FishermanBob

Hello everyone. I have been an avid fisherman my entire life. My fiance got me a 10 gallon tank for christmas.

Before stumbling upon this website today, I had been mainly going on advice from a local pet shop. I set my tank up about 10 days ago. I ran it for 24 hours, after using pH down, which I felt did not work very well. My ph is 7.2. I was told to add a couple of fish for a week, test the water everyday for ammonia. If clean, add two more for a few weeks, do partial water changes once a month and I should be able to add other fish.

Well after visiting this site, and doing some research here, I am discovering my four fish, two guppies and two pristella tetras, will soon be going through some pretty traumatic stuff when my tank starts to cycle.

I test my water daily, my ammonia is at o.o.

Any advice to get these four fish through the nitrogen cycle would be greatly appreciated. I wanted to, and thought I was going about this properly to ensure this tank became a lifelong hobby. Any advice greatly welcomed.

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore bob!!!!
allot of us started as you are now and its awful the advice pet stores give us..but they are only concerned with the might dollar not the fish or owners who get heart broken..

heres a great link that will help you from this point forward http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/aq...ling-fish.html

Good luck and dont loose faith!! it can be an interesting hobby once you are able to get things going in the right direction

Lucy

Hi Bob, welcome to FishLore!!
I'm glad to hear you've done some research and although I think stores mean well, they don't always give the best advice.

First I would recommend not using stress zyme.
Seriously, it must be rule or something. Stores must sell stress zyme to new fish keepers....or else!!! lol
I have a bottle too, along with many members here.

Once you have an ammonia reading, start doing daily water changes, that'll help keep the toxins down. You can use Prime as your water conditioner, that'll detox the ammonia for 24hrs between changes. Be patient, the cycle can take a month to complete.

You'll also need tests for nitrite and nitrate. Most fish will adapt to your pH, imo, don't mess with it using chemicals. It can lead to an unstable pH, which can be worse for your fish.

Best of luck!

FishermanBob

Thank you very much!
This message board is phenomenal. Unbelieveable source of information and extremely user friendly. I am a member of another message board which is currently undergoing a major upgrade (DMB warehouse), and even after this 'upgrade', it's not going to approach how easy this message board is to use.

Thanks again.

Shawnie

oops...great advice lucy!
.i didnt see the stress zyme...

well I wish you a ton of luck with the tank...theres allot of members (me included) who have been where you are..and they can offer a ton of valuable advice and are very friendly in doing so

FishermanBob

I had used the stresszyme when I first set up the acquarium. And then through some internet research I had discovered the bacteria in the bottle I had purchased was most likely already present in the filter medium anyway so it was an unecessary purchase. I knew I should have just hit the internet before going to the stores, but that's how we learn right? Haha.

This might be a dumb question but, during water changes, should I remove the fish? Or will they handle me knocking around in the tank well?

Shawnie

As long as your eye sight is good, and you dont send any fish through the tunnel of death (syphon hose) they are good to stay lol..some fish are more stressed than others so going slowly is key....

FishermanBob

Great. Thanks again.

I am going to give it my best shot. We love having the tank in our living room. As soon as I know I have this down pat, I am already talking to my fiance about upgrading to a bigger tank. haha. So I have my fingers crossed this works out well.

FishermanBob

I lost one of the guppies last night. Came downstairs this morning and she was dead laying at the bottom of the tank. I immediately checked the ammonia, still 0.0. So I don't think I have tank issues of yet. I fed the remaining three, they all ate aggressively.

Hoping it was an issue from the fish store I bought the guppies at. So I am down to

One female guppy. Two pristella tetras.

Kinda sad losing a fish.

Shawnie

im sorry for the loss bob
im worried as the stress zyme will give false readings.....and nitrites are as deadly as ammonia....maybe pick up a test kit for the nitrites today? as well as look for one of these 3 http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/aq...ling-fish.html and do a few days of water changes?

FishermanBob

I am headed out to the store now to pick up the test kit. I am also going to keep my head down when someone in the store tries to sell me something I obviously don't need. Haha.

jgon_

Hey Bob! Welcome to Fishlore!

I'm on LI as well, so let me know if you would like any LFS recommendations.

Shawnie

at this point, you have the API ammonia kit and grabbing the api nitrite kit will be good for now...unless the entire kit is available.....one of the detoxifiers is definitely needed even if you have no ammonia now (which im not sure about that with stress zyme in the tank) you will eventually have ammonia....good luck and good smarts not buying into their sales!!!

FishermanBob

What fish store have you been using? I have been going to BTJ's on sunrise highway in West Islip.

jgon_

Magic Isle in Centerreach (on 25)
Aquarium Adventures in Carle Place (Glen cove rd.)
Brians Aquarium in Kings Park (on 347)
Country Critters in Patchouge (Patchouge rd)

Those are my main ones.

FishermanBob

Okay, I bought the nitrite test kit, tested the water, 0.0 on the Nitrites. But I clearly have some sick fish here. The remaining guppy is losing color, and the two tetras have some red in their gills and don't appear to be very healthy.

