Cycle Started After Fighter And Tetra Deaths...new Filter

[mrvillicus]

Apologies for the constant barrage of threads guys. Looks like I've made a huge cock up on my first tank.

Basically I picked a tank up from my friend about 3 weeks ago, since then I've completely emptied the tank and cleaned the filter under tap water, gave away all fish and disposed of the gravel and started from new...WITHOUT cycling my tank. I have put new gravel in, new filter cartridges, new plants, new bogwood and new fish.

I feel so guilty, I only picked up my beautiful blue betta yesterday along with some neon tetras who have died. In total i've lost 5 fish in 24 hours, all bought from petsathome. What I dont understand is why are the others ok? 4 neons and 4 columbian tetras.

I am quite upset as Its a complete novice error, I did actually do some research but because the tank was all setup I simply thought it was ok to make the changes I have made.

So my next move is....

New filter coming monday
API freshwater test kit coming tuesday
Hopefully my other fish will survive
Start a brand new cycle from scratch and this should sort me out, I hope.

Just a note, each death seemed to be swim bladder related, even the betta. Apologies if this thread upsets anyone, I feel terrible about kiling these fish

 

[Gilli]

Dont beat yourself up - most of us have been there due to fish shops not giving any advise! The main thing is your have found this frum and you are doing all you can to help your fish!


You will probably lose your neons as they dont do well even in a cycled tank that is less than 6 months mature. Be prepared for a lot of hard work for 6-8 weeks! You need to be making huge water changes every single day - sometimes draining it down to just enough for the fish to swim until your tank is cycled because without the good bacteria the water is toxic. Once you have your test kit you will know how bad it is. Read up on this link in the forum to help you out

Fish In Cycling

 

[mrvillicus]

thanks gilli ill get some reading done as obviously i dont know enough!

 

[Guppi32011]

Apologies for the constant barrage of threads guys. Looks like I've made a huge cock up on my first tank.

Basically I picked a tank up from my friend about 3 weeks ago, since then I've completely emptied the tank and cleaned the filter under tap water, gave away all fish and disposed of the gravel and started from new...WITHOUT cycling my tank. I have put new gravel in, new filter cartridges, new plants, new bogwood and new fish.

I feel so guilty, I only picked up my beautiful blue betta yesterday along with some neon tetras who have died. In total i've lost 5 fish in 24 hours, all bought from petsathome. What I dont understand is why are the others ok? 4 neons and 4 columbian tetras.

I am quite upset as Its a complete novice error, I did actually do some research but because the tank was all setup I simply thought it was ok to make the changes I have made.

So my next move is....

New filter coming monday
API freshwater test kit coming tuesday
Hopefully my other fish will survive
Start a brand new cycle from scratch and this should sort me out, I hope.

Just a note, each death seemed to be swim bladder related, even the betta. Apologies if this thread upsets anyone, I feel terrible about kiling these fish

Hi, your problem here is that you didn't cycle your tank properly. A cycled tank can take anywhere from 2-6 weeks before you can add fish. I started keeping fish in December last year, i bought a bottle of household pure ammonia and added the required dose into the tank water. After a couple of days my water went cloudy which is good as the good bacteria was starting to combat the ammonia. Only after 3 weeks my tank was fully cycled and my first lot of fish went in. I started off with a small group of hardy fish (in my case 5 zebra danios).

Never run your filter media under tap water, in fact it rarely needs cleaning. If you decide to give it a quick rinse only do it a bucket of water from your tank i.e. when you do a water change. If you know of anyone who has a setup already ask them to see if you can have a little of their fliter media as this will kick start the cycling process.

It's good you have ordered the API kit as you can check daily on your water parameters and keep it under control.

Onto the fish. Betta's are not recommended as well as neons to put into a tank that has not been cycled or only just been cycled as they are not hardy fish. You would have been better if you decided to do a fish cycle with zebra danios, tiger barbs etc. Now i have bought fish from petsathome and i can tell you from my experience it was an absolute nightmare. I bought 3 guppies amd a male fighter within less than 24 hours all the guppies died and my betta looked as though he was on his way out too, they too also died of swim bladder disease. IMO i wouldn't buy fish from there go to a lfs.

Good luck with starting afresh. We all make mistakes

 

[mrvillicus]

thanks for your advice guppi32011, ill start a cycle once everything has arrived then with just the columbian tetras and neons (if they survive) i have done a 90% water change today and wil keep doing that. Once im back from work tonight (i work for the aa on shifts ..) I will do some reading on cycling as its quite complicated i gather, thanks Ben

 

[minnnt]

+1 Guppi32011, excellent summary and advice!

 

[Guppi32011]

+1 Guppi32011, excellent summary and advice!

Thanks, that's what this place is for

thanks for your advice guppi32011, ill start a cycle once everything has arrived then with just the columbian tetras and neons (if they survive) i have done a 90% water change today and wil keep doing that. Once im back from work tonight (i work for the aa on shifts ..) I will do some reading on cycling as its quite complicated i gather, thanks Ben

Don't fret about it too much. It's quite simple really just do a bit of research you'll find what you need. Once again hope all goes well

 

[pablothebetta]

New filter coming monday
API freshwater test kit coming tuesday
Hopefully my other fish will survive
Start a brand new cycle from scratch and this should sort me out, I hope.

I'm sure everything will work out in the end - most of us will have made mistakes along the way (I started off badly myself with 9 neons in a 15l uncycled BiOrb ). And, knowing this forum, you'll get the right advice too.

