What To Do Next?

[sigdeg]

I have a 24 litre tank that is currently causing major headaches trying to work out what is wrong. The tank is fairly new and has caused problems from day one.

As said above the tank is 24 litres. It currently has a heater, filter, one plastic plant, one ornament and gravel in the bottom. The tank was set up and left to stand for over two weeks before any fish were introduced. 5 fish were moved in and the next morning two were dead, the next evening a third was dead. After testing the water it was found the ammonia, nitrates and nitrites were too high, the water also smelt bad and there was s slime gathering on things like the heater and ornament. A fourth was moved to another tank and survived for a week then died. A fifth fish, a betta, has been in the tank all the time and still alive.

When we found the ammonia, nitrates and nitrites were too high we set about a water changing cycle which did not bring them down. As a last resort we emptied the tank, cleaned everything thoroughly and set it up again. This has kept the ammonia, nitrates and nitrites down. After a week we added four minnows which are fine and the fighting fish although appearing ill early on looks fine now and his colour back.

Now we have got a (white looking) slimy substance appearing again, most notable on the heater. This also appeared to be forming on the top of the surface but after moving the filter to provide a better water flow to the top of the tank this has now gone. The water is clear in appearance.

The Ph is 7.4 and ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are are all 0ppm.

Does anybody have an idea what could be causing this and how to resolve it?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Edit: Forgot to say I have some of the black gravel in my tank. Should I be adding anything to this? someone has suggested having this might not provide any calcium you normally get from the broken shells in normal gravel.

 

[loraxchick]

too many fish too soon. keep up the water changes. keep testing the water. what kind of test kit are you using. it is unusual to have 0 nitrAtes unless heavily planted and lightly stocked which your tank is not.
waterchange waterchange waterchange. cut back feeding to once every other day. fish will be fine. dont worry about your pH until the tank is 100% cycled. likely the fish will be fine regardless. the slime is likely biofilm. leave it alone. oily film on top is probably from the food, but may also be from hands if they are frequently in the tank and you did not wash them first. again, nothing to worry about.
seems like you know a little something about the nitrogen cycle. just keep testing and changing water for a while. get liquid kits if you currently use strips.
cheers

 

[sigdeg]

too many fish too soon. keep up the water changes. keep testing the water. what kind of test kit are you using. it is unusual to have 0 nitrAtes unless heavily planted and lightly stocked which your tank is not.
waterchange waterchange waterchange. cut back feeding to once every other day. fish will be fine. dont worry about your pH until the tank is 100% cycled. likely the fish will be fine regardless. the slime is likely biofilm. leave it alone. oily film on top is probably from the food, but may also be from hands if they are frequently in the tank and you did not wash them first. again, nothing to worry about.
seems like you know a little something about the nitrogen cycle. just keep testing and changing water for a while. get liquid kits if you currently use strips.
cheers

Thanks for that, useful information. I am using a liquid test kit already - api master test kit to be precise. The fish are fine but biofilm was worrying me as never had that in the other two tanks we have. Would you recommend getting the Ph down? The water in our area is already 7.4, and after testing the other two tanks it is the same. They have been setup for years now and never had a problem, would be good to know if this needs to come down though.

 

[Athena]

Just a little thought on this...

If you already have an established tank filter then you could cut a piece of the matured filter sponge from that filter to add to the filter of the new tank. Just cut a corresponding amount of sponge away from the new filter and fit the mature sponge into its place (doesn't have to be a huge chunk - a small piece will suffice to kick start your new tank into life).

That old piece of advice about filling a new tank with water and leaving it for at least 2-3 weeks before adding fish is useless info really - it doesn't do anything worthwhile for the tank - it certainly doesn't help to cycle your tank because it's just a tank of clean water - no ammonia present to start the cycle off and so the useful filter bacteria cannot grow. You might just as well add the fish from day one LOL (well, once the water is at right temp anyway).

As you've probably read on these forums, most people tend to do a fishless cycle when possible - but as you've already set yours up and added fish you'll be doing a fish-in cycle. As previous poster says, you'll need to do lots of regular water changes and testing. But to make it easier on your fish I would do as suggested earlier and clone your new filter with the old one.

All the best - Athena