Newbies Fish Dying

[berbie38]

Hi all
I am new to tropical fish keeping, 6-7 weeks in all.The wife and I have invested in a 60 litre BIorb. We bought the tank and set it up after a week adde our first 6 fish: 2 guppy, 2 zebra danios and 2 neons. we waited another 2 weeks and added 5 more fish 2 gouramis a siamese fighting fish and 2 bottom feeders that i dont know the name of. Everything was going fine until a week later we added 4 more gouramis.
They are now dropping like flies 8 fish have died in the last week! I have asked at the local pet shop who have checked our water which is ok but Ammonia at 0.25ppm. They advised me to water change everyday until its gone down to zero.I have water changed 3 times now and still no change in the Ammonia level.I tested the tap water that I put in the tank and this has an Ammonia of 0.25ppm Do you think this is what is killing the fish? they have no signs of disease thet I can detect.
On thing I thought maybr the problem is the surface area of the BIORB ie the fish not getting enough oxygen?

I am really enjoying thr tropical fish experience and would like to take it further once I have sorted out this problem. Any help would be much appreciated
best regards
berbie

 

[Tizer]

You massively overstocked the tank for one. I believe keeping more than two gouramis is asking for trouble (no real clue on this fish myself, ever owned them). Is the siamese fighter male or female? Males will have a go at any fish with large fins, Gouramis i believe qualify. neons should be kept in a school of 6 more more. Appart from what i would say terrible stocking and overstocking, yes your Ammonia levels are probably killing your fish, what does the nitrite levels come in at?

personally, i think the biorbs are quite nice looking tanks, but the filtration systems in them are useless, you might aswell dump the fish in a bucket.

My Advice to you would be to get rid of it, pickup a ncie 90 or 125 Litre tank on eBay if you want to keep it cheap.

Have you been adding dechlorinator to the water when you put new water in? If not, the chlorine in the water will kill all the good bacteria in your tank that breaks down ammonia. A tap reading of 0.25 isnt a problem if your bacteria can break it down. Sounds like you have got yourself into a "fish in cycle".

I've got a fish in cycle log going at the moment, might be worth a read.

Also have a good read of the beginners sections on the forum, you are cetainly in a bit of a pickle, but water changes with dechlorinator in it, will keep your fish alive, which at the moment, is key. Dont be afraid of changing 50% of the water twice a day if needed. Do your best to match the temperature of the tank when you do and you wont shock the fish too much.

 

[berbie38]

You massively overstocked the tank for one. I believe keeping more than two gouramis is asking for trouble (no real clue on this fish myself, ever owned them). Is the siamese fighter male or female? Males will have a go at any fish with large fins, Gouramis i believe qualify. neons should be kept in a school of 6 more more. Appart from what i would say terrible stocking and overstocking, yes your Ammonia levels are probably killing your fish, what does the nitrite levels come in at?

personally, i think the biorbs are quite nice looking tanks, but the filtration systems in them are useless, you might aswell dump the fish in a bucket.

My Advice to you would be to get rid of it, pickup a ncie 90 or 125 Litre tank on eBay if you want to keep it cheap.

Have you been adding dechlorinator to the water when you put new water in? If not, the chlorine in the water will kill all the good bacteria in your tank that breaks down ammonia. A tap reading of 0.25 isnt a problem if your bacteria can break it down. Sounds like you have got yourself into a "fish in cycle".

I've got a fish in cycle log going at the moment, might be worth a read.

Also have a good read of the beginners sections on the forum, you are cetainly in a bit of a pickle, but water changes with dechlorinator in it, will keep your fish alive, which at the moment, is key. Dont be afraid of changing 50% of the water twice a day if needed. Do your best to match the temperature of the tank when you do and you wont shock the fish too much.

Hi thanks for the quick response. Siamese thats now dead was male, yes I added dechlorinator to the water and Nitrite level less than 0.3.Any tips on getting ammonia down?
best regards
berbie

 

[Tizer]

Read the wealth of knowledge on here.

 

[Miles_hot]

You are in a "fish in cycle" - see here in the beginner's section for more information. Basically you are in for a lot more than 3 days of significant water changes.
There are a lot of very helpful people on here - you may also want to seach / read around for threads like yours which will give you a lot of assistance and maybe some feeling that you're not alone.
You also want to start doing your own testing - the API Master kit is good (try to take the readings in day light to ensure a consistent result). I got mine from Charterhouse aquatics who impressed me when I bought my kit (I also used Swell and 123). You may also want to look into some of the other stuff you need (nets, etc) if this didn't come with the tank.

