whole story

[stivhixon]

Hi everyone. I bought a tank 2 months ago. The whole combo kit. 30 gallon, whisper filter, heater, what usually comes with the whole package. I let the filter run and heater for three days. I then got a couple of mollies, zebras and neons, oh and 2 chine algae eaters. The water was lookin real crappy and if I touched the bottom with anything tons of debris came flying up. I thought we didnt clean the gravel good enough or the filter was defective. I ended up buying a new filter, changing the gravel to stone, and completely changing the water(not knowing the effect this has on the fish, Im a beginner) and buying a vacuum/water changer. obviously only half of each species made it with the water change thanks to that stresscoat. The one black molly literally came back from the dead. so after this a few days go bye and I decide to replace the dead zebras, danios and molly, I end up buying three mollys. everything is fine for a couple of weeks and the 3 new mollys die, all at differnt times, so the only one that makes it is the original black moolle that survived the first ordeal. all the other fish are fine, and still look fine today. BUT I did test the water the PH looks to be either 7.2 or 7.6, the greens look alike on the test strips, nitrites-0, nitrates-0, ammonia- 2.0 to 4.0 again the colors appear the same. The water looks a bit cloudy, but fish seem fine for nnow. I did buyan ammonia reducer about 2 weeks ago and the tests still look the same. I changed the water last week about a third of water and tried to vaccuum bottom and tons of debris flew around-is this normal? or will they die tomorrow?? Ive spent like 3 times the amount of the initial set since then buying all these tests and chemicals- am i overreacting or was it like this when you bought your firsst aquarium, any help would be appreciated, I dont want to kill these little bastards-thanks

 

[inflexion]

right first things first.

it sounds like new tank sindrome(sp!) mixed with overstocking of fish and/or overfeeding.

also im guessing that you havent used any water conditioner when you changed the water?

do yourself a favour and go read the FAQ section as it will save you time, money and heartache in the long run

 

[Tolak]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showforum=58 Will help out big time.

Tolak

 

[cheesemaker]

sorry to hear about your ordeal.

inflexion is right, it sounds like your tank hasn't been cycled properly.

When I first started, i've managed to send quite afew fish to fishie heaven...

There's tons of useful info around the forum...

in the mean time, i probably wouldn't add anymore livestocks, and do regular water tests to see how things are going...

 

[dwarfgourami]

If you get that much debris from the bottom, you should maybe look into your feeding schedule. Feeding a pinch of flakes can be very deceptive; I've had to measure out the flakes once or twice to teach myself how small a pinch the fish really need. I feed twice a day and aim at 3 flakes per livebearer/day (or half a pea, small piece spinach, samll helping of bloodworms etc), with one fasting day a week. Can't remember how much neons eat (and I'm sure I used to overfeed mine), but it certainly can't be more. Overfeeding is particularly dangerous in hot weather, as the fish will be less hungry and nasty bacteria will grow a lot quicker.

 

[Slyspy]

Yes. Your tank hasn't cycled so your fish are being poisoned, poor sods. Please read the sticky at the top of this forum for all the advice you need and you'll have a functioning habitant in no time (well, a month or so anyway).