Help For A Newbie! My Fish Are Dying!

[luvpudin]

Ok, here's the details.

I set up a new 30 gallon aquarium last weekend and added some fish to start the cycle. I added 4 comets and 4 small platys. They were fine all week, and I kept a close eye on the ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and the PH. I did a partial water change yesterday and after that I lost a comet. Then this morning I checked the tank and another comet was dead. Why are they dying all of a sudden? They look fine, up until they die, so I don't think it's a disease. I added the same conditioner to the new water that I used when I set the tank up... I don't understand what could be killing them all of a sudden.

I've been using Kordon AmQuel Plus to remove any ammonia, nitrites, etc... The levels look fine on the test strip, although it is hard to tell with the ammonia... it could be a little on the high side, which I was told is normal for a cycling tank.

The only thing I can think of is maybe my water is too hard? I do have hard water... could that be the problem?

Any help would be great! I want to save my fishies! I'm so confused!

I haven't had a fish tank in over 10 years, so this is all new to me again! How can I cycle the tank correctly? When will it be done and truly safe? How often do I really need to do water changes? Also, how often should I be feeding the fish? I feed them once in the morning and once in the evening.

Also, are live plants the way to go? Are they beneficial to the tank? Hard to take care of?

I'm a newbie and I need some advice! Thanks!

 

[DJ ArKaDaRkA]

Ok, here's the details.

I set up a new 30 gallon aquarium last weekend and added some fish to start the cycle. I added 4 comets and 4 small platys. They were fine all week, and I kept a close eye on the ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and the PH. I did a partial water change yesterday and after that I lost a comet. Then this morning I checked the tank and another comet was dead. Why are they dying all of a sudden? They look fine, up until they die, so I don't think it's a disease. I added the same conditioner to the new water that I used when I set the tank up... I don't understand what could be killing them all of a sudden.

I've been using Kordon AmQuel Plus to remove any ammonia, nitrites, etc... The levels look fine on the test strip, although it is hard to tell with the ammonia... it could be a little on the high side, which I was told is normal for a cycling tank.

The only thing I can think of is maybe my water is too hard? I do have hard water... could that be the problem?

Any help would be great! I want to save my fishies! I'm so confused!

I haven't had a fish tank in over 10 years, so this is all new to me again! How can I cycle the tank correctly? When will it be done and truly safe? How often do I really need to do water changes? Also, how often should I be feeding the fish? I feed them once in the morning and once in the evening.

Also, are live plants the way to go? Are they beneficial to the tank? Hard to take care of?

I'm a newbie and I need some advice! Thanks!

feed every 2 days and do one water change in the morning and one in the evning

get a API master test kit its liquid and alot better than strips

 

[Truck]

you need to remove the comets, they will grow to big, and must be kept in a pond, have you heard of cycling?

 

[luvpudin]

you need to remove the comets, they will grow to big, and must be kept in a pond, have you heard of cycling?

I've heard of cycling, and I thought that was what I was doing. The comets are fine for now, If the get too big, I'll find them a new home. If they even make it that far...

 

[DJ ArKaDaRkA]

you need to remove the comets, they will grow to big, and must be kept in a pond, have you heard of cycling?

I've heard of cycling, and I thought that was what I was doing. The comets are fine for now, If the get too big, I'll find them a new home. If they even make it that far...

you made the same mistake as me and went with a fish in cycle read the thread on 'cycling'

 

[luvpudin]

feed every 2 days and do one water change in the morning and one in the evning

get a API master test kit its liquid and alot better than strips
[/quote]

There's no possible way I have enough time to change the water twice a day like that!

 

[Truck]

well if you dont put the effort in now, you will face the consequences later...

EDIT**

water readings should be;
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10-20
PH 6.4-7.6

 

[DJ ArKaDaRkA]

be prepared to possibly loose fish if your not going to do atleast 1 a day

ive just lost 1 of my danios when i got back from work

and ive done 3 since 4:30

 

[Truck]

or take all your fish back and do a fishless cycle, a pin is in the newbie section

 

[stray~johnny]

Do you have an in tank heater? what temperature is your tank at.. and what are the fish supposed to live at?

 

[luvpudin]

Do you have an in tank heater? what temperature is your tank at.. and what are the fish supposed to live at?

I didn't get a heater yet, I was told I don't need one if the room temp. is around 72-73 degrees or so. I live in Florida so it rarely gets too cold. The temp in the tank is about 73-74.

or take all your fish back and do a fishless cycle, a pin is in the newbie section

I don't think they will take the fish back at the store. Believe me, I would much rather do a fish-less cycle after reading some of the article on here. It sounds much easier.

 

[Truck]

buy a heater anyway, around 24oC is acceptable

water changes once a day atleast

 

[luvpudin]

buy a heater anyway, around 24oC is acceptable

water changes once a day atleast

I am worried because I didn't lose any fish until right after a water change... I'm afraid to do any more!

 

[Bambi211]

It seems you,ve possibly added to many fish to soon. It would of been best to of left the tank for a while, about 2 weeks, for the water to get ready. then added about 2-3 fish.

then it would of been best to let the filter start catching up.

I use to use test strips on my tank and there not very accurate at all, I had a crisis once all my fish were dying i kept using the test strips and it was saying everything was fine. So i took my water to the aquarium shop, and it turned out to be that my nitrate levels were very high. I had added to many fish at once. Id probably take some water to your local fish shop to test?

If you have hard water, that shouldnt really harm the fish too much. i had quite hard water once and it just made my fish quite lethargic. when you do water changes, do you use a declorinator? because sometimes where you live you can have hard tap water.

I feed my fish once a day, cause thats what the aquairum shop told me to do and because they get so damm hungry !


Live plants are good for the fish, they create more oxygen in the water. but to keep them alive and healthy you have to have plant food and have your lights on for quite a few hours in the day. the only problem is certain plants do die very quickly, and if you leave them in too long and they start to go brown etc, they may be starting to rot and then can start releasing chemicals in the tank.

I dont paticularly like to add plant food to my tank, (i dont really like added chemicals in much unless its really needed) i just normally chuck them away when they dont look so healthy. and buy fresh plants, they still last a couple of weeks/months.

Good luck!!! Hope no more fish die for you, its so sad when they die, especially if you get quite attached

xxxxxx

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Luvpudin. You are presently in a fish-in cycle. It can be done successfully if you are willing to do the water changes it will take. What you will likely be doing is about a 15 gallon daily change for a few days to get things closer to zero. After that, if you have a proper test kit, not strips, you can adjust the water changes to match what is really needed to control the ammonia and nitrite buildup in the tank. There is a link in my signature area to a thread that will guide you in doing a fish-in cycle. I see that WaterDrop is also reading this thread so he may duplicate some of what I say. The heater is not truly a must in your tank compared to getting a good test kit. We often recommend the API master test kit but any good liquid reagent kit will work.