My fish will probably be all dead tommorow

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I just did one of the newbest stupidist ******* things ever about 10 mins ago!

Ok, it was my first water change so i turned off the pump, heater and light, used my handy gravel cleaner to pump out the water into a big buckt thing (i cleaned before hand) and then chucked that water all over the grass..

So i filled the bucket up to the amount of water i needed and added my chlorine chemical thing then i went about putting the water back into the tank, got my gravel cleaner, started pumping from the bucket to the tank and after about a minute i was wondering why no water was coming out....Because the blimming tank was too high!! (the source fo water has got to be high than the receiving containter) so then i was wondering how i can get the container higher than the tank so i piled up some big books and put the water source (with the water i gotta add) on top but it still wasnt working so i was worrying at this stage that i wouldnt eb able to add the water to the tank...so this is where i did the stupid bit...

...I lifted up the bucket and poured it into the tank! at the time i though it was the only way but now im I couldnt soften the blow either coz the bucket was too heavy to manouver with one hand and soften the impact with the other..

Now im really worried i have stressed the fish too much, im really scared they will be dead when i wake up tommmorow

If they are not how can I add the water in future in a change?

P.S i also have still got the light off as i didnt want to stress the fihs too much

 

[rachel21]

i normally use a little jug and pour the water in to the filter to avoid this. if you pour it slowly so its over like a plant or somthing it should be ok. as long as you dont hit the fish i'd not worry too much.

got my fingers crossed for you

 

[toggle]

thanks rachael,

as you can gather its my first time fish keeping,

 

[jrd77]

Because my tanks sit very high off the ground (esp. the 40 gallon), I pour my water into the tank from a bucket every single time. I just pour it very slowly making sure not to add water too noisily or to hit any fish. I've been doing this for over a year without major issues. When I do a water change, I also add stess coat which might be helping. I bet your fish will be okay. Good luck!

 

[daza]

I also siphon my water back into the tank. my dining table is next to the tank so I put a chair on the table and then the bucket on a chair, which makes it higher than the tank. a pain, but has to be done.

you could also consider a python.

 

[clutterydrawer]

i get my mam to hold the bucket

when she's out i put it on a stepladder and siphon it in form there

but seeing as you tank is only 5g your could do it with a jug.

 

[corrosive]

Well... When using my drill tool, to put the water in the tank, it wont get everything out the bucket, so when it goes till theres not enough water in, i just poor it in the tank, fish dont mind it, and havnt lost a fish due to it yet .

Oh yeh, i had some spare water left over from filling my tank, so i just poored it into my fry tank, i dont think ive lost any, they all seemed fine too .

 

[toggle]

phew thanks guys!

cant beleave i got so worked up about nothing

I got some bottles of stuff, (stress coat, stress zyme and start zyme) when or how am i meant to be using these, do i need to?

I got to add though, which is questioning me, is that my tank absolutly stinks when i open the lid, and i cleaned my tank with water b4 filling it up,
Should i just do water changes like ever day for the next week? and should i add some of these chemicals?

im worried bout the stink though...is it meaqnt to stink? (the tank aint been cycled, doing fishie cycle with 3 guppies )

thanks

(P.s all what ive fed em so far is a small pinch of flakes once a day and they gobble that up in seconds )

 

[clutterydrawer]

you should be doing water changes every day anyway if cycling with fish.

 

[toggle]

Oh!, i didnt know that!!!
Phew! good job you told me in time!!

So do i do water changes like everyday and then clean gravel and filter every week for the first month or so untill cycle is complete?

 

[clutterydrawer]

*sigh*

test the water for ammonia and nitrite. do enough water changes to keep them under 1ppm.

I dunno whether you're meant to clean the filter and gravel whilst cycling. I don't really know much about cycling with fish.

 

[toggle]

okie, ill buy a test kit tmz, Hope they aint alotta cash...i aint got much left! I gotta save, im going las vegas in 3 weeks time!!! lol ill have to teach my mum how to water change the tank

Ill read up on some articles, i think you just do a 15% water change a day while not cleaning the filter unless it gets blocked

not sure about the gravel though, i think ill just skim the surface and pic up noticable poop,

But are aqariums meant to stink? coz mine is absolutly foul and my mum n dad wont let me get a bigger one coz they said it stinks to much

 

[parker313]

No, aquariums shouldn't *stink*. Everyone's definition of stinky is different, but in general, aquariums shouldn't have a foul smell. If anything, there should be a slight "pond-like" smell, but not stinky.

 

[SnowyzMom]

Aquariums definitely should not stink but they will if the ammonia levels or nitrite levels are high, ie. the tank isn't settled down yet. And don't clean the bio filter if you have one, or the bacteria have nowhere to grow on. Can you get your hands on some product like Easy Balance by Tetra Aqua? It's not a cure all but it sure helps steady levels in a tank and keep them there. I'm thinking about your guppies swimming in high ammonia levels... I don't rely on it but I have mature tanks and occasionally put abit in just to make sure when I'm busy doing a major clean or changing charcoal filters etc. (yep, owner insecurities ) SnowyAngel used that product Easy Balance when setting up some new tanks and found they cycled in no time and stayed at the right levels...ie. zero! Alot of the beneficial bacteria do grow down in the gravel. I tend to stir mine around abit when cleaning/changing water every 7-10 days and I suck up the floating stirred up stuff. Good luck. I am wondering if snails would help any? There are some excellent permanently posted threads on this site about cycling tanks. Do take a glance at them, they help a LOT.

 

[canarsie11]

Good luck