Help!

[jbrierleytj01]

hi there we were given a tank off my other halfs mum we filled it up with water and went and got some fish the next day. we got some orlens i think they are like gold fish and some that look like black moors they have fat bellies and theyre eyes stick out.

after about a week 1 started to float at the top of the water it was still breathing and would swim now and then a few days later it was dead, then a few days later we lost another fish then the day after that we lost another1.

at the bottom of the tank theres lots of things like look like food does after being left out for a few days....


we dont know what to do im getting a gravel cleaner tomorrow to get rid of the bits
can any1 help

tank is 115cm long 50cm deep 40cm width it has heater which is set at 28 but temp of wateer ranges from 20-23 has gd working filter

its not a new tank setup

 

[BigIan]

1st Do a massive water change. (never hurts)

do you have a test kit? if not get one....

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi there,

It sounds like you have an ammonia problem that is killing the fish. Huge water change as a first thing. I hope you use a dechlorinater of some kind!

Did you use a decholinater when you first filled up the tank? Did you wash out the filter at all? You say it's not a new set up; how long had it been running previously? and how long has it been since it last had fish in it?

 

[jbrierleytj01]

Hi there,

It sounds like you have an ammonia problem that is killing the fish. Huge water change as a first thing. I hope you use a dechlorinater of some kind!

Did you use a decholinater when you first filled up the tank? Did you wash out the filter at all? You say it's not a new set up; how long had it been running previously? and how long has it been since it last had fish in it?

no we didnt use a decholinater, no thre filter wasnt washed out as to save the beacteria . it had been running about 3 years and it didnt have a fish in it for about an hour before we got it

 

[fluttermoth]

Ok, thanks for that; that helps a lot

There may well have been some chlorine left in the water when you put the fish in; it takes about 24 hours to disappear, and if your water company uses chloramine, that won't disappear at all; that's why you should always use a dechlorinator. Unfortunately, the chlorine will have killed off most, if not all, of the bacteria you tried so hard to keep!

Lots of water changes and try and get a test kit (one of the liquid ones, with the test tubes; the test strips are notoriously inaccurate) as you're almost certainly in a 'fish in cycle' now and will need to be doing lots of water changes; maybe 50% daily until your filter bacteria build back up.

Make sure you use dechlorinator from now on

 

[jbrierleytj01]

Ok, thanks for that; that helps a lot

There may well have been some chlorine left in the water when you put the fish in; it takes about 24 hours to disappear, and if your water company uses chloramine, that won't disappear at all; that's why you should always use a dechlorinator. Unfortunately, the chlorine will have killed off most, if not all, of the bacteria you tried so hard to keep!

Lots of water changes and try and get a test kit (one of the liquid ones, with the test tubes; the test strips are notoriously inaccurate) as you're almost certainly in a 'fish in cycle' now and will need to be doing lots of water changes; maybe 50% daily until your filter bacteria build back up.

Make sure you use dechlorinator from now on

have just done a 20% water change and will do 1 in the next few days

 

[fluttermoth]

Well, that's a start, but I'd really recommend at least 50% daily, to be honest...large water changes will not stress your fish and are the absolute best thing you can do if you want to keep them alive. You can almost totally empty the tank; just leaving enough water for the fish to swim upright in, as long as you use a dechlorinater and warm the water; it doesn't need to be exact; just using your hand to match the temp is fine.

 

[jbrierleytj01]

Well, that's a start, but I'd really recommend at least 50% daily, to be honest...large water changes will not stress your fish and are the absolute best thing you can do if you want to keep them alive. You can almost totally empty the tank; just leaving enough water for the fish to swim upright in, as long as you use a dechlorinater and warm the water; it doesn't need to be exact; just using your hand to match the temp is fine.

rite ok ill try and empty as much as i can out im in work for a few days now but will empty it bit by bit

 

[fluttermoth]

When I said you can empty it almost totally, I meant during a water change...

Don't forget to fill it back up, will you?

(I'm worried I didn't explain myself clearly enough now!)

 

[jbrierleytj01]

When I said you can empty it almost totally, I meant during a water change...

Don't forget to fill it back up, will you?

(I'm worried I didn't explain myself clearly enough now!)

yea i understood lol

 

[fluttermoth]

Excellent; I was worried for second there!

 

[waterdrop]

O, I missed this other thread jbrierley - its saying similar things to what we've been discussing in your other thread. WD