New Fishtank (Confused!) Plz Help!

[Mounit98]

Hi all....I was reading a few posts, and I thot this forum might be really helpful to me!!

I am a new fish owner, and I have had my ups and downs in less than a month dealing with it. I received a 20 gallon Hex tank for Valentines day....and started with a bala shark, red tail shark, plecko, and 2 red honey gourmies.(sp) These came from Walmart btw (BIG MISTAKE) I kno but my boyfriend wanted me to have fish that night. The bala shark was the first to go...and then my red tail shark. Im sure this might have been bc of the temp in the tank, but all the others had survived thru "MY" first stage you could say =)

Im thinking a week or so later I went to a local pet shop and purchased....2 angel fish, 2 fancy guppies, and an irredisant shark. Well we put them in just as instructed following all the instructions I was given. Change the tank around, and let them float in the water in the bags for 15 mins. Also we fed the fish in the tank bf we let the other ones out. The pet store says...."Bring us some water in a week or so and we will test it and see how everything is going." Well one of the guppies starting bugging one of the gourmies, and then the other gourmie was attacking him too, and the next day he was dead. I have no idea what happened there....

So a week later they test the water and they said that I was doing very good with the tank, but the ammonia level was a little high. She gave me the "DEADLY" (as I call it) Ammonia Neutralizer to add to my tank. She says....Empty 25% of the water....add new water, and add 20ML to the tank. WELL thats double the dose on the bottle, but I didnt realize that until a week later, and I had lost....1 angel (2 days later) the 2nd angel (3 days later) and 2 guppies almost a week later. My plecko dies, and my irredesent shark is dead now too.

WHAT IS GOING ON?? I have 2 guppies that stay at the top of the tank in the back by the filter, and the gourmie acts....just ok. They are all dying off......

I was reading up and maybe the tank needs to be "Cycled"? Im just so confussed and I hate when fish die....it makes me feel really horrible!

The lady at the pet store said that its not from TOO MUCH neutralizer, but I really didnt have this big of an issue until this crap was added......

Any suggestions?

 

[Cossie333]

u needed to cycle it and the angels might be too big but the bala shark is to big

 

[danb]

Im a beginner too, go to the beginners section. Most the fish you have said are going to grow far too big for the tank, the angels, gouramis, bala shark. The red sharks are aggressive little buggers, cant get along with their own kind let alone many other fish.

It may be worth taking back what fish you do have left and starting a fishless cycle, it take around 4-6 weeks usually but it pays off in the end.

 

[jacko32]

yeah the best thing you can do is start over and cycle the filter if you still have some fish you can do a fish in cycle but you will have to do regular large water changes say 50% - 70% daily untill your filter is cycled also have you been declorinating the water if not then thats probably why your fish are dieing
there are several good articles in the begginers section on cycling your tank which will help you gain a greater understanding of the nitrogen cycle the best thing you can do is to read up on that
as stated most of the fish are too large for a 20gallon tank bala shark,red tailed shark & the angels are defo too big also the stuff the lfs woman gave you is useless and will just cause a placebo affect
good luck

 

[Wills]

Hi wow that is quite a rough start. Ill get onto cycling at the moment but just trying to work out what if any fish you have left?

The cycle is a process of toxins in the water being neutralized. It happens like this fish poo creates ammonia this is highly toxic to your fish, then gradually bacteria will start to grow in your filter that will eat this ammonia and create nitrite which is still toxic to fish but its not as toxic ammonia and again bacteria will grow to convert the nitrite into nitrate which is pretty harmless to fish.

This process of the bacteria growing takes about 5-7 weeks and until then your fish are exposed to extremely toxic conditions that can and has killed your fish.

One of the best things you can do at the moment is buy an API liquid test kit for ammonia and nitrite or you can get a master test kit that has all the bottles in. This way you can measure the levels of ammonia and nitrite and let us know what they are like and we can help you out from there. If you have fish in the tank you need to do large 50% water change every day till your ammonia and nitrite are at 0. If not we can guide you through a process called fishless cycling which is where you use bottled ammonia to replace the presence of fish poo.

