New 25L Tank

[Tizer]

Your fish are small but they wont die over night, nor will they die within the next few weeks. From the sound of things they are very young and probably do have enough space for now. However, the problem is, it sounds like your tank is not correctly cycled and they are swimming around in ammonia/nitrite, basically urine.

I suggest you change 50% of the water in the tank with tap water every day until you can return them. Try and match the temperature with the tank using a little bit of hot water, it will do no harm.

When you are in a position to start fresh make a post with a more details description of the items you have including the filter and several people here will set you on the right track.

While you are in the shop pickup a liquid test kit, or even better grab one off eBay, API Freshwater master Kit comes highly recommended by many people here. Also pickup a bottle of water dechlorinator to remove chlorine from the tap water. Reasons for its use, again can be found in the beginners section.

Take things slowly and just absorb the info a little each day and things wil become clear.

What you need to understand is that 25 Litres is very very small for a tank and the smaller the tank the harder they are to manage and because of the small volume of water you have to play with, the quicker it becomes toxic to the fish.

My recommended size for a first tank would be 90 litres, its not too big and its not too small, but if you can get hold of the 50 litre then thats also a good start.

 

[Narz]

hmmm thanks guys - this just makes me sad because I said to both stores (one a chain store and the other a fish only aquarium store) that I was happy to take my time and do it right so that they dont die - so Im kinda pi$$ed at them for stuffing me around.. I will go and get a test kit tomorrow and Call the shop to see if they will take them back - if they wont refund then I will source the correct sized tank now rather than waiting till we move.

She did mention something about stunting their growth by feeding them less but I didnt like the sound of that so I said I would get a larger tank..

I get that people are saying take them back now - but I cant now - I can tomorrow but its just not an option today and I really want them to be ok and not die in the next 24 hours thats all..

 

[Narz]

Question - so when the lady did all the testing on the ammonia and ph and nitra/ite levels and said that everything was perfect - doesnt that mean that the cycling was complete? She didnt advise to get any other fish other than the tetras until it was right.

Ive had the tank running for 3 weeks now and have applied all the drops of this and teaspoons of that to get the water level right. So Im a bit confused as to what else needs to be done to the water now?

 

[Tizer]

Ask them for the test results, get them to write it down on paper for you, post them up here. Ammonia and Nitrite are the ones you need to pay most attention to. The PH isnt so much of an issue in the early weeks as you should basically have the PH of your own home tap water in the tank, as you will be doing weekly water changes to keep the tank in good form. Again, reasons for weekly water changes covered in beginners section.

Best advice for today is, dont panic, have a read of the info here, then take them back tomorrow and say you have been advised that Angel Fish are not a good addition to such a small tank as they grow very "deep" i suppose is the best word, or tall. yes they take time to get to such sizes but stunted growth is near impossible to identify until its actually set in.

Im not trying to sell myself here, but have a read of the link in my signature, re my 90 litre tank. I've tried to keep it as simple as possible and it shows how the test kit you need works. Ignore the part on seeding the filter because you are not in a position to do this. It might help a little.

 

[Narz]

ooo wait I forgot I got a paper with my test results (I just totally forgot and left it in the bag -

so from the top to bottom

Ph - 7
General hardness - 200
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

oh and sorry forgot to say that these were my results from last weeks test and today she said that the water was perfect - I just didnt get a piece of paper like this with the results like last time.. I will make sure I ask for one from now on..

 

[Tizer]

you wont need to ask for one because you are going to buy your own test kit AM I RITE?

 

[Narz]

hahaha oh yes of course but I will get them to do one last test there so I can compare when I do it at home

Also - are those numbers what you would consider the end of a cycle process or do they need changing. I know the Ammonia needed to be zero - and apparently was today but I forgot to check the general hardness - apparently that had to go down by 50 or something to be 150..??

 

[marieukxx]

Do what people here have suggested. Take the angel fish back tomorrow they will be fine overnight. Then buy a test kit of your own. Read the info on cycling and do it that way. See if you can get any mature media to speed it up. Then come here for advice on your daily test results and what to do. Once it's cycled you can keep only small fish in there.

