Why Did My Fish Die?!?!?!?

[newbielovesfish]

Hey GUYS!!!

I have a 5g tank...thats what the guy said at my local fish store....any way all my fish DIED!! in the very first night!!!

I DO NOT KNOW WHY??

I brang the tank home and made sure to "cycle it" for and hour and then went back to buy fish.....srry if i do not get the fish names right i am new at this anyway i got a "bala shark" 3 "neons?" 1 "electric yellow" 1 ....i think it was common pleco ..and 1 blood parrots....they were all small fish so they should have done fine in my 5g WHY DID THEY ALL DIE!! please help i think one of the fish must have been sick ??

 

[catxx]

hmm. well for a start, no offence if you're geniune, but you sound like a troll heh.

1. it takes 2-4 weeks for a tank to cycle
2. all the fish you had in your very very tiny tank were completely unsuitable, for instance the plec will need a 100 gallon when he reaches 2 foot long, the blood parrot needs a 50 gallon minimum, the bala needs at least a 90 gallon with friends of his own kind, the electric yellow lab is completely incompatible with all those fish and needs a cichlid species tank, a BIG species tank.

so it was the shock of being shoved in a shoe-box sized tank with horrendous water conditions, ill-thought out tankmates and an uncycled tank that killed them.

 

[callum_parsons]

cant believe your lfs sold you those fish did they ask you it if they where for seperate tanks.

 

[Piltdownpaul]

What a terrible story-surely this isnt happening ...... very sad

 

[newbielovesfish]

I do not understand the fish were all very small, and the guy at my local fish store said that my tank would be fine as long as i upgraded with in 4 months?

I still think that one of the fish was just sick ....... i do not think the tank was to small guys

 

[Piltdownpaul]

The problem is if you only put 2- 3 fish straight into an uncycled tank the poor chaps havent got a chance

 

[catxx]

yes. the tank was too small. those fish would not have survived the week. balas are timid, especially on their own, cichlids (the lab) would have been aggressive, it would have been a bloodbath, if the ammonia hadn't killed them first.

do research before you buy any species of fish.


(i still think this smells a bit trollish)

 

[newbielovesfish]

I DON"T UNDERSTAND the guy at the fish store said 'THEY WOULD BE FINE" as long as i got a bigger tank with in 4 months and i was planning on getting a 30g!!! AGAIN they were very small so i do not see the problem with it......but i think it was "ammonia" i know what it is but never thought it would get into my fish tank....could it got in there from a cleaning cemical??? and what do u meen by troll i find that offensive

 

[catxx]

the guy at the fish store wanted to make a quick buck out of you.
he was only in it for the money
where as we are all in it for the welfare of the fish
now do you understand?

ammonia is made by fish poop and decomposing fish food.

a 30 gallon is still not big enough for those species of fish.

by troll i mean someone coming on with bizarre tank stocking purely to wind up us fishkeepers. apologies if this is genuine, but its been done many times before on this board.

you need to leave your tank unstocked for now. let it cycle fully.

and validate your membership while you're at it.

 

[newbielovesfish]

HOw do i validate??

And should i fill my tank back up?? i thought they all died because one fish was sick, so i emptyed my tank out and cleaned it..........and ya i am no troll i just wanna find out why my fish died and fast i am being more and more angry when i think about all the money i spent for those fish

 

[catxx]

there should be an email sitting in your inbox from this board, you need to go and click the link in that email. that will validate you and allow you to post elsewhere on the messageboard.

fill the tank back up, gravel and all, turn the filter on, now read the fishless cycling threads on this board.

there are very few fish that can live out their lives in a 5 gallon. as you are a newbie, i'd recommend a betta. they won't cost you more than £5/$5, are easy to come by and can be relatively hardy, you can research these while your tank cycles.

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

OH and while you're at it, i'd find a better fish store!

 

[clown knife]

I smell a rat here somewhere.


If this is the case i think that you should name and shame your lfs i cant believe this has happened
is this a case of a Saturday boy working in the shop that knows nothing about fish keeping.


No offence to the young lads/lasses that do work in some of these shops on a sat and sun to earn a £ or 2
but you do get the odd one that gets a job in the lfs and knows bugger all about fish.

There is lots of young lads out here that prob know more than most of us.


But i think you should put that tank to one side and do a bit of reading before
you start setting it up again.

 

[newbielovesfish]

The name of the fish store is Pete's Place it is a fish store/everyother animal store lol and the guy who help me was i would say 16-18 and he was talkin like he was king of the fish club (he knew everything) and ok i will look in to a betta or maybe a cherry barb? (i have been doin research and they look cool)

 

[catxx]

cherry barbs need to be in pairs or groups, they need to be in a bigger tank than a 5 gallon.
minimum tank size of about 20 gallons.

 

[newbielovesfish]

a glass cat?

or a ur moms hot fish?