I Am Killing My Fish & On The Point Of Giving Up!

[This Old Spouse]

Please know I was upset with the LFS, not you. And you've already discovered the good bacteria is in the filter media, not the water, so just keep doing large w/c and try to find a kind soul with some filter media you can have.

 

[Lufbramatt]

Imagine a room full of carbon monoxide with you sitting in it. The carbon monoxide will kill you, but your not allowed to leave the room. you'd want to open all the windows and doors and refresh all the air as that's what you need to breathe, not just open a little air vent for 5 mins and hope it does enough or somehow you'll get used to breathing a poisonous gas.

That's the same situation your fish are in. They can't escape the tank, but you can refresh their water and remove the poison. The bacteria do not float around in the water, they're stuck to the filter media and to a lesser extent the rocks, substrate and plants in the tank.

 

[Akasha72]

don't feel foolish. A lot of members here are members because they did exactly what you did, hit problems and googled it and found this forum - myself included.

Look forward not back. But keep in mind the fish you have now are going to go through a fish in cycle. They're going to go through a lot and they will be affected by it. If they survive the cycle they will almost definitely have shortened lives (I've got problems at the moment with all the fish that went through that cycle so I want to give you the friendly heads up)

Okay, so looking forward ... you have lots of water changes and water testing ahead of you but at the end of it you'll have a fully cycled tank ready to welcome healthy fish.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Please know I was upset with the LFS, not you. And you've already discovered the good bacteria is in the filter media, not the water, so just keep doing large w/c and try to find a kind soul with some filter media you can have.

 

[Ruskull]

What size is a Marina 60? Is it 60 gallons or 60 litres?

If it's gallons then you have a very big tank. I change my water using a brand new Lowe's 5 gallon spackle type bucket. I use a hand pump siphon that I bought from PetSmart for about $10-15 dollars. It takes about 5 minutes to fill up the bucket and I pour it out into the big garden tub.

I refill the tank by filling the 5 gallon with clean, warm, dechlorinated water. Then I pour that bucket into a 1 gallon pitcher so I can replace the tank's water without disturbing the fish or the gravel, etc. more than need be. It's not really that hard and it can be relaxing believe it or not.

You'll notice the fish actually seem happier when you clean their water. They swim around more & generally look less stressed.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

We have all been where you are at so do not worry abou tpestering us. Trust me, you're not. We will help you get your tank right. Try to get a liquid test kit like ASAP. You will be doing a lot of water changes for a couple of weeks. The test kit will tell you if your water change helped at all. Like its been suggested, do a 90% water change and the shoudl theoretically drop your nitrites to .50. wait a little while then follow it up with another 90% water change and this shoudl theoretically drop your nitrites to .05 which is really close to zero. You need to get those nitrites as close to zero as your can as they will kill your fish just as quickly as ammonia will. Just remember to match the temperature and dechlorinate.

 

[gforce17]

Leave your filter alone for some time. Don't rinse it at all because it needs to mature and build up the bacteria to deal with the ammonia. Do everything else you've been advised by all these good people.

 

[Akasha72]

You'll notice the fish actually seem happier when you clean their water. They swim around more & generally look less stressed.

That is very true. Even with a cycled tank my fish seem to mostly enjoy water changes - except my oto's and cory's ... they tend to go hide. The guppies actually come to the surface and purposely swim into the jug as I'm re-filling - it's like a game

I find water changes quite calming too ... don't much like the heavy buckets but seeing the fish happy does me good

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Yes of course, thank you Gforce..

Do NOT mess with your filter and let the media mature. When your media get gunky and nasty and slows the filter flow, then rinse the filter sponge/cartridge in old tank water. DO NOT THROW IT AWAY!!! If you throw away the filter insert, then you throw away all the bacteria needed to keep your tank healthy. The companies tell you to change the filter once a month because they need to make money too. I know some people that have matured media that is 10+ years old and it works just fine!

 

[gforce17]

ABSOLUTELY!

The first thing I did ( in my ignorance) was to order new filter media for my filter and its been in the cupboard for ages. Ive got no intention of using it!

 

[Ruskull]

***EDIT:

I just did a search and a Marina 60 is measured in litres not gallons. That's equal to a 15 gallon which is quite small. If you empty (2) five gallons buckets you'll be fine.

 

[Baltipal]

It's OK people, I wasn't being too defensive, I know you're all trying to help but one of the staff at P@H when he saw the results actually said, "What have you been keeping in there, a CAT?"
Which I admit is kind of funny now but left me feeling like a dimwit at the time!
We've completed a 90% change, the sucker is wizzing up & down the length of the tank (60 litres) like he's on acid, the Platies look shell shocked & the Tetras look bemused but the fry are still alive & everything is coated in air bubbles.
I'll go to another P@H tomorrow for another water test then do a 30% water change straight after, or should I leave for abit depending on the results?

 

[Akasha72]

you'll probably find that there will be some kind of reading for ammonia and nitrite as it's not going to just disappear with one water change (don't get disheartened, it's going to take time) If you keep testing daily and keep changing water you'll keep the ammonia and nirtite down to a level that the fish can handle. It's not ideal but ideal will come in time if you keep at it.
If the ammonia is above 0.25 do a big water change (same for nitrite reading too) keep sticking the syphon right into the gravel and hold it there - you can see the gunk coming up off the bottom of the tank. What I do is concentrate the syphon at the front and start in one corner. Push the tube down as far as it will go and slowly pull it up watching all the time for the water to be sucking up clear. Then I move on about an inch and repeat it and keep going until I've reached the other side. Then I randomly do other sections where I can get to without stripping everything out. I try not to be too obcessive as my plants need a bit of gunk for fertilizer but I like to know my gravel is reasonably clean.

You can cut down on food but fish still wee and poo and until the bacteria in the filter has grown to feed on this it sits in the tank poisoning your fish instead.

Next time you go to p@h just ask them to test your water. I find it helps not to get into a conversation with them as they think they know more than you regardless of whether they know you or not. I've also noticed that they seem to be quoting from some invisable book and no matter what you say your wrong. It's best not to argue with them. They offer a free water test - take the results of the test but ignore any advice

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I would wait an hour or so and do ANOTHER 90% water change. The nitrites were quite high so you probably STILL have a nitrite reading.

 

[Steph P]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum. I know a few people have said it already but try not to look back and just concentrate on moving forward to getting the tank established. So many of us have been through what you are experiencing now and it is truly horrible when you realise that the information the LFS gave you was incorrect but we are all here to help you. We went through all the same things you are going through now but were very lucky and only lost two guppies.

The advice you have been given so far is spot on, try to take comfort in the fact that you are now doing everything you can to help the little guys and you have better days to come.

Take care and keep us posted on your progress.

Steph