Help With Aquarium

[newbornfry]

Hi all,
Just looking for some advice.
This is my first tropical aquarium and it has been set up for a month.
We have the following fish (pardon my names, i'm still learning!)

2 x neon
2 x black molly
1 x clown loach
1 x pleco
1 x worm loach
5 x male guppy
2 x red sword tails

We have lost 8 neon over the past month. I took 4 bodies back to day with a sample of water and they said we have a high nitrate level.
Advised to use 'Prime' and perform 25% water change every 3-4 days.

I'm a little confused now, because do I use more Prime when i do the water change, and do I also need to use tap safe?


On a seperate note, we became the proud 'parents' to about 25 fry today, we think from the Mollys.
They are in a nursery tank, but what and how often do they need to be fed, and are they at risk with the high nitrate level?

Thanks in advance
Stu

 

[azulfire24]

yes do a big water change if you can and put water conditner in with the new water accordning as the amt of water u put in, make sure the water temp is the same as what u just took out and put the new stuff in slowly,, just dont dump a bucket in cup by cup. what kind of filter do you use?

feed the about 3 x a day but siphon out any uneaten food, rottin food causese high nitrate levels.

and what kind of pleco, i have heard they can get huge! like 15 to 20 inches, and the male guppies would be happier with females, but they should have a ratio of 2 males to about 5 females,, you dont want to overstock ur tank

what size tank do you have?

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, welcome.

You have found the perfect place for advice. You need to start a thread with this same info over in "New to the Hobby" and give your tank size and how you have been testing your water. You will get lots of good advice, probably starting in the morning. You may need to learn about test kits. The advice above is good and you will need to keep leaning more details about water changes.

There will definately be some items to take action on but whenever you have some free moments you will want to get started reading the pinned articles at the top of the "New to the Hobby" forum.

Good luck and hope to see you over there,
~~waterdrop~~