MyMy

Hi All,
I'm new to all of this so please bear with me. I was given a small (8.3 UK galls) aquarium about 2 months ago,I was very excited as Ive wanted to set up an aquarium for a while.
I recently moved home and the people that moved out left me the fish,so they have not moved themselves,I believe they have been here for about 3 yrs and there were a few more of them that have died over the years.
I have 4 glolights,1 unknown tetra,now 3 neon tetra and 2 catfish also unknown type,they are about 2 inches long,dark brown with light brown markings). Not doing too well am I?
I introduced 4 neon tetras 2 days ago and found 1 dead this morning, I have removed it but Im unsure about doing a water change, I know that dead fish can affect the ammonia level although I only did a water change 2 days ago at the same time I put in the new fish. Any suggestions? Also any ideas about the catfish type? or is too hard to find out without looking at them?

Many Thanks
My

skippi

Hi MYMY, welcome to fishlore. You will get lots of awesome help on this site. I am not one of the experts so wait for the others to respond. They will want to know info like water perameters. Do you have a test kit for the water. Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite... they will want to know that. Also tell them the now total amount of fish that are in your tank and sizes of them. over stocking is not good and can cause stress to your fish. water changes are good also, and I don't think you can over do those. If you can post a pic of your fish someone on here could tell you what it is. There is also a website... www.catfish.com and they have pics that you can look through. Hang in there we all will try to get you through this..

Good Luck
Heidi

MyMy

Hi Heidi,
Thanks for that, I will try and get all that info together although I dont have all the testing kits only one for Ph. Also have you actually been to Catfish.com ?? Thanks but I didnt want to eat mine. Funny though,lol.

Tumbleweed

First off welcome to fishlore My. *From the list of fish you have posted your tank is currently overstocked even before you added 4 more Neons. *I would recomend not getting anymore fish for the tank. *Posting pics of the unkown fish will help to idetify what they are and give you a better understanding of what is going on in your tank. *You do not need to do another water change in your tank just because 1 fish died. *They only time that a dead fish will effect the ammonia level in your tank is when it is left in the tank for a extended period of time after it has died. Do you know if the tetra that died was one of the new ones or one of the old ones? * Heidi is correct about the water conditions of teh tank, if you do not have a water test kit, I rcomend that you get one, and if you cannot afford it at least get a sample of your tank water to your LFS and have them test it for you. *Untill you find out your water condition, I would do 10-20% water changes every other day just to play it safe. *Also when you did do the water change, did you rinse off/replace the filter? *
Hope this helps, and the sooner you can get a water condition reading the better, and we can try to help you some more.
Brian

MyMy

Hi Brian,
I am suprtised to hear the tank is too full, the lady that gave them to me said there was another 8 fish in the tank about a year ago, Also the guy in the shop said it would be safe to have another 5 in there for now, that was before I got the neons. It was one of these new neons that died, Im guessing from the stress of the new tank.Though one of the glow lights did have fin rot but it is growing back now and seems to be fine.

Thanks
My

2 Catfish (2 inches )
4 Glow lights (1 inch)
1 unknown tetra (1 1/2 inches)
3 neon tetra (1/2 inch- just over).

Tumbleweed

The general rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gallon. As of right now you have roughly 10-12 inches of fish in an 8 gallon tank. You can put 20 fish in an 8 gallon tank but the area in whci the fish can move will be very litttle and the waste level, and oxegen level for the fish will be very bad. The life of the fish will decrease greatly. Moving fish from one tank to another can be very stress full to them and they could die from it. Did you aclimate the new fish to the tank before thy went in?
Brian

MyMy

Hi,
Ahh, now I'm getting it, I wonder what other false info the guy in the shop gave me? He also told me Aquarian tropical flake food is the worst to give them as it will just about keep them alive but no nutritional value and reccommend I try Tetra Prima mini granules, do you think he just trying to sell me the more expensive stuff?

Yes I did float the fish in the tank for 15 mins then gradually let water in over a 45 min period.As for the filter, It is an under gravel filter and I havnt touched at all,though Im glad you asked I was wondering, do I need to do anything to it?
Thanks
My

Tumbleweed

i feed my fish flake food, but i also feed them live worms and frozen blood worms. Tropical flake food is fine, but it is nice to have at least one other type of food to give them. As for the under gravel filter, I do not recomend them, but really the only maintaince for them is to vacume out your gravel,"half of the tank" every time you do a water change, becasue with an undergravel filter it pulls the wast down into the gravel rather then out and onto a filter media, like an external filter system.

Brian

ChrisRamo

Welcome To FishLore

MyMy

Hello,
Thanks for all the advice people, I will get the water tested and Photos of fish and get back to you.

Thanks again
My

Isabella

Welcome to Fish Lore It would be good if you posted your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH readins, as well as the tank's temperature. I am also afraid your tank is overstocked, so do not add any more fish to it.

ryannn

Have you checked the pH?How big of a tank is it?If you overcrowd it the fish will die quickly.Also,some catfish will kill other fish.

Butterfly

Welcome to FishLore! Try www.planetcatfish.com for some info on catfish
Carol