cant see fish

[aquarious]

hi im new to this fish buisness and have had my 29 gallon tank now for a just over a week. i have added 10 hardy fish (5 black widdows and 5 tetras) to my tank today but there is very little movement from them. all they seem to do is hide in rock or the corners of the tank. is this normal behaviour for new fish or is this behaviour due to poor tank conditions. also when i added food the fish did not swim to the top of the tank to get food instead they waited for some of the flakes to sink to the bottom (which was very few) sorry for the newbie questions but i would apreciate some help.
thank in advance. 

 

[bbfeckawitts]

Since your tank is new, it is probably the water conditions.

Do you know about cycling? Read here as it is a must for sucessful fishkeeping:
www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

Do you have a test kit? You will need one. Most here use and recommend the Master freshwater API test kit:



Just wanted to cover all the bases here. Good luck with your fish. Brianna

 

[COBettaCouple]

If you can get BioSpira locally, it would cycle your tank for you right away.

What do you treat the tap water with now? and what temperature is the tank at?

 

[aquarious]

i have test kit for ph and nitrite and i have just tested the water
pH is 7.5
nitrite is 0.1
nitate need to buy test kit
temperature is 25oc
water has been treated with interpets fresh start which is a tap water conditioner and filter start which sets up the bacteria
i think these readings are ok maybe a little high although if im wrong please tell me.
fish just dont seem to want to explore the tank they just stay in the bottom corners and dont move mu

 

[COBettaCouple]

you'll want to test for ammonia as soon as you can, at this point it's the most important test. Most likely it will be high.. are any of the fish showing reddishness in their gills? the pH and temp are fine.

 

[bbfeckawitts]

You need a test kit for ammonia and nitrate. Without those we really can't tell if there is anything wrong or if the fish are just acclimating. I would do a 50% water change right away anyway.

 

[aquarious]

ok i will buy a ammonia test kit to see whats up thanks alot for ur help im hoping there just climatising to the tank but best to be on the safe side.

 

[genie]

How did you acclimate them to the tank. Did you float the bag for 15 min. and did you slowly add your water to the bag? This is always a good idea to prevent any stress. Also, if you added 10 fish right away, you may have added too many too fast. I do 2-4 fish at a time and wait about 2 weeks before adding more.
And the ammonia test is vip b/c you will probably be too high and need to do a water change ASAP, up to 50% if it is really high.

 

[aquarious]

have now borrowed testing kit for ammonia and nitrate from friend and the readings are

nitrate 50mg/l
and the ammonia alert thing says 'safe'


i think these readings are OK so i think fish are just getting used to the tank although again if I'm wrong pleas say all help is appreciated
yes i left bag in water for 20mins and then added a little of my aquarium water to the bag the after another 5 mins i released the fish.
10 was a little hastey but the guy in the shop recomended it and said they will be fine.

 

[genie]

Don't trust the ammonia alert thing. I have one, my ammonia is above 8 (fishless cycling) and the stupid alert thing hasnt even changed color one bit!!
oh and you should do a water change, try to keep nitrates below 20 by doing water changes.

 

[COBettaCouple]

The best way (and only way i trust) to measure ammonia is a liquid test like the API test.