A Few Tank Questions/problems Of Mine

[Leady]

Hi all I'm new my name is Ian. What I was hoping to figure out is why I have so many fish die in my tank. I'm fairly new to all of this so I'll let you know what I have and you can tell me what I'm doing wrong.

My tank is a 20 gallon rectangle with two filers, one the requires a changeable filer that is rated for 2-10 gallons from my old tank and another that is outside of the tank that connects to a hose and a filter tip and is rated for 20 gallons.

I set the tank up with some new fish and slowly added my others from the 10 gallon I had with new filters and gravel and I added the water treatment stuff and aquarium salt.

I have goldfish in with my fish I thought they would all be fine together but maybe that is my problem, hopefully you all can help with this.

The rest of my fish are: plecosamus (sp), two albino catfish babies that help clean the tank, a fan tail goldfish about 4 inches long, 3 regular goldfish, a red eyed tetra, I had an oscar that just died, two of my 3 tiger barbs died, and I have one other fish I can't remember the breed but it is also a tropical fish. I also had 2 pictus cat's and one of those black bugeyed fantail goldfish that died as well.


The tank is at 65 degree's with no heat. I don't think the temperature is the problem because a lot of the fish in there are tropical and they have no problem.

Could it be that I need to clean it more often or in a different way?

I try to clean out/replace the filter before it gets gross and clean the walls of the tank.

Maybe its overfeeding but I thought the excess they didn't want would float to the bottom and at the worst make the tank dirtier or was eaten by the bottom feeders.

I'm just need some help with this so I can set up a healthier tank and maybe move my goldfish to another if they are the problem I remember reading somewhere that they are a dirty fish or carry disease that tropical fish can't live with.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ShoC]

Dont replace the Filter media,
Just clean it in dirty old tank water you take out when doing a water change,
the stock you originally is way to much for the tank as an Oscar itself can grow huge,

Aquarium salt is a big NO NO in a fresh water tank.... adding salt start to turn its to brakish then saltwater,

change about 25% of your water each week along with vacing the gravel at the same time,

Have you read the pinned article on the cycling process...
Keep in mind when changing the water add Dechlorinator to your water before adding it to the tank as chlorine will kill the beneficial bacteria

good luck

 

[aquila]

Hi

Your first problem is that your tank is too small for any of those varieties of fish you've named, with the exception of the tetra. The common goldfish have the potential to grow to 12 inches each, the fantail goldfish will get anywhere up to 8", the pictus cats 5" and are very active, the oscar I can't remember off the top of my head but very large will suffice, and depending on the variety the pleco and the catfish might be anything from 4"-24".

Do you have a test kit? Readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate would really help us get an idea of where your tank is at at the moment.

I think you need to consider finding new homes for your current fish until your tank is stabilised and you have done some more research into fish species and care - http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...ease-Read-Here/ is an excellent place to start.

 

[Leady]

See I know its a small tank for whats in there but they are all very small fish. the fan tail is the biggest and his tail makes up for most of his size anyhow.


I'll test the water today to see what kinda readings I get and I'll let ya'll know.


Also I thought aquarium salt is helpful in some ways even for freshwater.

 

[Callum]

Aquarium salt will literally be killing your catfish. It benefits mollies and monos but they're brackish fish. And If you plan to keep those fish, you must certainly upgrade at one point.

 

[aquila]

See I know its a small tank for whats in there but they are all very small fish.

They will grow. Trust me on this.

Think about it - not expecting fish to grow is like expecting a human baby not to grow. It sounds silly when you think of it like that but you must realise that most of the fish sold in aquatics stores are young and have a lifetime of growing to do yet.

 

[Leady]

Oh yeah without question what I meant was at the rate they were growing I don't think they could have outgrown the tank without my notice or anything.

Surely I would've gotten a bigger tank if that was the case.

I'm gonna clean the water out I have a 10 gallon tank I can put my fish in while I'm doing it and this time I'm gonna add some other things for the fish to hide in and a live plant or two.

I allways liked to watch my fish swim around but they probably want some more things to hide in if they need it.

Since I have no more catfish should I add salt to the fresh water I put back in the tank?

 

[Callum]

Do not put salt in your tank

 

[vinylman]

I'm afraid you need to either get a much bigger tank than you have now, or run into very serious problems. Whether you keep coldwater or tropical fish, they should be kept separately. You can't give both types the best conditions in the same tank. You want your fish to THRIVE, not simply SURVIVE. There are lots of pinned threads on this site for info; please take some time to read through them. We all want the best for your fish, but they're not getting that at the moment.