I Have Gone From A Fish Hobbist To A Fish Killer And Im Not Happy Abou

[johnf333]

Hi everyone!
This is my first entry and my forst freshwater fish tank. It is a 55 gallon tank and have ampel heat and filtration. What I didnt do was cycle the tank by creating alge. I know have fish that are dying and really want to save them.
I have 5 quarter sized tetras. 5 mickey mouse platies and 2 males and 3 females. I also have 2 female dalmation platies that seem to be ok now but were introuced to the tank as a group of 1 male and 4 females. I have had 3 to die since saturday the 1st. and as far as I can tell the other fish were eating them to death. each day they would have bites out of there fins until they couldnt move and I couldnt watch them suffer any more. I tried to seperate them but they dies anyway.
I have not teststed the water for alge or nitrites or amonnia as of yest because I have a limited money supply and wanted to get these supplies the next time I get paid. Dec 20th. Then I planned on a tank cleaning and adding more fish (dalmation platies) and some additional but different color mickey mouse platies. I guess my questions are as follows.
OK I learned from my mistake what can I do to ensure that the current and additional fish survive?
There is so much information out there are there any quick hitters that I can apply to save the fish?
I promise to be a good fish keeper Im not lazy just broke and dissabled so Ineed purtanate answers that are inexpensive but work well. Any sugestions?

 

[fluttermoth]

'Cycling' a tank (technically the filter) is nothing to do with algae; it's all to do with bacteria.

Basically, fish produce ammonia, through excretion. This is toxic to fish and as it builds up in the water, it makes the fish sick (by reducing their ability to absorb oxygen from the water, mostly) and eventually kills them.

Luckily for us fishkeepers, there are families of bacteria that eat ammonia and turn it, first to nitrite (also toxic) and eventually nitrate (which is harmful to fish only at very high levels). Cycling means growing colonies of those good bacteria in your filter that will eat the fish's wastes for you.

As you won't have any of those bacteria yet, you'll have to stop the water becoming toxic through water changes. Until you can get test kits to monitor the condition of the water, you'll have to change nearly all the water (at least 50%) every day. As long as the new water is warmed and dechlorinated, large water changes won't hurt your fish.

If you find water changes difficult with your disability, don't forget you can use a hose to empty and refill the tank if needs be and if makes things easier for you. Just make sure you add enough dechorinator for the whole tank's volume if you use this method, and add it to the tank before you start refilling.

 

[the_lock_man]

Hi mate.

You aren't the first to make the mistake, and I reckon you probably aren't going to be the last, so don't worry about it.

First, just for accuracy, it isn't algae you need to grow, it's bacteria - two types to be precise.

Second, don't get any more fish until your filter matures. That will take a few weeks.

Third, the quick hitter to save your fish is to do large water changes every day, and I'm talking about just leaving the fish enough room to swim upright in. Replace it with fresh, temperature matched water which has been treated with a dechlorinator.

Fourth, if you can find the money for a test kit before you get paid next, it may well save you a few water changes. Until you know exactly how much water needs changing, you need to err on the side of caution, and change as much as possible.

Fifth, read the link in my signature area. It will explain in more detail how much water changing you need to do, and more importantly, why. Once you have that understanding of what's going on in your filter, you're in a better position to help your fish.

Hope this helps, if you have any more queries, just ask!

 

[leighton_87]

Obviously you know you need a test kit but can't afford one at the moment - in the mean time try taking some of your water to your LFS, try should be able to test for it for you.

However, even without testing it's almost certain that your fish are dying from ammonia poisoning as the tank has not cycled - the only way to get rid of that without a cycled filter is through water changes. The first thing I would do is a 90% water change leaving just enough water in for the fish to swim upright. Once you have done this you need to do big water changes (75%ish) everyday until you can get a test kit and you are sure the tank has cycled.

Changing the water so often will slow down your cycling but will help your fish survive - Do you know anyone else who keeps fish you could take up to a third of their filter media and put it in your tank to speed up the process.

Whatever you do, do not add anymore fish until your certain the tank has cycled and has been settled for a week or two.

Good luck



Seems like I was beaten to it - like the others have said make sure the water you add is dechlorinated and temperature matched

 

[DreamertK]

http/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000255NCI/sr=1-1/qid=1354788266/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1354788266&seller=&sr=1-1

Theres your cheapest water tests. Good for 100+ tests while the strips only offer 4-16 tests per package. You might want to do them every day during the cycle, on the 20th you might want to just start off testing Nitrite/NO2 until it's 0 for about a week.

Unfortunately you will have to do all of those huge water changes. Trust me, I had to do them every day for about three weeks and that was with the kit telling me there was too many chemicals in the water. It was a huge pain, but in the long run your fish will live longer and wont have organ damage down the line. It seems like you have sensitive fish, so they'll be much happier if you start doing the water changes now.

 

[Gilli]

And do not under any circumstances clean your filter out and make sure you add dechorinator to any new water you put in or your good bacteria growing in your filter will get killed off and you will have to start the recycle from scratch again.Recycling takes between 6-8 week until then you need to do large daily water changes to get rid of the toxics in the water which are killing your fish

read up on everything you need to know on the link here below

http/www.fishforum...esource-center/

 

[johnf333]

thank you all for yur quick response. I will get started today and let you know how it works. thanks again

 

[johnf333]

Well thanks to your help I was able to stop the dying. and have mny aquarium undercontrol. I am OC so trust me when I say I will stay on top of it. I first bit the bullet and bought a nice test kit (dont care if I have to eat dog food just so no more fish die) and learned how to use it. Then did 2 cycles. I found that I have a 30 gallon and not a 55 as originally thought. This help alot because I believe i was overdosing the fish. I have also been trying different chemical companies to see what fits my needs best. Slow process but will be better for my new family in the long run.
I didnt clean the filter media the first cycle but because I have filtration enough for 3 times the water and 2 biowheels I cleaned filter media but not the biowheels out on the 2nd cycle. The fish are very active and colorful. I actually believe they are liking there new home. Iam totally ready to do cycles any time there is a change or testing shows a dangerous rise in ammonia or nitrites or nitrates. I also have been testing my tap water to see what I was up against when cycling. I wanted to know what I was puting in the tank. I have also started to add more places for for the fish to hide like plants and orniments (Trying to keep stress down). Well I have yacked enough but wanted to thank you all. Just one suggestion when helping a stranger be nice, like your talking to your grandchildren nice. You dont know what they are going through at the time and for some reason I have always found communication over the computer to be mis understood. I dont know why, it just is. Nothing personal and this wasnt ment for all who responded but I have a feeling after reading this they will know whom I was speaking of. Thanks to all I have learned a ton and it is because of you!

 

[the_lock_man]

In fairness, I think the majority of the regulars are patient with beginners, however I will admit to getting frustrated if someone asks a question, receives decent advice, ignores it, then comes back to ask why it went pear-shaped.

Anyway, John, glad it's going good for you, don't worry overly on the nitrates, the fish can tolerate them reasonably enough, and once you get the ammo and nitrite under control, your weekly water change regime will control nitrate adequately.

 

[Jam Jam]

Hello mate,I did exactly the same on my first tank!
When you clean your filter don't forget to wash it out in tank water not tap water as it will kill all your good bacteria in it,ending up re starting your cycle.
Good luck and keep posting,there's lots of great people on here with lots of knowledge.( not me ) lol