Ulysses

Hi,

I'm kicking myself for not doing more research before i started. I have bought a tank of a friend almost 2 months ago and have asked lost of questions from 3 of my aquariums that we have been going to.

First thing is that i didn't realise you needed to do a fishless cycle prior to adding the fish....1st bad move. I guess when you ask people they can forget to tell you the basics because they take the knowledge for granted or think someone else has told you.

Anyways we have a 6ft tank.

we started of small with platies, red tail tetras, rosy barbs and a bristle nosed cat fish.
We also added lots of plants.

I have a air stone at each end and a long horizontal in the centre. all sitting to the back of the tank.

We waited a couple of weeks to make sure everything was ok including getting the temp stable until we got more fishies.

two months on and we have added
x4 glass ctafish
x1 malay glass catfish
x8 Kuhli loach
x2 Clown loach
x2 eel tailed catfish
x2 dwarf gouramis (was 3 but read below)
x1 med black ghost knife fish
x2 small/med silver sharks
x2 Corydoras

We only got more fish because everyone was happy and the tank seamed really stable every time i tested it.

one kuhli died two weeks ago along with a gouramie (mentioned above) three days after purchase (from the same shop).
So i tested the water and everything seamed ok. only thing i did different is top up the water level the night i bought them but only 5ltrs worth.

I checked the dead fish and there was no sign of disease and none of the other fish of the same species showed signes of distress or being upset at all.


i haven't replaced the water since i first filled it. i have asked a few people and looked on the net and they say if you can get a good eco system going with fish, cleaners and plants you wont have to replace the water so often. i have only refilled (or topped it up) with fresh water from the tap in small amounts every second day or so when it needed it.

last weekend we bought
x1 small black ghost knife fish
x4 glass fish (can't remember their name but small 3cm cuties)
and
x1 native Australian fresh water puffer fish.


in last three days we lost random fish......
x1 silver shark
x1 platty
and the puffer....when we purchased the puffer there was one with a clouded eye and some others with white spots on their tails. The store said they where caught in the wild and he seamed kind of unhappy when we got him home. He didn't eat with the other fish and got slowly less interested in exploring the tank after a day or so. i don't think we will replace him. obviously not the right environment for him (

i tested the water just now and the levels seam to be ok except for the nitrate. The booklet says anywhere between 40 and 0 is good. mine is reading right on 40.

it says to use nitro absorbers but i don't have any. it also suggests replacing the water. i don't have any dechlorinator so i'm reluctant to replace 25 to 50% of the water. i am ringing the supermarkets to see if they have dechlorinator otherwise i feel i might loose them by the weekend! (there is no one to go to the aquarium for me during business hours)

everyone seams ok but i know something is wrong!

should i quickly replace some water?
or wait to get some nitrate absorbers?

should i be topping up small amounts at a time or should i do one big clean up twice a week?
(i'm scared of stressing them out)

i feel so naive and am anxious to make sure i keep my fish healthy and happy.
i appreciate your help.
thanks!

gonzo127

Hi and welcome, first thing i sugest you do is read about the nitrogen cycle! i can not stress this enough! especially since looking at your stats you tank is still reading ammonia and nitrites. this means your tank is currently cycling and unless you can get some water conditioner/de-clorinator you will more than likely lose more fish (sorry)

also are you sure you have a 1500 litre tank that is only 6 foot long? i only ask this since 6 foot is less than 2 meters and normal tank that is 2 meters long is usualy a maxium of about 450litres, the reason it would be helpful to know this is to look at if it is overstocked or not, usual rule of thumb is 1 inch of ADULT sized fish to 1 (US) gallon of water, - the reason you need to take adult size and not the size you buy it at is simple, that nice litte 1 inch baby fish could grow into a 6 inch plus one, and if you have fully stocked you tank with loverly 1 inch babies what are you going to do when they become 6 inch adults and you have 6 times to much fish in your tank

also DO NOT replace water if you do not have the de-clorinator solution to add to it, even small amounts of clorine can kill your fish. which is one reason why most places that sell fish food will also sell the solution, i personally use tetra aqua-safe as it not only nutralises clorine but also cloramine and some metals.

i also personally think you natrates level is a bit high, i do not like it to go above 20ppm myself when it gets to around 20 i like to do a water change, but then again i only have a small tank so things can get nasty very quickly

if the readings you have in your profile are accurate and new then the only thing i can suggest is to get some de-clorinator from the supermarket, if they dont have it go in your lunch break if possible to the fish store to pick some up, then you will need to do at least a 50% water change everyday/every few days (depends on what size your tank is really) as ammonia is toxic to fish, nitrite is toxic to fish and too high a level of nitrates are toxic to fish

i really hope you can get it sorted it really sounds as if you have put a lot of time money and effort into you tank already

gonzo127

just for reference on stocking, from what you have stated

4x glass cat fish = 6 inch adult size each = 24 inch
1 x maley cat fish = 7 inch adult size = 7 inch
8x Kuhli Loach = 4.5 inch adult size each = 36 inch
2x Clown loach = 12 inch adult size each = 24 inch
eel tailed cat fish = 20 inch adult size each = 40 inch
2x dwarf guraims = 3 inch adult size each = 6 inch
2x black ghost knife fish = 12 inch adult size = 24 inch
1x silver shark = 13 inch adult size = 13 inch
2x coryadoras = 2.5 inch adult size each = 5 inch
4x glass fish = 3 inch adult size each = 12 inch

giving a total of 161 inch of fish without the platies, red tail tetras, rosy barbs and a bristle nosed cat fish, this is find if you do have the 1500 litre tank as that work out at about 395 gallons, so if you can get the tank cycled you still have a good amount of room to play with however i do know that you would be better with some more corys and silver sharks as both breeds like to school with 6 or more, however you really need to get the tank settled before you add any more fish into the tank

Ulysses

Thanks heaps for your help.
I'll get to an aquarium tomorrow and change the water STAT!
i was just talking to my partner before RE the 1500ltrs and i remember when i was buying my filter i took my measurements in and i had to buy one that was suitable for a tank 750ltr plus. so even if the man at the shop calculated wrong it's still more then 450ltrs defiantly.

it has 3 sheets of glass (staggered) that run the length of the tank at the back that is aprox 15cm deep where you put filtration foam and air pumps to draw the dirty water through a filtration from the main part of the tank (where the fish are) to the back of the tank (the Kuhli Loach mostly hang out in this course filtration system and come out at feeding time). i don't have the back area set up at the moment but will when i get another air pump and tubing. so anyway that takes up a lot of water.

Thanks again for your quick reply!
really appreciate it.

gonzo127

if you can check out

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

at the bottom it allows you to put in the measurments of your tank and it will calculate the size but it sounds like a very nice tank (im jelous)

one other thing to think about when adding new fish is that although your others might not seems stressed does not mean the one you lost wasnt, mainly because you dont know what had happened to them at the store, for an extream example, fish have to be caught (live or from breeding tanks) to put them in the delivery van, they then have a nice long drive being bumped all over the place in the back of the van, have to be transfered from the van to the LFS, then if its a bad store goes stright into the display tank (had to be 'netted' again) then you walk in 1 hour later, oohh nice fishy can i have that one plase, LFS then nets the fish again and bags them, then a nice long journey from store to home being bumped around, so could have had 3-4 transfers in the space of a day or so whereas your other might have been in the store for a couple of days before you picked them

pinkfloydpuffer

If you can find the product Prime, that will help you get through the cycle with less damage to your fish. Good luck!