New Tank Plz Help

[madcan]

i have had my fish tank 3 weeks now and i pout plants in it and also sand washed the sand then left tank 1 weeek to clear petshop siaid best putting 10 neons in and a cat fish so i did with in 1 day 6 neons dide and what is the best way to get my nitrate down as i take samples to pet shop but are all still maximum level nitrate and amonia and i do regular water change but stays same how casn i get rid of these deadly bacterias please help not very good watching fish die

 

[shang hi]

tank size?
nitrAte is removed doing water changes.
invest in a test kit that does:

• Ammonia,
• NitrIte,
• NitrAte,
• PH,
• Highrange PH,
• KH,
• GH.

this is way to many fish to start with.
i recomend you do a fishless cycle.

NitrIte, Ammonia and NitrAte are not bacteria, they are a chemical.
Ammonia is produced by fish waste, Ammonia gets turned into NitrIte by filter bacteria, then NitrIte is turned into Nitrate by different filter bacteria. and NitrAte is removed by a water change 10-20% weekly.

you make it sound that you think NitrAte is poisonus. it is but anything upto 100ppm is safe for fish, do you know the Ammonia, NitrIte, NitrAte cycle.

do you de-chlorinate the water you add?
only ever use waterr from the cold tap, the hot-tap uses copper pipes and boiler in which trace elements get into the water, these are poisonus to the fish.

 

[mark.w.jones]

Your LFS is giving you very poor advice. Your tank was no where near ready for that many fish in one go. And neons are one of the worst fish to add to a new cycling tank as they're very sensitive to high ammonia and nitrite levels. Get all your advice from here from now on. In your current situation with 4 remaining neons and 1 catfish still alive you need to be doing 10 - 15% water changes every day in order to keep them alive. After a week or so of water changes you should find your ammonia and nitrite levels have settled to 0ppm, if not keep up the water changes. Test these levels with a liquid test kit like the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals API Freshwater Master Test Kit.

When you have stable levels of 0ppm Ammonia and Nitrite you can add your next school of small fish, no more than 5 at a go.

I would be very surprised if the neons survive the cycling process I'm afraid.

Also, what species of catfish have you got?

 

[madcan]

i dont no what type the cat fish is but my neons have chamged colour dramatically in the last 1 and a half weeks and are very very very bright blue before wasnt that bright atall did a 50%water change today coz readinga was deadly they said will my plants survuve just planted in the sand to and iom putting plant feeder in for them to advice on what typr of fis toi put in i like barbs angels and stuff like that thanxxxxxxxxx

 

[kribensis12]

Keep it up, what exactly is the size? I didnt see it posted, so i figured i would ask. Make sure you dont overfeed, becasue it will make the situation even worse.

 

[madcan]

i havnt fed tem for a week coz told not to my tank is 2 foot by 18 inch by height 18 insc

 

[Underwurlde]

Feed them at least once a day. A pinch of flake minimum.

Give them some grub NOW mate. Dicolouration is a sign of poor diet, & NO diet what so ever would fall into that category!

Your tank is 127 Litres, or 33 US Gallons or 28 imperial (UK) Gallons.

18inches x 18inches x 2ft (24inches) is an odd shaped tank IMO, but whatever...

You are not overstocked at all, and the fact that 6 of your 10 neons died within a day suggests to me that something else is amiss in your tank at that time. (But certainly your filters will need cycling).

Andy

 

[madcan]

thanx for reply goin for water sample again on tuesday will let u no on how i get on thanx alot will tiger barbs be ok we neons??? shud i buy more neons as r fish better in number???sssss

 

[Underwurlde]

WAIT UNTILL YOUR TANK IS CYCLED & YOUR STATS ARE OK MATE!

One step at a time & all that!

Andy

 

[shang hi]

WAIT UNTILL YOUR TANK IS CYCLED & YOUR STATS ARE OK MATE!

One step at a time & all that!

Andy

Well said my good man.
don't rush the fish in there, i know theres nothing in fishkeeping more exciting than getting a new fish (except having fry!) but rushing cycling is one of the worst things you can do, and tiger barbs are VERY nippy, as are most barbs. unless you have then in good numbers, then they tend to nip on another. long fined barbs are usualy okay, not very nippy like my Odessa barbs. they have never nipped eachother, and they were happily living in a big community tank in the store.

 

[Luketendo]

Don't get tiger barbs they can ruin many fish you may want in the future.

 

[mark.w.jones]

If you want tiger barbs you will need to painstakingly stock your entire tank around them. They will certainly nip neons to death. Again I would advise against them.