New Tank Set Up Problems

[mistryman]

Hi ,

I have a 40 gallon jewel tank which has been established for about 3 weeks. I have slowly been introducing fishes every couple of weeks and now have platties, gouramies, angel fishes and tetras. The problem I have is that over the couple of weeks some of the fishes have died. There is no indication of white spots or torn fins. The water checks have come back all clear and the temperature is 24-25C.

I would welcome any suggestions of what the problem could be.

Thanks.

 

[voo]

Have you tested for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates?
Ammonia and nitrites are the killers and as it sound slike you havent cycled the tank you might find these are high.

The other thing is tetras do best in a mature tank that's over 3 months old.

 

[dwarfgourami]

What are your exact readings for ammonia and nitrites? I would suspect that the problems lie here, that you have added more fish than your current colony of bacteria can handle. HAve a read of the pinned topic (above) on cycling a tank and that may explain things.
I would test the water again- do your own tests, don't trust the shop- and pay special attention to ammonia and nitrites. Then do a large water change straightaway (40-50%), using dechlorinated water. If there was a reading of either ammonia or nitrites, keep doing 25% water changes every day until the reading is 0 after 24 hours, keep testing every day. Do not add any more fish until you can go for a week and there is still no reading of ammonia and nitrites.
Btw exactly how many of what species do you now have? It could be that the tank is still overstocked.

 

[DarkEntity]

Hi ,

I have a 40 gallon jewel tank which has been established for about 3 weeks. I have slowly been introducing fishes every couple of weeks and now have platties, gouramies, angel fishes and tetras. The problem I have is that over the couple of weeks some of the fishes have died. There is no indication of white spots or torn fins. The water checks have come back all clear and the temperature is 24-25C.

I would welcome any suggestions of what the problem could be.

Thanks.

going from your description id say you never let the tank cycle properly. "established for 3 weeks" and "introducing fish every couple of weeks" sounds like its not cycled and you and your fish are paying the price

Get your exact Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, PH readings tested asap. Id usualy say do a water change but if you do that any cycling that now is occuring will be diminished. If this is the case you could get some easy balance, Stress Zyme or similar product to add bacteria to the tank. Alternatively if you know someone who has an extablished mature health tank, get about 10 Gall off of them and add to your tank along with some filter squeezings.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Get your exact Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, PH readings tested asap. Id usualy say do a water change but if you do that any cycling that now is occuring will be diminished

I think it has been showns that water changes during cycle do not stall the cycle. The bacteria can only eat so much ammonia anyway, if you remove your surplus ammonia/nitrites you will be doing your fish a favour without starving the bacteria.