My New Tank--Please Help

[Miles_hot]

You urgently need to do a good sized water change. Remember that you can remove a lot of water - basically down to the height of the tallest fish (they all need to be able to swim upright). Test the water after the change - if it isn't showing 0.25 or below (i.e. most kits 0 or 0.25) for both ammonia and Nitrite you need to do another one and repeat until you do get that safe reading. The interesting thing about ammonia etc poisoning is that the fish can appear OK however their gills / nerves etc are being damaged and their life spans are shortening all the time. This can lead to a sudden death later in the process for no apparent reason, sometimes when you're actually doing all the right things! This is why the liquid test kits are so useful - they provide a reasonably scientific view of what is actually going on rather than attempting to interpret fish behaviour etc.

Remember do temp match and dechlorinate and go for it - now you can objectively make your fish's world better

 

[Tizer]

Your fish wont be alive, happy or with a good appetite for long if you dont follow what Miles wrote You really need to change as much water as possible and then keep on top of the testing and water changes daily.

 

[crumpybumpy]

When you use the declorinator do you let it sit in the tap water for a while or is it ready to use right away? I changed 2 gallons out of my 8 gallon tank last night...everything seemed ok...but now this morning the betta looks like he has either an ich like condition or is sloughing off some of his tail fins...he was also hiding in one of the decorations. Yesterday he looked fine.

 

[XeroTolerance]

You can add it right away.

Did you make sure the water temp was the same as in the tank? If not it could cause stress to your fish.

If he looks like he was ich isolate him and add a very little amount of salt. Raise the temp to around 80F.

EDIT: After looking at your stocking. Your beta may be stressed from all of your fish moving around so fast. Do you see any signs of fin nipping. I would expect some from the Neon tetra because you only have 1 when they need 5 or 6.

 

[Miles_hot]

If you're doing water changes using a bucket just add and swirl around. If you're using a hose into the tank add the amount of dechlorinator needed for the whole tank before putting the hose in place.

Have you got the water chemistry to 0/0 yet? if not you could be seeing the first signs of some toxic issues here... or maybe just illness - I'll let the more experienced comment!

Miles

 

[the_lock_man]

The interesting thing about ammonia etc poisoning is that the fish can appear OK however their gills / nerves etc are being damaged and their life spans are shortening all the time.

I would liken it to a human smoking - you can't see the damage that's being done, and you carry on pretty much normally until that fateful day when the nasty hacking cough starts.......

 

[XeroTolerance]

The interesting thing about ammonia etc poisoning is that the fish can appear OK however their gills / nerves etc are being damaged and their life spans are shortening all the time.

I would liken it to a human smoking - you can't see the damage that's being done, and you carry on pretty much normally until that fateful day when the nasty hacking cough starts.......

+1

 

[crumpybumpy]

I changed most of the water out of the tank yesterday....Ammonia went down to the first or second color change..Nitrite is still off the scale and Nitrates are about 15 ppm.

The beta died---tail fins sloughed off and he looked like he had ich. All others are still alive...white molly and swordtail stay at the top of the water seeming to try to swallow air..but they still eat; neon tetra doesn;t seem affected and the shrimp and snails aren't affected. At night the molly goes to the bottom of the tank.

 

[crumpybumpy]

I did a clse to full water change and now ammonia is at the first or second color change....Nitrite is still off teh scale and Nitrates 15 ppm.

Beta died---tail fins sloughed off and he looked like he had ich.

White Molly and Swordtail stay at the top of the tank seeming like they are gulping air but will eat. Neon Tetra doesn't seem affected. Snails and shrimp don;t seem affected.

WHat else can I do? Just keep doing daily water changes?

 

[fluttermoth]

You might need to do multiple water changes to get the levels down. Any reading for ammonia or nitrite needs an immediate water change, I'm afraid.

As long as you warm and dechlorinate the new water, it's better to do more water changes than leave the fish in bad water.

Get those buckets out!

 

[Miles_hot]

When we needed to bring nitrate levels down to the same as the tap water we always needed to do a full water change (which leaves 1-3" in the bottom), fill up with de-clorinated water and then run the pump for a bit (10-20 mins) and then repeat the process. This is because of the water in the bottom of the tank, the 6-8l in the pump and pipes etc.

How did you get on?

Miles

 

[crumpybumpy]

Well 2 weeks later from my first post my water levels are much better:

pH 7.6
NH3 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5 ppm

Water changes did not budge the Nitrite. I got Nutrafin Cycle from the fish store and after using it for 3 days as directed the Nitrites went away. From reading on other fish forums I've seen a lot of veterans slam this product saying it does nothing but there is no question that this fixed my problem. The first time I used it I did not shake well and it was too clear, but when shaken you can see all the cloudy goop which is maybe why some people don't think it works?

beta, neon tetra, and fancy guppy died...now I have:

Male White Molly
Female Dalmation Molly
Male Twinbar Solar Flare Swordtail
Female Twinbar Solar Flare Swordtail
Gold Crescent Platy

Sunkist Shrimp
Cherry Shrimp

2 snails.

 

[Miles_hot]

CB, I find the lack of changes from doing massive water changes to be very odd.

 

[crumpybumpy]

CB, I find the lack of changes from doing massive water changes to be very odd.

the water changes I think made the Ammonia go down but the Nitrtites did not budge at all. I even tested my tap water then to see if it was the tap water but that was low. I was changing about 3/4 of the tank per change. ALl is good now though.