Help!

[Fish911]

[font="color#8B0000"]Georgia"]Im new to having tropical fish and its sorta hard. I just got tropical fish alittle while ago (A week and ahalf ago). The tank started to get foggie so i put some of that fog stuff in and it went away but before it got foggie i have 2 neon tetras named nelly and jelly.My male neon tetra nelly, his head strated turning white and he started just sitting around in the tank and after a couple days he died. also i have a male betta named moonlight and a female betta named starlight and when i came home from school she had all theses big white sploches all over here, and she was dieing so i had to flush her! I don't know whats going on.

I alos have 1 male guppie and 2 female guppies. My guppies keep on going down to the bottom of the tank and scrpaing themselfs on the gravel. I dont know why? my 2 female guppies tiny and rainbow keep on doing that alought and is it okay if they do that when there pregnant?also what do i do if my snow whites have ich becuase even thought there pure white on firefly's tail you can see lots of white dots whitch werent therer yesterday.


well thats i i have to say for know but i really need help[/color]!!![/font]

 

[Amunet]

How large is your tank?
Also.. do you have a heater for your tank? They're tropical fish meaning that their water needs to stay on the warm side +74F.

You can buy medication that's supposed to get rid of ich. I've never had it before so I'm not positive on how to treat it.
I know that warm water is supposed to help though... think 84F? or something. I'm sure someone who knows about it will be able to help you there.

Anywho... it sounds like your fish are dying b/c you pretty much just plopped them into an uncycled tank. And depending on how large the tank is, the water fouled up VERY quickly with all of those fish. B/c of the ammonia and stress it's causing on the fish, added with th ich.. I'm sure some of what you've described are bacterial infections.
So you should also probably get some bacterial meds for your tank.
Do you have a test kit so you can test your water? It would be best to get your own so you can have it on hand when you need to test water quickly. You can take a sample of water to your LPS or LFS though and ask them to do one for you. Make sure to get an actual number reading from them.

You need to find out what your ammonia and nitrite lvls are at. If either of them are above 0, you'll need to do multiple water changes of +25% over a few days w/ dechlorinated water to get the readings down to as close to 0 as possible. And after that, you'll have to do water changes probably daily over every other day to keep the readings down.

Uhm, that's all I can think of right now... There are alot more people here more knowledgable than myself so I'm sure they'll be able to help you out more.

Oh and FYI for future fish purchases... NEVER... put a male and female betta together in the same tank if they are not divided from eachother. You'll end up with either or both hurt or dead.
There's a betta section here with alot of really helpful people who know their stuff


Anywho... so yeah.. if you have dechlorinator... I'd do a 50% water change ASAP. Make sure the water is about the same temp as the tanks. And then go out and get yourself a heater and a test kit and possibly some meds as well.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi fish911 and welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Unfortunately, despite what a fish store might seem to imply, you can't just fill a tank with water, put tropical fish in it and expect them to live. Unlike the furry friends that are more like us, fish need a fairly carefully controlled environment and their caretakers need a few learned skills to provide that.

There are many experienced hobbiests here on TFF that will be along to help you. (I'll leave the disease diagnoses to them!) Until then I have a few general suggestions about how to start helping yourself on here. When you made your ID you got a profile and I suggest you add your city,country in the appropriate field so others can see where you are - that helps with things in the long run. At the top of many of the forums are "pinned" articles which contain lots of information to learn. I suggest you begin looking at these and perhaps do searches on aspects of your situation and read the discussions you find.

Also, you'll need to add to the introduction of your problem by giving the size of your tank, the complete fish list, whether you have plants, what temp you maintain. You'll need to tell us whether you have any type of water test kit and if so what tests you have performed. We'll need to know a bunch of test results for both your tap and tank water.

The description you've given is a fairly typical one that comes in. You will need to learn all about "fish-in" and "fishless" cycling. You'll need to learn about water changes and when and how many fish can be added for a given size tank.

OK, that's my advice since I was up late and happened to see your post! Good luck and get reading! ~~waterdrop~~

 

[Fish911]

I do have a heater and its at the right temp. and my size of my tank is 10 gallon. I wated 2 weeks for the ph to be right before i put the fish into. im just confused!! My tank temp is at 81f right know! I just dont want them to die. Also i had the bettas together because i breed them ive bred teh for a couple of months now but i guess maybe there was something wrong with this female betta that i had!

