New, Have A Few Questions.

[katiemay]

Hi all, after spending some time on these forums, it seems I was very irresponsible and did not do enough research before buying my tank and fish. I've had it for 3 days now and it is already very murky. After doing some reading, I will be doing a water change daily until it clears up but read to do a 25% water change once a week (once I get it cleaned back up). Is it normal for my tank to be this dirty already? I have 3 platy (all female) and 1, what I believe to be a lyretail swordtail (have not sexed yet, just figured out what it is). I could not for the life of me, remember what name was on the fish tank at the pet store.

The employee told me they were all essentially the same species but the lyretail is fairly aggressive compared to the other 3. If the platy are swimming up to get food, he seems to out swim them, kind of knocks them out of the way and eats the food they're going for. Very much a bully.
I woke up yesterday morning to turn their light on and feed them, and to my horror one of the platy had fry and the only little guy I could see was being chased around by the lyretail and eaten before I could fish it out . The platy seemed to have no interest in the fry which is why I started doing my research on the lyretail to figure out what it was (I could not, for the life of me, remember the name on the fishtank at the store). I searched the tank for more fry, lifting up my plants and the hiding spots and could not find any more.

I fear I am killing my fish. I asked the pet shop owner to give me everything I would need for my fish to have a healthy lifespan. All I was recommended was a 10g tank, plants, gravel, water conditioner, and food. Now that I've read up, I'm missing a water testing kit and a gravel vacuum it seems. I ordered my heater and thermometer yesterday and just received it.

Basically, over these next few days, what can I do to fix the mess I've made? Should I do a big water change now to get the water cleaned up again or do the 25% daily until it's clear? Should I move they lyretail to it's own tank? All the platy look to be the same size, so I'm not sure if they're all pregnant or not. I feel completely unprepared for all of this, which I was but I am already attached to these fish and want to fix it.

Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated.

 

[blur411]

Welcome to the form!

I don't know much about the fish types, can't help you there. I would get a testing kit ASAP. Until then, you need to be doing 50-90 percent water changes daily. I also did a fish in cycle (with a 55 gallon) which is a pain, but it's the best thing for the fish. It was a lot of work, but worth it in the end. You need an API Master Test kit, I got mine on Amazon, took a little while to get though so maybe buying one at the pet store would be better. That way you can actually see what your reading are. Any trace ammonia or nitrite is toxic to the fish, and needs to be removed via water change. I was able to use a product called "Prime" occasionally when my levels were a little elevated but had no time to do the water change (12 hours or less), and it helped.

 

[Akasha72]

Hi katiemay this http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/ should help you.

Blur411 has given you some good advice there so aswell as reading the above follow what she has said.

I'd also head to the livebearers section where there's a thread on sexing your platies so you can find out what sex the lyretail is. There's also lots of threads regarding pregnancy.

Did you wash your substrate well before you added it to the tank? If not then this could be what is causing the murky water. I doubt it's a bacterial bloom on a new tank. What ever has caused it large water changes will cure it - maybe not overnight though. It may take a few water changes to settle it - keep going with daily changes until it clears then go on to following the fish-in cycle information (more water changes ahead of you I'm afraid )

I wouldn't be too concerned with the bully tactics unless it turns really nasty - at this stage they're all working out terrotories etc. Plenty of hiding places will help.

Don't worry about fry too much right now. Fish-in cycles are hard work without dealing with fry aswell. Clever fry will hide until they are large enough to avoid being eaten.

You'll find lots of info on here, no question is too silly and there's always someone willing to offer help.

to the forum

 

[katiemay]

Thank you so much for the information!! Yes I washed everything I put in the tank in warm water for a minute or so, but now that you mentioned it.. I think that may be the problem since it was overnight. It went from crystal clear water that evening and dirty the next morning. If I was on my computer I would post pictures. I will actually do that when I get home so you all can tell me if I have it planted enough.

Also, when I'm doing the water changes, do I remove them from the tank? If I'm doing a 90% change, that doesn't seem like a lot of water for them and I don't want to stress them more than necessary.

Are there any signs I should look for to know they are stressed? This morning when I was doing my 25% water change one of them started swimming up and down the corner of the tank, which I haven't seen her do yet in the short time I've had her.

I swear I spent at least 3 hours just watching them yesterday, have 2 of them named and still working on the other 2. They really do have their own personalities, whenever I walk up to the tank the same one comes right up to the glass and stares back. Klouse, the bully goes to the top and looks for food. Mario (weird I know but she has a black spot on her lip that looks like a mustache and her body is red) hides in the back, and my other one ignores me lol.

Thank you both again

 

[blur411]

Just leave enough water so they can still stay swimming...like and inch or two above the substrate. When I do a water change I always add my declorinator and stress coat from API (Not sure if anyone else does, but makes me think that it helps them not to be stressed). Also, try to match the temperature as best as possible. I use a hose to fill mine, and my fish LOVE to play in the stream as it is filling the tank!

Keep the questions coming, I'm still pretty new. I just got my tank in April!

 

[slimeneo]

I was in the exact same situation as well. The people at my LFS didn't tell me anything about cycling, and I ended up going to my LFS to buy a bunch of things that I didn't think I'd need earlier. It's okay, I think it's more of the people working in pet shops that should be blamed, they should be more knowledgable about this kind of stuff

I suggest you buy a water testing kit online (it's cheaper). Here is one that people here use (I use it too). Test strips aren't accurate, so don't get those

Read about cycling a tank, basically the fish poop is ammonia (poisonous to fish), your tank needs to develop bacteria that can turn ammonia into nitrite (also poisonous), and then bacteria that converts nitrite into nitrates. That's why you need to do large water changes in the beginning, so ammonia and nitrite levels stay low and don't harm your fish.

However, it's really nice if you have some mature filter media, you can get it from a friend or ask your LFS for a couple strips of an used filter sponge. You want the really gross, blackish parts because that's the good bacteria that you want. I got some from petco (but the lady I asked seemed pretty weirded out that I wanted it) and it's jumpstarted my cycle Generally, a cycle will take at least 6 weeks to complete but with mature filter media it may take just a week! (and also you won't need to do as many water changes )

For water changes, you don't need to take the fish out.

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

A fish-in cycle which you're currently doing can be hard work as it requires water changes every 1 to 2 days in order to keep toxins at safe levels.

My advice would be to buy a Freshwater API Master Test Kit and test for Ammonia and Nitrite daily, both these parameters need to be kept at 0.

Change the water with dechlorinated water as necessary.

Dean.

 

[Rummynose]

Platies and Swordtails are known to cross breed, I would avoid putting the two in the same tank. Also, I believe a 10 gallon tank is to small for the 4 of them, especially if more fry are coming.