I am going to do a 25% water change right now. I also bought the prime everyone recommended, I hope this helps. But it appears I am well on my way to losing these three.

FishermanBob

Fish survived the night, and the water change obviously. The tetras appear to have sparked up a bit. Fed them this morning, a very small amount and all three ate it up in less than 30 seconds. The Guppy seems to have lost colar starting at his head and making it's way back. But it seems to have stopped.

Tested the water today, 0.0 on the ammonia, 0.0 on nitrites. 7.2 ish (the api ph test kit is slightly hard to read, the color chart color changes are very slight imo.)

I am thinking about doing another water change today, since daily water changes seem to be the general consensus when things start to go wrong.

Shawnie

good morning bob!!
can you check the lot #'s on your ammonia/nitrite bottle? the last four digits are the year and month the kits were made and should be good for up to 3 years after that..i dont trust them after a year tho as im anal about my test kits...and you are so right..water changes never hurt anything

TedsTank

Hiya Bob!!!

OK rule number 2.....start planning for a 20 gallon long tank or 55 gallons!!!! It would look so cool in you living room!!!!...lol
Take the ten gallon, put in a divider and get 2 bettas for the kitchen counter!!!!

Shawnie

FishermanBob

Okay, kind of a frustrating weekend on the fish front, (great weekend on the football front. GO JETS!)

I lost the other guppy. He turned completely white, and his tail began to deteriorate. He died a short while ago. On that issue, when a fish is clearly diseased, at what point is it considered okay to pull the plug and get it out of the tank? I want to remain humane, but there are the lives of the other fish to think about right?

My test kits are still showing 0.0 on ammonia, 0.0 on nitrite. I did another 25% water change yesterday. So this tank still is not cycling.

Two remaining fish, pristella tetras. They appear to be doing just fine. There was some red in their gills a few days ago, but that is gone. They eat heartily. They swim together in the tank. All seems to be well with those two fish.

I guess I am just going to keep these two fish in the tank until I get some cycling results and then I will add others, based on the lack of success with the guppies, I don't want to push it until I have this all figured out.

Lucy

I'm really sorry you lost the other guppy.
Cycling is really rough on them

What test kit are you using? Are you still using Stress Zyme? What is your nitrate reading?

Only you can decide when a fish has had enough and you've done all you can for it.
It would be a good idea to get a quarantine tank. Despite our best efforts, fish get sick, it's best to be prepared for it. It doesn't have to be anything fancy.....a tank or clean plastic tote with filter and heater.
If the time comes here is a Humane method of Euthanasia for sick fish

FishermanBob

Thank you lucy!

The last time I used Stresszyme, was the day that I started posting here. So about a week now I believe.
I am using API test kits. I checked the lot numbers, each is about a year old. As of this morning, I am showing 0.0 on Ammonia, 0.0 on nitrite.

The PH is around 7.2, but I have been told, even though that is slightly high, it's okay as long as it does not fluctuate.

jglove276

Welcome to Fishlore.

Hang in there Bob if anyone can get you thru it will be the most helpful people here at Fishlore. I wouldn’t worry about your pH mine is slightly higher than that and your right on about not wanting it to fluctuate. Also I would be suspicious of your ammonia test. I would think you should have some kind of reading by now.

Elvishswimmer

If he used stresszyme a week ago, the bacteria could still be in the tank and eating up the ammonia.
So it is still a waiting game to see if that ammonia spike comes.

Welcome to fishlore bob!

jglove276

you may be right i have never used stresszyme i was only looking at the dates and looks like bob has been running about 20 days or so.

Shock

Hey Bob welcome to Fishlore. Sorry to hear about losing two of your fish, but if it's any consolation my Pristella Tetras have been some of my most hardy fish that I've ever had.

FishermanBob

I tested my water two days ago and had a very slight ammonia reading. Very slight. It was the first time I had seen a different color other than bright yellow in my API test kit. I wouldn't say it was 0.25 as that is the first reading on the card, but it definetly had a small tinge of the green in there.

So I did a 30% water change today. The nitrite is 0.0. The PH is 7.0. Still have the two Pristella tetras in the tank, they seem to be doing just fine.

I am enjoying the upkeep on the tank, but I am really looking forward to the cycle happening so I can start putting other fish in the tank safely.

I have been feeding them flake food up until this point. Is it true varying their diet can help speed up the cycle? Is that what I should be thinking about now, helping the arrival of the cycle or is patients my best bet?

Haha, I just want something to DO. I feel like such a non participant right now.

Shawnie

im glad things are looking up! and you still have your tetras doing ok
cycling is the longest, most boring part to me...its like watching paint dry LOL but worth the work I agree!! NO a varied diet wont help the cycle..not that ive ever heard....have you checked around for tetra safestart at all?

FishermanBob

The only product I am using right now is Prime. I immediately stopped using the stresszyme when everyone here suggested that to me. So when I do a water change I carefully measure out how much prime to put in the new water. Which is kind of difficult because the bottle says to use a cap full for 50 gallons. I am changing 3 gallons at a time, so that gets tricky.

Is Safestart a similiar product? Or should I be using it additionally?