CrustyOnEastCoast
Fish Fanatic
Hi All ...
This is a great site! I am brand spanking new to this hobby so please bare with me!
Here is my current fishkeeping saga ... (if you are willing to read the whole thing)
I have a 5 gallon Aqueon minibow tank .. came with filter and light. And I bought a heater for it, set at 77 degrees.
I added gravel and three small fake plants.
I filled it up with tap water treated with dechlorinator that handles:
Chlorine
Chloramine
Detoxifies ammonia, metals
I added 1 Tbsp aquarium salt. I let it do its thing for three days.
By the way, I have read in a couple places that a 5 gallon tank is just too small, and too hard to maintain,
and not to even bother my wasting my time, etc. Of course, I read that after I bought the tank and everything
else, not sure how true it is.
I bought one small Tiger Barb, and a Cherry Barb (maybe not the best combination, but that is what it is).
Brought them home. Put the bags with them in it in the aquarium for 15 minutes to acclimate them, then put them in
the tank.
This was Day 1. They were stressed out, but after a few hours they were calm and happy. On Day 2, they were
fully adjusted and happy, Tiger Barb chasing Cherry Barb all over the place (maybe not good .. but their true
colors showing so .. healthy).
Late Day 3 I test the water using water test strips (another mistake maybe). The nitrite and nitrate test results
don't even make sense. Water is pretty hard, PH is at 7.8, ammonia 0.2ppm. I do a 20% water change adding dechlorinated
tap water at same temperature as that already in tank. All is great.
Day 6, fish still happy. I test water. Same test results. I do another 20% water change, same way. Fish seem
very unhappy right after water change. They are not eating, and stop moving -- just move in place.
Fish stay unhappy, "shimmy", followed by hanging at the bottom and not moving much. Tiger Barb no longer
chasing Cherry Barb. Nobody eating.
It took me a while, though, to figure out they were suffering. End of Day 7 I do a 20% water change.
Day 8 morning (today is Day 8 by the way), Tiger Barb is dead in the water. Cherry barb still stressin' out.
I do another 20% water change, and add about 1 tsp of aquarium salt.
I run off to the store, buy a master water test kit and medicine. Test results at this point make more sense:
Ammonia 1.5ppm
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5ppm
Ph 8
I add medicine to the tank: Tetra Lifeguard All-In-One Treatment (one tablet). (maybe a mistake?)
End of Day 8, Cherry barb is not eating, still shimmy-ing, but also occasionally swimming around the tank,
but staying near the bottom .. looks like an improvement, but I don't know. Will not eat the flakes.
(I have been netting out the extra food that is not eaten as best I can).
So ....
My questions:
Do I need to buy pellets for the Cherry Barb to eat? I saw her eat flakes at the beginning.
Maybe she is still too sick to eat?
I will continue giving the medicine as instructed on the package, though I don't see white spots,
or clamped fins, etc. Should I?
Should I water change once a day for a while (20%) until ammonia goes down? and keep adding aquarium salt?
Is it just a coincidence that they don't like the water changes, or is my water bad ... I had my tap water
in the tank for 3 days before I bought the fish and they seemed fine with the first change, so maybe just
coincidence as the ammonia slowly builds up, but I noticed the negative behavior change right after the water change -- odd.
Any other general advice for me?
My plans for the future if the Cherry Barb dies....
Perform the full nitrogen cycle without any fish. Not sure how to do this. I have heard you can put a
drop of pure ammonia in the tank ... let everything run for about 30 days .. and watch the ammonia fall and
nitrites rise, nitrites fall and initrates rise, then partial water change, then start stocking tank again.
Another plan might just be to perfrom a couple water changes over the next few days to bring the ammonia down
some more and then buy 2 Zebra Danios.
Thanks in advance!
This is a great site! I am brand spanking new to this hobby so please bare with me!
Here is my current fishkeeping saga ... (if you are willing to read the whole thing)
I have a 5 gallon Aqueon minibow tank .. came with filter and light. And I bought a heater for it, set at 77 degrees.
I added gravel and three small fake plants.
I filled it up with tap water treated with dechlorinator that handles:
Chlorine
Chloramine
Detoxifies ammonia, metals
I added 1 Tbsp aquarium salt. I let it do its thing for three days.
By the way, I have read in a couple places that a 5 gallon tank is just too small, and too hard to maintain,
and not to even bother my wasting my time, etc. Of course, I read that after I bought the tank and everything
else, not sure how true it is.
I bought one small Tiger Barb, and a Cherry Barb (maybe not the best combination, but that is what it is).
Brought them home. Put the bags with them in it in the aquarium for 15 minutes to acclimate them, then put them in
the tank.
This was Day 1. They were stressed out, but after a few hours they were calm and happy. On Day 2, they were
fully adjusted and happy, Tiger Barb chasing Cherry Barb all over the place (maybe not good .. but their true
colors showing so .. healthy).
Late Day 3 I test the water using water test strips (another mistake maybe). The nitrite and nitrate test results
don't even make sense. Water is pretty hard, PH is at 7.8, ammonia 0.2ppm. I do a 20% water change adding dechlorinated
tap water at same temperature as that already in tank. All is great.
Day 6, fish still happy. I test water. Same test results. I do another 20% water change, same way. Fish seem
very unhappy right after water change. They are not eating, and stop moving -- just move in place.
Fish stay unhappy, "shimmy", followed by hanging at the bottom and not moving much. Tiger Barb no longer
chasing Cherry Barb. Nobody eating.
It took me a while, though, to figure out they were suffering. End of Day 7 I do a 20% water change.
Day 8 morning (today is Day 8 by the way), Tiger Barb is dead in the water. Cherry barb still stressin' out.
I do another 20% water change, and add about 1 tsp of aquarium salt.
I run off to the store, buy a master water test kit and medicine. Test results at this point make more sense:
Ammonia 1.5ppm
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5ppm
Ph 8
I add medicine to the tank: Tetra Lifeguard All-In-One Treatment (one tablet). (maybe a mistake?)
End of Day 8, Cherry barb is not eating, still shimmy-ing, but also occasionally swimming around the tank,
but staying near the bottom .. looks like an improvement, but I don't know. Will not eat the flakes.
(I have been netting out the extra food that is not eaten as best I can).
So ....
My questions:
Do I need to buy pellets for the Cherry Barb to eat? I saw her eat flakes at the beginning.
Maybe she is still too sick to eat?
I will continue giving the medicine as instructed on the package, though I don't see white spots,
or clamped fins, etc. Should I?
Should I water change once a day for a while (20%) until ammonia goes down? and keep adding aquarium salt?
Is it just a coincidence that they don't like the water changes, or is my water bad ... I had my tap water
in the tank for 3 days before I bought the fish and they seemed fine with the first change, so maybe just
coincidence as the ammonia slowly builds up, but I noticed the negative behavior change right after the water change -- odd.
Any other general advice for me?
My plans for the future if the Cherry Barb dies....
Perform the full nitrogen cycle without any fish. Not sure how to do this. I have heard you can put a
drop of pure ammonia in the tank ... let everything run for about 30 days .. and watch the ammonia fall and
nitrites rise, nitrites fall and initrates rise, then partial water change, then start stocking tank again.
Another plan might just be to perfrom a couple water changes over the next few days to bring the ammonia down
some more and then buy 2 Zebra Danios.
Thanks in advance!