Trouble With 10 Gallon Tank

[austinsfish]

Hello everyone,

I am new hear and I hope I have posted in the right section.
Last Oct. we started a 10 gallon tropical fish aquarium for my little boy. We put in 2 platys, 2 mollies, a catfish and a rubberlip pleco. (not all at once) things were going great until 3 1/2 months later the first platy died. He just kept laying on the bottom of the tank. Two days later a molly died. I really think she came to us with a problem. She was wobbly and swam funny. a week or so later we added 2 new mollies. Then our pleco slowed down and then appeared to have a heart attack right in front of us. It was wierd. He turned pure white too.

We have been trying to let the tank settle down, no new fish etc. Our two remaining, original fish came down with internal parasites. Red worms. One fish we caught too late and she had to be euthanized. We medicated the entire tank and thought the other one was looking and feeling great. He died last night! So we are left with two mollies and a catfish.

We have been told (unfortunately not when we started) that a 10 gallon tank is very hard for beginners. So we have bought a 29 gallon tank and were in the process of setting it up when these last two fish died. Now we wonder if we are just not meant to be fishkeepers or will the 29 gallon tank really be a better choice. We have been told that a larger tank will have fewer problems. Should we keep at it? Before we spend alot of money on tank, decorations and a tank stand?

We do weekly water tests, all of which turn out fine. Ph is 7.6
I was doing a small weekly water change and a larger monthly one with gravel too.
after medicating the tank, we did a water change, suctioned gravel and were sure to add new bacteria to the tank.

Please help! we love the fish idea, but my son's heart can't take much more. We don't want to establish a larger tank only to have it be a constant death trap!

 

[codheadjohn]

Hello everyone,

I am new hear and I hope I have posted in the right section.
Last Oct. we started a 10 gallon tropical fish aquarium for my little boy. We put in 2 platys, 2 mollies, a catfish and a rubberlip pleco. (not all at once) things were going great until 3 1/2 months later the first platy died. He just kept laying on the bottom of the tank. Two days later a molly died. I really think she came to us with a problem. She was wobbly and swam funny. a week or so later we added 2 new mollies. Then our pleco slowed down and then appeared to have a heart attack right in front of us. It was wierd. He turned pure white too.

We have been trying to let the tank settle down, no new fish etc. Our two remaining, original fish came down with internal parasites. Red worms. One fish we caught too late and she had to be euthanized. We medicated the entire tank and thought the other one was looking and feeling great. He died last night! So we are left with two mollies and a catfish.

We have been told (unfortunately not when we started) that a 10 gallon tank is very hard for beginners. So we have bought a 29 gallon tank and were in the process of setting it up when these last two fish died. Now we wonder if we are just not meant to be fishkeepers or will the 29 gallon tank really be a better choice. We have been told that a larger tank will have fewer problems. Should we keep at it? Before we spend alot of money on tank, decorations and a tank stand?

We do weekly water tests, all of which turn out fine. Ph is 7.6
I was doing a small weekly water change and a larger monthly one with gravel too.
after medicating the tank, we did a water change, suctioned gravel and were sure to add new bacteria to the tank.

Please help! we love the fish idea, but my son's heart can't take much more. We don't want to establish a larger tank only to have it be a constant death trap!

Before adding these fish did you cycle the tank? This means adding an ammonia source and measuring the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and watching how they process through the cycle. There's an article on this in the beginners section of thi site.

If not, you went through a fish in cycle which is potentially what happened to these fish. Without very frequent water changes, the fish would be exposed to high levels of ammonia and nitrite and possibly weakening the fish causing them to die.

29G should be easier to keep, I believe the theory is tanks are easier to keep until you get past 300l when it becomes a big task...

Read up on fishless cycling, get a test kit (API is the preferred around here) and then ask your questions on here where people with lots of experience will help you.

When you say added new bacteria I assume you mean from a bottle. It's a debatable point as to whether these do anything, but they certainly don't instantly mature a filter from any that I've heard of. Also adding a dechlorinator is important as the bacteria will be killed with normal tapwater.

 

[KittyKat]

Firstly, make sure you fish-less cycle your new tank. This involves ammonia and a good liquid test kit, it will help you avoid a lot of problems.

What were your exact water readings, in numbers?

 

[austinsfish]

Hello everyone,

I am new hear and I hope I have posted in the right section.
Last Oct. we started a 10 gallon tropical fish aquarium for my little boy. We put in 2 platys, 2 mollies, a catfish and a rubberlip pleco. (not all at once) things were going great until 3 1/2 months later the first platy died. He just kept laying on the bottom of the tank. Two days later a molly died. I really think she came to us with a problem. She was wobbly and swam funny. a week or so later we added 2 new mollies. Then our pleco slowed down and then appeared to have a heart attack right in front of us. It was wierd. He turned pure white too.

We have been trying to let the tank settle down, no new fish etc. Our two remaining, original fish came down with internal parasites. Red worms. One fish we caught too late and she had to be euthanized. We medicated the entire tank and thought the other one was looking and feeling great. He died last night! So we are left with two mollies and a catfish.

We have been told (unfortunately not when we started) that a 10 gallon tank is very hard for beginners. So we have bought a 29 gallon tank and were in the process of setting it up when these last two fish died. Now we wonder if we are just not meant to be fishkeepers or will the 29 gallon tank really be a better choice. We have been told that a larger tank will have fewer problems. Should we keep at it? Before we spend alot of money on tank, decorations and a tank stand?

We do weekly water tests, all of which turn out fine. Ph is 7.6
I was doing a small weekly water change and a larger monthly one with gravel too.
after medicating the tank, we did a water change, suctioned gravel and were sure to add new bacteria to the tank.

Please help! we love the fish idea, but my son's heart can't take much more. We don't want to establish a larger tank only to have it be a constant death trap!

Before adding these fish did you cycle the tank? This means adding an ammonia source and measuring the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and watching how they process through the cycle. There's an article on this in the beginners section of thi site.

If not, you went through a fish in cycle which is potentially what happened to these fish. Without very frequent water changes, the fish would be exposed to high levels of ammonia and nitrite and possibly weakening the fish causing them to die.

29G should be easier to keep, I believe the theory is tanks are easier to keep until you get past 300l when it becomes a big task...

Read up on fishless cycling, get a test kit (API is the preferred around here) and then ask your questions on here where people with lots of experience will help you.

When you say added new bacteria I assume you mean from a bottle. It's a debatable point as to whether these do anything, but they certainly don't instantly mature a filter from any that I've heard of. Also adding a dechlorinator is important as the bacteria will be killed with normal tapwater.

 

[codheadjohn]

Did you have a question there?