Disaster

[Tillypops]

8 days ago I bought my first fresh water tank, a 15l baby biorb. I set it up at home, put in the treatment that came in the box and then 3 days later took the advice of my local pet shop to stock it with 2 paradise fish.

2 days later, I came home to a smell of sewage all through my house. It took me a little while to find the source - my lovely new tank. The water had gone all foggy - which at the time I didn't realise was normal - and the smell was horrendous.

When I went to work the next day, my partner completely emptied the tank...
Refilled it and returned the fish, who are now very lethargic. He hadn't realised your meant to take parts out and now the whole 15l. But yet the smell remains.

So in my panic I have now researched online, which I should have done in the first place before even buying all of this. I have a few questions I would be grateful for any help.

1) should paradise fish be kept together? And in such a small tank?
2) the pet shop sold me goldfish flakes, but I read online that pfish should get mainly protein? They don't seem interested in the flakes.
3) what is this smell and how do I get rid?
4) are my fish going to die? They have survived 2 days since total wipe out. Is there medication I can give them?

 

[DreamertK]

You can either keep the fish and get a bigger tank, or take back the fish and keep the tank. You would need a tank at least 80L to keep both of them, but they're not very nice to each other. You could do a planted 15L tank with shrimp, but not too much else could go in there. It would be cheaper to keep the 15L, but possibly not as enjoyable for you. For the time being you should change as much of the water as you possibly can multiple times a day with temperatures that're matching the current water. The fish are most likely suffering severe NH3 poisoning.

 

[hilly81]

Take the fish back and have a good read of this section: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

 

[sadguppy]

I would take the fish back. It is unlikely that they will survive the cycling process (see the links above) unscathed; it is very early days yet and you will experience at least another 4 weeks of lethargic, sick fish - additionally the tank is just too small for them.

This will allow you to 'fishless cycle' the tank's filter, there is plenty of advice on this in the sticky topics at the top of this forum. This is great because although it takes a while, and therefore requires patience, it gives you time to plan and research what you're going to do and when your tank is cycled you'll be able to add the fish with no problems like those you're experiencing.

With the addition of a small heater you could get a very small tropical fish commuity going - once the tank has cycled. For example, some shrimp, snails and maybe even one or two very small fish like endler's guppies or microrasbora. However, if you are looking to get more fish, you really need to invest in a bigger tank. The bigger you can get, the more options you will have and the less likely it is that things will go wrong.