Mandy82

Hi i really need some advise

I started mytank in early june. and everything went fine. i started with 4 neon tetras and everything went fine for three weeks so i decided to ad 2 more tetras to my tank today. the problem is that one of the fish i bought is now spending a lot of time at the water surface. i can't really see if he is gasping for air for it doesn't seem to be the case. he also doesn't seem as shy as the others. he is not hiding between the plans when i tested the water.

the them is 25°C
amonia is 0
nitrite is 0.25
nitrtrte is 20mg/l

can anybody give me some advise. i changes some of the water to make sure thats not the problem but it still is spending a lot of time at the surface. i am reallyworried that he will be dead by tomorrow morning.

Mandy

bolivianbaby

Your nitrite levels need to fall to 0 and your nitrate levels are a little high. Do a 50% water change and add some Amquel+. The water change will decrease your nitrate levels and the Amquel+ will detoxify your nitrite levels until your tank finishes cycling.

Friendly advice: Don't add any more fish until your tank finishes cycling

Please keep us posted.

Shawnie

+2 ...great advice from blolivanbaby ..just want to add that ammo lock or prime will also help if you cant find amquel+ ...only 1 of the 3 are needed....good luck with your fish babies!

Mandy82

thanx i will go out and buy some ammo lock tomorrow. i couldn't see prime or Amquel+ in the shop today. does ammo lock take care of nitrites as well?

Shawnie

oops im sorry..welcome to fishlore!!!!!! (missed that in my first post) and yes they will detoxify(for 24 hours) the ammonia/nitrites as bolivianbaby said ..but you will still get a reading for them on your test kit....do this daily until the cycle finishes up...

Mandy82

the thing that confuses me is that all fish apart from one seem to be fine. its just one that is at the surface alot and shows different behaviour than the rest

Shawnie

each fish reacts differently to the toxins while cycling a tank...some tolerate it more than others and if they are weak or stressed, it effects them more also...so the daily water changes with the detoxifiers are needed to save them all ...and be preparred you may loose the ill one as it may not be strong enough to handle the time it is going to take to cycle the tank I hope they all make it tho!! good luck!

Mandy82

Hi just a quick update.
Unfortunately things dont seem to be going to well. since my last post i have started to perform dailly waterchanges and started using tetra save start. But i still have lost 2 fish and this morning my three remaining were not swiming as a school anymore. i am taking this as a bad sign.

i realised something. after eading a free threats on use by dates for tests and waterconditioners i was wondering what the dates were for the ones that i am using. i wasn't even aware that some things had best before dates. Unfortunately i found out that my safe start date was april 09. this really irritates me seeing that i only bought it last week. does anybody know if an out of date save start has any toxic effects or anything?

Amonia 0.25
nitrite 0
nitrate 0

i was also curious why it could be that my cycle seems to have resarted

kimb

Hi Mandy, sorry you are going through such a hard time. TSS (I believe) has a shelf life of one year, so April 09 should have been o.k. Not sure about doing water changes with it...seems to me you have to leave it for the full time (7-10 days). If you have started the water changes daily, I would say keep them up, making sure to use either prime or amquel+ to detoxify for 24 hrs between changes. It may seem like it is taking forever, but it will happen. Good luck on everything.