Help! Sick fish!

[RenC]

I’m a new fish owner and I have 4 male guppies and one Cory catfish. This tank is only 3 days old. I had one guppy bully the others by nipping fins so I took him out for a few hours after adding a new decoration which was recommended for aggression. Today I noticed the ends of some of their tails have turned black or have red spots that weren’t there before. I’m scared they will die please help ): is the tan decoration bad for the fish? (The new one I put in) or is the nitrate cycle just happening?

 

[Metalhead88]

3 days old?

Was the tank cycled? If it was not I can assure you this is the issue.

 

[RenC]

3 days old?

Was the tank cycled? If it was not I can assure you this is the issue.

It was for 24 hours, that’s what I was told to do

 

[Retired Viking]

You need to do a major water change (75%) right away and make sure you use conditioner on the new water before adding it. You need to test the water to see what your ammona level is at along with nitrate and nitrite levels. Ammona is very deadly to fish. Keep doing water changes each day until your Ammonia level drops to 0. Then you will have to test and do water changes whenever Ammonia appears

 

[Retired Viking]

Nitrogen cycles take 2-6 weeks and sometimes even longer. Did you add any chemicals to the tank? Did you use water conditioner?

 

[RenC]

You need to do a major water change (75%) right away and make sure you use conditioner on the new water before adding it. You need to test the water to see what your ammona level is at along with nitrate and nitrite levels. Ammona is very deadly to fish. Keep doing water changes each day until your Ammonia level drops to 0. Then you will have to test and do water changes whenever Ammonia appears

I did a 25% change today with water conditioner

 

[Metalhead88]

It was for 24 hours, that’s what I was told to do

Whoever gave you that advice gave you some awful information. It takes around a month to cycle a tank.

You need a test kit to measure ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite. You need to do large water changes every day or every other day depending in ammonia levels.

Hit up toutube and watch some how to cycle aquarium videos.

What size tank is this?

 

[Retired Viking]

You could use Tetra SafeStart Plus to quick cycle your tank, I have used it, just follow the directions, Here is a link or google it.

SafeStart™ Plus | Tetra®

www.tetra-fish.com

 

[Retired Viking]

It still takes two weeks to complete the cycle but it has the good bacteria to deal with ammonia. like @Metalhead88 said you should get a test kit to test your water. Either way cycling your tank is a lot longer then 24 hours,

 

[RenC]

Whoever gave you that advice gave you some awful information. It takes around a month to cycle a tank.

You need a test kit to measure ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite. You need to do large water changes every day or every other day depending in ammonia levels.

Hit up toutube and watch some how to cycle aquarium videos.

What size tank is this?

It’s a 4 gallon rank and I’ve started doing 25% water changes every day

 

[RenC]

You could use Tetra SafeStart Plus to quick cycle your tank, I have used it, just follow the directions, Here is a link or google it.

SafeStart™ Plus | Tetra®

www.tetra-fish.com

Thank you!

 

[Retired Viking]

You are welcome, hope all goes well.

 

[Colin_T]

Reduce feeding to 2-3 times a week. This will reduce the ammonia that builds up in the tank. Don't worry, the fish won't starve.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding. This will remove most of the ammonia that is produced from the fish food and waste.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels.

Don't clean your filter for 6-8 weeks unless it becomes restricted and the flow of water is significantly reduced. When you do clean the filter, wash filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty tank water on the garden and top up the tank with some dechlorinated water.

--------------------​

You can add a liquid bacterial supplement, as mentioned above. These have beneficial filter bacteria in and can help speed up the cycling process. I recommend adding a double dose every day for a week. Then you can either put the remaining bottle of bacteria in the fridge or just pour it all into the aquarium.

Try to add the bacteria near the filter intake so it gets drawn into the filter where it belongs.

Do not add the bacteria just before doing a water change. Do the water change first, then add the bacteria supplement after.

--------------------
The white rock with the hole in needs to be moved away from the glass so fish don't get stuck between the rock and glass. It only needs to be an inch or so away from the glass but you don't want rocks resting against the glass.

 

[RenC]

Reduce feeding to 2-3 times a week. This will reduce the ammonia that builds up in the tank. Don't worry, the fish won't starve.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding. This will remove most of the ammonia that is produced from the fish food and waste.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels.

Don't clean your filter for 6-8 weeks unless it becomes restricted and the flow of water is significantly reduced. When you do clean the filter, wash filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty tank water on the garden and top up the tank with some dechlorinated water.

--------------------
You can add a liquid bacterial supplement, as mentioned above. These have beneficial filter bacteria in and can help speed up the cycling process. I recommend adding a double dose every day for a week. Then you can either put the remaining bottle of bacteria in the fridge or just pour it all into the aquarium.

Try to add the bacteria near the filter intake so it gets drawn into the filter where it belongs.

Do not add the bacteria just before doing a water change. Do the water change first, then add the bacteria supplement after.

--------------------
The white rock with the hole in needs to be moved away from the glass so fish don't get stuck between the rock and glass. It only needs to be an inch or so away from the glass but you don't want rocks resting against the glass.

Thank you! I’ve done everything but the adding bacteria, unfortunately everything is closed around me. But I’ve stopped feeding and I’ve started doing water changes with conditioned water, hopefully they start cheering up

 

[RenC]

You are welcome, hope all goes well.

Me too!! I’ll be monitoring and hopefully they get better with the water changing and less feeding