 

[waterdrop]

I do have a heater and its at the right temp. and my size of my tank is 10 gallon. I wated 2 weeks for the ph to be right before i put the fish into. im just confused!!

Your tank is not "Cycled" and you need to read the articles about cycling. Read the pinned article up above about fishless cycling.

Fish waste, excess fish food and dead plant material all produce ammonia. Ammonia burns fish gills and ultimately will kill them. Fish keepers learn to establish a "biological" filter. A type of bacteria grows in the filter media that converts ammonia into nitrite(NO2), which, unfortunately is just as toxic if not more so. But a different type of bacteria also forms in the filter that converts nitrites into nitrates(NO3) and those are significantly less toxic to fish. Water changes are performed to remove nitrate(NO3) and other trace impurities from the tank water. All the tank water cannot be changed at once because the fish not only need somewhere to be but also they can not stand too much pH or temperature shock at once.

Believe it or not its not too hard to learn this stuff and it can even be fun and rewarding! (the fish store never told you eh?, we're not surprised)

 

[Fish911]

I do have a heater and its at the right temp. and my size of my tank is 10 gallon. I wated 2 weeks for the ph to be right before i put the fish into. im just confused!!

Your tank is not "Cycled" and you need to read the articles about cycling. Read the pinned article up above about fishless cycling.

Fish waste, excess fish food and dead plant material all produce ammonia. Ammonia burns fish gills and ultimately will kill them. Fish keepers learn to establish a "biological" filter. A type of bacteria grows in the filter media that converts ammonia into nitrite(NO2), which, unfortunately is just as toxic if not more so. But a different type of bacteria also forms in the filter that converts nitrites into nitrates(NO3) and those are significantly less toxic to fish. Water changes are performed to remove nitrate(NO3) and other trace impurities from the tank water. All the tank water cannot be changed at once because the fish not only need somewhere to be but also they can not stand too much pH or temperature shock at once.

Believe it or not its not too hard to learn this stuff and it can even be fun and rewarding! (the fish store never told you eh?, we're not surprised)

Well i have a filter whitch is supposto keep ammonia down, but i dont know? Maybe it isnt.

 

[helterskelter]

Also i had the bettas together because i breed them ive bred teh for a couple of months now but i guess maybe there was something wrong with this female betta that i had!

you breed them!!!!!! how many fry you got to surive then?

If you cant grasp the idea behind the basic's of even keeping fish how do u expect to breed a fish like betta's.

I'm sorry but if your relaying on chemical filteration to remove toxins your never get anywhere. You need to cycle every tank to get the good bacteria (nitrobacta and nitrosomona) to remove the toxins for you and then to do weekly water changes to remove the nitrates.

Ammonia and nitrite are produce very quickly and a chemical filter soon gets full and needs replacing, this is why you should only use it in an emergency.......

You need test kits for ammonia and nitrites, and only add fish once the reading's go down to 0.......

 

[AngelOfDeath]

[font="color#8B0000"]Georgia"]Im new to having tropical fish and its sorta hard. I just got tropical fish alittle while ago (A week and ahalf ago). The tank started to get foggie so i put some of that fog stuff in and it went away but before it got foggie i have 2 neon tetras named nelly and jelly.My male neon tetra nelly, his head strated turning white and he started just sitting around in the tank and after a couple days he died. also i have a male betta named moonlight and a female betta named starlight and when i came home from school she had all theses big white sploches all over here, and she was dieing so i had to flush her! I don't know whats going on.

I alos have 1 male guppie and 2 female guppies. My guppies keep on going down to the bottom of the tank and scrpaing themselfs on the gravel. I dont know why? my 2 female guppies tiny and rainbow keep on doing that alought and is it okay if they do that when there pregnant?also what do i do if my snow whites have ich becuase even thought there pure white on firefly's tail you can see lots of white dots whitch werent therer yesterday.


well thats i i have to say for know but i really need help[/color]!!![/font]

are you kidding me...you flushed your betta because it had white spot...

