Freshwater Aquarium Help

[takesomeadvil]

Hello, I actually just posted this on another board, but I'm thinking I'd find more help over here.

I'm new to the fish-world, and recently, I started a freshwater tank (about 6-7 weeks ago). I had 4 Neons, a dwarf frog, a suckerfish, two full-grown "mickey mouse fish" and 2 baby mickey mouse fish. The MickeyMouse fish were transferred from an older tank to my new tank about a week or two after my new fish were introduced to the new tank.

Yesterday, a baby and a full-grown mickeymouse passed. I knew there was something wrong when I noticed them sitting on the bottom of the tank, and that they lacked an appetite. The baby passed about 17 hours before the adult. I couldn't figure out why they passed. The pH levels were where they were supposed to be.

Today, I noticed that the other baby mickeymouse was acting the same, and tonight, he passed as well. The last adult out of the 4 of them is acting in the same manner as the last 3, and I can probably guess his fate. The other fish/frog seem to be fine.

I decided to vaccuum the tank this evening, and I started noticing little mold-spore-sac-looking type things. There were 3 or 4 on the filter intake, a few on some of the plastic plants, and they were embedded in the rocks. I must have removed close to 10 or 15. (I Have a 10-ga tank by the way). I also did a 50% water change, and rinsed and removed the mold-looking sacs from the plants.

Being a beginner, I think I might have let the filter go too long without changing it (about 5 weeks b/c the package says 2-6), causing some kind of infection or something throughout the tank. I don't want my other fish to suffer the same fate as my mickey mouse fish..

the spores are round, sort of jelly-like (almost as if it were an egg maybe?), and it looks as if green algae hairs are coming from it. they were found embedded in the rocks, and clinging to the plants. If somebody has any advice, or can direct me to someone who does, I would be grateful

~sam

 

[*Fishkies*]

Did you cycle your tanke before you started?
Do you have water stats that you could post?
How exactly were your fish acting? Like were they just laying at the bottom, flicking at all?
Do the fish have any noticable symptoms on them like ick?

 

[takesomeadvil]

Did you cycle your tanke before you started?
Do you have water stats that you could post?
How exactly were your fish acting? Like were they just laying at the bottom, flicking at all?
Do the fish have any noticable symptoms on them like ick?

yep, I cycled the tank for 24 hours. I followed the directions directly from the box, adding the conditioner and washing the gravel with warm water, washing the decorations, letting the tank do it's thing..

I remember the pH being 7.4
The Neons, the dawrf frog, and the suckerfish are as happy as can be. (or appear to be for that matter)

The first of the mickeymouse (the baby) was found passed, and then the adult started acting real timid and then he'd swim around real fast for a few minutes, and then it seemed as if he'd get real tired and kind of sink to the bottom and sit on the rocks.. and then he'd try to swim, but it looked like he was having a hard time, the whole time just breathing as hard as he could, and just sink to the bottom and kind of sit there.. and I walked out of the room and came back about 15 minutes later and he was passed as well..

and I've been googling and yahooing all night..that's actually how i found this board.. it's driving me nuts not knowing! lol

Did you cycle your tanke before you started?
Do you have water stats that you could post?
How exactly were your fish acting? Like were they just laying at the bottom, flicking at all?
Do the fish have any noticable symptoms on them like ick?

And actually, right before the last of the babies died, it was hiding in the gravel, and all of a sudden it swam up to the top, and then the filter floated him across the tank, he fell to the bottom, started twitching, and I had to walk out of the room..

and I was researching the ich/ick thing.. i've actually never heard of it until tonight, but nothing looks/ed physically wrong with any of the fish

 

[PufferFishRule]

24 hours..is no where near enough for a tank to cycle..your amonia levels were prolly to high for the babies to take there for causing death...the adult mick's prolly died of the same fate.....check your amonia levels along with nitrite/trate..these things can become quite deadly in large amounts.......what size tank?...is it underfilterd?..heated right? these are some things you should keep in mind when starting this hobby....im pretty new to it myself this forum has helped me out loads...just ask away and these generous people will gladly lend a hand

 

[*Fishkies*]

Do you have areation in the tank?
Do you have a heater? If so what temp is your tank at?

yep, I cycled the tank for 24 hours. I followed the directions directly from the box, adding the conditioner and washing the gravel with warm water, washing the decorations, letting the tank do it's thing..

That is not enough time for an official tank cycling. That is what a lot of instructions say though so don't doubt your self there you probably didn't know especially if you just started out.

