Help Please !

[the shrew]

Thanks for taking time to look.

Ok so here goes i have had my tank for nearly 2 months now i set it up left it for a week or so before i put any fish in etc.

I then got 10 neons and 1 plec they all seemed fine for about a week then one of the neons died. I just put this down to bad luck. I kept a close eye on the rest of the fish again they all seemed fine.

After a few weeks I then got 4 tiger barbs and 2 green barbs they are small ones. After a few days of having them my plec died

I decided to leave the tank for about 6 weeks before i got any more fish i then got 2 plecs and 2 Dwarf Gourmi. I have had them in the tank for a few days now and this morning one of the Gourmi semmed as if it was dead when i put the net in it scared this Sh*t out of me and swam off but it did seem ill.

I change 20 ish % of the water every week replacing it with tap water a soulution to get rid of the metal etc.

Clean the filter out at the same time in the water from the tank then add some filter start.
soulution.

I decided to get a test kit thing at the same time as i got the last lot of fish i think it was the Nitrate one did the test and the water was as it should be acordidng to the kit.

Is this normal for a new ish tank or am i doing something wrong ?

Hope someone can point me in the right direction

Thanks

 

[Dave Spencer]

I suspect your tank has not cycled properly.

Test for Ammonia/Ammonium and nitrites. These are the killers. Nitrates need to get very high at around 100ppm (figures differ) before they harm fish.

What is the capacity of your tank in USG?

 

[thegnu]

hello and welcome to the forum
first off i think you rushed things a bit by adding too many fish but 99% of people with a first tank would do the same.
how big is your tank, how many litres/gallons. it takes at least 30 days for a tank to cycle from scratch and in this time you shouldn't really add anymore fish to the ones that went in first and then only 1 or 2 a week after after the tank is cycled, but your tank should have settled down by now. are you adding a dechlorinater to your water changes and does the water company use chloramines. can you test for ammonia and nitrite and what are the nitrate readings exactly

 

[Breeze7050]

Well, we still need a little more information in order to help you out.
1. what size tank?
2. what is the temp?
3. what equipment are you using? - heater type, filter type, ect
4. what are all the fish in the tank? What type of plec do you have?
5. what are the exact readings from your test kit?
6. Are you fish showing any signs of white spots/ich, flicking against rocks/gravel, or acting odd in any other way?

With this information, we should be able to help you out a little more.

 

[paul-discus]

Thanks for taking time to look.

Ok so here goes i have had my tank for nearly 2 months now i set it up left it for a week or so before i put any fish in etc.

I then got 10 neons and 1 plec they all seemed fine for about a week then one of the neons died. I just put this down to bad luck. I kept a close eye on the rest of the fish again they all seemed fine.

After a few weeks I then got 4 tiger barbs and 2 green barbs they are small ones. After a few days of having them my plec died

I decided to leave the tank for about 6 weeks before i got any more fish i then got 2 plecs and 2 Dwarf Gourmi. I have had them in the tank for a few days now and this morning one of the Gourmi semmed as if it was dead when i put the net in it scared this Sh*t out of me and swam off but it did seem ill.

I change 20 ish % of the water every week replacing it with tap water a soulution to get rid of the metal etc.

Clean the filter out at the same time in the water from the tank then add some filter start.
soulution.

I decided to get a test kit thing at the same time as i got the last lot of fish i think it was the Nitrate one did the test and the water was as it should be acordidng to the kit.

Is this normal for a new ish tank or am i doing something wrong ?

Hope someone can point me in the right direction

Thanks

Hi mate, I wouldn't have put neons in the tank as a first fish as they like aged water but you say you only lost 1 so you were lucky. Were you feeding the plecs correctly? I always make sure they have cucumber or zuchini in the tank every day for a couple of hours but they also need something like Tetra food for bottom feeders too. I think some of your problems relate to the fact that you say you clean your filter out every week, and that is too much, once a month is perfectly adequate rinsed in the water you take from your tank. You should really get yourself a couple of more kits like Nitrite, pH and Ammonia as just testing for nitrate is not eneough. Hope this helps.... Take Care.

Thanks for taking time to look.

Ok so here goes i have had my tank for nearly 2 months now i set it up left it for a week or so before i put any fish in etc.

I then got 10 neons and 1 plec they all seemed fine for about a week then one of the neons died. I just put this down to bad luck. I kept a close eye on the rest of the fish again they all seemed fine.

After a few weeks I then got 4 tiger barbs and 2 green barbs they are small ones. After a few days of having them my plec died

I decided to leave the tank for about 6 weeks before i got any more fish i then got 2 plecs and 2 Dwarf Gourmi. I have had them in the tank for a few days now and this morning one of the Gourmi semmed as if it was dead when i put the net in it scared this Sh*t out of me and swam off but it did seem ill.

I change 20 ish % of the water every week replacing it with tap water a soulution to get rid of the metal etc.

Clean the filter out at the same time in the water from the tank then add some filter start.
soulution.

I decided to get a test kit thing at the same time as i got the last lot of fish i think it was the Nitrate one did the test and the water was as it should be acordidng to the kit.