A) white spot is treatable
B) its incredibly stupid to flush a fish as it can shed loads of bacteria into your water
C) its inhumane - if you want to euthanise a fish use 'clove oil' or bash its head off quickly
D) all your fish are dying becuase you threw them into an uncycled tank, also, male betta fish should be isolated

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hi there, as others have pointed out you've made a few mistakes, however you're in the right place now and looking for help so we'll help you out all you can.

the no 1 concern is to get you're tank cycled, have a read of this topic which should explain it all http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...eady-have-fish/

 

[waterdrop]

<...>
Well i have a filter whitch is supposto keep ammonia down, but i dont know? Maybe it isnt.

Think of it this way: Your goal is to keep ammonia down to zero because it is highly toxic to your fish. Your knowledge and skill is what will keep ammonia down, the filter is just one piece of hardware, a very important piece, that you will use. It will not do it for you by itself. "Cycling" is the process of starting up a filter so that the two desirable populations of bacteria have grown and are ready to process the ammonia your fish are producing. Cycling, either "fishless" or, more laboriously, with fish in the tank, is one major branch of the skills you need to learn.

If your aquarium is -not- cycled, then the other branch of the skills comes into play: water changes. Water changes can be used to dilute (and, in stages, remove) the ammonia and nitrate that are not being taken out because of a filter that is not yet primed with the right bacterial populations.

 

[Fish911]

Also i had the bettas together because i breed them ive bred teh for a couple of months now but i guess maybe there was something wrong with this female betta that i had!

you breed them!!!!!! how many fry you got to surive then?

If you cant grasp the idea behind the basic's of even keeping fish how do u expect to breed a fish like betta's.

I'm sorry but if your relaying on chemical filteration to remove toxins your never get anywhere. You need to cycle every tank to get the good bacteria (nitrobacta and nitrosomona) to remove the toxins for you and then to do weekly water changes to remove the nitrates.

Ammonia and nitrite are produce very quickly and a chemical filter soon gets full and needs replacing, this is why you should only use it in an emergency.......

You need test kits for ammonia and nitrites, and only add fish once the reading's go down to 0.......

I've bred bettas for awhile now and i just have them in a 5 gallon tank with no heater orfilter. Last batch i got was 18 survived but the rest died because she starlight my fmale betta got ill.

[font="color#8B0000"]Georgia"]Im new to having tropical fish and its sorta hard. I just got tropical fish alittle while ago (A week and ahalf ago). The tank started to get foggie so i put some of that fog stuff in and it went away but before it got foggie i have 2 neon tetras named nelly and jelly.My male neon tetra nelly, his head strated turning white and he started just sitting around in the tank and after a couple days he died. also i have a male betta named moonlight and a female betta named starlight and when i came home from school she had all theses big white sploches all over here, and she was dieing so i had to flush her! I don't know whats going on.

I alos have 1 male guppie and 2 female guppies. My guppies keep on going down to the bottom of the tank and scrpaing themselfs on the gravel. I dont know why? my 2 female guppies tiny and rainbow keep on doing that alought and is it okay if they do that when there pregnant?also what do i do if my snow whites have ich becuase even thought there pure white on firefly's tail you can see lots of white dots whitch werent therer yesterday.


well thats i i have to say for know but i really need help[/color]!!![/font]

are you kidding me...you flushed your betta because it had white spot...

A) white spot is treatable
B) its incredibly stupid to flush a fish as it can shed loads of bacteria into your water
C) its inhumane - if you want to euthanise a fish use 'clove oil' or bash its head off quickly
D) all your fish are dying becuase you threw them into an uncycled tank, also, male betta fish should be isolated

i flushed her because she had it all over her and her head was all white and she had no skin therre!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ok people, lets focus on the positive not the negative. we all make mistakes as beginners, Fish911 is here asking for our help, should we not try to keep this constructive!!

Fish911, really the first thing to understand right now is the cycling process, the link I gave earlier will help you out with that and will tell you what action to take to get the water quality in your tank stable, this will stop youre fish from getting diseases.

 

[helterskelter]

Also i had the bettas together because i breed them ive bred teh for a couple of months now but i guess maybe there was something wrong with this female betta that i had!

you breed them!!!!!! how many fry you got to surive then?

If you cant grasp the idea behind the basic's of even keeping fish how do u expect to breed a fish like betta's.

