Brand New And Fish Are Dying Help!

[lost]

Hi everyone your help needed please....
I bought my new tetra art aqua 60 litre tank 8 weeks ago and was told by fish shop to cycle it with fish so they gave me 5 neon tetras 2 female guppies and a male and female orange plattie and it's not going great I lost 1 tetra in the second week and was told by my lfs that nitrate was sky high had been over feeding them and to do a part water change and clean the gravel- there was mouldy food stuck to it - so done all that then I lost another tetra and so i then changed the filter as it had been in for 6 weeks by then but then another tetra bit the dust I was then told that my tank was 2 'clean' and to stop water changes (had done partial) so havn't touched it for 2 weeks apart from to administer waste management liquid once a week as instructed and have now got algae everywhere and the last straw was when the male plattie died last night. On top of all that my female plattie gave birth to 3 little babies last night and am fearing for there survival and the rest of my fish. The guppies look lively and live constantly at the top of the tank but the female plattie isn't very lively at all spends most of the time hiding.
Please help I hate seeing the fish die and I don't know whether to leave well alone or change the water again.
Also am going away over bank holidays is it best to leave light permanantly on or off?

 

[-germ-]

You need to brush up on basic cycling principles;
Basically the bacteria that oxidize the toxins produced by waste in your tank (from food, fish poo, fish wee) build up in the media (sponge/floss etc) in your filter.
The ammonia (toxic to fish, even at a fairly low concentration) from waste is broken down by
nitrosomonas bacteria into nitrIte (toxic to fish, even at a fairly low concentration) this is then broken down by
nitrospira or nitrobacter bacteria to form nitrAte (only toxic to fish at high concentrations), nitrAte is easily kept at a safe level via weekly water changes.

On a simplistic level, from where you are at the moment; there is no such thing as a tank thats too clean.

From now on Ignore your LFS (local fish shop), they want your cash and maybe to sound knowledgable; but at the end of the day, they get paid for it, those on this forum don't they do it for free because the vast majority truly care (aww...).

Most likely the first fish you lost was due to a build up of nitrite or ammonia, when you threw away the filter media, you'll have thrown out your nitrobacter, nitrosomonas, nitrospira therefore starting a new cycle all over again resulting in even more deaths and damage.

5 reccomendations;
You should be performing 50% water changes daily to remove the toxins and dilute (by adding new water) those left in your tank.
You could do with some SeaChem Prime (from your LFS) to add to your tank, this should help detoxify some of the toxic build up.
Consider returning your fish until you can get the tank cycled.
Don't change the filter pads for the near future, if you think they need cleaning rinse them out in dirty tank water.
Get a liquid tester kit from your LFS, this will help you monitor your water quality and therefore, look after your fish as best you can.

Do you know anyone else that keeps tropical fish and has had a tank set up for a few months?
Where do you live, general area (i'm not a stalker )?

 

[lost]

You need to brush up on basic cycling principles;
Basically the bacteria that oxidize the toxins produced by waste in your tank (from food, fish poo, fish wee) build up in the media (sponge/floss etc) in your filter.
The ammonia (toxic to fish, even at a fairly low concentration) from waste is broken down by
nitrosomonas bacteria into nitrIte (toxic to fish, even at a fairly low concentration) this is then broken down by
nitrospira or nitrobacter bacteria to form nitrAte (only toxic to fish at high concentrations), nitrAte is easily kept at a safe level via weekly water changes.

On a simplistic level, from where you are at the moment; there is no such thing as a tank thats too clean.

From now on Ignore your LFS (local fish shop), they want your cash and maybe to sound knowledgable; but at the end of the day, they get paid for it, those on this forum don't they do it for free because the vast majority truly care (aww...).

Most likely the first fish you lost was due to a build up of nitrite or ammonia, when you threw away the filter media, you'll have thrown out your nitrobacter, nitrosomonas, nitrospira therefore starting a new cycle all over again resulting in even more deaths and damage.

5 reccomendations;
You should be performing 50% water changes daily to remove the toxins and dilute (by adding new water) those left in your tank.
You could do with some SeaChem Prime (from your LFS) to add to your tank, this should help detoxify some of the toxic build up.
Consider returning your fish until you can get the tank cycled.
Don't change the filter pads for the near future, if you think they need cleaning rinse them out in dirty tank water.
Get a liquid tester kit from your LFS, this will help you monitor your water quality and therefore, look after your fish as best you can.

