how long to cycle tank- losing guppies in old tank

[finfayce]

i have maybe 15-18 guppies of all ages in a 20 gallon high tank. 2 albino plecos, 3 albino catfish and one algae eater. within a a day or two the tank smells and water
cloudy. this an established 1 1/2 years tank set up. i am losing 2-3 guppies weekly for the last 2 weeks. no fry are being born anymore. i have a new 20 gallon long going. how long before i can transfer fish. i have a Cascade 600 rated to do 50 gallons and a small 10 gallon filter on the other end of tank. what am i doing wrong?

 

[Naughts]

Test your water and post the results here.
Also post your water parameters (GH, KH and temperature).
When a fish dies remove it straight away then do a 75% water change and gravel clean. Make sure to dechlorinate the new water.
You don't need to cycle your new tank as you have established filters. You could just move these over with the fish. But we need to work out the problem with the guppies or they may keep dying.
How long have you had the guppies? Do they have any symptoms? Have you added anything to the tank?

 

[finfayce]

Test your water and post the results here.
Also post your water parameters (GH, KH and temperature).
When a fish dies remove it straight away then do a 75% water change and gravel clean. Make sure to dechlorinate the new water.
You don't need to cycle your new tank as you have established filters. You could just move these over with the fish. But we need to work out the problem with the guppies or they may keep dying.
How long have you had the guppies? Do they have any symptoms? Have you added anything to the tank?

 

[finfayce]

thanks- i have had the guppies for about 1 1/2 years. i did add one small albino pleco and 3 albino catfish about 10 days ago.
i have had the smelly cloudy tank problem before getting the new fish.
i will do water testing later today.

 

[finfayce]

thanks- i have had the guppies for about 1 1/2 years. i did add one small albino pleco and 3 albino catfish about 10 days ago.
i have had the smelly cloudy tank problem before getting the new fish.
i will do water testing later today.

 

[finfayce]

my husband said to multiply width X height X length to determine which tank is bigger. when i did that the totals were the same. i hope more air space in the longer more shallow tank will give fish more oxygen. am i right?

 

[finfayce]

my husband said to multiply width X height X length to determine which tank is bigger. when i did that the totals were the same. i hope more air space in the longer more shallow tank will give fish more oxygen. am i right?

 

[finfayce]

do i have to clean the filter before transferring the fish? i cleaned the filter and put a new charcoal cartridge in about 10 days ago.

 

[Colin_T]

You have lots of fish in a small tank and you have a couple of suckermouth catfish (plecos), which are notorious for dirtying up a tank.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for the next 2 weeks or until the problem is resolved.

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Post a picture and short 20 second video of the fish?
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

If the video is too big for this website, post it on YouTube and copy & paste the link here. We can view it at YouTube. If you are using a mobile phone to take the video, have the phone horizontal so the video takes up the entire screen. If you have the phone vertical, you get video in the middle and black on either side.

------------------------
Do you have a gravel cleaner?
If yes, make sure you use it every time you do a water change.
If no, then get a basic model gravel cleaner (like the one in the following link) from the petshop.
https://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

If you can't afford a gravel cleaner, you can make from a 1, 1.5 or 2 litre plastic drink bottle. Cut the bottom off the bottle and throw the bottom bit away. Remove the cap and ring on the top and throw those bits away. Put a garden hose in the top of the bottle and you have a gravel cleaner. You can also buy clear hose form a hardware store and put it in the top of the bottle instead of using a garden hose.

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How often do you clean the filters?

How do you clean the filters?​

What media/ materials are in the filters?

 

[Colin_T]

If you put gravel in the new tank, you can half fill it with water from your current tank and then move the plecos and catfish into the new tank. Top the tank up with dechlorinated water and then move one of the filters onto the new tank as well. Leave the guppies in the original tank and do 75% water changes and gravel cleans on both tanks until we work out what is going on.

 

[Naughts]

my husband said to multiply width X height X length to determine which tank is bigger. when i did that the totals were the same. i hope more air space in the longer more shallow tank will give fish more oxygen. am i right?

Yes the "footprint" is bigger on a 20 long so this is more surface area. Although oxygen levels should be sufficient in the 20 tall. Fish swim horizontally not vertically so they are getting more swimming space in the long tank which is beneficial.

 

[finfayce]

You have lots of fish in a small tank and you have a couple of suckermouth catfish (plecos), which are notorious for dirtying up a tank.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for the next 2 weeks or until the problem is resolved.

------------------------
Post a picture and short 20 second video of the fish?
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

If the video is too big for this website, post it on YouTube and copy & paste the link here. We can view it at YouTube. If you are using a mobile phone to take the video, have the phone horizontal so the video takes up the entire screen. If you have the phone vertical, you get video in the middle and black on either side.

------------------------
Do you have a gravel cleaner?
If yes, make sure you use it every time you do a water change.
If no, then get a basic model gravel cleaner (like the one in the following link) from the petshop.
https://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

If you can't afford a gravel cleaner, you can make from a 1, 1.5 or 2 litre plastic drink bottle. Cut the bottom off the bottle and throw the bottom bit away. Remove the cap and ring on the top and throw those bits away. Put a garden hose in the top of the bottle and you have a gravel cleaner. You can also buy clear hose form a hardware store and put it in the top of the bottle instead of using a garden hose.

------------------------
How often do you clean the filters?

How do you clean the filters?​

What media/ materials are in the filters?

 

[finfayce]

hi and thanks
i don’t have a substrate anymore. it seemed the gravel made the smell worse.
my neighbor gave me all different sizes of guppies some females reached big size and they were the first to die. actually all but one dead fish have been female the original plan was to feed small guppies to my 7 year old red eared slider. she didn’t eat any. i probably over feed. is there a measurement like 1/2 tsp
for instance?i bought a feeding ring but most of the fish haven’t figured it out.

 

[Colin_T]

You only put in a small amount of food and it should be eaten within 30 seconds. Just add a little bit of food and let them eat it. If they eat it all straight away you can give them a little bit more. But it should get eaten almost as soon as you put it in the tank.

All fish tanks should have a substrate so the fish have a definite bottom and can't see their reflection in the glass.

If the water smells bad, it is either caused by dead fish or rotting food.

If you are putting 1/2 teaspoon of food in the tank each day, then it is probably too much, especially if the water smells bad.

 

[finfayce]

You only put in a small amount of food and it should be eaten within 30 seconds. Just add a little bit of food and let them eat it. If they eat it all straight away you can give them a little bit more. But it should get eaten almost as soon as you put it in the tank.

All fish tanks should have a substrate so the fish have a definite bottom and can't see their reflection in the glass.

If the water smells bad, it is either caused by dead fish or rotting food.

If you are putting 1/2 teaspoon of food in the tank each day, then it is probably too much, especially if the water smells bad.