Can Any1 Help Me Pls I Dont Know Where 2 Start!?

[katiej]

hello just wondering if any1 can hep me, new 2 all things fish & have been very foolish! Bought a new tank rekford 96? got 4fish a week later 2black platy, 2 5lined barbs, got some more fish a week later 1 red tailed black shark, 2 oddessa barbs, 4 guppys, 2 sunset platy, 2 red serpae tetra, all settled in niceley then went 2 a friends was offered some more fish & greedily took them now we have tail rot n poor fish bein chased around & i dont know where 2 start, have no spare tank & am really worried they will all die! Im not even sure wat type of fish we were given mostly orange some with black on tails, some shimmery silver with orangey red tails? Please help me if u can!! I did put some pebbles in the tank yest that my daughter got off the beach a yr ago???
IM NOT SURE IF IV DONE THIS RIGHT EITHER SO PLEASE 4GIVE ME IF IT ENDS UP SOMEWHERE ITS NOT MEANT 2 BE!!

 

[connorsbala]

With the fin rot you can gedt some medication from your fish shop..soemthign like melafix. With the rock, im not sure if that could have caused anything as its been outta the water for a year, if it had just been taken out of the sea then there would have been probs. So get some meds to get rid of that fin rot and thngs should improve

 

[connorsbala]

With the fin rot you can gedt some medication from your fish shop..soemthign like melafix. With the rock, im not sure if that could have caused anything as its been outta the water for a year, if it had just been taken out of the sea then there would have been probs. So get some meds to get rid of that fin rot and thngs should improve

 

[vinylman]

The best thing to do is contact your LFS and see if they can take the fish that are healthy. You are overstocked. All tanks should be cycled before introducing fish, please read the threads on cycling. Also, the Red Tailed Black Shark alone is way too big for your tank. It may not be now, but it will grow far too large. You'll also need a test kit to keep an eye on things while you complete the cycle.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yes your tank will be experiencing very unstable water quality right now, do you have a filter and heater for the tank and do you have dechlorinator/water conditioner to treat the water with? Do you have any test kits for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and ph?
I wouldn't advise putting gravel/stones in the tank taken from the beach, there are many types of rocks which can change the ph of the water in fish tanks, which can be quite stressful for fish if the ph changes suddenly. In gravel from the beach there could be all manner of ph changing rocks and ph changing things like coral.
The finrot can be treated with meds like "anti fungus and finrot" by Interpet or other meds like Pimafix, but in this case i would say that the finrot is most likely brought on by the stressful water quality conditions the fish will be experiencing in the tank right now, so the water quality will need to be sorted out as well if the fish are to make a good recovery.
At the moment the tank has too many fish, i would advise rehoming some of them as the less fish you have in the tank right now the more stable the water quality will become, the less stressed the fish will be, and inevitably the finrot will be easier to treat etc.
You should definately read this article on understanding how the water quality in your tank works;


http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099

 

[katiej]

Yes your tank will be experiencing very unstable water quality right now, do you have a filter and heater for the tank and do you have dechlorinator/water conditioner to treat the water with? Do you have any test kits for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and ph?
I wouldn't advise putting gravel/stones in the tank taken from the beach, there are many types of rocks which can change the ph of the water in fish tanks, which can be quite stressful for fish if the ph changes suddenly. In gravel from the beach there could be all manner of ph changing rocks and ph changing things like coral.
The finrot can be treated with meds like "anti fungus and finrot" by Interpet or other meds like Pimafix, but in this case i would say that the finrot is most likely brought on by the stressful water quality conditions the fish will be experiencing in the tank right now, so the water quality will need to be sorted out as well if the fish are to make a good recovery.
At the moment the tank has too many fish, i would advise rehoming some of them as the less fish you have in the tank right now the more stable the water quality will become, the less stressed the fish will be, and inevitably the finrot will be easier to treat etc.
You should definately read this article on understanding how the water quality in your tank works;


http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Hm?

 

[katiej]

Hiya yes we have a filter & heater, i have got a bottle of water safe i use when doin a water change 10%, i have test kits water quality is great except the gh which is a little high, the pebbles/stones i put in from the beach i have taken out now.
I have got some medication 4the fin rot & taken a naughty tail biter back 2 fish shop, thank u very much 4 ur help i is very much appreiated!!!!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

what readings are you getting for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

 

[katiej]

hiya Nitrite 0 nitrate 0 ph 7.2.

 

[Christine1014]

with a cycling tank you'll probably need to change more than 10% of the water, unless you're doing two or three changes per day at 10% each. Your goal with the water changes is to dilute the amout of ammonia and nitrites that are building up. I'd be changing at LEAST 30%, if not more. (The beneficial bacteria that's building up to process the "bad" stuff doesn't live in the water, so you're not hurting anything by doing larger water changes. Some will argue that the large changes are more stressfull to the fish, but not as stressful as bad water quality). Good luck!

EDIT - just saw that you posed your stats. Are you using the test strips that you just dip in the water? If at all possible, try to get a liquid test kit. You're going to need to test for ammonia, which most of those strips don't test for. If you have zero nitrites and zero nitrates, your ammonia levels are probably way high - which means your tank is the early stages of cycling.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

my thoughts exactly christine

have a read of the link in my sig 'what's cycling?' which should explain the stage your tank is at now and what you need to do

 

[katiej]

Oh...yeah got test strips, will def get a liquid test any ud recommend? I will do another water change how often wud u suggest a 30% change & wat do i do bout the med 4 fin rot i put in do i need 2put more in if i change water again? Said on bottle 2 take out carbon filter du know why that is? so much stuff 2 know!!!

 

[katiej]

just read ur link soooo helpful wish id read it sooner!! will def get that API fresh water master test kit!!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lot to learn isn't there, first place to start is to learn what all these readings are and what to do about them, the link i directed you too in my last post will explain all that.

i'd recommend the API Fresh Water Master Test Kit, it usually retails for around £18 and is as accurate as your going to get without a science lab at home!

yes you need to remove the carbon from your filter, carbon removes toxins from the water it also removes medications, so the meds won't work if there's carbon in the filter. it's good though as what you really need at the moment is more places for bacteria to grow so get another bit of sponge or some filter floss and put that in the filter to replace the carbon

keeping the water clean is absolute 100% priority, over putting medicines in, the fin rot is caused by poor water and withotu the quality of water improving it won't go away however much medication you put in. So you need to keep up daily water changes as explained in that link. you will need to add extra meds to the water to replace what's been taken out, so if for example your changing 2 gallons of water a day, after your water change add however much medicine you should for the day + an extra 2 gallons worth to replace what's been removed.

just read ur link soooo helpful wish id read it sooner!! will def get that API fresh water master test kit!!

good stuff, concentrate on keeping the water clean for now.

stocking is the next concern, the link in my sig 'how to work out stocking lists' shoudl give you some pointers to work out what fish and how many you can have in your tank, you'll need to re-home some to the lfs as you have waaaay too many for the tank