Gouramis

[Lynnze]

We have set up a new tank for our son and he has had 2 dwarf gouramis and 3 neon tetras, All the neon tetras died and the aquariam shop was not able to tell us why. Our temperature is fine and the chemical balance of the water is fine, we test it once a week. He has now added 2 black mollies and 2 more gouramis. The new gouramis are "3 spot gouarmi" and are larger than the dwarft. One of these, which is the largest of the two, is bullying all the other gouramis. He does not seem bothered by the mollies. My son is only 13 and tends not to research his fish, just picks the ones he likes the look of! Will this bullying stop eventually as the dwarf gouramis hide all the time, we might as well not have them. Do shops take fish back? Any suggestions as to what we can do?

 

[BecciMac1987]

Hi, we need more details. How long has the tank been set up? What size is it?

 

[shelaghfishface]

did you discuss setting up the tank with him before hand?? maybe hes not that interested, if on the other hand he is,, get him own account on here, he may take more notice of some one else telling him
do your water tests before a water change and tell us what the results are
tank size
Ammonia
Nitrite
Ntrate
PH
its possible you havent cycled your tank, in which case we will only know, when you tell us those results and your maintence routine, but if it is that,then i would phone the fish shop explain that you have taken advice and would they allow you to return the fish for a credit to use at a later date
once we have all tjis info, there is lots and lots of advice for you,dont worry

and welcome to TFF

shelagh xxx

 

[Lynnze]

Tank is 50 gallon and had been without fish from new for 2 months. Set up before we were going on holiday and didn't want to put fish in before we went away. Dwarf gouramis and neon tretra introduced 2 weeks ago. Lost all tetras in the space of 3 days! Large gouramis and mollies introduced on Thursday last week.

Thanks for the welcome

 

[BecciMac1987]

Ok thats your problem, the tank isnt cycled. Unfortunatley leaving a tank of water sitting there does diddly squat regardless of what the fish shop will have told you! The neons will have died because the water quality is poor and they are v.sensitive fish.
What I would advise is take the fish back and get a credit note, then read the pinned thread on cycling at the top of the page. This process will take about 2 months.
Im afraid that if you choose to keep the fish they will probably all die in the next few weeks of ammonia poisioning.
Dont be too hard on yourself, its difficult to understand the ins and outs when you first start. But good luck and keep us updated xx

 

[Lynnze]

Oops, can't even get the size of the tank right, just asked DS yesterday and he said 50 gallons and I'm useless wtth weight, measurement, volume etc. Anyway found all the blurb on the tank and it is a 96 litre tank, roughly 25 gallons. You all must have thought it was massive!! Before we added the fish the shop tested the water for us. We took a specimen bottle sample to them and they said it was fine. We purchased a chemical testing kit there and then and after the first water change took readings. The ammonia levels were fine, so we are still at a loss why the tetras died. Suppose we will have to put it down to teething problems? The first night we did leave the light on all night, forgot to switch it off! Would that have made any difference does anybody know?

 

[BecciMac1987]

The water would have tested fine because it was just tap water! As soon as you add fish ammonia will become detectable until it breaks down to nitrite, then turns to Nitrate. So when you added tetra to tap water, they will have kick started the cycling process causing ammonia to now be present. Thats why they died. Leaving the light on shouldnt do any harm, I do it often enough!
What test kit did you buy? And what are the readings today?

 

[Lynnze]

Hi BecciMac1987, the test kit is API and DH did last reading on Friday. Ammonia was on the yellow scale on the card (reading was 1. something, so DH says) Have taken the 2 three spot gourami's back to the fish shop and they have given us a credit note. We have live plants in the aquariam which are doing very well, so the fish shop told us the water should be o.k. as the plants all have roots going down to the substrate. Will keep an eye on the fish we have kept and post our next readings on here, probably at the weekend now.

Edit: Ahh, just been surfing this site and have now read about fishless cycling and fish in cycling. Oh dear, looks like we will be cycling with fish in. Why don't aquarium shops tell people how to do things properly? No mention was made to us about ammonia levels, once we added the fish. I know it's no excuse and we should have read up on it more beforehand, but it is DS's tank and I have very little time to research stuff. Will mention all this to DH and take daily readings and change water when needed and not just weekly as we were advised. Hope we don't lose the other fish.