What Next?

[sarah-lou]

Hi, I set up my first tank 2 weeks ago. Followed the instruction book that came with it. I washed the gravel & decorations before adding then filled with water, I added aqua plus water conditioner and nutrafin cycle. I was told that I should leave the filter running do partial water changes every 3rd day and that I could add fish after 7 days. So last Saturday we went to the pet shop had the water tested, it was fine and brought some guppies 8 female and 3 males. By Tuesday night they had all died. Had the water tested again on Wednesday and was told the water is fine. So why did they die? Also they left behind 10 guppy fry which are now about 15mm long and seem to be doing really well. So what should I do now because I want to end up with a tank that has 3 or 4 types of fish in it.
thanks
sarah-lou

 

[martyn21uk]

Hi Sarah-Lou and welcome to the board!!!

Basically you've learnt the first harsh lesson of fish keeping. What they tell you in the shop isn't always right!!!!!


Cycling your tank is the most important thing to learn to get you up and running, start by reading this post I just found a couple down and I'll get you some more links in a minute. There's loads of info on this site...

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...amp;mode=linear

The main thing for you at the moment is to a) get your own water test kit. Available from somewhere like pets at home for about £25. Most on here use the API one, but the most important thing is to get a liquid one. and B) Decide what you're gonna do with your fry. I fear they wont survive to be honest.

Anyways, happy reading!!

then read this one!!

http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...shless-Cycling/

 

[Madam Macaw]

Hi, I set up my first tank 2 weeks ago. Followed the instruction book that came with it. I washed the gravel & decorations before adding then filled with water, I added aqua plus water conditioner and nutrafin cycle. I was told that I should leave the filter running do partial water changes every 3rd day and that I could add fish after 7 days. So last Saturday we went to the pet shop had the water tested, it was fine and brought some guppies 8 female and 3 males. By Tuesday night they had all died. Had the water tested again on Wednesday and was told the water is fine. So why did they die? Also they left behind 10 guppy fry which are now about 15mm long and seem to be doing really well. So what should I do now because I want to end up with a tank that has 3 or 4 types of fish in it.
thanks
sarah-lou

Buy yourself a liquid test kit so you can check all the parameters of the water. Post your readings here. I would be inclined to think it was the water and that you aren't fully cycled yet. But the readings will give us a better clue.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi sarah-lou and welcome to the forum!

I agree with martyn and MM, the very first action to take is to find a liquid-based test kit (and yes, the API Freshwater Master Test Kit is the most popular here) and learn to use it by testing your tap water a couple times first. Then test your tank water. You only need to start with Ammonia (most important of all) and Nitrite (NO2) and pH and then report those 3 here in the forum for both your tap and tank water. I recommend you report your tank size and whether you are still putting any extra substances in it. As an aside I recommend you add your city, country to your profile if you haven't already - that sometimes helps people tailor their answers to help you more.

When you have free moments you can begin reading (as martyn mentions.) You need to learn all about how the nitrogen cycle works and how fish keepers have put that knowledge to work in a practical way to have a skill that gives fish the environment they need to live. I'd prefer the second link martyn gave you:

http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...shless-Cycling/

and to understand the bigger context you can see a chart in Wikipedia:

http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarium#Nitrogen_cycle

You will also need to learn about performing water changes. Once the experts see your test results they will probably have you doing some of these to improve your water stats while your "fish-in" cycle proceeds. In my opinion water changes are one of the "best kept secrets" that separate beginners who don't have success with fish and those who become successful aquarists. They are not hard to do but there are a lot of helpful details you can learn about them on TFF.

OK, hope you don't mind all the words from me being in a "keyboardee" mood! ~~waterdrop~~

 

[sarah-lou]

Hi, Just thought I'd let you know how I am getting on with my tank after a really bad start. I decided to try and save my baby guppy's so I decided to do a fishy cycle. I decided to add 3 platy's to my tank and cycle with those and just hoped that the 10 fry survived. So on 24th March I added 3 platy to the tank. All seemed fine for a few days I did daily water changes and a couple of days later I started to get ammonia readings but then I noticed that the tail fin of my orange platy was disappearing I kept a close eye on it but every day a little more fin was missing. So on 31st of March I treated my tank with Interpet Fungus and Finrot treatment. The next day the affected platy had some fry, but none survived. Any way over the following weeks the tail has got better but nothing seemed to be happening with my cycle. Until today I did my tests this morning and ammonia was 1.00, nitrite was 0.25, nitrate was between the 0 & 5.0 same as my tap water and ph 7.4. So I did a 50% water change, I'll do another later. Finally my tank seems to be cycling. In my tank I have 3 platy and 6 guppy fry that are now about an inch long. So please tell me how am I doing?

 

[tim1]

How many gallons/liters is your tank? I think it might be overstocked for a cycle.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi sarah-lou in Devon!

Sounds like you are doing great! When you joined in March you didn't know much about testing or the importance of water changes probably and now you are reporting them right and left.

Tim asks a good question - let us know your tank size, filter details and of course any substances you are adding etc.

~~waterdrop~~