Newbie...didn't Know Much About The Cycle, In Big Trouble Now

[francesanna]

Hi Everyone
I got a 96ltr Juwel tank 2 weeks ago. I have added a sponge aquarium background, 2 ornaments, 1 bamboo plant, 4 plastic/2 silk plants, 8 live plants, gravel, 3 tiny blue neon night lights (which I use for about 1/2 hour before I turn the main light off & keep on for about 1 hour before I turn them off).I left the tank for 1 week before putting in the following fish.

OLD FISH

1 Angelfish (which we took from our old tank and he was rather big)
1 Suckerfish (from our old tank,also rather big)

NEW FISH

1 Small yellow fish (can't recall the type)
2 Guppies (1 of which has since died)
1 Blackmoor
1 Siamese Fighter

On Easter Sunday I added the following fish.

1 Parrot Cichlid
1 Siamese Fighter

On Bank Holiday Monday I added

1 Oranda

Everything was fine although I then heard about the Cycling time.

I have done a test the results are:

PH:7.8
AMMONIA:2.0
NITRITE:5.0
NITRATE:160

These results I know are not good.

I have had a few problems with my Blackmoor as he seemed to have been a bit nibbled the other day,so we gave our Angel fish away as he was getting a little aggresive,and we thought he was bullying the other fish.
Bradley (the blackmoor) was treated with an anti-bacterial solution to make sure he didn't get an infection,yesterday however the top of his telescopic eye has a white patch and it looks like he has been attacked,we noticed the parrot fish was a little aggresive so last night I popped her in a tank which i only set up on Sunday as it was all I could do to protect Bradley.All was ok this morning,however by 2 oclock this afternoon Bradley looks like he has been mauled,he has a chunk out over both eyes,and another chunk above one of those this one is red it seems so deep.So it isn't Polly the parrot fish that is doing it,now Bradley is in with her for his protection,Polly is staying at the bottom of the new tank and Bradley isn't as active as usual.
I really need help badly with these problems.The 2 tanks are new,Bradley is sick,polly has been sent to coventry,and my ammonia and other levels in the tank are hight,i don't know how to reduce this chemical imbalance,and because the other tank is only 3 days old i am going to have the same problem with that i guess.

Please can someone help me with this dreadful mess.I am so afraid I lose my fish as I love them all,but Bradley,Polly & Harriet my Oranda are very special.

How do I sort out who or what is hurting Bradley & how can I cycle with the fish I have safely.

Thanks in advance
Francesanna

 

[WILDER]

I'm not surprised you are having problems that tank is way overstocked it barely a 20gal, all you should have in there is the blackmoor and they are coldwater fish.
The betta want's it own bowl.
Angel fish need a 30gal.
I would rehome the angel, the goldfish, what type of sucker fish is it.

 

[carrera]

the betta is probably the one ripping apart the black moor as their long fins may be provoking the betta. also as stated the black moor is a goldfish and should be in coldwater.

you have yourself an overstocked uncycled tank with conflicting fish, i cant think of a worse situation to be in

basically you cant safely cycle a tank with fish. hardy fish may live through the cycle, but may have shorter lifespans and less quality of life. more delicate fish will not live through the cycle, they are afterall being poisoned.

i cant think of much to suggest, rehouse the betta in a small tank by himself, read up on keeping bettas here.

read up on fishless cycling here.

not much more i can think of to suggest except to do more research next time

 

[tttnjfttt]

What I am going to say is going to sound brutal, simply because your tank is very over stocked and you have some very bad combos of fish in the tank. I have tried to explain why different fish will not work. I also do want you to know you are not the first newbie that has come here with a very over stocked tank, infact many of us made horrible mistakes when we first began keeing fish.

If i am reading this correctly, here is the list of all the fish you have in a 96 ltr (25 gal) tank. 1 angle, 1 sucker, 1 small yellow fish, 1 guppy, 2 simease fighters, 1 parrot and 1 oranda.

As Wilder said, that ank is very over croweded, and you have some very incompatible fish in there. First of all, the oranda and the black moore are cold water fish, and should not be kept with tropicals. In addition to that, since they are gold fish, the rule is first fish gets 20 gals, the next gets 10. Those two fish alone have over stocked your tank, so i strongly recomend you re-home these fish.

Since you say the "sucker fish" is pretty large, i assume you are talking about a common pleco, which can grow to be over 18 inches or 45 cm. Your tank is way too small for him, and he does need to also be rehomed. Your small yellow fish are most likely Yellow Labs, a type of african cichlid. They are highly agressive, need a high pH and hard water to thrive. In addition, they are social fish, and need to be kept in groups. I would also suggest re-homing him.

If I read your post right, you also have two siamese fighters, added at seperate times. These fish live up to their names, they fight each other, so you need to seperate them immediately. They also do best in tanks with minimal current since they are weak swimmers from their long tail. Also they are usually kept alone, since many fish will nip on their long fins. Keeping guppies wiht bettas is very risky, since guppies have brightly colored tails, bettas (siamese fighting fish) will often confsue them for another betta and begin to fight with them.

Angle fish, while slow moving (so don't keep them with nippy fish) can also be agressive. They are also known to eat smaller fish. I could be wrong on this, but i was talking to someone and they said angels like to be in groups as well until they pair up, at which point you will need to remove the two that have not paired up.

The parrot is also going to get too big for your tank. He will grow up to 6 inches (15 cm) and can also become agressive.

I know you had angles before, so i am assuming you like them. How about this as a suggested stock for your tank. I would re-home everyone except your angel, and wait for your tank to cycle doing daily water changes. Once it is cycled, add in 3 more angels, close to the size ofyour current one. Before you add them in, remove the angel and redecorate the tank so the fish can set up territories. However, once a pair forms, you will need to re-home the other two. Wait to make sure the tank isn't going to go into a mini-cycle. Then add a school of black widow tetras. If you can't find those, go for another type of tetra, however, neons and cardinals could end up as angel food. Again, wait for the bacteria to build up. Then add in 3 cories for bottom feeders. That should fully stock your tank. It would also be a good idea to re-arange the decorations before adding fish once the angels are in there to prevent them from becoming agressive. It will essentially force them to create new territories each time.

Finally answering the questions you actually wanted a reply to - Bradley's health. From what I can tell, i would say he has been the victim of agression and is suffering from a bacterial infection, made worse by the poor water quality. To treat him, begin daily water changes to try to control the nitrites and ammonia in the tank, as well as treating him wiht an antibacterial medicine. However, things aren't looking that good for him.

As to speed up the cycling process, the best thing you could do is to try to get some gravel from an established tank, or get someone to shake out their biological filter in some dechlorinated tap water, then add that to your tank. That will help jumpstart the bacterial colony.

Good luck!

 

[mark.w.jones]

ps Dont let all the scary sounding stuff above put you off. Its all great advice from people who know what they are talking about. Everyone messes up in the beginning + learns from their mistakes and in a couple of months Im sure you'll have a great tank. Make sure you post pictures of it then and welcome to the forum