Hi, I'm New

[miss_pixie]

Hi everyone,
I'll sort a piccy for me soon, but first i'd like your view on something;
about 3 weeks ago i got two guppies and a beautiful little clown plec to go in my tank (a little hexagon thingy holds just over 20l, gravel filter with air pump)
i've had no problems with this tank and its been running for over 18 months (only a couple of random deaths and others caused by the recently deceased siamese fighter ) it had a Ram, a bristle nose plec, 6 neons (new after the fighter), 3 black widow tetra, a cory and a loach and all these had been fine for over 2 months min- iv'e had the cory and the plec since the tack was started. However 24 hrs after i put the new fish in (the guppies and clown plec) i have one dead neon, 2 days later 2 more dead neons, a dead guppy and all the neons and the ram have signs of white spot (so i put in white spot treatment). But after 7 days i have 1 neon, 0 guppies and the ram has died. and last week both plecos died and the last of the neons, and all the black widow tetra have white spot and arn't looking to healthy!
I really think that the new fish brought the white spot, but is there anything i can do? and should i tell the fish shop, and can i claim a refund as i'ts gonna cost to restock the tank again- i know they wern't expensive fish but they would of cost at least £25 in total?
I'm really quite upset, i've never had this number of fish die this quickly and i've kept fish for 12 years

edited to say: I've got the volume completely wrong, as i was estimating it by the number of pint glasses i have to put in to top up the water when i change it, is probably 35l min, but honestly i have no idea, as i'm yet to find a tank volume calculator that does hexagon tanks

 

[GeeFish]

Have you got any stats on the water (Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate etc)?

When was the last time you did a water change?

Have you put the white spot medication in with a carbon filter thingy?

Sorry if these are suck eggs questions?

Gee

 

[Ben]

First off, to the forums, please read all the pinned articles you can, especially in the Beginners forum.

How often did you do water changes? Whats your water stats?
Your tank was WAAAY over-stocked, waaay too many fish, i would only recomend keeping 3 guppies in there maximum!
The bio load probably got too much with the pleco's high waste productivity(did you feed him wood by the way, apart of their diet).

It doesn't matter how long you have been keeping fish, it doesn't make you any better at fish keeping.

HTH(and please don't take this too harshly)

DD

 

[CFC]

about 3 weeks ago i got two guppies and a beautiful little clown plec to go in my tank (a little hexagon thingy holds just over 20l, gravel filter with air pump)
i've had no problems with this tank and its been running for over 18 months (only a couple of random deaths and others caused by the recently deceased siamese fighter ) it had a Ram, a bristle nose plec, 6 neons (new after the fighter), 3 black widow tetra, a cory and a loach

20 litres!!! Thats around 5 gallons. Your tank is extreemly overstocked and i'm suprised it has taken 2 months for the problems to start, your tank is only large enough to hold the neons and the cory with prehaps a couple more corys to make the single one you have more comfortable but even that is pushing the safe limits of the tank to the extreem.

You can place no blame on the store, the loss of your fish is down to nothing but over crowding and lack of research. I would suggest doing a lot of reading either on this forum or by buying/borrowing a few good fish books before you replace any of the fish.

 

[Ethos]

I think the only thing out of your list that you can sucessfully keep is the guppies, but even thats a stretch

 

[GeeFish]

My god! sorry thought that was 20 Gallons!

There's no way that amount of fish should be in a tank that size. No wonder your having problems. I too am confused as to why it's taken so long for this to happen.

Don't wish to be horrible, but I think you need to do a lot more research into "Stocking a Fish Tank"

Gee

 

[grumpymole]

you should at least buy a cheap 10 or 20 gallon tank- it will be worth the money

 

[bunjiweb]

The thing you need to remember is that whitespot is present in most tanks and there is always a contributing factor to your fish breaking out in the parasite. I would have thought that it was deffinately stress-induced and I could probably guarentee that your water is completely wrong so i suggest you get a testing kit or get your LFS to test the water for you.

Plecs should be in nothing under a 20gallon tank, ideally a 40gallon+. As CFC said the only things suited are neons, corys and probably a guppy or 2. A maximum stocking for this tank would be..

2-3 guppies,
3-4 neons,
3 corydoras.

and thats if you do weekly water changes, monthly gravel cleans and light feeding.

Ben

 

[miss_pixie]

Have you got any stats on the water (Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate etc)?

When was the last time you did a water change?

Have you put the white spot medication in with a carbon filter thingy?

Sorry if these are suck eggs questions?

Gee

ok i reckon i underestmated the tank size it's around 35l as it's hexagon and no sites seem to give volume for hexagon tanks, but it was probably a little overstocked (for size see pic), but it always has been.

anyway i change the water every 2 weeks, 10-20% so i changed the water last week, and then two weeks before, (a day before i got the new fish) i don't have any water testing kits cos they cost way to much, but do get the water tested every few months and the last time (in October) it was perfect, no hint of ammonia (0mg/l), nitrate(0.1mg/l), nitrite(1mg/l)! and i don't have a carbon filter as it's a gravel filter (and i did follow the instructions)

 

[miss_pixie]

Plecs should be in nothing under a 20gallon tank, ideally a 40gallon+.

suprised no-one ever told me that, but then again when you buy a 2cm long plec, that you specify won't grow too big (6 inches max) thats what you get. but at least it not like some people with common plec you see that are longer than the width of the tank!

"you should at least buy a cheap 10 or 20 gallon tank- it will be worth the money"
-umm where should i put it? I don't have the room!, thats the only reason i've got this small tank, i do have a 2ft tank but while i'm living in this crummy flat i have nowhere to put it, and i honestly don't think the floor could take it!

You can place no blame on the store, the loss of your fish is down to nothing but over crowding and lack of research. I would suggest doing a lot of reading either on this forum or by buying/borrowing a few good fish books before you replace any of the fish.

Does this still apply since tank size revelation?

 

[Soaup]

That tank looks a bit larger then 5 gallons. Ok well yeah the tank is beautiful and the fish i wouldnt put the plecos in its still small some neons and corys will work. Maybe some guppies. NO plecos. They will get large.

 

[miss_pixie]

It doesn't matter how long you have been keeping fish, it doesn't make you any better at fish keeping.

HTH(and please don't take this too harshly)

DD

 

[miss_pixie]

oops wrong button

 

[kimbowee]

I think what D D meant is that even though you have been keeping fish in this tank for awhile it isn't the correct way to do it.

You should keep about 1" of adult sized fish per gallon of water. What are the dimensions of both of your tanks, the hex & your 2 ft tank? Are there any fish in the 2 ft tank? If you could split the stock between the 2 tanks you could probalby alleviate the water quality issues therefore relieving stress & being less suspectible to disease such as white spot.

No doubt the problems you are having are caused by overstocking and water quality issues. There should be 0 Nitrites in your tank.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Indeed, its only a few extra litres. Whats in the tank at the moment?

anyway i change the water every 2 weeks, 10-20% so i changed the water last week, and then two weeks before,

Water should be changed once a week, not once every two weeks.

i don't have any water testing kits cos they cost way to much,

I'd imagine all the fish you buy cost lots too, and when they keep dying its worth spending £15or so on a master test kit, isn't it?

water tested every few months

Should be tested several times a week until it's cycled.

and the last time (in October) it was perfect, no hint of ammonia (0mg/l), nitrate(0.1mg/l), nitrite(1mg/l)!

Exactly, not perfect. Ammonia and nitrite should be 0, nitrate, a bit above whatever your tap water tests at.

and i don't have a carbon filter as it's a gravel filter (and i did follow the instructions)

Carbon is unneeded, and UGF's aren't very good filters.