marcie31401

I was given a 20 gal tank only 5 days ago. That same night, I brought home a male guppy just to try it out. He seemed happy and active, so the next day I excitedly returned to the pet store and bought 2 more male guppies and 3 male sunburst platys. I also added 3 tablespoons of conditioning salt (as recommended by the store clerk). I noticed that night that one of the new guppies was not nearly as active as the others. The next morning he died. That same day we went to a different pet store and purchased a Zebra Danio, a betta, 2 Swordtales, 2 cardinal Tetras, and 1 painted glass fish. Since then we have lost one of the swordtales, another guppy, and one cardinal tetra. The tank didn't look crowded, so we added 5 more cardinal tetras (since they are so small) and 2 black mollies. I have been feeding them flakes and crushing up pellets. Here are my questions:

1) Is my tank too crowded? It doesn't seem to be, but my fish are dying!
2) Should I add more zebra danios? I have since read that they should be schooled.
3) The one guppy that's left is still very active and seems happy, should he be schooled as well?

I'm afraid that I have jumped into something too fast. Any advice would be appreciated!

TFA101

According to your aquarium info, you don't know what the nitrogen cycle is. IT's a process in which the tank establishes enough beneficial bacteria, and the water chemisty swings high and low. You might want to read this lnk and perform any actions it calls for before adding fish, as the nitrogen cycle is deadly for your fish.

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

Alessa

Very good advice above.

I betta is generally not a community fish and should have a tank of his own (specially with the fish you have).

Dont add salt. It hurts your fish more than it helps them.

Do 50% daily water changes with conditioner like "Prime"

Read the artice above, the life of your fish depend on it.

Also, the rule of thumb for fish up to 2 inches (like most of the fish you have) is 1 inch of adult fish fish per gallon of water. so you are a little overstocked.

The danios and tetras are schooling fish.

good luck.

mitch

this site has a lot of info, start with the water cycle. read the freshwater beginner, you will need a water test kit to keep an eye on yor readings so you dont kill yor fish. good luck and have fun.