Not Going Well With My New Tank :/

[Jakesheppard199]

I spent £50 on a Arcadia arc tank, 35L and £12 on a Elite 100W heater.
Firstly I went to My local aquatics and bought 5 neon tetras and a betta splendid. Only to wake up in the morning to find two tetras dead and the betta chewing one one of their faces. Thinking that the betta had killed the tetras I took it back to the store and exchanged it for 2 new tetras, a dalmatian molly and a guppy. After about 3 or 4 hours of being in the tank the two new neon tetras died..
Now my the remaining 3 tetras seem to be fairly happy, along with the guppy. However the molly is constantly at the surface of the water, mainly near the heater.

Can anyone tell me if im doing stuff wrong, and reasons as to why the tetras died .

Any help is much appreciated, sorry if its like a 'same old post' kind of thing.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Jake and welcome to the beginner section,

Don't worry, we get a kick out of helping hundreds of people with basically the same questions you've asked but we enjoy the little differences we hear from each individual. You've fallen victim to a bit of a "double-whammy!" You didn't have any way to know about a process we call "cycling," which really means preparing the filter so that it can handle fish, and on top of that you happened to choose a little fish, the neon tetra, which is a species that particularly can't survive easily in a tank unless conditions are quite good and the tank has "aged" for about 6 months (!)

This places you in a rather urgent situation we call "Fish-In Cycling" and you're lucky your tank is small because what you've got to do is a lot of what we call "partial water changes." You need to start by changing 50-70% of the tank water with fresh tap water that's been conditioned (treated with a product to remove chlorine or chloramines) and has been roughly temperature matched (your hand is good enough.) I would do this right away, and then, next most urgent, you need to start reading our "Beginner Resource Center" starting with the Fish-In cycling article and then going on to read about the nitrogen cycle and about fishless cycling and other things, all of which will begin to give you a foundation and allow you to ask questions here. You'll be needing a liquid-reagent-based test kit like the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, if you don't already have one. It should mention that in some of the articles but I'm not sure.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Jakesheppard199]

Okay then, I'll start by doing the water change first thing tomorrow, and I'll read up on the articles too . Are the testing kits expensive?

 

[cowboy507]

the best test kit is the API master test kit it runs about 20-30 USD
this kit tests
pH
High range pH
Ammonia
Nitrates
Nitrites

 

[Jakesheppard199]

Thanks i'll see if i can order one of those from ebay

 

[youngfisher]

Dont worry about it mate, I had the same problems as you but with different fish - Just take EVERY bit of advise given and you and your fish will be happy

 

[bagu]

Dont worry about it mate, I had the same problems as you but with different fish - Just take EVERY bit of advise given and you and your fish will be happy

advise within reason hehe

i think it was a wise choice to take the betta away, neons and bettas are a NONO unless it is a large tank then you can get away with i

just hold on for a while, everything will just settle in

 

[Jakesheppard199]

Yeah im glad I took the betta back, miffed me how the guy at the store still told me it was okay to keep them together and this was just a 'rouge' one ¬_¬.
Could anyone explain why my molly hardly leaves the top of the tank?

 

[bagu]

Yeah im glad I took the betta back, miffed me how the guy at the store still told me it was okay to keep them together and this was just a 'rouge' one ¬_¬.
Could anyone explain why my molly hardly leaves the top of the tank?

hmmm is she gasping for air? how much surface agitation you got buddy?

 

[Jakesheppard199]

Yeah im glad I took the betta back, miffed me how the guy at the store still told me it was okay to keep them together and this was just a 'rouge' one ¬_¬.
Could anyone explain why my molly hardly leaves the top of the tank?

hmmm is she gasping for air? how much surface agitation you got buddy?

Not much, Im going to pick up a air stone for my filter today, and I've got a moss ball on its way off ebay, Its not really gasping for air though, its sitting right on top of the heater, I dont know weather its too cold for it or weather its just not got any were to hide..

 

[youngfisher]

It could be bad water conditions?

 

[Jakesheppard199]

It could be bad water conditions?

I thought that, but the guppy doesn't seem to mind, its swimming all over the place

 

[youngfisher]

Hmm, are you going to buy a test kit mate? Dont get the test strip ones there no good. IMO, I would get the API Test Kit. Cost me £23.45

 

[Jakesheppard199]

Yeah, as soon as i can afford one lol

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah im glad I took the betta back, miffed me how the guy at the store still told me it was okay to keep them together and this was just a 'rouge' one ¬_¬.
Could anyone explain why my molly hardly leaves the top of the tank?

Your molly is no doubt suffering the same as the neons that died. Tolerance to ammonia and nitrite(NO2) poisons varies by species as do outward symptoms. Until you can get your test kit, it would be best to do about 50% water changes daily at the least. You want to use conditioner (to remove chlorine/chloramines) and roughly temperature match (your hand is good enough) since you are changing so much of their water. Once you've got your kit and we've determined that you are maintaining a good environment with respect to the toxins, then the members can help you figure out more details about the molly, as they need a more unusual hardwater environment.

~~waterdrop~~