It depends what test kit they are actually using, are they strips or a proper liquid test. Tbh it's best you just buy your own. If you want Angel Fish eventually read up on them first and then buy and cycle the appropriate size tank first before getting them.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

I can see what's happening here, i was given very similiar advice when setting up my 30L.

You are now seeing a rise in Ammonia, anything above 0 is dangerous and only 2 things will sort this out- 1/ A fully cycled filter. 2/ Water Changes.
Follow what Tizer suggests with regards to W/C's and remember to get clued up on how to use your dechlorinator product when doing them...

If i can't promise you this will all be sorted in the very near future, i can guarantee you one thing... should you follow the advice of this forum and read past articles and threads, you WILL achieve the colourful/peaceful/planted tank you are looking for in the correct manner and with priority given to your inhabitants!

PS- what you may find in these stores though, is a salesperson/s that know what they're talking about. One of the first questions i like to ask them is 'have you got a tank at home? What you got in it'? If you find him/her, then stick with them each time you have to go there..

Regards,
Terry.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

That's what the water probably was before you put the fish in there, correct?


There is no source of ammonia in the tank - outside of the tap water, which is probably where the 0.25ppm came from. You really need to read a BUNCH of stuff in the beginner's resource center.

Have a read through this thread as well. 25L is about 6.5 U.S. gallons so you need to be careful with what you put in there.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

And if you get a spare 10 minutes, read what advice i was given on here when i went through it---> http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/343465-new-tank-nitrite-spike-no-nitrates/page__p__2857461__fromsearch__1#entry2857461


Terry.

 

[Narz]

Thanks guys will have a read of all the links..

But no - that reading was after the first 7 neons had been in and died

 

[This Old Spouse]

Just a last little bit ... once you take the angels back, start cycling your tank and get it all ready for fish, please post on here to get some ideas for the first fish to have in your well-established tank. Neons shouldn't be on the list. There are lots of colorful, playful, fun-to-watch fish that are quite hardy and would do well in your tank.

Is there someone you know who has an established tank where you could get some filter media? That's one thing that speeds up the cycling of your tank immediately. Although I'm beginning to think you're half-cycled already, depending on the "drops of this and teaspoons of that" you've been doing.

 

[Narz]

ok so to clarify what the drops of this and the teaspoons of that were haha

8 drops of 'water ager cn'
8 drops of 'biotec amtrite down'
and 3 teaspoons of 'tropical conditioner'
Also - because our Ph was at 6.5 we got a Ph cake which will rise the Ph to 7 but not let it go over.

Hope that also helps. Im not sure if I mentioned but I also have 2 mussells to help clean and also 1 live driftwood plant and a bunch of long stems live plant aswell for extra oxygen and whatever else the plants are suppose to be good for..

Am I suppose to be returning the neon tetra aswell as the angelfish tomorrow or just the angelfish??

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The best thing to do would be return EVERYTHING and complete a fishless cycle. (I'm not sure there is enough for the mussel to eat in the tank. That might be better being returned as well, but maybe someone else will have some thoughts on that.


All the additives to your tank will do nothing positive and possibly a few negatives. You want your tank water as close to your tap water parameters as possible, so that a big water change can be used as a standard "cure-all" solution to most problems. The "water ager" sounds like it is supposed to be some sort of magic pill to get your tank to a 6 month mature tank age. It doesn't work that way. A 6 month old tank has far more going on than can be added from a bottle. You have countless different biological species all working together, biofilms, etc. Nothing can do that in a bottle. The "biotec amtrite" sounds like something that is supposed to instantly deal with both ammonia and nitrite. I used the U.S. version (Tetra SafeStart - which is supposed to add nitrifying bacteria to your filter and make your tank safe for fish immediately). They are all junk at this point. The chance of that actually working isn't very high right now.



If your LFS really wanted to help you after all this bad advice, they would give you some mature media from their filter to add to your filter. That will help to speed up the cycling process, but even that is not instant. Cycling takes patience and a lot of testing. Stick with it.