New Fish Owners
- Thread starter fish folk
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Bungy
Fish Crazy
First of all, is the tank MATURE - ie have you fully cycled it before adding fish?
Is the temperature too high - should be set to around 74f for most fish.
You may have low oxygen, try to circulate your water from your filter outlet at the surface so as to agitage and encourage exygen exchange.
Have you a test kit - if so check your stats. If not, do a 25% water change immediately - make sure you add dechlorinator and the temperature is around 74f.
Let me know how you get on.
Bungy
Is the temperature too high - should be set to around 74f for most fish.
You may have low oxygen, try to circulate your water from your filter outlet at the surface so as to agitage and encourage exygen exchange.
Have you a test kit - if so check your stats. If not, do a 25% water change immediately - make sure you add dechlorinator and the temperature is around 74f.
Let me know how you get on.
Bungy
Littlemonkey
Fish Herder
Can you give some more details, ie size of tank, filter, heater and stocking would help and a pic would be usefull
we have had the tank about 3 mth it stood 2 weeks before we introduced fish
its a 200 gallon tank we did a 25% water change yesterday temp is fine
england
channa aka snakehead
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Hi and welcome, ok what is your full stocking list please?
also what type of filteration are you running, what type of maintainence do you preform,ie do you wash the media from the filter in old tank water or wash under the tap?
Have you any test kit?....even though you already did a waterchange even if you change another 10-15% it can only help, when returning water how do you do this,cold or a mixture with warm?
Dont let this dis hearten you
also what type of filteration are you running, what type of maintainence do you preform,ie do you wash the media from the filter in old tank water or wash under the tap?
Have you any test kit?....even though you already did a waterchange even if you change another 10-15% it can only help, when returning water how do you do this,cold or a mixture with warm?
Dont let this dis hearten you
hi its a fluval pump.we have a siver shark 5" and 2 parrot fish and a plec and also 2 barbs. we do a 25% water change every week i clean everything in the water from the tank then fill back up with mixed cold and hot water
chesterscot
Fish Herder
do you use dechlor in the water changes
scot
scot
chesterscot
Fish Herder
hi just read back through your thread and unluckily standing your tank for 2 weeks before adding fish will have most probs done nothing at all as the filter needs waste to build up bacteria to work propely this is why people add ammonia to cycle the tank have a read up on the cycle threads although now you will be doing a fish in cycle you need to start to test your water one change per week may not be enough for now
hopefully someone with more knoweledge will be along shortly
regards scot
hopefully someone with more knoweledge will be along shortly
regards scot
Hi there!
Sorry to hear you are having problems with your tank. Starting out is a rough time for many new fishkeepers.
When you say you let the tank stand for two weeks, what did you do during this time? Did you add ammonia/fishfood to start building a bacterial colony in the filter? Or did you let the tank run without adding anything?
Unfortunately, fishkeeping is rather more complicated than short beginners books and fish stores let on. In many cases newbies are advised to let the tank run for a few days/weeks and then simply add their stock at 1 or 2 week intervals. This puts the fishkeeper into a fish-in cycle without really telling them what it is. This wisdom is passed on from shop or book to fishkeepers who then pass it on so it is very possible to get this advice from friends and relatives as well.
What actually happens in a new tank is rather scary. When added, the fish produce waste. This is then broken down into ammonia, which is then broken down into nitrites and then nitrates by very special bacteria in the filter. However, it can take up to two months for these special bacteria to grow into big enough populations to keep the water clean. In the meantime, the ammonia and nitrites are very dangerous to the fish and lead to what is often called new tank syndrome. Symptoms of this are sick fish, fish constantly at the surface or even fish dropping dead out of the blue. Unless the new fishkeeper tests their water with a decent (ideally liquid) testing kit, the new fishkeeper has no idea what is happening and it can be pretty scary!
In order to handle this fish-in cycle safely, the new fishkeeper needs to test their water daily (and even twice a day if the water is bad) and change as much water as necessary to keep ammonia and nitrites at ZERO. If the fish are over-exposed to ammonia and nitrites, they will get burns on their fins and gills, become lethargic, be unable to get enough oxygen from that water and eventually die. Sometimes they will seem fine for weeks or even months and suddenly get really sick as their bodies give up due to the exposure to these chemicals. Nasty stuff!
So what you need to do now is get your water tested and buy yourself a decent master test kit that has ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH tests. A good one is the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. Avoid the strips - they are not as easy as they look and often give false readings. Plus they are more expensive.
Once you've tested the water, post the results here and we can help further.
Have a read of the stuff here about setting up a new tank and cycling - Linky
Sorry to hear you are having problems with your tank. Starting out is a rough time for many new fishkeepers.
When you say you let the tank stand for two weeks, what did you do during this time? Did you add ammonia/fishfood to start building a bacterial colony in the filter? Or did you let the tank run without adding anything?
Unfortunately, fishkeeping is rather more complicated than short beginners books and fish stores let on. In many cases newbies are advised to let the tank run for a few days/weeks and then simply add their stock at 1 or 2 week intervals. This puts the fishkeeper into a fish-in cycle without really telling them what it is. This wisdom is passed on from shop or book to fishkeepers who then pass it on so it is very possible to get this advice from friends and relatives as well.
What actually happens in a new tank is rather scary. When added, the fish produce waste. This is then broken down into ammonia, which is then broken down into nitrites and then nitrates by very special bacteria in the filter. However, it can take up to two months for these special bacteria to grow into big enough populations to keep the water clean. In the meantime, the ammonia and nitrites are very dangerous to the fish and lead to what is often called new tank syndrome. Symptoms of this are sick fish, fish constantly at the surface or even fish dropping dead out of the blue. Unless the new fishkeeper tests their water with a decent (ideally liquid) testing kit, the new fishkeeper has no idea what is happening and it can be pretty scary!
In order to handle this fish-in cycle safely, the new fishkeeper needs to test their water daily (and even twice a day if the water is bad) and change as much water as necessary to keep ammonia and nitrites at ZERO. If the fish are over-exposed to ammonia and nitrites, they will get burns on their fins and gills, become lethargic, be unable to get enough oxygen from that water and eventually die. Sometimes they will seem fine for weeks or even months and suddenly get really sick as their bodies give up due to the exposure to these chemicals. Nasty stuff!
So what you need to do now is get your water tested and buy yourself a decent master test kit that has ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH tests. A good one is the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. Avoid the strips - they are not as easy as they look and often give false readings. Plus they are more expensive.
Once you've tested the water, post the results here and we can help further.
Have a read of the stuff here about setting up a new tank and cycling - Linky
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