Serial Fish Killer

[cityslicker826]

My husband promised my two kids a fish tank and in true kiddo form, they never forgot it. So yesterday evening we went and picked out a 3 gallon GloFish tank, a bunch of fake plants/rocks for the bottom, a filter, water heater, air pump, Aqua Safe, Safe Start and a thermometer. The water we put in the tank was bottled Spring Water. Purchased two GloFish from Walmart (I know, I know...) and brought them home. We acclimated the water by sticking the bag in the tank and everything. They were dead in 7 hours. I figured it was due to the fact we got them at Walmart so we went to PetSmart and replaced the fish with two more GloFish and a Cory Catfish. Same thing happened -- both GloFish dead in 6 hours. Took round 2 of GloFish back to the store and had the tank water tested. Everything looked great the employee said, all within normal limits on the test strips. We decided that we'd get two more hardy fish to try and "prime" the tank...so now we have two skirt tetras and the surviving catfish from Round 2...though he looks like he's struggling to breathe down there. Now while I appreciate the lesson this is teaching my kids about the circle of life, I swear it looks like the skirt tetra are dying too. They've sunk to the bottom, are hardly moving their fins and their gills are going a mile a minute. I know next to nothing about fish, my husband is a fish guy, but that's only when they're on the end of his fishing pole in the middle of the gulf of mexico. Apparently fish tank science isn't our thing. I'm two seconds away from trying to return this water coffin, but I'd love to try and figure this out so we can have this for my kids. Any suggestions? Do tetra sleep? (...that seems like a dumb question, but I'm at a loss here...). What else could be wrong with the tank that could be killing fish off in 6 hours almost on the dot? Any suggestions welcome!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Welcome. Unfortunately, you have fallen victim to a very common problem in the hobby.


Lots went wrong.

1- the tank is too small for fish, despite the marketing. 3 gallons is a tank for a single Betta only, or shrimp.

2- the tank wasn't cycled, meaning the fish poisoned themselves with ammonia from their own waste. They create ammonia as a waste product and it leaves their body through their gills. The tank must be cycled, follow the link In my dig for more information on that.

3- test strips are notoriously inaccurate.

4- never trust what they tell you at the LFS when testing water, ask for the specific values for yourself. And if they are using strips, go some where else. (The best move is to buy your own test liquid test kit).


My recommendation would be to return the fish, and the tank, and get at least a 10 gallon tank. Cycle that tank to cultivate the bacteria you need, and use that time to learn about your water chemistry and find fish suitable to the chemistry and the small tank. I'll add more later, as I am a little short on time just now.

 

[FroFro]

My husband promised my two kids a fish tank and in true kiddo form, they never forgot it. So yesterday evening we went and picked out a 3 gallon GloFish tank, a bunch of fake plants/rocks for the bottom, a filter, water heater, air pump, Aqua Safe, Safe Start and a thermometer. The water we put in the tank was bottled Spring Water. Purchased two GloFish from Walmart (I know, I know...) and brought them home. We acclimated the water by sticking the bag in the tank and everything. They were dead in 7 hours. I figured it was due to the fact we got them at Walmart so we went to PetSmart and replaced the fish with two more GloFish and a Cory Catfish. Same thing happened -- both GloFish dead in 6 hours. Took round 2 of GloFish back to the store and had the tank water tested. Everything looked great the employee said, all within normal limits on the test strips. We decided that we'd get two more hardy fish to try and "prime" the tank...so now we have two skirt tetras and the surviving catfish from Round 2...though he looks like he's struggling to breathe down there. Now while I appreciate the lesson this is teaching my kids about the circle of life, I swear it looks like the skirt tetra are dying too. They've sunk to the bottom, are hardly moving their fins and their gills are going a mile a minute. I know next to nothing about fish, my husband is a fish guy, but that's only when they're on the end of his fishing pole in the middle of the gulf of mexico. Apparently fish tank science isn't our thing. I'm two seconds away from trying to return this water coffin, but I'd love to try and figure this out so we can have this for my kids. Any suggestions? Do tetra sleep? (...that seems like a dumb question, but I'm at a loss here...). What else could be wrong with the tank that could be killing fish off in 6 hours almost on the dot? Any suggestions welcome!

To add on to the previous posters reply, you also need to get water conditioner. Not all bottled water is suitable for fish keeping unless its SOLD with the purpose of using for fish. You can find a good sized bottle at walmart called tetra aquasafe. AQUASAFE, not the "easy balance" thing as the bottles look identical and the only difference is a small blue line of text on the label that says "easy balance." You can also find it at the pet store but I've found the same size bottle is about 5-7$ more a the petstore for the exact same product. Another good water conditioner is Prime, which while kind of expensive IMO, works really well. Water conditioner removes/neutralizes the harmful chemicals like chlorine and heavy meals found in tap water. It's also cheaper to use as you can do it at home and don't have to waste money buying fancy bottled fish water for water changes. If you decide to keep with the hobby and learn about it, you'll find that water changes always and often is required.

 

[Gruntle]

It seems counter-intuitive, but a larger tank is far easier to look after than a smaller tank. more water gives you more time to spot any issues and correct them before your fish suffer too much harm.

If only I'd known that when I started 20 years ago with a tiny tank and too many fish!