Help! I Don't Want Any More Fish To Die!

[sianeds]

I have a 50 gallon tank which I didn't cycle properly and I also put in too many fish.

I have lost about half of what I had in there and am now left with 5 guppies, 2 zebra danio, 3 neon tetra, 5 glowlight tetra and 2 bolivian rams.

I know I've made mistakes and am desparate not to lose the fish i have left, especially the rams.

This morning my husband and I did a 50% water change and added some new plants.

Our ammonia levels and nitrate levels were medium high last night (I can't remember exactly what they were) and the ph was fine.

I'm giving the tank some time to settle before I test the water again as I don't want to stress the fish anymore.

Is there anything else I can do???

 

[catxx]

keep up with daily water changes until the filter has time to mature.

 

[scubadoo]

As cat said - just plenty of water changes.

When my tank went through a mini cycle i was doing 2 water changes of about 35-40% per day - No fun on 50 galls, but it worked and kept the levels in check.

You could add chemicals that lock away ammonia & nitrite, but I wouldn't want to do this because it'll skew your test readings and you'll never be quite sure if you're fully cycled.

You could try to get some mature filter media (sponges or ceramic media etc.) to help introduce some additional bacteria to your tank to speed up the cycle.

 

[sianeds]

Does it have to be another tropical tank that I get the mature filter media from??

We've kept goldfish happily for years and never had this problem before and I have a lovely 20 gallon marine tank that's doing great. Am really at a loss.

 

[Egmel]

Does it have to be another tropical tank that I get the mature filter media from??

We've kept goldfish happily for years and never had this problem before and I have a lovely 20 gallon marine tank that's doing great. Am really at a loss.

You should be ok taking some media from your goldfish tank, but I think it's different bactera in the marine tank so I would steer clear of that.

Good luck

 

[sianeds]

I'll check the water in a little while and see how it's doing. The fish have certainly perked up since the water change but are still not right. I hope they are not beyond saving as I love my fishies!