The ammonia neutraliser, I would stop using it all it does is convert the ammonia into ammonium which is harmless to fish but the chemical stops working after a while and its not the best way to take long term care of the fish. In using this product it stops the cycle I spoke about above from working. Also when using ammonia neutralizer the ammonia test kits wont work properly.

An other issue is nearly all of the fish you have had in that tank grow way way way too big for the tank most of them grow to a foot long and one of them grows to a massive 5 foot long!

bala shark, red tail shark, plecko, and 2 red honey gourmies .2 angel fish, 2 fancy guppies, and an irredisant shark

Bala Shark - 12 inches (too big for tank)
Red Tail Shark - 6 inches (too big for tank)
Pleco - 12 inches (too big for tank)
Honey Gourami - 2-3 inches (good fish for tank )
Angel fish - 6 inches but also very tall fish (too big for tank)
Guppies - 2 inches (good fish for tank )
Iridescent Shark - 5 foot!! (obviously too big for tank) -

but you are not alone this fish gets sold way way way too often, also I would just blame the store employees as if you just got the tank youve not had enough time to research and this is what happens we all do it I did I had a terrible stocked tank when I started keeping fish a few years ago but if you stick with us we can help you though this no problem

Wills

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Mounit98 and Welcome to the beginners section!

The members up above are already getting started giving you good advice. They will get you sorted out!

It turns out that it doesn't really work well to just put fish in a brand new tank with dechlorinated water in it. The core bit if biotechnology magic in the hobby is a thing called the "biofilter." Its really a pretty strange thing to hear about if its all new to you. What we hobbyists do is go through a process where we promote the growth of two specific species of bacteria (the good bacteria, we sometimes call them) inside a new filter. The bacteria attach tightly to things like sponge and rough ceramic surfaces and create "biofilms" that help them to reproduce more quickly.

Without a "biofilter" up and working, a tank is not really ready for fish! In the old days (and I've been through a lot of them!) we thought is was just fine to use live fish to help build up this biofilter but now that we have better technology and more awareness within ichthyology of the permanent gill and nerve damage we are doing to our specimens even with trace exposure to the ammonia and nitrite(NO2) of the "cycling" process, so those who have become educated about this are practicing a process called "Fishless Cycling."

The Fishless Cycling revolution is happening almost entirely within the realm of hobbyists because for shops it represents a very difficult change to their normal business model. When customers come in they are impatient to have their new pets and the new decoration for their house right away. If the shop were to describe a process that could take a month or more before fish, most customers would just walk out! But the truth is, most biofilters in a beginners first tank are just not ready to operate correctly for the first month or two.

Anyway, I hope this helps give some background to the "cycling" that the members are talking about and I hope you'll begin to read about this topic and have some questions for us!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Mounit98]

Hi wow that is quite a rough start. Ill get onto cycling at the moment but just trying to work out what if any fish you have left?

The fish I have left are....2 Male Guppies, and 1 of the Gouramis.




The ammonia neutraliser, I would stop using it all it does is convert the ammonia into ammonium which is harmless to fish but the chemical stops working after a while and its not the best way to take long term care of the fish. In using this product it stops the cycle I spoke about above from working. Also when using ammonia neutralizer the ammonia test kits wont work properly.

When I add new water to my tank do I need to add anything else to it? Tap water conditioner? Biological aquarium supplement? These are two things I received with the tank that I purchased.

