Help Please For New Aquarist

[Squnky1971]

I am new to the hobby and I started with a small 8 gallon tank. I kept tetra and shrimp and they have now been moved to new 30 gallon tank. In this I had 4 amino, 1 bamboo, 1 kribensis, 5 bleeding hearts, 3 lemons, 5 rummy nose and four glow lights. My kribensis yesterday was fine but tonight looked slow swimming on the substrate. An hour later he was dead. I feed a mix of frozen blood worm or flake every other day. I carry out 25 percent water changes about every ten to fourteen days and never clean filter media under ATP. I feed the shrimp pellet.
Do I need to be worried that the kribensis has died. I have live plants in the tank which I feed on water change and I add water treatment when i change it.
In my 8 gallon I have a pair of bolivian rams. I have had a few mishaps in the start for example I did buynserpeabtetrabbutbthyebatebmy corydoras adolphi. Not impressed . I have also had something in the 30 gallon tank eat my neons and dimond heads.
Any advice welcome

 

[CezzaXV]

Do you have a liquid test kit? Some water readings would be helpful.

 

[Squnky1971]

No sorry, I never bought one as the place I buy from does the test. The test came back ok a few weeks ago when I bought the neons. The tank is about 3 months running. The kits are quite expensive and I was happy with their tests. If I am gonna keep losing fish I may have to buy a kit. I was going to ask if I should add the rams now that the kribensis has gone. I guess water check first though. I will have it checked in next two days and post results

 

[CezzaXV]

That'll be helpful.

When you started out, how did you (if at all) cycle your tank? If you've never had a test kit, I'm guessing you didn't?

Your water changes probably need to be more frequent. Most people do at least 25% a week. I personally do 70% twice a week, though I'm a special case

 

[winmore]

You should do a 50% change as soon as possible and then 50% every 7 days if you want to give your fish a healthy enviroment.if you have an internal filter you should clean that every 14 days.kribs are a hard fish to keep alive for beginners.instead of getting the rams i would sugest corys as they will kleen your tank for you.as they scavenge for food on the bottom of your tank.hope this helps you out.

 

[Squnky1971]

Thanks for the advice. In relation to cycle. I did a two week without introduction, one week in added the plants. After the second week I added three lemons. Slow additions there after. Before adding fish the local shop did free tests and as I bought my stuff from them still do when I look to add stock. I will do water changes weekly from now. There is so much conflicting advice. What about the feeding is every other day ok?.

 

[ZoddyZod]

You should do a 50% change as soon as possible and then 50% every 7 days if you want to give your fish a healthy enviroment.

water change percentage should be defined by doing enough to get the nitrate level to be as close to your tap water reading as possible. 50% is more than most would actually need.

if you have an internal filter you should clean that every 14 days.

a monthly clean out of the gunk is more than enough - I only ever used to clean mine when I saw a noticeable drop in the flow.

kribs are a hard fish to keep alive for beginners.

I've never heard that before. They have a reputation for being pretty rugged and not fragile at all.

instead of getting the rams i would sugest corys as they will kleen your tank for you.as they scavenge for food on the bottom of your tank.

if you get corys it should never be for 'tank cleaning'. They should be properly cared for and provided with the correct types of food, rather than feeding off the scraps left by others.

 

[pdludbrooke]

No sorry, I never bought one as the place I buy from does the test. The test came back ok a few weeks ago when I bought the neons. The tank is about 3 months running. The kits are quite expensive and I was happy with their tests. If I am gonna keep losing fish I may have to buy a kit. I was going to ask if I should add the rams now that the kribensis has gone. I guess water check first though. I will have it checked in next two days and post results

Get a test kit a guy on ebay is selling the API Freshwater master test kit (guaranteed with lots of date) £19.90 free postage

 

[Tonyb111111]

You should do a 50% change as soon as possible and then 50% every 7 days if you want to give your fish a healthy enviroment.

water change percentage should be defined by doing enough to get the nitrate level to be as close to your tap water reading as possible. 50% is more than most would actually need.

if you have an internal filter you should clean that every 14 days.

a monthly clean out of the gunk is more than enough - I only ever used to clean mine when I saw a noticeable drop in the flow.

kribs are a hard fish to keep alive for beginners.

I've never heard that before. They have a reputation for being pretty rugged and not fragile at all.

instead of getting the rams i would sugest corys as they will kleen your tank for you.as they scavenge for food on the bottom of your tank.

if you get corys it should never be for 'tank cleaning'. They should be properly cared for and provided with the correct types of food, rather than feeding off the scraps left by others.

+1

 

[Gilli]

You cant keep fish without an API liquid test kit - this is the most important piece of equipment in fish keeping because without this you have no idea of your water quality so you have no chance of correcting it before it kills your fish! The first thing you do if you notice anything unusual in your fish is you test the water to see if there are any problems, then if there are you take the appropriate action and keep testing daily until they are put right. Dont rely on taking a sample of your water into a local fish shop occasionally as if there are problems its needs to be tested on a daily basis, and quite frankly a lot of shops dont have a clue!

I know it sounds expensive but its not - it lasts for about a year and it will save you money in the long run as you wont keep losing fish, and its much kinder to the fish than to watch them suffer! And dont be tempted to buy the paper strips for testing - they are cheaper but useless as they dont give an accurate reading.

 

[Aqua Tom]

You cant keep fish without an API liquid test kit - this is the most important piece of equipment in fish keeping because without this you have no idea of your water quality so you have no chance of correcting it before it kills your fish! The first thing you do if you notice anything unusual in your fish is you test the water to see if there are any problems, then if there are you take the appropriate action and keep testing daily until they are put right. Dont rely on taking a sample of your water into a local fish shop occasionally as if there are problems its needs to be tested on a daily basis, and quite frankly a lot of shops dont have a clue!

I know it sounds expensive but its not - it lasts for about a year and it will save you money in the long run as you wont keep losing fish, and its much kinder to the fish than to watch them suffer! And dont be tempted to buy the paper strips for testing - they are cheaper but useless as they dont give an accurate reading.

+1


A liquid based Master Test Kit, (doesnt have to be an API there are plenty others out there), is your best weapon against ill health in your fish.
It is an absolutte MUST HAVE product for any serious fishkeeper'

Tom


BTW I use an API kit & Seachem Prime dechlorinator



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