Here is an official link to fishless cycling...LINK...unfortuntatly you now have fish so that is not an option. What you will have to do now is water changes and watch your ammonia, nitrate, nitrite statistics!

I would sugges getting a liquid test kit from you LFS if you do not already have one, this way you can monitor what is going on in your tank until it has settled down. Also a great product to help with your cycling with fish if you can find it, is called A.C.T. it is a product made by Mardel. It is a great product and I have used it for my tank and works great!!

Best of Luck!!

 

[Tolak]

First off, the info on the box is wrong. Running a tank for 24 hours accompishes nothing except add to your electric bill a little. Best bet is to read this first; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099

Second, filling this out will help us to help you. If you don't have a test kit most shops can test the water for you, and many do it for free. If a shop tests the water for you have them write down the numbers. Often if a shop says it's fine it isn't actually fine, we need numbers here.

Tank size:
pH:
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp:

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):

Volume and Frequency of water changes:

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants:

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):

Exposure to chemicals:

Digital photo (include if possible):

Third, we are not making a cent off of helping you here, the shop you buy fish from is, the tank manufacturer is, the company that sell the media they tell you to change every 4 weeks or whatever is, along with a host of others. We do this for free, so others can have an enjoyable experience with aquatics, we have no reason to steer you wrong.

Platys are the first fish I bred many years ago, I like the mickeys.

 

[takesomeadvil]

24 hours..is no where near enough for a tank to cycle..your amonia levels were prolly to high for the babies to take there for causing death...the adult mick's prolly died of the same fate.....check your amonia levels along with nitrite/trate..these things can become quite deadly in large amounts.......what size tank?...is it underfilterd?..heated right? these are some things you should keep in mind when starting this hobby....im pretty new to it myself this forum has helped me out loads...just ask away and these generous people will gladly lend a hand

Oh thats stinky That box lied. lol. The people at the pet store sold me a container of bacteria.. and told me to add some according to my tank size (it's just a 10 gallon tank).. I'm not actually too sure which chemicals to be aware of.. I know it's bad if the ammonia levels are too high..and the ph..and nitrite (not nitrate).. but I actually tested the pH with the tester I use for the pool (now I bet ppl are really laughing.. ) .. I bet the ammonia was too high..I just don't understand the moldly-looking things.. my fiance think's it's probably just food, but it doesn't look like decayed food..

I don't really know what to do now. I did a 50% water change, and scrubbed and boiled the decorations with water, and vaccuumed the moldy things up. The only thing I can think of is the neons came from a tank w/ high ammonia and that's why they aren't affected as much..and the mick's came from a tank w/ much lower ammonia levels, which is why they perished first.. or maybe it doesn't even work like that..? lol idk.

This seems to be a fun hobby, but the last two days have been very sad

 

[*Fishkies*]

It is in fact a very fun hobby, once everything settles down. That's the tricky part sometimes. Sometimes moldy things don't look like food but really it is, that is deceiving sometimes. Certain fish and fish alone can only tolerate so much of a toxic level of something and then they die. The babies are always fragile, so do'nt feel to bad about them it can happen anytime.

Sorry for the losses but don't give up!!

 

[PufferFishRule]

eek 10g...most begginers use 20 to 29gal tanks atleast that what i recomend..10 gal arent to good for much of anything unless its a hospital tank...sounds like from what you were saying you may have over stocked your tank aswell perhaps you should try a bigger tank ...or get some hardier fish...i cycled my 29 with a gourami..bala..and a silver dollar...and 3 tetras they did fine infact i still till this day have 2 of the tetra's...black long skirt and a phantom...they live in a 28 eith some cory's 3 loaches and a few angels...lemme guess the box came with a few starter items...filter...heater and such..with some chemicals that stated just add fish?...dont listen to the labels...research before you start..

 

[takesomeadvil]

Do you have areation in the tank? No, I actually don't even know what that is? I have a filter..?
Do you have a heater? If so what temp is your tank at? No, I don't have a heater

And this is what I know as of this moment:
Tank size: 10g
pH: 7.4
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp:

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): There is actually no disformation or discoloration on any of the fish (even the ones that have parished). They are sitting on a small table next to a window (but the blinds are always closed, so there is no direct sunlight), and the fish were acting very lazy, and sleepy, resting on the bottom on top of the gravel, and they were breathing really hard, and they started swimming crazy, sunk to the bottom, and started twitching right before they passed)
Volume and Frequency of water changes: Tonight is the first time I changed the water, and I did a 50% change, and added conditioner.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Water conditioner

Tank inhabitants: 4 Neon Tetras, 1 Dwarf Frog, 1 Suckerfish (just an avg Freshwater sucker), and right now, 1 adult mickey. (There were 2 babies and an adult, but they passed)

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): Actually, none, other than a filter change about 2 days ago for the first time (after the fish started acting funny, actually. I don't know if that was the right thing to do, though.)

