Poisoned Water?

[dannym]

Hello all...

I need a little advice i went to my local aquarium today (who btw are fu***ng useless) Because 1 of my Angel fish & plec had died i was concerned because i have a 60 litre tank with 13 fish in

2 angels (small)

2 plecs (small)

2 blue rainbows (small)

2 silver sharks (small)

And 5 other fish not sure what they are called also small

Anyway the bastard charged me 7 pound to test the water, as i was worried & dont know how to test my water i paid up he said my water was passable but i need to build up my good bacteria in the tank, how do i do that?..

He also said because i have too many fish in my tank i need to do a 50% water change every other day because my water will get poisoned quickly is this correct?..

And when i do a water change can i just pour in all that cold water straight to the tank?...(after treatment of course)

Thankyou for your help!..

Danny..

 

[Musho3210]

actually, he is right, you are definately overstocked.... VERY overstocked.....

 

[Angel_Queen]

i need to build up my good bacteria in the tank, how do i do that?..

You will need to cycle your tank. It's hard work with fish, and yes you will probably have to do daily changes, possibly of 50% each time.
If I was you, i'd learn how to test your water as you will be cycling WITH fish, you will need to check the levels daily.

Check out this link to learn abut cycling your tank, what it means, why you have to do it, and how to do it.

Good luck!

 

[dannym]

Oh man this is so confusing, Why did the tit in the shop sell me all those fish he knew i had a 60 litre tank, I have 2 weeks experiance in keeping fish, Im going to go back there monday and give him a piece of my mind! My 5yr old daughter found the Angel fish dead & cried her little heart out

Ok anyway thanks for the links, but im still no clearer on the whole water changing can i just pour 50% cold water back in the tank?

And what size tank would you reccomend, i see a 125litre tank on ebay would that be sufficent?

 

[Tolak]

Your local shop is out to make money, and as in all lines of business, some are less than honest. Folks responding here don't make a single cent, we care about fish. You'll get better advice here.

60 liters is about 15 US gallons, give or take. Angels need 10 gallons each, with a minimum of 16" of water depth. This means an 18" deep tank if you have two inces of gravel or other substrate.

Plecs are a diverse species, smaller species will get no larger than about 5". Larger species will close in on two feet, and quite rapidly in a large enough aquarium. That 125l may or may not be large enough for them, though it will be for the angels.

The rainbows will get a little bigger than two inches, and will be fine in the 125.

The balas will get to around a foot in a large enough tank, 125l is nowhere large enough.

Try to post a picture of the plecs, as well as the five other small fish. All fish start out small, even the very large ones.

That is a high price for a water test, many shops will do it for free. Look up the price of the API master test kit.

For a 50% water change I would let it warm to at least room temperature, and pour it in slowly. If the tank is 78F, and the room temperature is 70F, a fast water change with room temperature water will drop it to 74f, if you are doing a 50% water change. Pour it in slowly, and place a clean bowl that will sink on the bottom. Pour above that, the bowl will prevent the water flow from disturbing the gravel. Make sure there is no soap film at all on the bowl.

 

[afishdude]

make sure you use declor, when changing 50% of the water

 

[dannym]

Thanks for the info man, i lost out on the sale of the tank on ebay but i want to do my best for the fish, so when i get paid next month i will buy a nice big tank and they do look beautifull i only hope my fish will last out to next month, i will 50% water change them every other day till i get a bigger tank maybe something in the 200 litre mark, here are some pics of my tank..

Thanks again man..


Oh and should i clean out my filter when i do the water changes?..

 

[afishdude]

do NOT clean the filter. you can clean the filter pad, but not the sponge, or rings or whatever bio media you have.

do you have blue lights? what lights do you have and what wattage?

 

[dannym]

Yes my lights are blue.

According to the box its a marine-glo 15w bulb

I am only reading the box now but it does not say its suitable for my fish??

it says salt water but not fresh water

 

[afishdude]

ok, blue lights make some algae grow.
i would stay away from colored lights. if you can get the same thing in white it will work.

 

[Musho3210]

clean your mechanical filter every once and a while (2-4 weeks) and clean your bio-filter whenever it gets really dirty and crummy and is slowing down flow rates


Always clean the filter media in tank water, so empty some of your tank water in a bucket and squeeze the sponge or floss or whatever until the gunk is out. You may need to change the water every once and a while.

 

[dannym]

clean your mechanical filter every once and a while (2-4 weeks) and clean your bio-filter whenever it gets really dirty and crummy and is slowing down flow rates

Whats the mechanical filter and bio filter?

i know to clean the sponge inside the filter, what else is there to clean?..

Or am i just being thick!?...

 

[Musho3210]

ok, just clean the ones that are fully of crud..... keeps things simple lol.

 

[afishdude]

wash the sponge in old tank water, just enough that it gets some of the junk off it. never wash it in tap water.

 

[dannym]

Ok thanks guys

Man thank god for the internet, my fish would probably of been dead by now. like i said earlier when i get paid next month i am going to upgrade to a bigger tank

With the 13 fish i have, what would be a suitable size, In your opinion?..