Some Advice Please

[Steve76]

Hi all

new to the forrum and also new to keping fish.

A month ago I bought a 54l tank, I cycled fishless for about 10 days and then added some tetras in (Cardinals 5 in total). I did lose 1 which seemed to get stuck in the filter somehow but all was well for 2 weeks including a water change. I use a 6 in 1 strip to test the water and all my levels suggested the water was fne.

After 2 weeks I added 5 harlequins to the now 4 Tetras and 8 days went by with no problems.

A week after the Harlequins were added I added 4 guppies, I was told by the local aquatic store that they were perfect for my setup and I shouldnt have any issue. A full week and all the fish seemed quite happy. This is now 4 weeks since I added my first fish, I had only lost 1 tetra however the nitrate levels seemed to be rising. I conducted a 20% water change this Saturday just gone, plus a good clean of the tank. I cleaned the filter in the water I removed from the tank and followed all the proceedures I have read whilst cleaning.

As I say I did the water change on the Saturday and on Sunday one of the guppies had died. I then lost another on the Monday and another this morning. Last night I checked water using the strips again and the nitrate suggestd it was safe but bordering a water change (again). This I did and retested and they had come down. I have now lost 3 of my 4 guppies and I am struggling a bit as to what I may have done wrong.

On another issue but possibly linked, I seem to waste a lot of food when feeding. Having started with tetras they ignored the flakes I gave them whch just sat on top of the water. So I switched o tiny pelletts but I had to try and sink these for the tetras to start to feed which resulted in much of the food hitting the bottom and being tiny unable to fish out. I still use the pellets for all the fish as they all seem to feed off it, the guppies at the top and tetras and Harlequins whilst its sinking, but I still ahve too much wastage. is there a better method..

Hope this isnt too long and makes sence and maybe someone has some suggestions for an unhappy fish keeper who doesnt liek seeing dead fish in the morning

Many Thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

Do your test strips test for ammonia?

How, exactly, did you fishless cycle; did you add ammonia, or just let the tank run?

If your fish aren't eating all the food, then you're feeding too much; it's very easily done. Fish's stomachs are only about the size of their eye, and they only need that amount once a day, so you're not going to be adding very much food at all. You should be using a gravel cleaner when you do your water changes, as that can suck all the left over food and poop up.

As you've had deaths, you should do a large water change; drain the tank right down, leaving just enough water for the fish to swim upright, before refilling with temperature matched, dechlorinated water.

 

[Steve76]

Hi Thanks for the swift reply.

- Test strips test for 6 different things includin NO2 and NO3, they dont suggest they test for NH3 which is the chemical for Amonia

- I didnt add anything to the fishless cycle, to be honest I havn't read anything that suggested such otherwise I would probably have done so.

- Its not so much that the fish arn't eating all the food they just dont eat it before it hits the bottom, sometimes they dont even seem to notice whats in front of them yet they are still feeding if I drop a little more in. I am wondering if there is a better way to feed them or something better "too" feed them to minimise the waste. I do use a gravel cleaner when I do water changes.

The water change I did on Saturday it was noticable the water was pretty cloudy and bitty once I had done it almost like stuff was being disturbed as I worked...

I did think I was doing well with my water, I tested almost daily to try and keep on tp of it. Gutted now about the guppies

 

[Aquascaper]

To put it simply you've overstocked an uncycled tank and are now suffering to consequences of a fish-in cycle with a tank full of fish

You really need to get an ammonia testing kit as you will more than likely find that you have a high reading. A full range liquid test kit would be best as the strip tests are notoriously inaccurate.

Read up on fish-in cycling and prepare yourself for huge daily water changes

 

[Steve76]

Thank you Aquascaper, I followe directions I had read and from local Aquatic shop so pretty gutted right now as it could have been easilly avoided. I will follow your advice on the testing kit and have read this afternoon fish in cycling so have a better understanding.

I currently have 10 fish now which i guess is still too high but hopefully I can fight to try and keep them all alive with more regular water changes for a while..

many thanks for taking the time to respond

 

[Aquascaper]

As long as you can do big water changes to keep the ammonia/nitrite levels as near to zero as possible there's a chance.

Just remember that a (big sounding) 50% water change on a tank with an ammonia level of 0.5ppm will still leave you with a level of 0.25ppm which can still be lethal. So sometimes multiple water changes in one day may be needed if a huge 90% type water change cannot be done.

 

[Steve76]

Bit of an update,

I have performed daily water changes all week but I still lost the final guppy although I have a question on it as the day before it died it developed a small hole in the middle of its fin and when I found it the next morning its fin had split down the middle creating a forked fin..

I have today picked up an API master test kit and tested the water levels

Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 5.0
PH 7.2

It would appear everything is OK at the moment.

Remaining fish are

4 Tetras
5 Harlequins

It will be some time before I consider adding new fish but how long "would" be a suggested safe period?

When I do come to add new fish any recommendations as to stocking levels (little loathed to trust advise I got from fish store) and what fish would suit the tank which to recap is a 54l. I really liked the guppies but hesitant to buy them again.

Many Thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

Have you got your nitrAte and nitrIte readings the right way round?

If your nitrite is really 5ppm, then that's very, very bad; any level over 0.25ppm can cause death or long term harm to fish, so you'd need to get that down.

If that's actually your nitrate reading, then that's fine.

As to adding other fish; after week of no readings at all for ammonia and nitrite, without needing any water changes, then you can add more fish, but no more than 50% of what you already have, so as not to overload your filter bacteria, so in your particular case that would be 4 or 5 neon/harlequin sized fish.

You should up both of those shoals to at least six. Some people do have great difficulty keeping guppies, and there do seem to be problems with moving them.

What are the dimensions of the tank? I wouldn't like to recommend any species without knowing that, as some fish need length for swimming, while others are more sedentary.

 

[Steve76]

Facepalm yes wrong way round thats the nitrate reading

Dimensions are 60cm / 32cm / 30cm

Thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

Oh, thank goodness for that! It's easily done when you're new to this

Ok, well, once you have upped the numbers of cardinals and harlequins, you're not going to have much room left, but you could look at a Bolivian ram, apistogramma, betta or dwarf or honey gouramis (more 'up top'); do be aware that dwarf gouramis can carry an incurable disease called iridovirus. It does only affect them, though, and won't spread to other fish.

If you prefer the 'guppy look' then maybe Endlers would be a good choice. You could always have some shrimps as well; their bioload is very small.

 

[Steve76]

Is that 1 bolivian ram or 1 apistogramma as a sort of centre peice fish ? How large might they grow ?

I will up the shoals next anyway and probably a couple of weeks of good water quality. Thanks for your input really appreciate it.

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, a Bolivian ram or apistogramma would be a 'centerpiece' fish. They both grow to two or three inches in length, and are 'lurkers' rather than far and fast swimmers, so are happy in smaller tanks (although nothing less than two feet, for anyone else who's reading )

You're very welcome, glad to be of help