Nightmare Start To New Tank

[MrsG]

We had some zebra Danios (sort of my little girls but I looked after them) that lived happily in a 17 ltr cold tank for 4 years. Decided to get a slightly bigger tank for them so bought an Aqua-start 320T which holds 36 ltrs. Got talked into adding a heater. Set-up new tank, with new and old tank filters running, using a lot of old tank water but fish didn't like the move and sadly we lost them. Probably the shock of moving to warm water after being in cold (well unheated) for so long.

Took water to shop for testing for a couple of weeks before levels were good enough for fish (nitrate levels were too high for a while). Assume that fish hadn't been eating so the end product of the cycle had increased nitrate. Water changes and a couple of weeks later got ok for new fish. We got 2 zebra and 2 leopard danios.

The following weekend we lost the 2 zebras and one leopard. I was testing using strip tests and the levels were okay (ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate less than 10) but I now know that these can sometimes be wrong. I spoke to a fish shop and the only thing he could think of was I hadn't been giving the water enough time to warm up before adding to tank causing the temp to drop too much putting the fish into shock. This hadn't occurred to me as I was used to adding water to an unheated tank and we'd had some cold weather so the water would have been cold.

The remaining leopard lasted another 3 weeks then we woke up one morning to find he had died too. He'd gone off his food a few days before but seemed ok otherwise. I tried to remove any food he didn't eat. Again still testing with strips and everything appeared fine.

Having done some reading online I realised that the test strips may have been giving me false readings so I ordered a master test kit. Took water to a different shop to get tested (this time they used test tubes etc. not strips) and got ok for fish so got 4 more danios (this time 2 golden zebras and 2 pearl).

One pearl did not last the night. The next day my test kit arrived and I tested. Ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and nitrate 5. Two days later we lost the other pearl and one of the golden zebras. I spoke to the shop who said to bring in water for them to test again. I did, they agreed that the levels seemed ok so replaced the fish. That evening we lost the other original golden zebra but for the first time we saw a fish that was struggling to swim and seemed tired. Another 2 days and we lost the replacement golden danio and one pearl. Again tested water, nitrate was up to about 10 so did partial water change. Also tested tap water to ensure that there wasn't an issue with that but levels all okay.

Another day or so later and I noticed that the pearl had white spots on it. Went to fish shop again and got meds for white spot (ich). Did partial water change and gravel vacuum and added meds. 2 days later we woke up to find our last fish had died. The water is still testing okay so either there is something in the water that isn't being tested for (but not sure what as the other fish had the same water for years) or something else is wrong.

Or could the first set of new fish have suffered from being added to a tank that hadn't cycled (but test strips were leading me to believe things were okay) and the second lot were crap fish??

I'm adding the stuff to the water for changes (8 ltrs at a time) so the tap water is safe. I've also been adding Nutrafin Cycle as per directions.

What should I do now? Empty the tank, clean it and start again? Keep the tank going and keep testing? HELP!!!

 

[phoenixgsd]

having recently been through a cycle i understand your frustration, this forum has been a lifesaver, you say your using nutrafin cycle but you dont say if you are dechlorinating your water?
members more experienced will ask you a host of questions so we can get a clearer picture and give sound advise

 

[MrsG]

having recently been through a cycle i understand your frustration, this forum has been a lifesaver, you say your using nutrafin cycle but you dont say if you are dechlorinating your water?
members more experienced will ask you a host of questions so we can get a clearer picture and give sound advise

Yes am using the tetra stuff, can't remember what it's called.

 

[FishBlast]

having recently been through a cycle i understand your frustration, this forum has been a lifesaver, you say your using nutrafin cycle but you dont say if you are dechlorinating your water?
members more experienced will ask you a host of questions so we can get a clearer picture and give sound advise

Yes am using the tetra stuff, can't remember what it's called.

Tetra Aquasafe?

 

[MrsG]

having recently been through a cycle i understand your frustration, this forum has been a lifesaver, you say your using nutrafin cycle but you dont say if you are dechlorinating your water?
members more experienced will ask you a host of questions so we can get a clearer picture and give sound advise

Yes am using the tetra stuff, can't remember what it's called.

Tetra Aquasafe?

That's the stuff

 

[FishBlast]

having recently been through a cycle i understand your frustration, this forum has been a lifesaver, you say your using nutrafin cycle but you dont say if you are dechlorinating your water?
members more experienced will ask you a host of questions so we can get a clearer picture and give sound advise

Yes am using the tetra stuff, can't remember what it's called.

Tetra Aquasafe?