Just wondering, what do you mean by new filter? Surely new filter pads aren't nescescary and you can just build up a new colony on the existing sponges? Or do you want a whole new filter setup? You ought to look in the media donations thread - I'm sure someone would be able to help you out and speed up the cycle (possibly even eliminate the need if enough is donated).

What tank size/setup have you currently got?

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Apologies for the constant barrage of threads guys. Looks like I've made a huge cock up on my first tank.

Basically I picked a tank up from my friend about 3 weeks ago, since then I've completely emptied the tank and cleaned the filter under tap water, gave away all fish and disposed of the gravel and started from new...WITHOUT cycling my tank. I have put new gravel in, new filter cartridges, new plants, new bogwood and new fish.

I feel so guilty, I only picked up my beautiful blue betta yesterday along with some neon tetras who have died. In total i've lost 5 fish in 24 hours, all bought from petsathome. What I dont understand is why are the others ok? 4 neons and 4 columbian tetras.

I am quite upset as Its a complete novice error, I did actually do some research but because the tank was all setup I simply thought it was ok to make the changes I have made.

So my next move is....

New filter coming monday
API freshwater test kit coming tuesday
Hopefully my other fish will survive
Start a brand new cycle from scratch and this should sort me out, I hope.

Just a note, each death seemed to be swim bladder related, even the betta. Apologies if this thread upsets anyone, I feel terrible about kiling these fish

Hi, your problem here is that you didn't cycle your tank properly. A cycled tank can take anywhere from 2-6 weeks before you can add fish. I started keeping fish in December last year, i bought a bottle of household pure ammonia and added the required dose into the tank water. After a couple of days my water went cloudy which is good as the good bacteria was starting to combat the ammonia. Only after 3 weeks my tank was fully cycled and my first lot of fish went in. I started off with a small group of hardy fish (in my case 5 zebra danios).

Never run your filter media under tap water, in fact it rarely needs cleaning. If you decide to give it a quick rinse only do it a bucket of water from your tank i.e. when you do a water change. If you know of anyone who has a setup already ask them to see if you can have a little of their fliter media as this will kick start the cycling process.

It's good you have ordered the API kit as you can check daily on your water parameters and keep it under control.

Onto the fish. Betta's are not recommended as well as neons to put into a tank that has not been cycled or only just been cycled as they are not hardy fish. You would have been better if you decided to do a fish cycle with zebra danios, tiger barbs etc. Now i have bought fish from petsathome and i can tell you from my experience it was an absolute nightmare. I bought 3 guppies amd a male fighter within less than 24 hours all the guppies died and my betta looked as though he was on his way out too, they too also died of swim bladder disease. IMO i wouldn't buy fish from there go to a lfs.

Good luck with starting afresh. We all make mistakes

Some really good advice here. The only bit I disagree with is the time frame that a tank will cycle in. I did a fish-in cycle on my first tank and it still took nearly 10 weeks. Was a 64 litre tank with 4 Zebra Danios which is quite a lot considering the size of the tank etc.

 

[gforce17]

I agree totally with Tomtomtom 1230. I've just completed cycling at 9 weeks. I was ready to chuck the whole £600 worth into the bin (trash), but it has cycled and I'm so pleased. You've got to be sooooooo patient! Good luck. Don't fret too much about the losses. We've all been there to some extent!

 

[mrvillicus]

New filter coming monday
API freshwater test kit coming tuesday
Hopefully my other fish will survive
Start a brand new cycle from scratch and this should sort me out, I hope.

I'm sure everything will work out in the end - most of us will have made mistakes along the way (I started off badly myself with 9 neons in a 15l uncycled BiOrb ). And, knowing this forum, you'll get the right advice too.

Just wondering, what do you mean by new filter? Surely new filter pads aren't nescescary and you can just build up a new colony on the existing sponges? Or do you want a whole new filter setup? You ought to look in the media donations thread - I'm sure someone would be able to help you out and speed up the cycle (possibly even eliminate the need if enough is donated).

What tank size/setup have you currently got?

Thanks Pablo, I have a 60 odd litre marina set up. When I say new filter I mean I have ordered an internal filter a more modern one as my marina s15 clip on the back is quite old.

So cycling, taking a while, this is simply building up the good bacteria within the tank is it? Do i literally start afresh, all new tank water etc and test it every day until its right?

 

[pablothebetta]

Thanks Pablo, I have a 60 odd litre marina set up. When I say new filter I mean I have ordered an internal filter a more modern one as my marina s15 clip on the back is quite old.

So cycling, taking a while, this is simply building up the good bacteria within the tank is it? Do i literally start afresh, all new tank water etc and test it every day until its right?

Yes, cycling builds up the beneficial bacteria. You don't need a new tank, new decor or even new water (unless you wish to). It's simply "growing" bacteria in the media and on some of the decor. Some members on here may have media they can give you which is already 'filled' with bacteria to help you out with this.
You have to provide an ammonia source when cycling - household ammonia seems popular. I believe there is a thread on fishless cycling. I have to admit that I can't provide too much advice when it comes to the individual stages as I didn't fishlessly cycle my own tank (I used media from my old tank which was "fish-in-cycled"), apologies for that.

 

[cynic]

Yep or seed it with mature media, you don't say where you are there may be someone willing to help. Some good media will take weeks of the cycle time.

Dang, slow fingers......

 

[mrvillicus]

well, I was going to do fish in cycling as I still have 4 columbian redfin and 4 neons in my tank. So media is the actual filter cartridges etc?? Im in Oldbury west mids

 

[mrvillicus]

well, I was going to do fish in cycling as I still have 4 columbian redfin and 4 neons in my tank. So media is the actual filter cartridges etc?? Im in Oldbury west mids