New Tank Woes

[telizas]

We've had Sophie's aquarium set up for a few weeks to get the Ph right and the temp... we got 8 fish today, 3 fancy guppies and 5 neon tetras. Fed them after releasing them in the water. We did the "put the bag in the water and wait 15 minutes" thing just like the gal at the fish store told us. I've had fish before - had two tanks at one time and I've done nothing different this time. But so far, one fish has died already (Sophie didn't seems too terribly concerned) and now the water is cloudy.

What am I doing wrong? I have carbon filters (one white, one black) hooked up to air stones, I have the temp right (approx 72*) and the Ph is fine, according to the fish store we went to (7.0 or neutral). We have an undergravel filter, gravel was washed, new. We fed them once since we got them, everything seemed fine... The one that died seemed weird right after putting him in and died about 5-6 hours after we let them outta the bag. Now, after reading here and elsewhere, I realize I added too many fish at once. I also had NO bacteria in the tank before adding the fish. It appears to be an ammonia spike making the water milky, which I could correct, but everything will be closed tomorrow. All I have is this Proper Ph stuff that will neutralize the water - I'm afraid to add that and then have the same problem again, since it won't have allowed any beneficial bacteria to grow.

I don't want all these fish to DIE! Anyone here have any advice??

 

[Ahmad]

Ok Lets See What I can Do.....

First your going to Need to get a Power filter (One that hangs off the back of the tank and pours the water into the tank like a waterfall). Once the stores open thats the first thing I would get because thats where Benefecial Bacteria Grow in mass numbers and thats what keeps the tank stable so no fish die.

Ok Since The Tank is not cycled your going to Have to Do ALOT of water Changes to keep the ammonia and nitrites down to a safer level. Do you Have Water Conditioner? (Stress coat for example) If you dont and the the pet stores are closed Try Wal-Mart they should be Open Right? they have water conditioner there.

Your water is cloudy..hmm...thats a sign ammonia is going up so you need to do water changes asap. I Just dont know if you do or you dont. If you do Then do 50% water changes everyday Just Dont Vac. the Gravel So you dont disturb the bacteria growing on your gravel. You wont hurt the fish or the ecosytem by doing this..I did it many times It dilutes the ammonia and nitrites for a short period of time thus Giveing the fish a break.

Also Dont feed the fish! The more you feed the higher the ammonia....Try too feed every other day once a day and make it a small meal so it does not effetc the water quality as much.

Ok this Is what you can do or now (Other Members will post in with More Ideas)...If you have any more questions please ask!!!

I Hope This Helped You In A Way.

 

[FreeZe]

I done the same thing


i like to add that if the ammonia, nitrite levels are high the fish will be seriuosly stressed out and more then likely have clamped fins and end up getting a bacterial infection or Ick.

Don't name the fish in the tank. Sorry to say but you will probly loose a couple more fish while trying to get the tank cycled.

10%-25% Water changes dayly will help out.

GL!

Aqua Clear Filters are nice.. and they have ammonia remover inserts that will help you out alot.

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Hmmmm.

Your conundrum is similar in experience to what happened in my first, now spare, tank.

I went through pretty much the same process as yourself, and had thought everything was fine. After a month of fishless cycling, I had decided to introduce a small shrimp, my 'yellow canary', to the tank to check that it was safe. It'd died within seconds of its introduction.

Gob-smacked at first. I almost decided not to continue with my infant hobby, but decided this wasn't going to beat me.

Closer inspection of the tank, had uncovered dangerously elevated bacterial/fungal growths within the substrate of my tank. This, of course, had meant my tank became extremely toxic to most creatures. My snails had flourished though.

Could it be that this is the case for you too? Signs to look out for are smelly/ier water, dark/coloured unknown growths in your substrate/glass walls (not to be confused with green/brown algae), or a strange colouration in your water.

If yes to the above, then I'd recommend a complete clear out of everything you've in that tank (drastic I know), and disinfecting/clean completely the things you want to keep.

This had worked for me, it may/may not be good for you.

Good luck.

 

[telizas]

Thanks for the great info! The gal at the store we got the fish at said it was probably a bloom in bacteria from adding too many fish at one time, and having no good bacteria in there already.

BUT, the good news is, today the tank is clear and the fish are doing GREAT! Due to an emergency(I got to spend the 4th of July in the ER, YAY!), we didn't get to do any water changes or anything. So, the fish had to fend for themselves and lo and behold, they're OK! At least SOMETHING went right this weekend!