hi i am relitively new to all this, can some one please help?

HI
I have a 100 liters tank which I bought second hand about a year ago  the previous owners had it for three , and have not had much success. I have had fish die on me every now and again, so the only original fish I have is a plecto which is 12-14 cm long and a golden loach, they both seem happy.I have slowly added some sword tails and some neons, most of which have died one by one for no good reason.
A while a go I decided to start restocking and bought a few more neons ( who have all died) a clown loach still happy and two more sword tails also still happy and two couleI loaches. the fish shop said that that should not ever load my tank. since I bought the fish I have been monitoring the water closely, every thing very stable and going well with a few small water changes. so I can't figure out why my fish keep flaking on me. ???

any way it used to have a under gravel filter system which has not been in use ( I discovered it a few months back)   ??? and have spent the afternoon taking all the old gravel which was really mucky and the filter plate out and removed almost all the water which was also mucky. but kept 1/4of the original water and what is in the quarantine tank. so should I wait for the tank to recycle it self before putting my fish back ?  thanks allot Gennasis

 

I converted the 100 litres to gallons (cuz that's what I understand better), which is about 26 gallons. I have recently learned for every inch of fish you should have a gallon. How many swordtails and tetras did you add? Also do u have a heater and a good filter...some smaller fish like neon tetras can't deal with the currents of some filters. Also if you don't have one I would get a sticker aquarium thernometer its like 2$ and sticks to the side of the tank and says the temperature..Cuz maybe ur temp. is to high or low...or maybe your nitrates are too high..giveing the fish ammonia

 

my guess might be that if the undergravel filter sat in the tank unnoticed and not working, something could have grown on it or it could have messed with the cycling process. same with the gravel, the gravel should have been taken out as soon as you bought it and replaced with new gravel. anywho, if its about a 26 gallon tank, then you should only keep enough fish to where the total mature inches of fish equal the gallon total. for example, if you have a common pleco, they can get to say, 18 inches. that means, in a 26 gallon tank and a common pleco, you have 8 inches of fish left. a dojo loach can get to about 8 inches, so that would equal 26 inches, and any more fish would overstock the tank. anyway, I would leave the fish you have in there, change almost all the water out, replace the gravel with well washed (in warm water) gravel, and use a new filter, heater, etc. keep the tank water between 76-82 degrees, and the tank may have to cycle itself again. I recommend using a product called "Cycle" (can be bought at wal-mart of any major chain pet store such as petsmart) it comes in a white box and is a concentrated solution of all the good bacteria the tank and filter will need. Ive used it since I got my tank and have had no problems at all. hope this helps! (sorry its so long)

 

If you removed all of the gravel and if you're changing for a new filter - yes, you should wait until your tank cycles first, before adding any fish to your tank. Can you please post your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings?

Also, what kind of a pleco do you have? If it's a common pleco, it will grow way too large for a 100 L tank. It already is way too large for your tank. This means it produces lots of wastes and that affects your water quality. This is why your fish may have been dying. But, I'd like to first know your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings.

Thanks

 

unfortunately, your tank is overstocked, a common pleco(20") needs at least 50G tank, and a clown loach(12") needs a 55G or larger, ok, we got the bad news out of the way, now for the well bad news, your undergavel(UG) filter I possibly the worst type t have, as they as incredibly hard to maintain without disturbing the gravel bed, as well, they like to suck all the excess food and excrement under the gravel, where it is difficult to remove and will cause higher ammonia levels, I would recommend, a hang on back filter, penguin biowheel and aquaclear seem to be the number 1 choices here, as they won't break the bank and very easy to maintain.

for your last question, I would empty the tank out, clean the gravel, or get new gravel, and recycle the tank with a better filter, to speed up the process, use either bio spira(instant cycle) if you can get it, a peice of used filter media from a cycled tank, or pure ammonia, those are the easiest, fastest ways to cycle a tank.  sorry about all the bad news I gave, I hope everythng work out for you

 

also be careful when using the product "cycle" once you start using it you will have to continue doing so ,thus costing lots of money, a lot of peoplw onthis forum are against (I myself have a full bottle of just sitting ther collecting dust)although good you have to keep adding drop every week to maintain your tank. I personally don't use it and have no problems yet. bio-spira is the ultimate cycling product. slip in in bang! 48hrs later fish go in (only x amount per week though)

good luck with the cycle sorry to hear you are overstocked. throw away that under gravel filter. they trap waste in little pockets and once bumped of moved they can release nasty amounts of ammonia back into your tank and be deadly for your fish

good luck keep us posted
regards Dazzler

 

yeah, cycle can ultimately be a pain, but I couldnt find bio-spira anywhere, and now that ive used cycle for the recommended two weeks, I only have to do it once a week. but, when I get a bigger tank (eventually) I'm either gonna naturally cycle it or find bio-spira somewhere.

 

you can order online at I think. it is a bit pricey but but saves heaps onn impatience. they ship it over night in a chiller box from what I have read it must be kept refridgerated also.

little bit of info... try bigals online also dunno about them though

regards Dazzler