New Aquarium Owner

[terminalfall]

First of all, let me say that I'm very new to aquariums. I've read up a lot, but most people provide "guides" to fish tanks as if the reader already knows what nitrate and ph levels do, and are familiar with tanks entirely. However, I'm not very sure about anything when it comes to aquariums, ask me a question and I will draw a blank.

However, I do have a tank. I have had an instance where a fish swamp up my filter and stopped it during the night, so all my fish suffocated and that was that. Recently, I've bought all new fish. I'm nervous about these fish, though, and one has already died. It hung around the filter, cornering itself. I scooted it away from the filter with my net, fearful that it would cause my new fish to suffer the same fate as my last little community, but when I returned later, I found it in the corner again, dead. I took it out, and when I returned again, another one of my fish was doing the same thing. I shooed it away. And then, yet ANOTHER fish was doing this. I shooed it away, too, and watched for any abnormal behavior from any of them. None of them had clamped fins, but my Tiger Barb was either settling down for the night or becoming exhausted, which scared me, because I thought it would die. Also, my Glolight Tetra was in the middle of the tank, seemingly gasping. My ordeal with my net could had stressed it out, but considering that my other Glolight Tetra died, I fear it will die, as well.

My fish are normally active during the day, and one or two might be hanging around the bottom, resting. My Glolight Tetras sat still no matter what, but sometimes they'd move out of place. I found that these fish are rather inactive overall. My two Zebra Danios are active, as well as my Tiger Barb. During the night, I'm not really aware of their behavior, so maybe my Tiger Barb's settling is normal.

So, what I need is advice for my fishes' behavior. Also, I would like to know proper procedures for one, setting up a tank (what kind of water I should use, how should I clean it, etc.), two, cycling a tank, three, what proper filtering looks like, and four, how to do partial water changes as well as complete water changes. I realize this is a lot to ask, but all the information I read is varied, and I'm certainly not going to get good advice from random employees. They told me to use only distilled water in my tank and only distiller water, but I know this will murder my fish. Thank you in advance for all your help, I do appreciate it and I will thoroughly take it into account.

Oh, I just realized I posted this in the wrong place... I'm sorry. Can I move this somehow?

 

[RossC]

Hello I'm sorry to hear about this happening to your fish I don't know the direct cause but I'm guessing your fish were stressed due to unsuitable water chemistry. Basically the pH is how acidic or alkaline your water is. Different fish like different pH but as close to neutral and most are happy. Nitrates and nitrites are outputs of a nitrogen cycle that should take place in a healthy tank. Fish's waste (ammonia) should be processed either by bacteria in your filter or by plants. The cycling process is explained better here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/113861-fishless-cycling/ . Water changes should be done using a siphon/gravel cleaner which will suck the water out of your tank they're fairly cheap and are a must have. Also you need to treat your tap water with treatments that removes chlorine and detoxifies metals. I hope this helps

 

[fluttermoth]

The reason your fish are dying and hanging around the filter will be because of ammonia in the water. This affects the amount of oxygen they can uptake, which is why it looks as if there isn't enough oxygen in the water; there is, but the fish can't absorb it properly. Fish produce ammonia constantly through their excreta and through their gills as a by product of respiration.

Cycling a tank means growing a colony of beneficial bacteria in the filter that eat the ammonia, and the susequent nitrite, and stops it poisoning the fish.

There are great guides to the nitrogen cycle (very bascially; fish = ammonia = nitrite = nitrate), fishless and fish-in cycles in the beginner;s resource centre (link for that is in my sig) which would be a great place for you to start.

Most tropical fish do fine in just straight tap water, once it's dechlorinated. If your tap water is very hard, or very soft, you may have to take a little extra care to stock fish that prefer those conditions; changing the pH or hardness of water is quite difficult, and not recommended for newcomers to the hobby.

Cleaning a tank before it's set up is easily done with plain hot water. If it's second hand, lemon juice, vinegar and salt can help, as they're easily rinsed away leaving no toxic residues.

