banda

I have a 10 gal tank with three glow light tetras and two (had three till this morning) bleeding heart tetras. My tank is new... about a week. I have added the conditioner etc that i got with the tank which is meant to enable adding fish before the tank cycles for a full four weeks. I noticed last evening that a bleeding heart tetra was kind of reddish (darker than usual) in color and not the pink/brown color that it normally is. One bleeding heart tetra is somewhat aggressive/over active. The pet store wanted me to feed them more often - thrice and not twice a day and to vary the food. I have had oscars, kois, cat fish in the past, but never lost a fish this soon. My water is within acceptable limits - I test at home using strips and had the pet store test as well (they too use the same strips that I use). I also had fungus grow on food remnants about two days ago. I siphoned about 25% of the water out and topped up with clean water. I switched off the lights since I felt that the fish would be less stressed or least they could "hide" away from the bully, if there was one. Please help me out with what might be wrong. Yes, I have a filter, and the water temp is between 72-78 deg F.

vin

What was the name of the product that came with the kit? Most fishkeepers feel that anything other than BioSpira is generally useless. Unfortunately, the fish stores are in business to sell product and if they don't carry the BioSpira, they'll sell you whatever they have. Truly knowledgeable fish stores will take the time to explain the process to their customers and guide them to the products available to them that would work best. Unfortunately it seems that these stores are few and far between with most of the employees having limted knowledge of fishkeeping. One of the beauties of this site is that we all have varying degrees of experience so there's always someone to provide you with good information.

Next, you might want to switch from using test strips to using the liquid kit that most of us here use and recommend. It is by API. Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc. Freshwater Master test kit. The reason is that test strips are notoriously unreliable and are expensive. Part of the reason the fish store uses the strips is that they're more convenient than the liquid test kits.....Petsmart.com usually has a decent online price and generally honors that price in their stores. I started using strips - good ones - and when I switched to the same kit the fish store uses I was shocked at the degree of inaccuracy that the strips had.

The tank, although having the chemicals that it came with in it, is not instantly cycled. The fish you added will help the process along, but if the water is not properly treated, the fish will feel the effects of the cycle and may not make it through to the end. It could very well be that the fish you've added are stressing already.

Folks here recommend a product called Prime. Prime treats the water making ammonia and chloramines in water non toxic to fish. It also binds up chlorine and heavy metals in water that can cause stress to fish. It may take the cycle a little longer to complete, but the fish would be happier. You'd still have to perform water changes to get through the cycle.

I hope I helped. I know there are plenty of others here that will provide you with any information I may have left out. Good luck!

COBettaCouple

vin's advise is good and i'd second it.

I'd do 25% water changes daily to try to lower any toxins in the water.. If you don't have an air stone, they definitely could use a good one.

The aggressive tetra is the result of having 2 - when that happens, one picks on the other. When a 3rd one can be added, it should stop. something you can do now is take the aggressive one out and rearrange some decor, then put him back in after a little while.. it may lower his aggression, at least for a time. Additional caves or plants could help the picked-on one find more hiding spots too.

Uneaten food needs to be removed as soon as you can, it releases ammonia into the tank and could be making things worse. A turkey baster can actually be a good tool for that.

banda

Thank you Vin and FLBettaCouple for the advice. Unfortunately I cannot recollect the name to the product that came with the tank to speed up the cycling or neutralize/condition the water. The tank was from "tetra fish" so I believe the treatment product is also from them. I will look at what you suggest and also get a more reliable testing kit. I do not have an air stone cause I thought the filter was sufficient for aeration. I also intend replacing the lost/dead bleeding heart tetra after I figure out what caused the loss.

In the interim till the tank cycles, what do you suggest I do other than upping the cleaning frequency to say 25% daily? Should I take the fish out to a bucket? Yes, I do not have a treatment tank. I do have live plants and recently added some stones and caves for the guys to hide.

Unlike myself, my wife is new to the fish scene and any more dead fish would put and end my fishing expedition :-)

Thank you.

vin

No need to take the fish out. What is important is to try to keep the fish as comfortable as possible during the cycle process. You do this by performing daily water changes. 25% will do. And treat your water with Prime. Treat the clean water you are adding back to the tank. So if you are adding 2 gallons back to the tank, treat just the fresh 2 gallons, not the entire tank each time. You can add the Prime right to the water in your clean water bucket.

