Help My Fishes Are Dying

[Tolak]

Ask away, the only stupid question is the one that isn't asked.

I would do 50% today, try to pick up a test kit tomorow. Test the water daily, when it gets past 1 ppm ammo, it's time for a water change. Use the gravel vac weekly on the gravel, many people suggest doing half of the gravel weekly, as this doesn't disturb the nitrifying bacteria that is present in the gravel. If you are cycling you don't want to disturb it too much. I don't clean any orniments unless they start to look grungy, I would leave them alone for now, as any surface in the tank holds some nitrifying bacteria, though most of it is in the filter media. You do need to add dechlor every time you add water, chlorine & chlorimine in tap water inhibits or kills nitrifying bacteria.

 

[nikki182]

thank u, thank u thank u , some one to finally put my mind to rest, one last question before i log off to play fish super hero, lol, how often should i feed the fish? well thank u once again i really appreciate your time & great advice, i will post again soon hopefully with good news!

 

[Tolak]

Generally speaking, a fish's stomach is around the size of it's eye. It's always beter to underfeed than to overfeed, fish in the wild live on the edge of starvation for portions of their life. Overfeeding results in rotting food, which produces ammonia, you can see where that will lead in a cycling tank. I would only feed once daily in your situation, count eyeballs & estimate the amount. Many people will fast fish one day a week, this gives their system a chance to clear out, helping to avoid constipation issues. This will help as well, especially if you see the ammonia or nitrites starting to really take off. Less food means less ammonia produced by the fish.

BTW, welcome to TFF! Newbies that ask plenty of questions are a good thing, it really helps with that steep learning curve. I'm off to fire up the bbq, sausage & corn on the cob.

 

[Boids-n-more]

Also a habit i got into was adding the dechorinator in the water before i put it in the tank. That way the chlorine doesn't have a chance to kill any good bacteria

 

[nikki182]

well I did the first water change last night & the fish are looking a bit better, my black molly & babies are suviving but I did lose 1 of the tetras . I bought some more dechlor today so I am well topped up for now. I am taking a water sample into my lfs tomorrow , trouble is the lfs firmly believe in cycling the tank empty, even after I told them there was still fish in the tank. I think the trouble with me added the dechlor first is that I worry I cannot messure exactly how much I put in, as I have to use pots & jugs at the moment to fill the tank & my brain is not cut out for mathematics!

 

[Tolak]

You can just eyeball by how much water you take out of the tank. Half of your tank is around 10 gallons, 1/4 is around 5 gallons. Dechlorinator has a pretty big margin of error, a little extra won't hurt.

To cycle a tank you need a source of ammonia. With a traditional cycle you are letting the fish produce ammonia. A fishless cycle consists of adding pure ammonia, the kind found at your local store, to bring the ammonia level up to around 5 ppm. With a fishless cycle, no fish are involved, so there is no risk of damage to fish due to ammonia or nitrite poisoning. Without an ammonia source the tank will never cycle.