Proper filtering means having a filter that's rated for your size of tank or above. It's very hard to overfilter and not going to happen in the normal run of things, although obviously you don't want a filter that's so strong your fish struggle against the current. You want the filter to create a few ripples on the surface for gas exchange. Only wash the filter media (whatever is in the filter; sponges or ceramic rings are the most common) out in old tank water, as tap water will kill your good bacteria. Don't replace it unless it falls apart, and even then only a 1/4 at a time.

Partial water changes in a cycled tank should be done weekly for most tanks and should be between 25 and 50%, depending on how heavily stocked you are. Large tanks with a few fish will need less water changes than smaller tanks with lots of fish, but a third weekly is a good place to start. Syphon the water out with a gravel cleaner to pick up the poop and replace what you've taken out with new, warmed, dechlorinated water.

You never need to do a complete water change in the normal run of things; only if you want to rescape, change substrate or if you are ever misfortunate enough to have an outbreak of disease; weekly maintenance eliminates the need for total strip downs.

As your tank is not cycled yet, you will need to be checking for ammonia every day, so you'll need a test kit for that, and preferably one for nitrite too, as that's the second stage of the nitrogen cycle and is still toxic to fish. Don't worry about pH, nitrate or hardness at the moment.

Unitl you can get test kits, you should do a large water change now (75 or 80%; leave just enough water for the fish to swim upright, and don't forget to turn your filter and heater off, as you don't want them running 'dry'), and then do 50% every day to stop the ammonia building up.

Hope all that makes sense to you, please post again if anything's not clear; we're all here to help

 

[RossC]

The reason your fish are dying and hanging around the filter will be because of ammonia in the water. This affects the amount of oxygen they can uptake, which is why it looks as if there isn't enough oxygen in the water; there is, but the fish can't absorb it properly. Fish produce ammonia constantly through their excreta and through their gills as a by product of respiration.

Cycling a tank means growing a colony of beneficial bacteria in the filter that eat the ammonia, and the susequent nitrite, and stops it poisoning the fish.

There are great guides to the nitrogen cycle (very bascially; fish = ammonia = nitrite = nitrate), fishless and fish-in cycles in the beginner;s resource centre (link for that is in my sig) which would be a great place for you to start.

Most tropical fish do fine in just straight tap water, once it's dechlorinated. If your tap water is very hard, or very soft, you may have to take a little extra care to stock fish that prefer those conditions; changing the pH or hardness of water is quite difficult, and not recommended for newcomers to the hobby.

Cleaning a tank before it's set up is easily done with plain hot water. If it's second hand, lemon juice, vinegar and salt can help, as they're easily rinsed away leaving no toxic residues.

Proper filtering means having a filter that's rated for your size of tank or above. It's very hard to overfilter and not going to happen in the normal run of things, although obviously you don't want a filter that's so strong your fish struggle against the current. You want the filter to create a few ripples on the surface for gas exchange. Only wash the filter media (whatever is in the filter; sponges or ceramic rings are the most common) out in old tank water, as tap water will kill your good bacteria. Don't replace it unless it falls apart, and even then only a 1/4 at a time.

Partial water changes in a cycled tank should be done weekly for most tanks and should be between 25 and 50%, depending on how heavily stocked you are. Large tanks with a few fish will need less water changes than smaller tanks with lots of fish, but a third weekly is a good place to start. Syphon the water out with a gravel cleaner to pick up the poop and replace what you've taken out with new, warmed, dechlorinated water.

You never need to do a complete water change in the normal run of things; only if you want to rescape, change substrate or if you are ever misfortunate enough to have an outbreak of disease; weekly maintenance eliminates the need for total strip downs.

As your tank is not cycled yet, you will need to be checking for ammonia every day, so you'll need a test kit for that, and preferably one for nitrite too, as that's the second stage of the nitrogen cycle and is still toxic to fish. Don't worry about pH, nitrate or hardness at the moment.

Unitl you can get test kits, you should do a large water change now (75 or 80%; leave just enough water for the fish to swim upright, and don't forget to turn your filter and heater off, as you don't want them running 'dry'), and then do 50% every day to stop the ammonia building up.