Test the water every other day. It may seem excessive to some, but IMO it's worth it. You will begin to see the ammonia levels rise, then start to fall, then the nitrites will rise and start to fall.....Then eventually you will start to see nitrates....Nitrates at low levels ( <20 ) are beneficial to the tank but they are still toxic to fish.....When you begin to see nitrates, the ammonia and nitrite levels will drop down to zero. Once these reach zero and the nitrates are present in the tank, you would then do a 25-30% water change and you're off! You then maintain the nitrate level by performing weekly water changes and vacuuming your gravel to get up the excess waste and any uneaten food.

The Prime will keep the ammonia and nitrites in the water in a non-toxic state for the fish. As I mentioned earlier, it may slow down the cycle process, but it will be worth it - And very satisfying when you've made it through! Good Luck!

COBettaCouple

Sounds like vin has it covered what you'll want to do. An additional thing that may help is Vitachem http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...8&N=2004+22763.

Have the fish shown any changes? Please keep us updated on their progress.

banda

Thanks Vin and FLBetaCouple for your advice. Yes, I did a 25% water change last evening. I am yet to get "prime"... I used a product called "cycle" that the store gave me. I also have something that I got from Jack Aquarium - a store brand water conditioner.

The fish looked much settled. I tend to keep the light off as I've noticed that they are much "freer" in the dark. They also swim around more when the filter is shut down. However, I have the filter running almost all day (may be a 2hr break in the evening). I will get the treatment/conditioner and the supplements that you've mentioned over the weekend and continue with the daily water change for how many days/weeks? Once the tanks fully cycled, I will replace the 3rd bleeding heart tetra.

For food, I feed them tropical flakes which the bleeding hearts eat but not the glow lights - they do not seem to like coming up for a bite. I tried freeze dried blood worms which neither breed seems to like. Any ideas?

Thank you once again for your help.

vin

Leave the filter running 24/7....It will help the cycle to its completion by allowing the beneficial bacterial to build up on the media and this is what aerates the tank providing oxygen to the fish. Also, you should think about getting a timer for your light and cycle it on for about 8hrs/day. This will enable the fish to get used to day/night simulation and if you have live plants will give them the light they need to remain healthy rather than rotting in the tank.

I'm thinking that if they aren't eating that they are stressing out from the cycle. Be sure to pick up the Prime sooner rather than later. They should take the flake food and the freeze dried bloodworm readily.

COBettaCouple

Yea, the only time i turn the filter off is if i'm changing something in it. The Prime will be good and if they won't eat other food, try some hikari daphnia.. even fry can eat that.

banda

Thank you for the info. Yes, I do keep the filter running 24/7 now. I also got "primer" this weekend an have used it on the 10%-25% replacement water that I add daily. The food situ is still an issue. I will try the hikari daphnia. I try to keep the lights on for about 6-7hrs in the evening when I am at home. That way, I also get to see the tank when I am at home! I also replaced the bleeding heart that I lost. They seem to get on well, except that the one that was picked on is still the target of the aggressor (not the new one). I guess a few more weeks of cycling would help sort things out.

Thank you.

COBettaCouple

Have you tried taking the aggressive fish out of the tank, rearranging it a little, then putting him back in?

banda

Yes, I did rearrange the tank and that seem to have a somewhat calming impact.

This is new to me - my glow lights are breeding! The tank was set up little over a week ago and yesterday I saw them breed. Unfortunately, I am not quite ready for all that (sounds funny), so I couldn't salvage any eggs from the bleeding hearts - they were all over the eggs. I doubt if any of the eggs that were deposited on the live plants ever made it. I guess it is something to look forward to once the tank has cycled and I am more accustomed to all this. The only other time I had fish breed was close to 10 yrs ago when I had cichlids breed in a tank. Interesting times ahead. Thank you for all the help.

COBettaCouple

yea, sometimes you have to be quick to setup a blockade or divider .. or net out the other fish.. or cover the eggs with a bowl and transfer them to another container without them coming out of the water any.. especially when it's a surprise.