Everything's Gone Wrong.. Please Help!

[LolaLouie]

Hi all, gonna bullet point to keep this short...

* Tank= 90l: 4 neons, 2 gouramis, 2 corys & 2 African dwarf frogs (formerly). I did a fish in cycle as did not know until after (misinformed by pet shop!)

* Just got back from holiday, the day before I left ammonia shot up to really high levels. Did 3 water changes last thing before I left.

* Just got back and my 2 ADFs are dead (so gutted ).

*Other fish SEEM healthy which I'm confused about as I thought frogs were hardier than fish. Any ideas why the frogs died but fish have survived (so far)??

* Tested my water Ammonia= 0, Nitrates= 3 (not 0.3 but 3.0!!!)- did an instant water change but can't do much more as I have just arrived back and it's midnight.

* Anything I can do to quickly get the levels down?? Any ideas why they have suddenly got so high?!?

* Also horrible brown algae all over plants and tank ornaments. What causes this?? I set a timer on the light for 8 hours a day while I was gone and the tank is not near a window! How do I get rid of this?? I have 2 corys and definitely don't want any snails!

* I would really love to hear some advice as my tank is a mess and i'm so upset about my frogs so will do anything to salvage my fish.

* Also I fed them when I got back and none of them touched the food.. is this a bad sign?? I checked them and they don't seem to have any signs of illness.

* Oh and 1 of my frogs seemed a bit bloated... any ideas what causes this?? Can it be poor water quality??

Sorry to ask so many questions but my LFS have proved themselves to be totally useless and just want to do the right thing as hate animals suffering!

Many thanks in advance,

Gemma

 

[WILDER]

Have you done a gravel vac.
Do you feed frozen bloodworms.

 

[LolaLouie]

Yes done gravel vac.. yes feed frozen blood worms but for the few days before i left i fed live worms to try to avoid polluting the water. Why do you ask??

 

[WILDER]

To many bloodworms can make them bloat up.
Ammonia reading how high was it.

I would cut down on the bloodworms, maybe get some brimestrimp.
[URL="http/allaboutfrogs.org/info/mypets/dwarfs.html"]http/allaboutfrogs.org/info/mypets/dwarfs.html[/URL]
Taken from the article.
Is my frog dead?
Generally when the frogs go to Froggy heaven, they don't end up floating at the top the way fish do, but rather they sink.

Click to see full sized.
If they do float when dead, they usually have some massive bloat, like the dead frog on the right, or some other yucky disease which is really obvious.
The dead frog above on the right died of dropsy. Note: this is NOT a lazy zen pose. Photo courtesy of Alexander Price
I get a lot of frantic mail from nervous Dwarf frog owners concerned about frogs that sit in one place for a really really long time - Having lost several dearly beloved froggies, I can tell you from my own experience that even though I also have wrongly freaked out thinking something was wrong when they were sitting very still, when their time did come, it was REALLY obvious.

 

[LolaLouie]

No my frogs are definitely dead, they're currently residing in the bin They were both at the bottom so maybe it wasn't bloat.

My ammonia reading went up to 2.4 have no idea why so high. It is now 0 though and the nitrite has gone really high.

I would understand this if my tank was cycling but i thought it had cycled as my readings were consistently under 0.25 for over a week.

 

[WILDER]

Ammonia can kill fish and frogs look into ammonia poisoning.
How long has the tank been cycling.

 

[WILDER]

All you can do is water changes but not very large ones.
Increase aeration.
http/www.fishforums.net/content/Beginner...esource-Center/

 

[LolaLouie]

I guess the ammonia could of killed them but it's just that my fish are ok. also they look like they died very recently and it was last week that the ammonia was high, now it is 0 again.

Also any advice on the algae or how to lower the nitrites as am doing daily water changes but doesnt seem to help!

Thanks

Gemma

 

[WILDER]

If your tank has never cycled yet ammonia and nitrite 0, you shouldn't being doing gravel vacs yet.

Get you some info on the brown algae but don't worry is common on newly set up tanks it will soon disappear, just clean it off.
<a href="http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/algae.htm" target="_blank">http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/algae.htm</a>
[URL="http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/cycling.htm"]http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/cycling.htm[/URL]
http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/cycling2.htm

 

[guppy fan]

I've heard that having live plants in your tank can help with algy problems. They will take the nutrients out of the water that the algy needs. You might want to try a moss ball or a floating plant. Also, I've heard that corys ar happier an groups of three+. Pleas correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[LolaLouie]

My tank does have plants but this seems to be mostly where the algae is growing. Does brown algae damage plants (other than making them look ugly)?!?

Also about 3 corys i have just started stocking tank and didnt want to get a load of corys all at once so when the tank is back under control i will buy more.

Thanks for the advice... keep it coming, all your comments are really helpful!

Gemma

 

[jennybugs]

You'll have to keep up with the water changes on a daily basis. Your tank obviously hasn't cycled yet, so these are vital to keep the levels as low as possible. Because you couldn't perform water changes while you were away, the ammonia levels built up and this is now turning to nitrite which is why those levels are reading high. Frogs may be hardy creatures but not in an uncycled tank with ammonia and nitrite present.

Just persevere with the water changes and testing the water. You'll get there eventually. Don't add any more fish until you have.

Moss balls are a good idea to help combat algae and loook groovy too

Brown algae appears in new tanks and will go as quickly as it appeared. I had it in one tank not long after it cycled and I just kept cleaning it away. In the meantime, don't panic, you'll just have to scrub it off where you see it.

 

[evilchild]

wouldn't the dead frogs boost the ammonia?

 

[jennybugs]

Yes they would, but her ammonia was high before she went as well.

 

[LolaLouie]

Have managed to get nitrite levels back down to 0.3, I know this still isn't great but feeling a lot less worried than when they were 3.0!

I feel so bad about my frogs because if I was here to change the water they would have been fine.. I guess sometimes you have to learn the hard way and now that I know I would NEVER fish in cycle again!!

Have wiped most the algae off so will have to see what happens there.

Fish seem ok still so hoping they have got through it.

Thanks for the advice, I will be watching my tank closely and testing the water daily and hopefully wont have to lose anymore poor fishies before my tank is fully cycled.

Gemma