Impatient Partner

[alien_pseudo]

hi all,

im new to tropical fish, due to my eager other half

my partner decided to buy our daughter a tropical fish tank, she set it up and left it over night, then went and bought some fish, the day after, i wasnt impressed when i found out because we were told to leave it for a week to sort itself out before adding any fish.

i've also done some reading around, about bacteria needing to grow in the filter, adding fish a few at at time etc

shes been and bought and added to the new (day old) tank guppies x 4, neon tetras x 6, mollys x 2, sword tail x 1. plattys x 3 and loaches x 3, as far as im aware.

is this going to be a problem and are the fish going to remain healthy?

any help at this point would be most appreciated!!!

 

[SimoUK]

Woah!, thats wayyy too much for a not even cycled tank to handle, there will literally be no bacteria built up to deal with the fish waste, i suggest a water change every day. Expect losses...

 

[Curiosity101]

If you still have time, I'd really recommended popping to the nearest pet shop to get a liquid based testing kit.

If you don't have the money for a full API Master test kit (bout £24), then an ammonia testing kit is the most useful one at the moment.

Long term that many fish will suffer as that is alot of fish to have during a fish-in cycling situation.

How big is the tank they are in?
The ammonia levels need to be kept under 0.25ppm to avoid lasting damage.
Also it really doesn't matter if your OH bought the fish 1 day after setting up or 1 week after setting it up.
Unless you planned to fishless cycle the tank with ammonia (takes 4-8weeks), then the tank would be no more prepared for fish after 1 week compared to 1 day.

Don't feel tempted to buy a 'bacteria in a bottle' product. These do not work.

 

[jmkgreen]

1. Can the fish shop take them back, that's the urgent bit.

2. What size is the tank?

3. What filter do you have?

4. What is the temperature of the water?

5. Get us your water stats. Ph, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. If you don't have a test kit get one. API freshwater highly recommended, avoid test strips though.

 

[craig855s]

change a large amount of water in the tank two or three times a day to lower the levels of ammonia (and soon nitrite) or the fish you have will not last

 

[SimoUK]

I agree with all of the above, i wouldnt get a test strip set, id invest in a liquid one, i have the test strip one and the liquid, and the test strip always gets different results compared to the liquid as the liquid is more accurate,

good luck, simo

 

[rabbut]

You potentially have a major problem on your hands Before I get into the bad news though, to TFF

Basically, leaving the tank for a week does nothing to mature the tank or the filter, and aside from giving the heater a tank to warm up the tank, nothing needs to "sort itself out". What needs to happen, as you already know, is bacteria need to grow in the filter. This takes from about 3 weeks to as long as 6 weeks. During this time, toxins will be in the water poisoning your fish. The more fish you add, the more toxins there will be and the more chance you have of loosing fish. That would be a full stocking for a 20g, depending on what the Loaches actually are, there are many types of them that get to lots of different sizes. If you are going to do a fish-in cycle, as you have inadvertently started now, you only want a maximum of a fith of the total stocking in there to start, so unless your tank is a 100gallon, you have too many fish in there for a fish-in cycle... Now, top this off with the fact that Neons and Guppies need a 6 month old tank to do well, and Loaches should never be added to an un-cycled tank as they do not tolerate high Ammonia and Nitrite levels, and you have a definite issue with the current stock... Now, assuming you want to continue with the fish-in cycle (there is an easier way that I'm about to cover) you'll at least need to take the Neons, Guppies and Loaches back to the store, as cycling with them would almost definitely kill them

Fish-in cycling is a lot of work. Even with just 1/5 of the full stocking, you'll likely need 50% twice daily water changes to keep the fish alive, along with at least twice daily water tests using Liquid drop test kits... Even with a small tank, if you fish-in cycle, you'll gain a lot of upper body strength without using your gym membership if you use buckets for water changes

So, there is a better option, both from a fish-welfare and a work required point of view, as I mentioned above... Get rid of all the fish and do a fishless cycle. Basically, you add Ammonia to the tank, test the water daily and add more as it goes until you get 0's for Ammonia and Nitrite on your tests. Then you steap up testing to every 12 hours, and continue adding Ammonia daily until your Ammonia and Nitrite return to zero within 12 hours of the last Ammonia shot being added. When you have had that happen for a week, you do a 100% water change then get the full stocking of fish (assuming they will all be OK in a newly cycled tank) the next day Sometimes you have to water change for reasons of a crash during the cycle, but if you know your KH before you start, you can usually avoid the crash instead...

So, to conclude, have a read of the following links (grab a cup of tea/coffee and make yourself comfy first, there is a lot to read though) and then decide how you want to proceede. After that, any questions or guidance can be given as required if you shout

Fish-in cycling
Fishless cycling

All the best
Rabbut

 

[alien_pseudo]

how much water should i remove, all the information i've read says about 20% - 25% of the water, is this a reasonable amount? other than water changes is there anything else i can do?

 

[Curiosity101]

Other options:
Take fish back and fishless cycle the tank

Do larger water changes, you need to do whatever water changes as regular as neccesary to keep ammonia levels below 0.25ppm hence why you need a liquid test kit.

How big is the tank? This will let us know the extent of the problem.

 

[rabbut]

Well, depending on the size of the tank, you may need 30% daily, or you may need 90% twice a day, not enough information without knowing tank size and water stats

 

[SimoUK]

tank size in inches would be nice to know, then we can determine the overall size, in fishy terms L x H x Depth plz

 

[alien_pseudo]

i'll get a testing kit tomorrow! i'll change out the water in a minute
the tank is 24" x 15" x 10" and is "68 litres"

you guys seem to know more then the fella that sold us the tank and fish!

 

[SimoUK]

yh, so thats 13 UK gallons, im not saying that it is always the case, but just be warned, that SOME LFS - local fish shop (just so u know ) owners will give false advice to get a quick sale, after all they do have to keep their businesses running, although its not right. As i say, only SOME will do this, thats why doing your research is also very inportant.

 

[Curiosity101]

Hmm, not only is the tank pretty much over-stocked generally. But it's ridiculously stocked for an uncycled tank

Also what are the loaches like?
Are they clown loaches? Kuhli Loaches? Sucking loaches?

I really can't stress how much you need a test kit.

But in the meantime I would be doing 80% water changes every 12 hours with those stocking levels.

 

[alien_pseudo]

looks like we've got a lot of work on our hands, thanks for all your help. im sure in the coming days/weeks i'll have more questions!