Newbie And I Am Struggling :-( Fish Are Dying

[Shantih]

Hi all

I am new to fish and went into it with goggles on i think, took bad advice and now i am struggling, don't know nothing about fish and i am bit by bit reading all the advice in here but to be honest its mind boggling and i don't know what to do. So heres my situation:

I have a 48litre tank - Its the Interpet AQ3 Cube - I have pebbles in the bottom - One plastic plant - 2 Ornaments - A heater and A filter which blows bubbles out of top for oxygen i believe

I had 5 mollies 5 tetras and 2 Pleck's but i now have 3 mollies 2 tetras and 2 plecks

So as you can tell i am losing fish, went to ** fish store and they told me from what i told them the best thing to do would be to add Stress Coat + and Stress Zyme +. So i did, next i was told that the Plecks didn't have anything to eat so to buy them some food, which i did, put it in tank and now have loads of white fluffy stuff floating round tank cos they haven't eaten it

This is basically all thats happened to my tank and i havent got a clue what to do next, i don't know how to clean it check levels or anything and although this forum has lots of advice it has somewhat overwhelmed me and i'm just upset now. Please can someone advise where i should go from here

Many thanks in advance for any advice, it is much appreciated

 

[mark1979]

you need a test kit realy, an api master test kit is a good choice

if there is fluffy uneaten food floating around,net it out asap.

how often do you do waterchanges? i would do a 75% now maybe more to be honest

stress zyme is useless,stress coat for treating the water is what i use so thats no so bad.

i would if you can,rehome the remaining fish,and do a fishless cycle,someone will give you the link to it im sure. buy a test kit and be patient.

i had similar happen from bad advise, but i had no deaths,just keep doing regular w/c's if your keeping the fish in there and buy a test kit asap

 

[Shantih]

This API master test kit, is this to be found at the likes of Pets at Home?

Also you say do a 75% water change, where do i put my fish when doing so, do i leave them in? Do i need to warm the water up before putting it into tank?

Many thanks for your help

 

[arobinson1984]

Have you heard of a cycle? Have a read of these two threads:

What is cycling?
The nitrogen cycle

It sounds to me that you are now in what is called a fish-in situation.

Have a read of this thread to help you through it: Fish-In Cycling0

You will need a good water testing kit (a liquid one, the test strips are useless) the recommended kit is the API freshwater master kit. Get a test kit and post you results for PH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate on here, this is vital for people to be able to help.
You can get it from pets at home but its fairly expensive from there (about £25) you can get it cheaper on either ebay or from here: API master kit

The mollies aren't ideal in your tank because they are a brackish fish and ideally require a little salt although many owners have kept them fine in esatablished freshwater tanks.

What type of plecs do you have? there arent many types of plec that will stay small enough for your size tank so they may require re-homing depending on ehat type they are.

You are going to need to do some large daily water changes to ensure your water stats stay at a good level until your cycle has finished

Andy

 

[Shantih]

how often do you do waterchanges? i would do a 75% now maybe more to be honest

I feel awful i haven't yet, i wasn't aware they needed to be done so regularly till i read on here

What type of plecs do you have? there arent many types of plec that will stay small enough for your size tank so they may require re-homing depending on ehat type they are.

You're all going to kill me for this one, i don't know, the *** grandparents bought the grandkids one each, hence why i have 2

 

[arobinson1984]

Read the threads I have given you links to, they will give you all the info you need.

Reagrding the changes, yes keep the fish in the tank, try to match the new water temperature with the water that you are removing, you can normally just do this by judging the temp with your hand.

Make sure you add dechlorinator to the new water that you add to the tank, you dechlorinator would be the stress coat that you mentioned. Dont bother with the sress zyme, its a waste of money.

It is possible to get any photos of the plecs? members will be able to identify them for you. In future try to always ensure you know what the fish are in your tank that then makes it easier when asking for advice or any questions regarding the fish

Andy

 

[Shantih]

I tell you what i shall go get a kit and then i will be able to get more accurate help it seems, i don't mind the costs to be honest i am guessing it will cost me more in fih and i don't want to just keep killing fish till it works that isnt fair on them and yes i may not have had the cleverest start but i love them now and want to progress to a bigger tank once i have learnt in this one xx

Make sure you add dechlorinator to the new water that you add to the tank, you dechlorinator would be the stress coat that you mentioned. Dont bother with the sress zyme, its a waste of money.

Andy

Many thanks, should i test the water before doing a change now though so you know where i am starting at?

 

[arobinson1984]

Yes the API freshwater master kit is the best around and yes I'd do a large water change with temp matched, dechlorinated water first as we can pretty much guarantee that ammonia levels will be high. A tell tale sign of high ammonia is that sometime fish will stay at the surface. Also whenever you do a water change, always leave it an hour afterwards before doing a water test to give the levels chance to settle

Like I said the master kit is abit more expensive at pets at home but at least you'd have it instantly, also it has enough for 800 tests and lasts well over a year so although its a little expensive upfront, it works out cheaper in the long run than most test kits.

Andy

 

[mark1979]

This API master test kit, is this to be found at the likes of Pets at Home?

Also you say do a 75% water change, where do i put my fish when doing so, do i leave them in? Do i need to warm the water up before putting it into tank?

Many thanks for your help

pets@home should sell the api master test kits,make sure you get the freshwater 1 though!!

do you have a gravel vac at all? if not buy one of these aswell.

you can leave the fish in there while you do the w/c,just dont suck them up,lol,they wil be ok otherwise

i personaly try to match the temp before adding water back to the tank,make so you treat the water with the stress coat to remove the chlorine etc etc

 

[Shantih]

Ahhh sorry i sound really thick but my tank is tropical is it still the freshwater kit i need?

 

[mark1979]

i was going to ask aswell what filter are you running in the tank?

yep freshwater kit is the 1 you need

 

[arobinson1984]

Yes freshwater is tropical, what mark meant is that there is a saltwater version and you dont want that one. I also agree about the gravel vac, get one as they are the best way to get waste out of the gravel whilst you change the water, they are only cheap (about £4-5)

Andy

 

[Shantih]

This API master test kit, is this to be found at the likes of Pets at Home?

Also you say do a 75% water change, where do i put my fish when doing so, do i leave them in? Do i need to warm the water up before putting it into tank?

Many thanks for your help

pets@home should sell the api master test kits,make sure you get the freshwater 1 though!!

do you have a gravel vac at all? if not buy one of these aswell.

you can leave the fish in there while you do the w/c,just dont suck them up,lol,they wil be ok otherwise

i personaly try to match the temp before adding water back to the tank,make so you treat the water with the stress coat to remove the chlorine etc etc

No i don't have a gravel vac, aww thats awful 2 of my dead fish were stuck in the filter n i had to pull them out, its awful n one had a slit in its side i was nearly sick. Is there different types of gravel vacs? My cousin said the gravel i have in the bottom is too big for my tank and also suggested that i would be better with an underground filter???

i was going to ask aswell what filter are you running in the tank?

Its the interpet one that came with the tank that doesnt help much does it, i have just had a look and cant see anything else wrote on it

 

[arobinson1984]

I wouldnt recommend undergravel filters, they are good when they are working correctly but they are old technology and are difficult to maintain. 2 or 3 times a year they require a full clean out which is a BIG job as well as your usual weekly maintenance.

Gravel vac like this is fine: Gravel vac

Andy

 

[Shantih]

http/www.uda.co.uk/evasion1.htm - this is the tank i got along with heater filter and glass thermometer

Thats great, many thanks for all your help, i'll go get a vac and a tester so i can make a start and see were to go from there then, wont be long and again thankyou