Off To The Wrong Start...i Think

[Prime Ordeal]

Does your water conditioner detoxify ammonia? It should say so on the bottle, or just say what you've got and I'll tell you.

If it does detox ammonia then you'll be just as well to leave things as they are as the fish will be acclimatised to the water and just add a good dose of dechlorinator (ammonia detoxifier) and get your friend to add some more each day, that shouldn't tax his pet-sitting abilities too much!

Also make sure your filter disturbs the surface of the water as much as possible to get lots of oxygen in there.

And remember, absolutely no food - hide it from your friend so he isn't tempted.

 

[blur411]

I have Tap Water conditioner (API) and Stress Coat (API) that I added, it has a double sided filter, and an air bubbler in the tank. I will hide the food. Thank you guys so much for ALL of your input!

 

[Prime Ordeal]

I have Tap Water conditioner (API) and Stress Coat (API) that I added, it has a double sided filter, and an air bubbler in the tank. I will hide the food. Thank you guys so much for ALL of your input!

Unfortunately neither of those products detoxify ammonia. Your best bet would be to try to obtain something like Ammo-Lock or Seachem Prime or any other ammonia detoxifying product (make sure it specifically says that) if you are able to.

 

[blur411]

They sell both of those at the local pet shop, is one better than the other? I can buy that, while I take the gourami back (though he looks nice, I'm afraid he will eat the others)

 

[Prime Ordeal]

One less fish is one less piece of hassle, and less ammonia being produced, so that's good.

Go for Seachem Prime, it's very good value for money.

Oh, and if by any chance any of the fish die, make sure your friend (ahemm) fishes it out as that will make things ten times worse.

 

[blur411]

Thanks again, I took the Gourami back and bought the detoxifier. Hope it works for while I'm gone. thanks!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Good luck Amber! I'm looking forward to seeing how things progress as you get your tank and fish all up and running (oh and win big in Vegas!)

 

[TheJ0kerrr]

Isn't changing 90% of the water 2 days after setting it up a bit overkill? Unless you consider the PH treatment to really mess the water quality, then I highly doubt that 5 guppies in a 55 gallon will produce enough ammonia to intoxicate themselves over just a couple days...

Don't worry about your fish this weekend Amber, they will be just fine if you dechlorinated the water properly and set the water temperature right (ie. between 24-28C (76-82F). Get ready for a long 6-8 weeks of testing and changing water after that though, cause once things get going, they require a lot of attention!!

Good luck and have a nice trip!

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum blur411.
In general we will recommend tat you not try to alter your water parameters. It is far better to keep fish that are well adapted to your water than try to change it, as you are finding with the pH down product.
pH treatment is not needed for guppies in Huntington Beach. I know, I once lived there. You have fairly hard water with a high pH which is almost ideal for the more common livebearers like guppies, mollies, platies and swordtails. Your water is not quite as hard as nearby cities because Huntington also gets a fair amount of its water from wells.
When you are not going to be present, do not have anyone feed your fish. They can easily go without food for a week with no long term ill effects.

 

[blur411]

Thanks everyone, I am back home now. All survived, but one of the guppies is hanging out at the bottom and looks sick., he looks almost dead. Should I remove him from the tank, if so where should I put him? I'm going to do some water changes tonight.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

How's he looking now? What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, etc.)? Does he have any physical signs of sickness (white spots, red gills, etc.)?

 

[blur411]

My test kit still has not come in the mail yet, hopefully tomorrow. He did finally die last night, up side down, bottom of the tank, not moving. Everyone else seems fine, I did a 30% water change (which, was a hassel since I have NO idea how to use this siphon thing, we finally figured out how to use the smaller hose and get it to drain into a bucket and keep taking that back and forth, but never figured out how to use it to fill the tank back up with treated water so we just had to dump the treated water back in slowly.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

sorry to hear you lost a fish

I couldn't help but giggle at your water change issues - because I've been there, getting water everywhere... It's just something you'll perfect over time! When it comes to siphoning back into the tank it won't work unless the bucket with the new water is higher than the tank which isn't so easy! That's why I just use 5 or 10 litre bottles/buckets and pour them in but they do get heavy (and you have to be careful not to just stir up more mess in the tank by sloshing the water in!). There are systems out there that let you hook a hose to your kitchen tap to both empty and refill the tank. I haven't used one (yet!) but a member on the forum recommended the Aqueon Water Changer to me the other day and it looks pretty good! I plan on getting it myself. You may want to get a couple of water changes under your belt and see if you get a good "system" going

When siphoning the water out you need to either lightly pump the siphon up and down or kind of swirl it around to encourage the water to get going. A lot of people get all upset about it but the method I prefer is the old fashioned "suck on the pipe method", very technical. I haven't managed to get a mouthful of fish poop water yet, but I probably will now that I've said that...Part of the reason I do that is because I have a small tank and there's not much room for wiggling a siphon around!

 

[blur411]

Thanks for the tip! I have one that has the attachment for the sink, but it doesn't fit my faucet. I think dumping it in the tank will work fine for now. I'll keep everyone updated. Thanks again for all the kindness and help!

 

[OldMan47]

Water changes can be easy as you wish. I do mine with a 5 gallon bucket. I drain as much water as is indicated and refill using that same bucket. New water is always dechlorinated and is fairly close in temperature to the tank water. When I am refilling it looks like this.

Yes, I simply place a board across the top of the tank and use the siphon to run water back into the tank. What could be easier?