Hope all that makes sense to you, please post again if anything's not clear; we're all here to help

Very well written advise

 

[terminalfall]

Thank you very much for all the advice. ^^ It's really helpful. I'll ask a question if I need to, but first I'll refer back to this thread.
Just one thing, though: one, my Glolight Tetra's missing a piece of his fin. I've never noticed it before, so I think the rest of my fish my be bullying him. What do I do about this? Also, this same tetra is the one who's been gasping, and I think I might've found the problem: there's a bit of debris in his gills, it must've gotten caught there while he was swimming along the bottom. How do I go about removing this?

 

[Tizer]

If you are handy with scissors and tape, you can fashion him a fin out of a plastic bottle or food carton. Simply cut out a fin then superglue it to him or use a rivet gun. I'm sure its a perfectly legit method, afterall, Hollywood made some film about a Dolphin that had trouble swimming and did similar.

 

[Mowbz]

If you are handy with scissors and tape, you can fashion him a fin out of a plastic bottle or food carton. Simply cut out a fin then superglue it to him or use a rivet gun. I'm sure its a perfectly legit method, afterall, Hollywood made some film about a Dolphin that had trouble swimming and did similar.

Fins will repair themselves over time with clean water. This means "chemically" clean, not visibly. No ammonia, nitrites, or other nasties.

In response the one with stuff in his gills, you're not likely to get it out yourself unless its a very large fish, and you can hold him while you grab it. Not only will most fish not tolerate you holding them (my barbs will sit in my hand when its under the water and eat out of it, others wont) but you're probably not going to be able to be delicate enough to not do any damage. My best advice would be to leave well alone, and give them all plenty of good water and cover.

 

[balajake]

If you are handy with scissors and tape, you can fashion him a fin out of a plastic bottle or food carton. Simply cut out a fin then superglue it to him or use a rivet gun. I'm sure its a perfectly legit method, afterall, Hollywood made some film about a Dolphin that had trouble swimming and did similar.

you just made me spit my drink all over my screen

 

[terminalfall]

If you are handy with scissors and tape, you can fashion him a fin out of a plastic bottle or food carton. Simply cut out a fin then superglue it to him or use a rivet gun. I'm sure its a perfectly legit method, afterall, Hollywood made some film about a Dolphin that had trouble swimming and did similar.

Yeah, this freaked me out, too. "What!? Can I really do that!? Won't that hurt the fish!?"
Also, thank you, Mowbz, I'll make sure I keep their water clean. ^^

 

[RossC]

If you are handy with scissors and tape, you can fashion him a fin out of a plastic bottle or food carton. Simply cut out a fin then superglue it to him or use a rivet gun. I'm sure its a perfectly legit method, afterall, Hollywood made some film about a Dolphin that had trouble swimming and did similar.

I've done this a number of times just have to make sure you don't attach it backwards

 

[fluttermoth]

You'll get used to Tizer and his ridiculous comments soon, terminalfall

 

[terminalfall]

I'm sure I will. xD All humor aside, however, when I got home, I found my last Glolight Tetra stuck in the filter. Not a nice thing to come home to. Considering he was sitting by the filter like before, could this mean my fish need more oxygen? And if so, how would I do this? Also, my fish seem a lot less active now. My tiger barb is also hanging around the bottom of the tank, pretty much motionless. My danios are at the top, but inactive. I put a flake of food to see if they'd eat, but they ignored it. Are they having the same oxygen problem? Or, what's wrong?

 

[Haveagojoe]

Did you fill the tank and straight away stock it with fish, because it sounds to me that the tank isnt cycled in any way at all, was there any time inbetween filling it with water and then putting the fish in.

 

[fluttermoth]

It's very, rare for a tank to be low in oxygen.

it's almost 100% certain that it's the effect of being exposed to ammonia; that reduces the fish's capacity to absorb oxyen. Have you done that large (75 or 80%) water change I recommended yet?

Nearly all fish health problems can be resolved with plenty of good, clean water

 

[Tizer]

You'll get used to Tizer and his ridiculous comments soon, terminalfall

How rude