Penguin Fish

[dodgy]

hi i have four penguin fish well i did 2 have died over night and the other 2 dont seem to be eating temp is right as are all my other fish. any thing im doing wrong or could be doing wrong.any sugestions thanx kelvyn

 

[afremont]

hi i have four penguin fish well i did 2 have died over night and the other 2 dont seem to be eating temp is right as are all my other fish. any thing im doing wrong or could be doing wrong.any sugestions thanx kelvyn

Have you checked your water params for ammonia and nitrItes? Any changes? The other fish are all fine and eating well?

 

[dodgy]

lost all the penguin fish and now losing atleast one a night lost 1 nion,1 glowlight,something aint right in the tank did not know if other fish are doing it. All the others seem to be eating well as for the water i will have to buy a test kit today its only just started happening. Im am new to keeping fish and im just a bit mythed that its only now started to happen.

 

[afremont]

lost all the penguin fish and now losing atleast one a night lost 1 nion,1 glowlight,something aint right in the tank did not know if other fish are doing it. All the others seem to be eating well as for the water i will have to buy a test kit today its only just started happening. Im am new to keeping fish and im just a bit mythed that its only now started to happen.

Sounds like maybe your tank is not "cycled" yet. If it's all new equipment and new fish, chances are that you have high levels of ammonia or nitrItes as the fish are exhibiting those symptoms. Ammonia and nitrItes are extremely toxic to the fish when the begin to accumulate. As the tank ages or "cycles" a type of beneficial bacteria will colonize the filter and pretty much every other surface in the tank. These bacteria have the ability to transform the toxic ammonia being released by the fish into also toxic nitrItes. Fortunately another group of beneficial bacteria like to consume these nitrItes and convert them into nitrAtes which are relatively harmless to your fish. Unfortunately it usually takes several weeks for these bacteria to accumulate in sufficient quantity to handle the output of your fish. Meanwhile, you'll be doing lots of water changes to keep the toxins down until the bacteria catch up. Also, don't add any more fish yet until the cycle catches up.

As you test your water each day and do your changes, you'll see that the ammonia will begin to become less and less measurable until it is barely detectable. This is good, as it means that the first group of bacteria are in action and building up to sufficient numbers to handle the output of the fish. But don't get too excited as you now have to wait out the second part of the cycling process and that's waiting for the slower growing nitrIte eaters to build up their numbers. They don't multiply as fast as the ammonia eaters, so what happens is that nitrItes begin to accumulate. As you do the tests, you'll see them continue to be measurable, but at some point after a couple of weeks or so they will beging to decline.

When you can no longer measure any significant levels of ammonia or nitrItes, then your tank will be considered cycled. At that point, you'll be able to start adding fish slowly while keeping an eye out for spikes in the ammonia or nitrItes. As time goes by, the tank will become more able to adjust to a new load quickly.

Right now, you need to change as much water as you can without stressing the fish any more than they are. But the main thing is to get the water changed to reduce the ammonia and/or nitrItes that are building up. You must also use a dechlorinator with your new water as chlorine and chloramines (chlorine and ammonia compounds) are equally as toxic to the fish. If you have some dechlorinator on hand that claims to make ammonia and nitrItes safe by "locking them up", you can add that to the tank right now to reduce the effects of the toxins while you manage your water changes.

 

[dodgy]

Thank you very much for your help i will do all that you said and see how we get on with it thanx again will keep you posted. Just been and got all the stuff got the chloramine treatment,and the ammonia and nitrite stuff the NH test was 0mg/l hope this will sort it out thanx again for you knowledge

 

[afremont]

Thank you very much for your help i will do all that you said and see how we get on with it thanx again will keep you posted

Your welcome. When you get your test kit, the goal is to keep the total ammonia (NH3 + NH4) level below 1ppm. The further below, the better. Also, try to get a liquid test kit. They seem expensive, but you get many, many tests out of one and they are much more accurate than testing strips.

 

[dodgy]

yes mate it is the one where u put 14 drops of number 1 then 7 of two and same with bottle 3 and the reading was the lowest the chart goes very pale like yellow 0mg/l according to the card. so just see how it goes over the next couple of days will keep u up dated bud thanx again for all your help.