An other issue is nearly all of the fish you have had in that tank grow way way way too big for the tank most of them grow to a foot long and one of them grows to a massive 5 foot long!

bala shark, red tail shark, plecko, and 2 red honey gourmies .2 angel fish, 2 fancy guppies, and an irredisant shark

Bala Shark - 12 inches (too big for tank)
Red Tail Shark - 6 inches (too big for tank)
Pleco - 12 inches (too big for tank)
Honey Gourami - 2-3 inches (good fish for tank )
Angel fish - 6 inches but also very tall fish (too big for tank)
Guppies - 2 inches (good fish for tank )
Iridescent Shark - 5 foot!! (obviously too big for tank) -

I was told that fish will only get as big as they can depending on the size of the tank.....is there any truth in that? All the fish I have purchased since Day 1 are all very small fish....I know they will grow, but only grow to the size of my tank?

I am going to start this cycling process tonight, and see if I can get this tank in order =) Im sure I will have many questions, and Im so happy for the help everyone has given!!!

Thanks so much!

 

[Mounit98]

Hi wow that is quite a rough start. Ill get onto cycling at the moment but just trying to work out what if any fish you have left?

The cycle is a process of toxins in the water being neutralized. It happens like this fish poo creates ammonia this is highly toxic to your fish, then gradually bacteria will start to grow in your filter that will eat this ammonia and create nitrite which is still toxic to fish but its not as toxic ammonia and again bacteria will grow to convert the nitrite into nitrate which is pretty harmless to fish.

This process of the bacteria growing takes about 5-7 weeks and until then your fish are exposed to extremely toxic conditions that can and has killed your fish.

One of the best things you can do at the moment is buy an API liquid test kit for ammonia and nitrite or you can get a master test kit that has all the bottles in. This way you can measure the levels of ammonia and nitrite and let us know what they are like and we can help you out from there. If you have fish in the tank you need to do large 50% water change every day till your ammonia and nitrite are at 0. If not we can guide you through a process called fishless cycling which is where you use bottled ammonia to replace the presence of fish poo.

The ammonia neutraliser, I would stop using it all it does is convert the ammonia into ammonium which is harmless to fish but the chemical stops working after a while and its not the best way to take long term care of the fish. In using this product it stops the cycle I spoke about above from working. Also when using ammonia neutralizer the ammonia test kits wont work properly.

An other issue is nearly all of the fish you have had in that tank grow way way way too big for the tank most of them grow to a foot long and one of them grows to a massive 5 foot long!

bala shark, red tail shark, plecko, and 2 red honey gourmies .2 angel fish, 2 fancy guppies, and an irredisant shark

Bala Shark - 12 inches (too big for tank)
Red Tail Shark - 6 inches (too big for tank)
Pleco - 12 inches (too big for tank)
Honey Gourami - 2-3 inches (good fish for tank )
Angel fish - 6 inches but also very tall fish (too big for tank)
Guppies - 2 inches (good fish for tank )
Iridescent Shark - 5 foot!! (obviously too big for tank) -

but you are not alone this fish gets sold way way way too often, also I would just blame the store employees as if you just got the tank youve not had enough time to research and this is what happens we all do it I did I had a terrible stocked tank when I started keeping fish a few years ago but if you stick with us we can help you though this no problem

Wills

The fish I have left are....2 Male Guppies, and 1 of the Gouramis.


When I add new water to my tank do I need to add anything else to it? Tap water conditioner? Biological aquarium supplement? These are two things I received with the tank that I purchased.


I was told that fish will only get as big as they can depending on the size of the tank.....is there any truth in that? All the fish I have purchased since Day 1 are all very small fish....I know they will grow, but only grow to the size of my tank?


I am going to start this cycling process tonight, and see if I can get this tank in order =) Im sure I will have many questions, and Im so happy for the help everyone has given!!!

Thanks so much!

 

[jacko32]

Hi wow that is quite a rough start. Ill get onto cycling at the moment but just trying to work out what if any fish you have left?

The cycle is a process of toxins in the water being neutralized. It happens like this fish poo creates ammonia this is highly toxic to your fish, then gradually bacteria will start to grow in your filter that will eat this ammonia and create nitrite which is still toxic to fish but its not as toxic ammonia and again bacteria will grow to convert the nitrite into nitrate which is pretty harmless to fish.

