HELP Required Please

[jo_doug]

Hi,
We are new to tropical fish and have a fluval 1200 set up we have carried out the general set up procedure and now after some time have added the fish.
Now in the last 2 days we have lost our baby Plec, and 2 mollys.
We are now experiencing a layer of green algie on the white rocks and on the surface of the tank any ideas how to over come this problem? i have treated the water on a weekly basis with NUTRAFIN Waste control and NUTRAFIN Cycle as instructed we have a Fluval 4 pump plus a Fluval 104 external pump any help or input into this insight would be much appreciated.


Regards Jo & Doug

 

[WILDER]

How long has the tank been set up, can you post test results in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, how many fish and which type.

 

[webcat5]

You need to test your water to see what your PH, GH, KH, Ammonia, NitIte and NitrAte levels are. Make sure your tank is not set up near a window as the sun will cause algea to grow. Nutrafin waste control causes your ammonia to spike, this may have caused your fish to die. Do 30% water changes on a weekly bases.

IME the more chemicals you put in the water, the more you have to use different ones to regain the balance. Treat the new water with Cycle, but try not to use the waste treatment unless necessary.

 

[fishyfeet]

Did you test the water before adding the fish,

Whats your water perameters like now.

You can get tetra 5 in 1 strips which are easy and convenient to use, also your local fish store may test it for you, although they tend to tell you the prob and sell you stuff, rather than giving you the readings, you have the same tank as me, i have an external 304 and taken the internal filter out. It sounds as if the filter hasnt built up enough bacteria, without testing the water you wouldnt be able to tell. Another thing could be the conditions the plec and mollys were in and then the conditions in your tank, may be very different as to cause them stress.

You need to test ammonia and nitrites, which should be 0.

Nitrates, which should be under 100, and preferably under 50, you can reduce them by water changes and adding something nitra zorb to your external filter.


Then just test the hardness, GH, KH, AND PH.

The tetra strips do, no2 (nitrites) no3 (nitrates), GH, KH, AND PH.
All in one go, dip them and read of the results.

Hope this helps, di

 

[jo_doug]

Hi Wilder,
The tank has been set up for 6 weeks the ph ammonia nitrate etc your asking i have no idea what your talking about like i said im new sorry the tank is stocked with


14" plec
A large parrot
2 small sharks
2 resonably sized cat fish
2 angel fish
4 mollys
3 fan tailed guppies
2 clown fish
and about 5 other small fish that i have no idea what they are called with out checking sorry

Ill add some pic's of the tank

 

[jo_doug]

Thank you very much for the replys i'll get up to petworld tomorrow and get some of those test strips and check whats going on in there

Also the tank is away from direct sunlight although i have removed the normal bulb and the tank now runs 2 uv lights


Regards Jo & Doug

 

[WILDER]

I would do a water change for now till you get your water tested, tell them to write the readings down for you, how manygallons is the tank, also you have added to many fish to soon,this is why you have lost some fish, good luck.

 

[jo_doug]

Thank you for the info wilder i'll get it checked tomorrow and changed at 30%

Regards Doug

 

[rdd1952]

Thank you very much for the replys i'll get up to petworld tomorrow and get some of those test strips and check whats going on in there

I would strongly advice getting liquid test kits (preferably the Master Test Kit from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals) rather than the test strips. Strips can be quick but very inaccurate. The Master kit is about $25 at Petsmart. If you go to their website, find the item and print out the page showing the price ($14.99) they will honor it in the store.

As far as the immediate problem, I would do daily water changes to keep the amonia down although the tank is very heavily stocked for a new tank. Usually you should only add 3 to 6 fish at first and let the bacteria colony build slowly.

I don't think anyone mentioned cycling or how it works but here is a brief explanation: Fish produce waste - pee and poo. Waste is ammonia which is toxic to fish. Eventually "good" bacteria form in the tank that consume the ammonia and turn it into nitrite (with an "I"). Nitrite is also toxic but bacteria will also form to consume it and turn it into nitrate (with an "A"). Nitrate will probably always be present in your tank but as long as it is under 40 ppm you should be fine. I prefer that mine stay under 20 but 40 is the general consensus of acceptable. Plants and algae feed off nitrates so if you have high nitrates, you will have algae. You can add live plants to out compete the algae for nutrients or you can get some good algae eaters (your plec is one) to eat it.

One other potential problem is that mollies prefer brackish water and aren't realy compatible with the other fish. What size tank do you have (pardon me if you posted it and I missed it). Based on the fish you have, I would say you need at least 90 gallon and probably more depending on what type sharks and what the clown fish are (clown loaches ???). The plec can get to 24" or more and most catfish can get over a foot as can clown loaches. You may want to look into returning some of them.

Good luck

 

[jo_doug]

Am i ok to do a 30% change with the fish in the tank ?
Also can i remove the rocks and clean them and put them straight back in ?
Im sorry not sure how much capacity the tank holds will find out
Thanks Doug

 

[WILDER]

Find out the gallons as 30% sounds alot if it's a small tank, don't clean the ornaments resist to the tank has cycled.

 

[sinistral]

According to this website, the Fluval 1200 is 120cm x 40cm x 40cm.

By my calculations, that's 50 (US) Gallons.

You can do water changes with fish in the tank.

I agree with Wilder...you don't need to clean ornaments in the tank right now.

Also, in addition to reading rdd1952's informative post about cycling, reading up about cycling in some of the pinned topics in the beginner section would be very helpful-- repetition can be instrumental in terms of learning. HTH~

 

[jo_doug]

People Thank you very much once again for your input i'll go and do some reading I have drained and filled 30% now so i'll do that again next week


Thank you very much Doug

 

[WILDER]

Keep an eye on water quality,and you should be fine, good luck.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

why are you running uv lights?