Need Help With My New Danios

[Cary772]

I recently fell in love with the Danios. I know now that I should cycled my new tank without fish, stupid newbie that I am. But I set up a 10 gallon tank and added 6 zebra danios. I've lost 3. So I did a 25% water change hoping to bring ammonia and nitrate levels down. I know it will make cycling take longer but I would rather have my fish live. One is still acting sluggish. Two are active and playful. How often can I change water? Will anything else help until I get the tank established?

 

[Doc7]

Hello,

Sounds like you need to do a very large water change (with dechlorinator and proper temp water), then get your hands on a test kit and keep your ammonia and nitrite levels as trace as you can (certainly lower than 0.25 ppm)...

There is a Beginner's Resource center, which I am using frequently, here:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

It will tell you in this thread all about what to do now that you have fish in an uncycled tank:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=224306

I used CraigsList to find someone to adopt my Zebra Danios after I read these forums; all 3 lived for the month and I had read about fish-in cycling before hand (different website that didn't recommend fishless), and as such they were never subjected to any readings above 0.25 ppm with large, frequent water changes.

 

[Cary772]

Thank you. I lost the sluggish little guy during the night but the other two are still hyper and playing with each other. I will up my water changes to 50% and keep testing. My PH is a little low, 6.4, but I'm using distilled water. My tap water will not support fish no matter what I do. I'm using Easy balance and Nitraban. I've heard a lot of talk about Prime. Can't buy it here though.

 

[Curiosity101]

Just to let you know, on top of what Doc7 said, large water changes wont slow your cycle down at all. And you need to do some massive water changes (much larger than 50% and at least twice a day) to keep your fish alive.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with C101, it's very effective for the first water changes (once you hear the info you're hearing now) to be done down to just a little shallow swimming space for the danios and then for the return water to come back in (conditioned and roughly temperature matched.) Then the succeeding days may not need quite such large changes. You may next need to know how to test your water so that you will know whether the water changes are actually getting the poisons low enough to avoid gill and nerve damage. Some of the startup articles in the provided links should help with that. WD

 

[BigJim]

I'm sorry to hear you have lost some fish. I just cycled my 20 gallon tank with 5 danios. It took about 4 weeks and I did daily water changes that were often as much as 50%. I even did 50% water changes twice a day a few times. I basically did a 50% water change whenever i had more than .25 ppm readings for ammonia or nitrite. I only had low level nitrate readings for a few days at the end of the cycle. I know that's probably not feasible for you if you are using distilled water, but I wanted to confirm that it is possible to cycle a tank in a month doing frequent water changes. I hope all goes well and the last two danios make it through.

 

[Doc7]

Nobody has touched on this; I'm not an expert so can somebody please advise the first poster on distilled water and the necessity for mineral additives?

Fish (wild or bred) are not meant to swim in "pure" H2O.

 

[Cary772]

I just did a 50% water 2nd time today. Nitrites are good. Ammonia was .40 ppm before I changed water this time but that was much lower than yesterday. Ph was a little high but should come down with the water change. My last two danios are happily swimming and playing at the top of the tank. I do have a new problem however if anyone can help. I also have 5 gallon tank with 4 goldfish. It has a filter and heater but it is only about 74 degrees. This tank is also cycling. The goldfish are showing signs of ick. Is there a natural way to treat ick or do I have to medicate?

 

[Doc7]

[deleted]


You may wish to research but I believe that is way too many goldfish for a 5 gallon tank.
On this forum I have seen that in that tank you should have either 0 or 1 goldfish.




with the amount of ammonia they are rumored to produce (I have not seen it myself) I believe that doing a fish-in cycle, with 4 goldfish, in a 5 gallon tank, will prove an extremely difficult uphill struggle.


(Of course, my sibling has 8 goldfish in a 15 gallon tank and stares blankly when I tell her why my tank is empty)

 

[justinharrison]

hi there i would sujest using clorine killer when doing water changes i have 10 zebras in my 55gal along with serveral other breeds angles etc

 

[the_lock_man]

Thank you. I lost the sluggish little guy during the night but the other two are still hyper and playing with each other. I will up my water changes to 50% and keep testing. My PH is a little low, 6.4, but I'm using distilled water. My tap water will not support fish no matter what I do. I'm using Easy balance and Nitraban. I've heard a lot of talk about Prime. Can't buy it here though.

Sorry to hear about your losses. Why is it that your tap water won't support fish?

I believe EasyBalance is not a dechlorinator - is this why your tap water will not sustain fish - in that the water still has chorine and/or chloramine in it, which will damage both fish, and the bacteria you are trying to grow in your filter.

There are plenty of dechlorinator products, not just Prime, although many people on here recommend it. I am sure the shop where you get your EasyBalance from will also stock Tetra AquaSafe, which does the same job as Prime. Hopefully that will mean that you can just use tap water for your water changes, which will make life an awful lot easier for you.

 

[Cary772]

Our city water is notoriously bad. Sometimes smells like sewer and a lot of people here won't even drink it. If I use it for my fish, the ph levels are off the chart and my fish don't make it 12 hours in the stuff. I've treated it with everything available here to no avail. Also, I have no fish suppliers and no pet stores here. Just Walmart. "Sigh" The goldfish have been doing good in their tank and they still seem good other than the ich, but of course I added a fish, from Walmart. So I know where the ich came from. Guess where I'm going to pick up ich medicine from this morning? Yep, Walmart. Thought I had some and can't find it. I need to find a good online supplier. Any suggestions?

 

[the_lock_man]

Assuming you're in the US, I can't help, sorry.

Surely you've got legislation as to the minimum standard for drinking water? I'd still suggest testing some water that has had dechlorinator used in it - I checked and EasyBalance isn't a dechlorinator. If your local Walmart stocks EasyBalance, it must also stock AquaSafe as well, or some other dechlorinator product.

 

[Cary772]

Since I'm going to pick up ich medicine, I'll see what else they have. They have changed a lot of what they carry in this area and they don't have the stuff I've been using for my Bettas anymore. But I'm not adding tap water until I test it. I still think it would be easier to find a reputable online retailer. We are planning on setting up a 55 gallon tank after the 10 is established so it won't be for awhile, but I would hate to buy all the water for it.

 

[Cary772]

Assuming you're in the US, I can't help, sorry.

Surely you've got legislation as to the minimum standard for drinking water? I'd still suggest testing some water that has had dechlorinator used in it - I checked and EasyBalance isn't a dechlorinator. If your local Walmart stocks EasyBalance, it must also stock AquaSafe as well, or some other dechlorinator product.

Update on my tap water problems. I'm testing AquaSafe and a water conditioner by API. Now remember I can't buy liquid test kits here either. I'm using strips until I find a good online retailer. AquaSafe readings are Nitrate 40, Nitrite .5, GH 150, KH 300, pH 8.4+. API readings are Nitrate 20, Nitrite .5, GH 75, KH 300, pH 8.4+. And this is without adding it to the tank. My pH and Alkaline numbers are very high with my tap water even after I treat it. I'm gonna try mixing it with the distilled water and check it again.