Hope this helps

Miles

 

[berbie38]

You are in a "fish in cycle" - see here in the beginner's section for more information. Basically you are in for a lot more than 3 days of significant water changes.
There are a lot of very helpful people on here - you may also want to seach / read around for threads like yours which will give you a lot of assistance and maybe some feeling that you're not alone.
You also want to start doing your own testing - the API Master kit is good (try to take the readings in day light to ensure a consistent result). I got mine from Charterhouse aquatics who impressed me when I bought my kit (I also used Swell and 123). You may also want to look into some of the other stuff you need (nets, etc) if this didn't come with the tank.

Hope this helps

Miles

Thank you all for your help, I am now following fish in cycle and have all relevant test kits.
I think the tropical fish bug has hit me and so I am considering investing in a bigger tanj and ditching the BI orb. Can anyone suggest a good tank to buy , sizes etc?
best regards
Berbie

 

[FraggyFragbait]

You are in a "fish in cycle" - see here in the beginner's section for more information. Basically you are in for a lot more than 3 days of significant water changes.
There are a lot of very helpful people on here - you may also want to seach / read around for threads like yours which will give you a lot of assistance and maybe some feeling that you're not alone.
You also want to start doing your own testing - the API Master kit is good (try to take the readings in day light to ensure a consistent result). I got mine from Charterhouse aquatics who impressed me when I bought my kit (I also used Swell and 123). You may also want to look into some of the other stuff you need (nets, etc) if this didn't come with the tank.

Hope this helps

Miles

Thank you all for your help, I am now following fish in cycle and have all relevant test kits.
I think the tropical fish bug has hit me and so I am considering investing in a bigger tanj and ditching the BI orb. Can anyone suggest a good tank to buy , sizes etc?
best regards
Berbie

I would definitely recommend the Fluval Roma 125 litre. I just got this myself and it is a nice size for a beginner yet big enough to house reasonable sized fish! Lots of places recommend getting at least 90 litres as it makes te whole process easier (more water volume results in less fluctuations in water quality). I am currently cycling mine ready to put fish in. If you want it new it is cheapest on seapets.co.uk (you can do what I did and get your local fish shop to price match it if you do not want to order online) or they go far more reasonably second hand on ebay (some as low as £40).
Whatever you go for you are best to go for the fishless cycle - the links that people have already given you above show a great, easy to understand article to take you through it step by step.

 

[berbie38]

thank you for you replies they have been very helfull. Okin this may sound a silly question but- do you need a seperate air pump and filter in a tank or can you buy them combined??
regards
berbie

 

[fluttermoth]

A lot of internal power filters come with a 'venturi' that sucks in air from the surface and blows it through the outlet; this won't come from the bottom of the tank or run any airstones or ornaments, of course, so it you want that, you'll have to get a spearate air pump.

Do remember though that you don't need to run an airstone in your tank if you don't want to. They don't really put any oxygen into the water, just help with circulation (and your power filter would be enough to do that) and are more for decoration than anything (unless you run an air-powered box or undergravel filter, but those are both out of fashion now for general purposes.)

 

[berbie38]

Ok thanks, the reason that i asked was that I have been looking at some new aquariums and they are supplied with an internal filter, heater etc so this filter would filter and give oxygen?

 

[StandbySetting]

Air enters the water through gaseous exchange, there is no real need ever to use an air pump unless the filter you run requires one, the bubbles are so large that they're ineffective because their surface area is low, and they have a short contact time with the water so the air has little time to dissolve into the water.

The filter would process fish waste once the bacterial colony is established, a filter wont add oxygen to the tank but the ripples it creates will aid gaseous exchange.

 

[Tizer]

The fluval roma series are great tanks, 125 litre jobby went for £44 on eBay the other day and i just missed out on it, was gutted

 

[berbie38]

yeah I looked at then roma- looks good, what about the osaka 155? like the look of it, do open top tanks make the room smell?

 

[StandbySetting]

Osaka is expensive, open topped tanks don't make rooms smell, but the water evaporates very quickly and mould may grow on your ceiling, so a dehumidifier would help.

 

[berbie38]

Hi all
I have been followwing the fish in cycle thread, taking readings every day- and they havnt changed much but the nitrate going up slightly to near 5.0; does this mean the filter is starting to work? . The amonia level is 0.25 and it says on the cycle only change the water if it goes above this, Nitrite less than 0.3 and ph just above neutral.I thought i was getting it sorted and then found my Blue gourami dead this morning!
is it ammonia killing them? should I water change even if ammonia is only 0.25?
best regards
berbie