out.

All the best
Mark, a fellow newbie

 

[Markos84uk]

or just go to where tsenback says hehe

(I took too long typing the above message )

 

[tstenback]

Markos84uk you may have taken a while to write it but it shows that you are definetly doing your homework. That was solid advice. well done.

 

[Markos84uk]

thanks tsenback

I know how it is when you got new fish, I cant take my eyes off mine still nervous an worried tho, just in case, so anything i can do to help others you helped me too remember

Mark 8) <---- gotta big head now

 

[Inchworm]

Hi browolf

Welcome to the forum.

You've received some good, solid advice so far. There's a little bit of science involved in fishkeeping, but after you and your friend master that it should be smooth sailing.

Please tell her not to feel bad; it's probably not her fault that she's having these problems. Many of the members of this forum joined with the very same problems she's having. A lot of the trouble comes from the lfs (local fish stores) not giving correct information (or giving no information at all! ) to beginners.

Now that you are on the right track, I hope to be hearing good news about your progress. I'll be looking forward to reading your posts.

 

[fishxrule!]

hi sorry to hear bout ur fish im also new to fish keeping i my tank was all so nice with lots of nice fish but i didnt know how much water to change so i changed like 3 quatres wen i was only supposed to change 1 quatre of the tank and upset all the bacteria and studd all my angels and sharks and all my nice fish died so now ive only got the hardy ones left but im waiting for the tank to go back to normal then ill get more fish
good luck with ur fish keeping xxx

 

[Auslander]

Red bits on the botom of the fish near the gills would indicate severe nitrIte poisoning. Did all the fish that died do so within a day or even a few hours? I think excessive nitrIte is your killer. Just keep changing your water.

 

[browolf]

Red bits on the botom of the fish near the gills would indicate severe nitrIte poisoning. Did all the fish that died do so within a day or even a few hours? I think excessive nitrIte is your killer. Just keep changing your water.

they died over the course of 2 or 3 days. there are 3 left that seem to have survived since wednesday. perhaps these are stronger or a manageable equilibrium have been reached.

definately the cycling stage we've missed out. i did know that u need bacteria to take care of the fish poo. i had assumed that a few fish would have managed. 7 was clearly way too many

presumably have to cycle in water thats been treated to remove chlorine.

regards

Andy
-------------------------
<WormRadar>
http/wormradar.com

 

[my_fallen_angel]

sorry about your fish, but it sound like you on the right track now.

I think you need to find youself a good lfs that will give you better information in the future

 

[J_acon]

Yeah i think there were too many fish for an uncycled tank, also you did clean tank after removing the garden gravel right? and you rinsed the gravel from the second bacth of gravel right? Just a thought, i think you did but didn't mention it. Also you should test your water PH.