Help Needed Please

[Blaine]

When i woke up this morning i found that my Black neon had died through the night. He had seperated himself from the others yesterday and was on the bottom when we woke this morning.

At the same time i noticed one of the guppys was just sitting on the bottom to and didn't seem to interested in anything. he had lost a lot ofcolour to. Only thing is it seems ok now. Is this normal for guppies

If not has anyone got any suggestions what i need to buy?

 

[madgap]

People on here are more than happy to give advice but you will do well to give as much infomation as you can.Tank inhabitants, water quallity, recently added fish, tempreture. Anything you can so a correct diognosis can be given.

 

[Blaine]

The tank contains 1 betta, 2 neon tetras, 1 cherry barb, 2 guppies, 1 glass catfish and a common pleco aswell as 2 african frogs. I am unable to tell you thePH of the water due to not having a PH tester (buying one today). the only thing that has been added lately is the pleco and the air block got removed last night ifthat makes any difference. the temperature is 26. All the other fish seem fine. betta is much happier since removing the air block. As i say the guppy is quite happy now but wasn't this morning

 

[madgap]

I am ill qualified to give you any sort of advice on fish health. But you maybe helping the next reader if you state the size of your tank.
In the meantime, might I suggest you do some web searching on YOUR fish, It might be that some are not compatible with one another. Also, look to see if some are a shoal fish, live in groups of their own kind.

Best of luck

 

[AJGray]

I researched the fish before we bought them established what we could have together and what we couldnt,these fish according to all the sites i have been on and my fish shop guy said they would be great together so far they have!

i wondered if it was just the betta being aggresive with the black neon a bit to much and stressed the poor thing out, could also be he could of been an older fish.

he lost a lot of colour and sat at the topp of the tank last night and was off his food

its a 30ltr tank (works out 7gallon i think) but its temp housing till they can go in the bigger tank (with allthe fish being really quite small we thought that they would be ok)

 

[madgap]

In my opinion, your tank for the amount of fish is not too small. But, you have a pleco, they get big. you will probably have to rehome it into a bigger tank within a few months.The reason I suggest a search is, neons shoal. They shouldn't really be kept in a group fewer than five, four at a push.
Cherry barbs, I am not sure but some barbs find other fish fins quite tasty.
As for the betta, well, again. I'm not 'up on them'. But you might want to go to the betta section of the forum. It might be that they need a different enviroment?

Pet shop advice. I trust only two shops with their advice. Remember, the guy in the shop is making a living by selling. Eventually, he may not care what you buy. Just so long as you DO buy. Always research. I came across some remarkably stupid advice from a lass in a store last friday. If she had her way I'd have had a very heavy stocked tank and quite a few fatalities by now.

 

[AJGray]

i know what you mesan about the petstores but this guy seems spot on has been there years and his fish are thriving

got a 40-45 gallon tank the fish are moving into so pleco should be fine in there untill we moe into a house rather than a flat and i get the 6fott tank i want lol

thanks for the help nd ill go badger the pet shop guy see if he knows if its just old age or some else entirly

the barb is a little scaredy cat lol seen no nipping for him

 

[madgap]

Brilliant.
And its nice to see you're concern is for the fish welfare.
Good luck with the move.
Take care.
Si

 

[AJGray]

we just dont want them to die

and just really wanted to make sure that a dead fish wouldnt cause any problems with the other fish as it lay there for up to 5 hours aye he was still alive at 12:30 nd i was up at 5:30

 

[bubblesburst80]

sorry for the loss of your tetra, if your concerned it may have polluted the water test your levels if you have a kit, but it wouldnt do any harm to do a water change just incase

hope your other fish are all ok, how long til your big tank is ready - its looking great btw

xXx

 

[-germ-]

Right, here comes a complete contradiction of MadGaps advice, IMO your stocking is abysmal!
I'm not sure where you researched but whoever provided your info quite probably deserves a fairly adequate slap upside the head.....

Cherry Barbs should be kept in groups, in good water conditions and IMO in a larger tank due to their being so active.
As has been mentioned the Common needs rehoming a.s.a.p, they get huge, main point about them i'd have as concerns your current tank is the amount of waste they produce, but i'll get to that in a sec.....
Betta are risky to keep with guppies, tetras, barbs due to various different reasons that while not always applicable (depending on the individual fishes preffered behaviours) aren't really worth risking.
Tetras are extremely sensitive, i'm guessing this is a fairly new tank for my own reasons, am i right? How long has it been set up? Is it cycled?
Tetras again as has been mentioned should be kept in groups and will get stressed without enough companions to provide security.
The glass catfish should be in a group, get too big for this tank size and need perfect water conditions, if the current situation isn't rectified i guess he'll be one of the first to go.

I don't know enough about livebearers to comment, nor frogs although i'm fairly certain frogs produce quite a bit of waste for their size.

I'm no fish-fascist, i overstock myself, i appreciate people have different ideas and methods of fishkeeping but at the end of the day your stocking is so horrible (imo) i feel like doing a goose-step.
Please get your large tank cycled and remove all the fish excluding the Betta, the frogs and possibly the Guppies.

Theres not enough symptoms described to give an indication as to what (if any) illness is present, but i'd certainly think it is related to your stocking level and the enormous amount of waste you must have in your tank.
Keep up regular water changes until further symptoms are shown, also consider adding a general tonic type med which may be worth a crack.

 

[AJGray]

right thanks for the advice its taken in some form as the betta has been fine with all the fish, hes really placid compared to some i have seen, the tank was cycled for 2 weeks and fish been in a little over a week

the large tank is in the process of being cycled but it doesnt happen over night and the betta is being kept seperate with the frogs anyways

the testing kit is coming today well in a hour or two

another fish dude owner shop person has said it may of just been an old one and was is time which im really hoping although i think the water has something in it doesnt make sense without seeing it and theres no way i can take a pic because its tiny bubble type things its really hard to explain....its a bit like hot water when its white but this is more see through

 

[AJGray]

right when we tested the water the leves are as shown

PH = 6.4

Carbonate = 3

General hardness = 16

Nitrite = 10

Nitrate = 100

Any ideason what these readings should be and how to recitfy them would be helpful

thanks

 

[AJGray]

I really am unsure on what these levels should be

 

[afishdude]

whats your ammonia level?

and a tank needs 4-6 weeks to cycle, your tank was set up for a week before adding all those fish, you had an amonia spike that is poisening your fish.
both the ammonia and nitrIte need to be at 0 before adding fish.