pennytupence

Im an absolute beginner so i put myself in the hands of the person that sold me the fish i wish now I'd have researched here first i only have a tank that measures 24in by 12in by 12in he sold me 2 silver black fin shark fish 2 Molly's and 2 other tiny fish im sorry i cant rem the name of those i did everything he told me to do but still the shark fish have died and one of the little fish im worried now about the Molly's is my tank to small for them ive read they like a little salt how much do i put in and how and also the gravel has food left on it but i don't know what to do can anybody help me thank you

mathas

The first thing you'll need to do is to get your water chemistry under control. Read about the nitrogen cycle to help understand what happens and why, then pick up a good liquid test kit. API makes a great Freshwater Master Test Kit, but you may want to wait for some of the other English folks to chime in. I don't know what's available on your side of the ocean.

To help your remaining fish survive while you get your ammonia/nitrites under control, you'll want to do daily water changes. At least 25-50% of the tank volume, and make sure you use a good dechlorinator when adding new water. Something like SeaChem's Prime would be ideal.

Getting a good gravel vacuum will not only allow you to do the necessary water changes to help the fish survive, it will also allow you to eliminate the food that's sitting on the gravel now. For future reference, if all the food isn't eaten in a few minutes, you're probably feeding too much. There are a few exceptions to that, but it's a good general guideline. They say most fish have stomachs about the size of their eye, if that helps you gauge how much to feed.

As far as tank size, it sounds like you have a 15 gallon (US gallons, at least) tank. I would think that would be fine for a pair of mollies, but I can't answer your question about salt.

Can you maybe post a picture of the other little fish whose name you can't remember? I'm sure someone here can identify it for you, and point you to some information about its needs and how to care for it.

jdhef

Welcome to FishLore.

The first thing you need to do, is read the article about the Nitrogen Cycle.
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

In a nutshell the Nitrogen cycle works like this. The fish produce ammonia, which is highly toxic to them. After the ammonia levels get high enough, bacteria forms in you filter, gravel etc that converts the ammonia into nitrites. Nitrites are also toxic to fish, but after the nitrite levels get high enough, bacteria forms to convert the nitrites into nitrates, which are far less toxic to fish. Then to stop the nitrates from getting to a high enough level to be toxic, you do partial water changes.

You really need a test kit. I highly recommend a liquid test kit such as the API Master Test Kit for Freshwater. The strips are very inaccurate, and cost more in the long run.

Also, you need to get a gravel vac. It is a siphon that you can use to remove water from your tank for a water change and clean the debris out of your gravel.

Now that you have fish in an uncycle tank, you are going to need to do 50% water changes everyday until your tank cycles. You should also use a product such as Prime as your water condition with each water change. In addition to removing chlorine and heavy metals from the water, it "locks" the ammonia and nitrites for 24 hours, so they won't be toxic to the fish, until your next water change.

I know this is all a lot to absorb, and you probably feel like you've been blind sided, but it's really not that difficult, and everyone here will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. But in the future you should post in the Freshwater Beginners forum, since your post will be more visable there.

Good luck

EDIT: Did I get ninja'd or what. Sorry for the repeat info, apparently mathas and I were responding at the same time.

capekate

Hello pennytupence
Welcome to fishlore. The mistake has been made by many here, to buy fish without knowing how to care for them but Im glad that you have stumbled upon this forum, as there are many who will be able to help you.
Is there any way that you can return your fish? And start off learning how to cycle your tank first before adding any fish? You should learn about the nitrogen cycle. Your sharks were way too big for that tank, tho I am sorry that you lost them. I would not advice buying anymore of those.
You can also do some research here on the species of fish you have in your tank by clicking on the fish in the fish species section.
The fresh fishwater beginners forum is a great place to start by reading the threads there you can learn so much.
You can go back to the first page of the forum and look for the fresh water beginners --> READ FIRST: Freshwater beginner Important Topics. You will find a lot of helpful information there. I would link it to you, (but Im having problems with that on my newly 'repaired' laptop) and cannot copy/paste anything.
Happy Reading.. and good luck! ~ kate

Lucy

Hi Penny welcome to Fish Lore, you came to the right place, the forum is full of people with a wide range of knowledge.

I'm sorry you lost your shark.

Your tank is about 14-15 gallons, it's not too small for the 2 mollys and probably ok for the other two tiny fish.. Can you post a pic, someone will be able to identify them for you. It's way too small for sharks.

I hope I don't overwhelm you but there's a few things you need to know to help keep your fish alive and healthy.
Please read about the nitrogen cycle, here's the link:
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

It took me forever to understand it, so Here's a basic explanation of the nitrogen cycle:
First your ammonia will rise, in a few weeks you'll see the nitrite levels rise and the ammonia levels start to drop. After a few more weeks you'll see the nitrate levels rise and the nitrite levels drop.
Ammonia and nitrites are toxic to your fish. So until your cycle is complete, you need to keep the levels down with daily water changes
When you having readings of 0 on both ammonia and nitrites with some nitrates showing, your cycle is done.

Only feed as much at the consume in a few minutes, their stomachs are only as big as their eyes.

It would be a good idea to pick up a few things. You'll need a test kit. I used the API master kit as do a lot of other's here. It's very reliable. Stay away from the strips, they're not accurate.

Another good tool, which will help you with water changes and cleaning waste and excess food from the gravel is a gravel vacuum.

Alessa just wrote a wonderful article for beginners, here the link to that and another link that should be helpful:
http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummaga...um-startup.htm

READ FIRST: Freshwater Beginner Important Topics

As far as salt, some here use it, I don't. Someone else can weigh in on that, I don't know much about it.

My guess at this point is you have ammonia in your water from fish waste and left over food. I'd recommend a 50% water change to get the ammonia down, it's toxic to you fish. Continue that daily until the cycle is complete.

Prime is a good water conditioner, it help neutralize the ammonia until the next days water change.

I'm sorry, I know it's a lot of information at once. Please ask any questions you might have. The members here are more than happy to help.

Good luck.

We were all typing at once!! I must type slow!

pennytupence

Thank you so much for all your advice i will take it on board and read all the information thanks again

sirdarksol

Welcome to Fishlore.

You've got a ton of great advice above.

I'm just going to answer the question that hasn't really been answered. Mollies like a little bit of salt in their water, but most other fish don't. Since mollies are also happy in pure freshwater, I would suggest leaving the salt out, for the other tank-mates' happiness.

Blub

My gran lives up in blackpool, and there is a really good LFS there called Maidenhead aquatics. Use them in future, they have great fish and equipment!

sapphirebetta

Lucy

No reason to google it, 2 of us left links to the instuctions on how to cycle.