Exposure to chemicals: None that I'm aware of

Digital photo (include if possible): No camera

And I really appreciate everybody's help. It's nice to actually talk to people rather than trying to read though a bunch of pages where I can't ask any questions. The 2 Mickey's actually had the babies in another bigger tank (with much bigger fish), and we moved the whole family over to the 10g tank so the babies wouldn't get eaten..

 

[Tolak]

What you would be going through right now would be a traditional cycle, as opposed to a fishless cycle. For a traditional cycle the stocking rate is 1" of slim bodied, hardy fish that have an adult size of no larger than 3" per 5 gallons of water. That would be a couple of young 1" platys to get your tank started, and you have to keep an eye on ammonia & nitrite levels.

In a cycling tank pH will fluctuate, there isn't anything you can do about that. Your biggest concern with a traditional cycle is ammonia & nitrite, daily water tests and appropriate water changes will keep this down to a reasonable level. Any ammonia or nitrite is bad for fish, but it's a fact of life for a traditional cycle. This is why doing a fishless cycle is advised.

Neons, while usually a more fragile fish, may in this case be more hardy than the platys. Often livebearers are overly inbred to achieve the desired colors. This may be what is happening in your situation.

 

[*Fishkies*]

I would suggest getting an airstone something similar to the link below. This will help with your fishes oxygen levels. Also would help in moving water around more!!You can find something like this at any LFS though.

LINK

Did you take any water from the original tank and start this tank? If not I would try that with your next water change.

Also you should be okay without a heater as long as your temperature stays consistent. What is your current temp.???

Do you have a thermometer?

 

[takesomeadvil]

eek 10g...most begginers use 20 to 29gal tanks atleast that what i recomend..10 gal arent to good for much of anything unless its a hospital tank...sounds like from what you were saying you may have over stocked your tank aswell perhaps you should try a bigger tank ...or get some hardier fish...i cycled my 29 with a gourami..bala..and a silver dollar...and 3 tetras they did fine infact i still till this day have 2 of the tetra's...black long skirt and a phantom...they live in a 28 eith some cory's 3 loaches and a few angels...lemme guess the box came with a few starter items...filter...heater and such..with some chemicals that stated just add fish?...dont listen to the labels...research before you start..

Yeah, we don't really have too much space, and my fiance actually talked me out of a goldfish in a bowl, and talked me into getting a little bigger of a tank and some different fish..and I don't regret doing it, but now I wish I would have researched a little more. It was sort of a spontaneous thing, so I can see why I messed up there.

So yeah, I bought the 10g aquarium with the filter and the light and the chemicals, read the directions, bought my decor, and did the whole beginner thing..

And I may have over-stocked.. Originally, I bought about 6 fish (not counting the sucker and the froggie), and about a week later, I traded 2 of the bigger fish (I forgot what they were called, but they obviously needed more room to swim then my little 10g could provide) with the mickey family which came from a 50g tank that my fiance's mom has..

.. maybe I did go a little fish crazy all at once..

 

[takesomeadvil]

I would suggest getting an airstone something similar to the link below. This will help with your fishes oxygen levels. You can find something like this at any LFS though.

LINK

Did you take any water from the original tank and start this tank? If not I would try that with your next water change.

Also you should be okay without a heater as long as your temperature stays consistent. What is your current temp.???

Do you have a thermometer?

No, I didn't take any water from the org. tank..

and my thermometer reads about 79-80ish degrees

(I really appreciate everyone's help, thankyou.)

 

[*Fishkies*]

Okay then your temperature should be fine. I wouldn't worry about that then at this moment. However if you do have the extra money to get one, I would. This will help keep your temperature constant no matter what, (unless there is an electricity outtage).

So if it is possible I would try to take some water from your fiance's moms tank, (if she lets you) and add it to your tank with the next water change. This might help you with your tank cycling. Hopefully that 50gallon she has is already cycled.