Please Help

[mrshunt90]

I got my fish tank 4 days ago and was told to get a 20L tank as I am just startig out, after doing some research I found out that I hould have bought a bigger one
We were told to leave the tank for 4days and then get the water checked to see if it was ready for fish, after further reading I have just found out I should have left it a lot longer.
I took a sample of water to pets at home and they tested the water, said it was fine but the PH was a little high so sold me some PHDown and said to ad a small amount and the fish will be fine.
I was advised to get 4 male guppies as I wanted colourful fish. So we put them in the tank as we were instructed at 3pm today.
AT first they smam around te whole tank and explored. But now they are just swimming at the top in one corner, I thought the filter may be traping them in that corner but Ive moved that to the middle now and they are still in that corner. Tey do swim down every now and again but go back up after a few seconds.
Is this normal? Do I need to do anything?
Im discovering more and more that pets at home knew NOTHING!
PLEASE HELP QUICK x

 

[FishBlast]

I got my fish tank 4 days ago and was told to get a 20L tank as I am just startig out, after doing some research I found out that I hould have bought a bigger one
We were told to leave the tank for 4days and then get the water checked to see if it was ready for fish, after further reading I have just found out I should have left it a lot longer.
I took a sample of water to pets at home and they tested the water, said it was fine but the PH was a little high so sold me some PHDown and said to ad a small amount and the fish will be fine.
I was advised to get 4 male guppies as I wanted colourful fish. So we put them in the tank as we were instructed at 3pm today.
AT first they smam around te whole tank and explored. But now they are just swimming at the top in one corner, I thought the filter may be traping them in that corner but Ive moved that to the middle now and they are still in that corner. Tey do swim down every now and again but go back up after a few seconds.
Is this normal? Do I need to do anything?
Im discovering more and more that pets at home knew NOTHING!
PLEASE HELP QUICK x

Do a quick water change else they will not survive. Add dechlorinator to the water.
Cycle the tank (preferably a bigger tank). Check out this: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/175355-arrrggghhhh-whats-cycling-new-tank-and-ive-already-got-fish/ You need a filter to keep fish alive without doing 100% water changes often. Filter should allow you to remove up to 80% water during a water change.
The guppies might die from what I've noticed so many people experiencing while getting new fish and keeping them in an uncycled tank.

 

[mattyeatsmatts]

Its sick how Pets At Home do this, its all about profit and and getting you to buy with no care for welfare.

I feel sorry for you, being the victim or their lies.

 

[phoenix2081]

They may be at the top as there is more oxygen up there and less ammonia (I highly doubt you have nitrite ....yet)

As FishBlast said big water change, get a test kit, test daily and do water changes as needed. Read the guides and they should help you ALOT!

Read, ask questions, read some more and so on. Good luck.

 

[FishBlast]

Its sick how Pets At Home do this, its all about profit and and getting you to buy with no care for welfare.

I feel sorry for you, being the victim or their lies.

I've been through that for many years (although I never had fast fish deaths but I had to do 100% water changes with a huge probably 50-60L tank).
I'm nearly in your state. With a 23L tank, 1 Hoplo catfish of 15 cm and 2 swordtails of 4 cm. But I have a filter and I do daily water changes till I'll get a 100L tank. Will be getting it next week. Along with test kits and dechlorinator.

Yes I came here as a total noob, I've been keeping fish mostly without filter and doing 100% water changes once every 4-5 days but I had hardy fish so that's probably the only reason they survived for how long they did (my current catfish is a 9 year oldie). I took pet shop / plaza merchants' advice in the past, but I found out that I've been doing the wrong thing for so long and also that I've been making it more complicated than it should be. I learned that all this time I could have been doing only 30% water changes if I had cycled my tank... -.-

 

[Rummynose]

Do not use the ph down again. It is a lot easier for your fish to adjust to the ph from your tap than to have to deal with ph swings from trying to achieve the perfect ph using chemicals.

Until you have a test kit (Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate) do at least 50% water changes every day, if you can, do it 2 times a day. The more you do water changes the higher the chances your guppies will survive.

I also would recommend getting a bigger tank, and properly cycle it doing a fish-less cycling with ammonia. Some people had great success using Tetra Safe Start to produce the beneficial bacteria colony in their filter. Some people say it is "snake oil" and doesn't work.

Once your bigger tank is cycled you will have a lot more options what fish you can get, and even have a community tank with your guppies being part of it in there! Your smaller tank can always be used as a hospital tank or a quarantine tank, for that those little tanks can be handy.

Good luck, and don't get discouraged by the amount of stuff you don't know. Keep asking questions here, you will get honest answers since no one is trying to make money off of you!

 

[mrshunt90]

I forgot to mention I also have an assassin snail in there. Is this good? should I get more? would it help? Im going tomorrow to complain and get them to check my water again just done a 70% water change to last hopefully till the morning. I have a superclean filter positioned in the corner of my tank and heater in the middle

 

[FishBlast]

I forgot to mention I also have an assassin snail in there. Is this good? should I get more? would it help? Im going tomorrow to complain and get them to check my water again just done a 70% water change to last hopefully till the morning. I have a superclean filter positioned in the corner of my tank and heater in the middle

Assassin snails are good mostly for getting rid of other snails. They don't do much cleaning, mostly another bio load and nice pet but not too useful.
Also, do not do what it says on filter box. Do not remove filter sponge or what ever. Clean only in a bucket with tank water, no tap water without dechlorinator.

 

[Rummynose]

If you can, position the heater on an angle. I learned today that the heated water rising to the top of the heater fools the heater into thinking that the water has reached the temperature that you set it at and turn off.

An Assassin snail is good to have if you have pest snails in your tank. If I were you I would return it and change it for a mystery snail or nerite snail. These are snails that will eat any algae that may develop, but since you have a brand new tank you will need to feed it algae wafers and blanched zucchini maybe twice a week. As long as you don't get more than one you won't get any snail eggs which are hard to remove.

 

[mrshunt90]

how often should I do the filter then?

 

[Rummynose]

how often should I do the filter then?

You should clean the filter about once a month in used tank water or dechlorinated fresh water. Never, ever rinse it in tap water which is chlorinated or treated with chloramine. These chemicals will kill all your beneficial bacteria!!!

Only replace your filter if it is starting to fall apart. Do not listen to the instructions that come with the filter that say to change the filter every 3 months or so! As soon as you throw away your old filter you will have no more beneficial bacteria and your tank will have to be cycled all over again.

When your filter starts falling apart, simply add another filter to your old one. This will transfer bacteria to your new filter and you won't lose your cycle!

 

[mrshunt90]

also why are the fish in the corner with the filter?

 

[Rummynose]

It may have something to do with the oxygen level in your water. Do you see water rippling at the water surface, do you see bubbles where the water enters back into the tank?

Is your heater working?

Do you have any decorations in your tank for them to hide in? You could just add a coffee mug or a small terra cotta pot. It would make them feel more secure!

 

[FishBlast]

It may have something to do with the oxygen level in your water. Do you see water rippling at the water surface, do you see bubbles where the water enters back into the tank?

Is your heater working?

Do you have any decorations in your tank for them to hide in? You could just add a coffee mug or a small terra cotta pot. It would make them feel more secure!

Coffee mug decoration. Hmm....

 

[snazy]

Not sure if it was mentioned, but don't use the Ph down stuff they sold you. You can kill you fish with that.
Guppies love higher Ph anyway. What is the normal Ph of your water?