Some Fish Help!

[Slyther]

Hey all,

First I'd like to say hi to all the members and to the forums!

Secondly,I need a little help. i don't expect definete answers but some insight from experienced others would be appreciative.
A friend of mine had started up a freshwater 25 gallon tank. She previously had a 10 gallon and upgraded. I'm assuming she put the fish she had in there into the new tank. Last friday I was there and in the morning I turned on the light and fed them. I also dropped in an algae tablet for those forgotten boys. The next day I found out her two small angels and two black mollies killed over. Since then she's lost the rest of her fish,various tetra,ballist(sp?) sharks,a pleco,another type of bottom feeder,some shrimp and her last addition that died was an african frog. I was intially blamed for the death of the first 4 fish due to the algae tablet being dropped in.( I highly doubt it was the cause as I have some fish experience)

In total she had 20 fish,plus the shrimp and frog. They were fed livebearing and tropical fishfood from Hagen I think. She had a pump aswell in there,no live plants and not sure on the type of bulb she had. I was just curious if any problem could be diagnosed? I know she took some water in for a test and it was found to be fine.

Sorry for the long post but inquiring minds would like to know a bit more into this. My friend started a new tank already and doesn't seem to care about this one but I do.

 

[wodesorel]

Are you sure the water was fine? She was completely overstocked for a tank that size, and it doesn't sound like it was cycled. It really isn't a surprise all of the fish died.

What were the water parameters?

 

[Slyther]

Are you sure the water was fine? She was completely overstocked for a tank that size, and it doesn't sound like it was cycled. It really isn't a surprise all of the fish died.

What were the water parameters?

What do you mean "water parameters"? I was just told it was fine. I wasn't there for the test or anything. She could be lying,cause if that many fish died I think the amonia or whatever goes up when fish lay dead in the water would show up.

Also is it true about 1 gallon of water for 1 inch of tropical fish? I thought she was overstocked too originally.

 

[tetras4me]

i think that the tank was to over stocked. 20 fish should be in a 35 or 40 gallon tank. but it could also be that the frog killed the fish and then he died of a natural cause. but i dont really know

 

[Slyther]

i think that the tank was to over stocked. 20 fish should be in a 35 or 40 gallon tank. but it could also be that the frog killed the fish and then he died of a natural cause. but i dont really know

The frog was about an inch or just under. I don't think he could have done it. Curious,I forgot to add it in my second reply,how should the tank been cycled?

 

[Kris]

If she upgraded to the bigger tank and just threw the fish into the bigger tank, it's highly likely that she didn't cycle the tank. She may have even poured the water from the smaller into the bigger thinking it would be alright. Unfortunately, to "ghost" a tank, it's a bit more involved than that. Initially she very well could have passed the water test at the LFS, they often use dip sticks which really don't give you the best idea of what's going on in the tank. The very first day everything could have been fine..until the numbers starting shooting up causing a massive ammonia or other type of spike.

Please urge her to cycle the tank properly before restocking! Good luck

 

[Slyther]

Could you explain to me how to cycle a tank?

 

[Tolak]

An algae tab isn't going to kill those fish; I toss one in angel fry tanks every few days, even though they are meant for bottom feeders. I toss small handfuls into plec tanks; they are not harmful to any of the fish you mentioned. Spirulina, a main component of those tabs, is good for all fish I can think of. I buy them by the pound, all my tanks get them.

Overstocking, with the associated stress from cramped living quarters, is the start of the problem. Stress lowers a fish's immune response. A bacteria, which normally poses no problem in a normally stocked tank, takes hold. A few fish start to die, decompose, raising ammonia levels, a substance irritating to fish in small amounts, and lethal in large amounts. More stress, more dead fish. It's a common beginner problem with overstocked tanks.

The 1-gallon for 1" of fish is a guideline, applying to slim bodied fish that grow to no larger than 3" as an adult. That would cover the tetras, and the mollys. It doesn't apply to the angels, or the plec. Angels need 10 gallons each as adults, plecs are messy fish, and you need to double your normal filtration when dealing with plecs.

Mollys require salt in the water. Angels can handle some salinity, plecs and other cats, which would probably cover the bottom feeders, do poorly with salt. I can't think of any shark that wouldn't outgrow that tank in a year, the shrimp will become snacks for the angels as they get bigger, and many frogs can get aggressive. There are probably a couple of other things I'm missing, it's tough trying to comprehend that mix in a 25.

The biggest problem with that tank is lack of research. What happened would have happened weather you dropped in the tabs or not. Tell your friend to join up here, and learn how to properly stock a tank, or the same thing will probably happen again.




http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

Go with fishless cycling with a new tank.

 

[Slyther]

Thanks you've been a great help! I'll pass the link to this thread onto my friend.