Urgent Help Needed

[Thompson]

Hi

I have just inherantated a 4ft tank and have had it set up with the fish in for a bout a week. I have lost a few fish in this time. I am new to fish keeping and never had a tank before/ The fish all started going to the top of the tank and gasping for air... i was told to get a test kit which i have and they read

N02 0.8
N03 110
NH3 0
PH 7.5

I immediately was told to empty half the tank of water which I did a few hours ago and the fish seemed alot happier.... now roughly two hours later the fish are all at the top again gasping for air... Can anyone help... i am really worried about hurting the fish or worse loosing anymore... please can someone help

 

[smurfyy_2k3]

ok did you fill the tank back up
and also what fish are in there

 

[breezer40]

From the water readings You appear to be either cycling or having a nitrite spike. Has the tank been cycled and if so what are the readings for ammonia?

 

[Thompson]

Ok

Yeah I filled the tank back up and put some of the Nutra fin Cycle and Aqau + in the tank too.

In the tank there is


2 Sailfin Mollys
5 Guppys
2 Kissing Gourami
2 moonlight Gourami
1 Red Tale Shark
and 1 tiny bristle nose catfish
2 sord tails

I think these are the correct names i have looked up

 

[smurfyy_2k3]

chances are if you dont get them out soon they will die take them back to the lfs and read up on fishless cycling

 

[SamUK]

Thompson, have a read of these pages.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=88643


ideally you do need to rehome the fish but if you really cant do that then....


in the mean time tho you need to increase aeration in your tank by adding a airstone or making sure your filter is breaking the surfcae of the water and causing plenty of ripples..


and keep up the water changes. youll probably need to do atleast 20% every couple of days untill your reading settle down.

 

[Thompson]

Thompson, have a read of these pages.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=88643


ideally you do need to rehome the fish but if you really cant do that then....


in the mean time tho you need to increase aeration in your tank by adding a airstone or making sure your filter is breaking the surfcae of the water and causing plenty of ripples..


and keep up the water changes. youll probably need to do atleast 20% every couple of days untill your reading settle down.

Thanks for the advice. I was give some nutrafin Cycle which states it puts the friendly bactria into the tank... I put four capfulls into the tank when i did the water change however it says on the back its impossible to overdose so therfore would it help if i put more of this in to help get the friendly bactria going to try and save these fish? Aslo would the 50% water change not have dilouted some off the toxins (it seemed to do this for a couple of hours then the fish started gasping again?)

 

[breezer40]

The nutrafin Cycle is supposed to help the bacteria to grow but this can not be achieved in one day. The whole cycling process takes around a month and if you have a look at the link given then there is some great info on how this all works

 

[bobf]

From what Thompson said in the original post I think the major need here is to improve the water quality in the short term. Cycling the tank is naturally is important but if the fish are suffering now then more water changes need to be made now.

Just make sure that some tapsafe/stresscoat or similar is used and keep doing partial water changes, daily if necessary. This won't stop the cycle taking place but might slow it down though.

 

[fishwatcher]

Also, if you could get to the lfs and they have some BioSpira, I'd get it ASAP. It costs about $10 for the small pouch, more of course for the larger pouch, but it works great! Just keep it cold until you use it. I've used on 2 of my tanks, and will not ever have another tank that I don't use it on. If you can't get any though, just change the water daily, 30% or so each time.
Good luck! Please keep us posted on it.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Ok, i could be totally off on this one, but this tank is at risk for old tank syndrome, not new tank syndrome. There is a nitrate reading of 110, and that doesn't happen unless the beneficial bacteria are built up. It is curious that you have a nitrite reading of .8, which should not show up in a cycled tank.

When you did the water change, you said the fish acted better, then were back gasping at the surface. Did you add dechlorinator when doing the water change?

Definately keep up on the water changes, and work on bringing down the nitrate level.

 

[Thompson]

Ok, i could be totally off on this one, but this tank is at risk for old tank syndrome, not new tank syndrome. There is a nitrate reading of 110, and that doesn't happen unless the beneficial bacteria are built up. It is curious that you have a nitrite reading of .8, which should not show up in a cycled tank.

When you did the water change, you said the fish acted better, then were back gasping at the surface. Did you add dechlorinator when doing the water change?

Definately keep up on the water changes, and work on bringing down the nitrate level.

Hi year I added the nitrafin water conditioner to the water when I put it in...the fish seemed much better for about 2 hours and then they where gasping again, I have got up this morning and the readings are all the same. Whould i just do water change once a day or should i up it to twice a day?

 

[SamUK]

is your filter breaking the surface of the water and making ripples?


thats how 02 gets into your water so if you dont have it that way then your fish could be gasping from lack of 02 in the water.


i think your readings are the real reason but making sure theres god aeration will help.


other than that, a 20%-30% water change daily should be ok.

 

[Thompson]

is your filter breaking the surface of the water and making ripples?


thats how 02 gets into your water so if you dont have it that way then your fish could be gasping from lack of 02 in the water.


i think your readings are the real reason but making sure theres god aeration will help.


other than that, a 20%-30% water change daily should be ok.

I did a water change this morning and added an air pump, the NO3 test has gone to 10. Am i right in thinking this needs to go down to 0?

 

[tttnjfttt]

I would up it to twice a day, as your nitrate is pretty high. Just don't go too big at first, because you want to avoid dramatic changes in your water stats.