That's the stuff

Yeah i have it too X)

 

[OldMan47]

The Aquasafe is an acceptable product for dechlorination. I do not use it because I use an alternative that is more cost effective for me, not because there is anything wrong with Aquasafe. I must say that reading through your experiences reminds me of my younger days. Everything that I did gave me something new to worry about. In your case it is ich coming along as soon as you think you have chemistry under control. Let me give you a hint. No matter what the LFS tells you, a stable clean environment for your fish is going to succeed. The fish will bounce right back from seeming impossible conditions if you give them a clean environment. When you have no clue what to do, do a 50% or more water change to reset things to fairly clean conditions. Specific disease conditions, such as ich, must be dealt with, but in general they are not the real problem with your fish. Instead, you will find that ich treatments, as an example, will kill off your biological filter. Where does something like that leave you and your fish? You have a tank that needs a cycle but has no way to get there. Frankly, I refuse to use the typical ich treatments, call me a radical if you wish. Instead I use salt, as described in the article you can reach using the link in my signature called ich info. Salt is not a cure all but it is a darned fine alternative in many cases. Most, not all, fresh water problems respond well to salt treatments. Many, perhaps most, freshwater treatments aside from salt result in a death of your biofilter. Unless you are ready to respond using fish-in cycle techniques, you will lose your fish to a lack of biological filtration, not the disease you are treating. I do not wish to say that "all is lost". Instead, be aware of what your treatments are doing to your tank and its bacterial implications.
You can succeed if you know the expected result of your actions. If you do not, you are doomed to fail. Find out what to expect. A fish chemical company will tell you what to expect if you know how to ask the question. If you suspect a loss of your cycle, ask if the product will kill any bacteria present in the system. If they tell you yes, the cycle is expected to be lost and you must take actions accordingly. What and how we ask must reflect what we know so that we can judge the answers we are given. The difference between outright lying and omitting the truth is huge to your supplier. Ask them questions that feed back into what you already know. They may never be expected to tell you that their treatment is a broad spectrum biocide but will be happy to tell you that all bacteria will be killed. If you understand what that means, you can be ready for it instead of being surprised that you lost your cycle.

 

[MrsG]

The Aquasafe is an acceptable product for dechlorination. I do not use it because I use an alternative that is more cost effective for me, not because there is anything wrong with Aquasafe. I must say that reading through your experiences reminds me of my younger days. Everything that I did gave me something new to worry about. In your case it is ich coming along as soon as you think you have chemistry under control. Let me give you a hint. No matter what the LFS tells you, a stable clean environment for your fish is going to succeed. The fish will bounce right back from seeming impossible conditions if you give them a clean environment. When you have no clue what to do, do a 50% or more water change to reset things to fairly clean conditions. Specific disease conditions, such as ich, must be dealt with, but in general they are not the real problem with your fish. Instead, you will find that ich treatments, as an example, will kill off your biological filter. Where does something like that leave you and your fish? You have a tank that needs a cycle but has no way to get there. Frankly, I refuse to use the typical ich treatments, call me a radical if you wish. Instead I use salt, as described in the article you can reach using the link in my signature called ich info. Salt is not a cure all but it is a darned fine alternative in many cases. Most, not all, fresh water problems respond well to salt treatments. Many, perhaps most, freshwater treatments aside from salt result in a death of your biofilter. Unless you are ready to respond using fish-in cycle techniques, you will lose your fish to a lack of biological filtration, not the disease you are treating. I do not wish to say that "all is lost". Instead, be aware of what your treatments are doing to your tank and its bacterial implications.
You can succeed if you know the expected result of your actions. If you do not, you are doomed to fail. Find out what to expect. A fish chemical company will tell you what to expect if you know how to ask the question. If you suspect a loss of your cycle, ask if the product will kill any bacteria present in the system. If they tell you yes, the cycle is expected to be lost and you must take actions accordingly. What and how we ask must reflect what we know so that we can judge the answers we are given. The difference between outright lying and omitting the truth is huge to your supplier. Ask them questions that feed back into what you already know. They may never be expected to tell you that their treatment is a broad spectrum biocide but will be happy to tell you that all bacteria will be killed. If you understand what that means, you can be ready for it instead of being surprised that you lost your cycle.

The real question is what do I do now

 

[MrsG]

Please help!!!

 

[MrsG]

Anyone???

 

[Rae4685]

Anyone???

How did you get your bacteria cycle etc going? I have recently moved from a small tank to a larger one and my local fish store (small independant) was incredibly helpful told me not to waste my money on all the gimmicky start up chemicals and he would give me some media from his filter instore and id have an instant cycle. I found this amazing considering he was supposed to be selling the chemicals to make money but seemed more intent on doing the best for me. I still let the tank cycle for 3 days with his media in and all tests were perfect and my fish love it. maybe consider doing something similar?

 

[MrsG]

Anyone???

How did you get your bacteria cycle etc going? I have recently moved from a small tank to a larger one and my local fish store (small independant) was incredibly helpful told me not to waste my money on all the gimmicky start up chemicals and he would give me some media from his filter instore and id have an instant cycle. I found this amazing considering he was supposed to be selling the chemicals to make money but seemed more intent on doing the best for me. I still let the tank cycle for 3 days with his media in and all tests were perfect and my fish love it. maybe consider doing something similar?

When I set the tank up I ran the filter from my old tank alongside the new filter for a week. Everything since would indicate that this did the trick. Ammonia has remained 0 as has nitrite and nitrate slowly rises.

 

[MrsG]

really in need of help and advice guys. Do I still have a cycle? Does it need keeping going while I have no fish for the next few weeks?

 

[MrsG]

helloooooooooooooo

 

[MrsG]

No one loves me, everybody hates me just coz I eat worms!! la la la

Can anyone even offer some support of they have no advice.