Is this normal for a new ish tank or am i doing something wrong ?

Hope someone can point me in the right direction

Thanks

Hi mate, I wouldn't have put neons in the tank as a first fish as they like aged water but you say you only lost 1 so you were lucky. Were you feeding the plecs correctly? I always make sure they have cucumber or zuchini in the tank every day for a couple of hours but they also need something like Tetra food for bottom feeders too. I think some of your problems relate to the fact that you say you clean your filter out every week, and that is too much, once a month is perfectly adequate rinsed in the water you take from your tank. You should really get yourself a couple of more kits like Nitrite, pH and Ammonia as just testing for nitrate is not eneough. Hope this helps.... Take Care.

Thanks for taking time to look.

Ok so here goes i have had my tank for nearly 2 months now i set it up left it for a week or so before i put any fish in etc.

I then got 10 neons and 1 plec they all seemed fine for about a week then one of the neons died. I just put this down to bad luck. I kept a close eye on the rest of the fish again they all seemed fine.

After a few weeks I then got 4 tiger barbs and 2 green barbs they are small ones. After a few days of having them my plec died

I decided to leave the tank for about 6 weeks before i got any more fish i then got 2 plecs and 2 Dwarf Gourmi. I have had them in the tank for a few days now and this morning one of the Gourmi semmed as if it was dead when i put the net in it scared this Sh*t out of me and swam off but it did seem ill.

I change 20 ish % of the water every week replacing it with tap water a soulution to get rid of the metal etc.

Clean the filter out at the same time in the water from the tank then add some filter start.
soulution.

I decided to get a test kit thing at the same time as i got the last lot of fish i think it was the Nitrate one did the test and the water was as it should be acordidng to the kit.

Is this normal for a new ish tank or am i doing something wrong ?

Hope someone can point me in the right direction

Thanks

Hi mate, I wouldn't have put neons in the tank as a first fish as they like aged water but you say you only lost 1 so you were lucky. Were you feeding the plecs correctly? I always make sure they have cucumber or zuchini in the tank every day for a couple of hours but they also need something like Tetra food for bottom feeders too. I think some of your problems relate to the fact that you say you clean your filter out every week, and that is too much, once a month is perfectly adequate rinsed in the water you take from your tank. You should really get yourself a couple of more kits like Nitrite, pH and Ammonia as just testing for nitrate is not eneough. Hope this helps.... Take Care.

Thanks for taking time to look.

Ok so here goes i have had my tank for nearly 2 months now i set it up left it for a week or so before i put any fish in etc.

I then got 10 neons and 1 plec they all seemed fine for about a week then one of the neons died. I just put this down to bad luck. I kept a close eye on the rest of the fish again they all seemed fine.

After a few weeks I then got 4 tiger barbs and 2 green barbs they are small ones. After a few days of having them my plec died

I decided to leave the tank for about 6 weeks before i got any more fish i then got 2 plecs and 2 Dwarf Gourmi. I have had them in the tank for a few days now and this morning one of the Gourmi semmed as if it was dead when i put the net in it scared this Sh*t out of me and swam off but it did seem ill.

I change 20 ish % of the water every week replacing it with tap water a soulution to get rid of the metal etc.

Clean the filter out at the same time in the water from the tank then add some filter start.
soulution.

I decided to get a test kit thing at the same time as i got the last lot of fish i think it was the Nitrate one did the test and the water was as it should be acordidng to the kit.

Is this normal for a new ish tank or am i doing something wrong ?

Hope someone can point me in the right direction

Thanks

Hi mate, I wouldn't have put neons in the tank as a first fish as they like aged water but you say you only lost 1 so you were lucky. Were you feeding the plecs correctly? I always make sure they have cucumber or zuchini in the tank every day for a couple of hours but they also need something like Tetra food for bottom feeders too. I think some of your problems relate to the fact that you say you clean your filter out every week, and that is too much, once a month is perfectly adequate rinsed in the water you take from your tank. You should really get yourself a couple of more kits like Nitrite, pH and Ammonia as just testing for nitrate is not eneough. Hope this helps.... Take Care.

 

[the shrew]

Ok thanks for the help so far.

I think the shop said my tank was 60 gallons but having said that i dont think they have given me much good advise.

The Nitrate level was perfect acording to the kit the colour matched the same as it should be. I might be wrong but i think it was 0.3 i will have to check when i get home from work.

The food i have given the fish is flake stuff i have seen it in plenty of shops so presumed its good stuff also added little pellet things for the PLecs

In the main the fish seem very happy etc they dont have any signs of anything wrong with them. I always have a close look every day to check everything is ok.

The temp is 27-28 if i remember correctly the shop set it for me and my thermomiter reads the same as the heater was set to.

 

[TerraDreamer]

Not sure of which test kit you have, but I bought the API Freshwater Master Test Kit the other night and found it to be excellent...

http/aquariumpharm.com/en_gb/productCate...ryname=TestKits

Up to 700 tests per kit

I would think most better fish shops carry it.