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!

Shawnie

Hi marcie...welcome to fihlore if I didnt welcome already

The tank needs to be cycled and now that you have fish, you need to do a cycle with fish..so heres a link that will help you now and in the future with any fish you buy http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

I do think the tank is overstocked as well as too many added at one time...

if you can get some prime water conditioner, and do daily water changes until the tank is cycled, you may be able to stop any more deaths...goodluck and patience is going to be your best friend now

FishFolk

Welcome. Shawnie gave good advice. Just follow the guidelines in the link.

I didn't see your equipment or your parameters. If you don't have a test kit, you may want to get one so you can identify water quality issues that may harm your fishes. It seems you added too many fish and too quickly. Your tank needs to "adjust" and for bacteria to grow so they can handle the waste created by the fish.

You may want to consider returning a few of the fish. You can always add more later - as long as you don't overstock. A general rule of thumb is 1''of fish (at adult size) per gallon of water. That rule is just general - For example, you wouldn't put a 20" fish in the 20 gallon aquarium even all alone. Some fish create more waste than others so, the 1-1 ratio is sometimes too generous(i.e. plecos, goldfish). Overfiltration will allow you to have more fishes. Water movement and surface area also come into play BUT generally, 1" to 1 gallon is the max.

Ooops forgot questions 2/3. I would not add more danios or guppies. Danios do school - but you don't have room. Maybe if you move some fish out, you could get him some friends later.

Keep trying. Fishkeeping is fun - once you get past the first few snags

laur.laur.234

Great advice everyone! I agree 100%, good luck with your new tank!!!!!!

jdhef

The Betta really shouldn't be in that tank. They really don't do well with other fish and shouild be kept alone in a 2 1/2 gallon minimum (5 gallon min preferd) tank. Many times (depending on the temperment of your betta), you can put them in a tank with cory cats or oto's,

jack--sos

i had the same problem as you, my brother gave me a 20 gallon tank, i cycled it for 3 days (which was not enough)

on the 3rd day i went to my fish shop and brought 5 buenos aires tetras and a pleco. the all survied the first few days so i went back and got 5 bleeding heart tetras and 5 male guppies, i lost a bleeding heart and 2 guppies. a few days later my mum (kindly) brought me 4 dwarf neons , one died within the first few hours.

but now they are all fine and haven't had a loss in nearly 3 months so just hang in there and it will all be fine.

marcie31401

Thanks to everyone for the advice. Just to give an update, no other fish have died, and boy am I pleased! I don't know why I jumped into this without doing any research. I relied too much on the pet store clerks! I haven't added any other fish, and don't plan to for a while. By the way, my betta seems to be the happiest of all the fish! He has so much personality! Getting this tank was the best thing that has happened to me in a while!

Also, didn't mean to post the thread twice, but due to replies to both, I will leave them! Again, thanks a lot for your comments!

marcie31401

Thanks so much for the replies! All is well with the fish for now, and lessons were definitely learned. This tank has been a very pleasant experience and I can't wait to get better at keeping happy fish. I am attached to each and every one of them for sure!