I'm sorry but if your relaying on chemical filteration to remove toxins your never get anywhere. You need to cycle every tank to get the good bacteria (nitrobacta and nitrosomona) to remove the toxins for you and then to do weekly water changes to remove the nitrates.

Ammonia and nitrite are produce very quickly and a chemical filter soon gets full and needs replacing, this is why you should only use it in an emergency.......

You need test kits for ammonia and nitrites, and only add fish once the reading's go down to 0.......

I've bred bettas for awhile now and i just have them in a 5 gallon tank with no heater orfilter. Last batch i got was 18 survived but the rest died because she starlight my fmale betta got ill.

So u been keeping tropical fish for longer than a week and a half then?
And to breed and rear betta's you must know a little about what your doing.
But i cant under stand why u say u only raised 18 fry as the mum died.

raising 18 fry is good bt they sould be in warmwater rearly, and a little air powered filter are good as the help to provide microscopic foods, so what did u rear the fry on then may i ask?

 

[Texas_Wolf]

Fish911 - Please don't listen to anyone who isn't trying to help and just bashing you for the mistakes you made as a newcomer to fish keeping. I'm going to agree with Miss Wiggle, you came here for help, and we're going to provide you with it. So don't worry


First I think it might be best if you can find someone to take the fish you have a remaining, since your tank isn't quite ready for fish yet you will keep losing them. And I think it will easier for you to just focus on cycling the tank, instead of treating the fish, having to deal with the loses AND cycling the tank.

Next try reading the link Miss Wiggle sent you, here it is again in case you missed it;
<a href="http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...eady-have-fish/" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...eady-have-fish/</a>

Now while your tank is cycling we can help decide you on the proper fish, that would do well in a tank that size and be enjoyable to you. You can also take this time to pick out the decorations and such. And when its all said and done you'll have a fish tank you can be proud of.

 

[Fish911]

Also i had the bettas together because i breed them ive bred teh for a couple of months now but i guess maybe there was something wrong with this female betta that i had!

you breed them!!!!!! how many fry you got to surive then?

If you cant grasp the idea behind the basic's of even keeping fish how do u expect to breed a fish like betta's.

I'm sorry but if your relaying on chemical filteration to remove toxins your never get anywhere. You need to cycle every tank to get the good bacteria (nitrobacta and nitrosomona) to remove the toxins for you and then to do weekly water changes to remove the nitrates.

Ammonia and nitrite are produce very quickly and a chemical filter soon gets full and needs replacing, this is why you should only use it in an emergency.......

You need test kits for ammonia and nitrites, and only add fish once the reading's go down to 0.......

I've bred bettas for awhile now and i just have them in a 5 gallon tank with no heater orfilter. Last batch i got was 18 survived but the rest died because she starlight my fmale betta got ill.

So u been keeping tropical fish for longer than a week and a half then?
And to breed and rear betta's you must know a little about what your doing.
But i cant under stand why u say u only raised 18 fry as the mum died.

raising 18 fry is good bt they sould be in warmwater rearly, and a little air powered filter are good as the help to provide microscopic foods, so what did u rear the fry on then may i ask?

the pet store said that i should take the mother out as soon as the female gives birth and that the male betta will take care of them untile they are swiming around. I hd them in cold water thought? I think that my male betta may of hurt my female betta!

Fish911 - Please don't listen to anyone who isn't trying to help and just bashing you for the mistakes you made as a newcomer to fish keeping. I'm going to agree with Miss Wiggle, you came here for help, and we're going to provide you with it. So don't worry


First I think it might be best if you can find someone to take the fish you have a remaining, since your tank isn't quite ready for fish yet you will keep losing them. And I think it will easier for you to just focus on cycling the tank, instead of treating the fish, having to deal with the loses AND cycling the tank.

Next try reading the link Miss Wiggle sent you, here it is again in case you missed it;
<a href="http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...eady-have-fish/" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...eady-have-fish/</a>

Now while your tank is cycling we can help decide you on the proper fish, that would do well in a tank that size and be enjoyable to you. You can also take this time to pick out the decorations and such. And when its all said and done you'll have a fish tank you can be proud of.

thankx but i dont really know? Its just so hard to keep fish anymore! I think im just goint o give them to the pet store and not get any more fish and sell my tank. Its just to hard!