Do you know anyone else that keeps tropical fish and has had a tank set up for a few months?
Where do you live, general area (i'm not a stalker )?

Hi thanks for that I don't know anyone with tropical fish just marine and the shop won't keep my fish for me as they have had too many people leave them there for good! should i still keep administering the waste management liquid every week if i am changing water every day? I live in Essex but please don't hold that against me!

 

[-germ-]

You've unintentionally asked an excellent question (imo)...
Could marine filter media be used as a donor?
Anyone?
I would leave the waste management liquid, all you need addition wise is dechlorinator and a water testing kit to run a successful tank (and medication if needs be), can you get to your LFS today and purchase the Prime and/or a water tester?
Is there anyone you know willing to perform daily water changes whilst you are away?
Does the tank contain many live plants?
Does the outlet from the filter break/disturb the waters surface?

 

[lost]

You've unintentionally asked an excellent question (imo)...
Could marine filter media be used as a donor?
Anyone?
I would leave the waste management liquid, all you need addition wise is dechlorinator and a water testing kit to run a successful tank (and medication if needs be), can you get to your LFS today and purchase the Prime and/or a water tester?
Is there anyone you know willing to perform daily water changes whilst you are away?
Does the tank contain many live plants?
Does the outlet from the filter break/disturb the waters surface?

No it's the next door neighbour that is going to feed them when she does that cat she doesn't know about fish tanks and don't think she would be willing can't get any today as finish work way past shop closing time.
Have no live plants just artificial ones the filter ripples the water immediately close to it but doesn't disturb water at other end of tank

 

[indigoj]

Try not to feel too bad about your fish, it is bad advice not bad intentions that has killed them, you are here now and want to learn which is probably the best thing you can do for your fish.

Sadly lots of people here (me included) have lost fish due to simple inexperience and even more due to bad advice from LFS.

main things to learn (I learnt here) :

Don't change your filter media unless it is falling apart.

Get a liquid test kit (most here say the API one) and test your tank water very regularly, twice a day in the early stages.

Test your tap water Ph and Hardness so you know what you are starting with.

Research - Fish, Cycling, Water Chemistry, Feeding.... EVERYTHING before buying more fish, then you can get fish that suit your water and tank so they are more likely to be healthy.

ASK - even if it seems simple.

Good Luck!

 

[lost]

Try not to feel too bad about your fish, it is bad advice not bad intentions that has killed them, you are here now and want to learn which is probably the best thing you can do for your fish.

Sadly lots of people here (me included) have lost fish due to simple inexperience and even more due to bad advice from LFS.

main things to learn (I learnt here) :

Don't change your filter media unless it is falling apart.

Get a liquid test kit (most here say the API one) and test your tank water very regularly, twice a day in the early stages.

Test your tap water Ph and Hardness so you know what you are starting with.

Research - Fish, Cycling, Water Chemistry, Feeding.... EVERYTHING before buying more fish, then you can get fish that suit your water and tank so they are more likely to be healthy.

ASK - even if it seems simple.

Good Luck!

Thanks not sure how long to change the water daily for? Should I turn there light of and not feed them while I am away or is it best to feed every day and keep it on - am a bit worried about the little fry in case I scoop them up when doing the water changes.

 

[LakeyGal]

...........Should I turn there light of

Tesco sell a socket timer switch at a fairly reasonable price...

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Do daily water changes as long as ammonia and nitrite are present...try to keep them both below .25 ppm. This is why it's so good to have a liquid test kit...they are accurate enough to let you know when you need a water change. After the tank remains at 0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrites for several days (with a slow rise in NitrAtes) you can switch to a minimum of 25% water changes weekly.

 

[FishWishDish]

I am a big fan of Seachem's Prime. I think it saved my fishies since it detoxifies nitrites and ammonia. Ultimate water conditioner also says it does that. Tetras I have read are very sensitive and best added after a tank is cycled. Bad advice from fish store to have you start a new tank with them. Hopefully the rest will make it through.

Mardel and seachem also sell TOXIC ammonia monitors for under $10 - since the API liquid test measures NH3 (toxic) and NH4 (non-toxic) so it's hard to tell how bad it really is without a NH3 gauge.

Plus what everyone else said. Good luck!