This process of the bacteria growing takes about 5-7 weeks and until then your fish are exposed to extremely toxic conditions that can and has killed your fish.

One of the best things you can do at the moment is buy an API liquid test kit for ammonia and nitrite or you can get a master test kit that has all the bottles in. This way you can measure the levels of ammonia and nitrite and let us know what they are like and we can help you out from there. If you have fish in the tank you need to do large 50% water change every day till your ammonia and nitrite are at 0. If not we can guide you through a process called fishless cycling which is where you use bottled ammonia to replace the presence of fish poo.

The ammonia neutraliser, I would stop using it all it does is convert the ammonia into ammonium which is harmless to fish but the chemical stops working after a while and its not the best way to take long term care of the fish. In using this product it stops the cycle I spoke about above from working. Also when using ammonia neutralizer the ammonia test kits wont work properly.

An other issue is nearly all of the fish you have had in that tank grow way way way too big for the tank most of them grow to a foot long and one of them grows to a massive 5 foot long!

bala shark, red tail shark, plecko, and 2 red honey gourmies .2 angel fish, 2 fancy guppies, and an irredisant shark

Bala Shark - 12 inches (too big for tank)
Red Tail Shark - 6 inches (too big for tank)
Pleco - 12 inches (too big for tank)
Honey Gourami - 2-3 inches (good fish for tank )
Angel fish - 6 inches but also very tall fish (too big for tank)
Guppies - 2 inches (good fish for tank )
Iridescent Shark - 5 foot!! (obviously too big for tank) -

but you are not alone this fish gets sold way way way too often, also I would just blame the store employees as if you just got the tank youve not had enough time to research and this is what happens we all do it I did I had a terrible stocked tank when I started keeping fish a few years ago but if you stick with us we can help you though this no problem

Wills

The fish I have left are....2 Male Guppies, and 1 of the Gouramis.


When I add new water to my tank do I need to add anything else to it? Tap water conditioner? Biological aquarium supplement? These are two things I received with the tank that I purchased.


I was told that fish will only get as big as they can depending on the size of the tank.....is there any truth in that? All the fish I have purchased since Day 1 are all very small fish....I know they will grow, but only grow to the size of my tank?


I am going to start this cycling process tonight, and see if I can get this tank in order =) Im sure I will have many questions, and Im so happy for the help everyone has given!!!

Thanks so much!

you just need to add your tap water conditioner not the bio suppliment
as for the fish only growing to the size of the tank this is a common misconception it is true that the fishes growth will be stunted however there internal organs will carry on growing to some extent so the fishes life span and happiness will be greatly reduced
its always best to research any fish you are thinking of buying not only for tank size but also water peramiters ie pH and kH also weather or not the fish are territorial or should be kept in paires, trios, shoals or as a single specimins
hope this helps
good luck

 

[Wills]

Yeah the thing about them growing to the size of the tank is just a lie, they will grow slower but ultimately end up deformed and sickly. There are plenty of fish that are going to do really well in your tank but only stay small.

With the cycling situation what you need to do now is daily water changes of about 50% just treating the water with dechlorinator each time before you add the water to the buckets the new water is in.

Wills

 

[OldMan47]

Fish are not like people in many ways. One of those ways is that they never really stop growing. A fish that has had its growth rate slowed by being kept in poor conditions can actually start to grow properly again if given good conditions. They will never be as big as they would have been if things had started off well, but they will resume some growth. Fish growth in a tank that is too small for them will slow but not stop. If you leave them in poor conditions long enough, it may kill them but otherwise they will continue to grow slowly.
The dechlorinator is all that needs to be added to tap water to make it useful for your newly cycling tank. Since you will be using so much of it, I would suggest one of the concentrated dechlorinators like Prime. The concentrated dechlorinators cost a bit more per bottle but they use so much less with each water change that the added cost is soon paid for. I have a half litre of Prime that I bought 2 years ago that is still almost full even though I do water changes on over 20 tanks on a regular basis.