Please help me with my new fish!

Hi, I got a brand new 25 gallon fish tank a while ago. It came with all the supplies, the silent filter, rocks, plants, etc. I got the water tested, and they told me it was good. So I decided to buy five fish.

I bought 3 glo fish & 2 dalmation mollys.

The mollys are acting fine, they're swimming around and sticking together.

The glofish are scaring me though, at first all three stuck together and swam around the entire tank. Then one went to the bottom and stayed there, he looked as if he was breathing really fast. Then the others did it too.

It's been almost 2 hours, now two are at the very top and look like they're breathing fast but swimming around normally. Then one is at the bottom, doing the same thing, breathing fast but swimming around it's small area.

Is it something to do with the heater? We bought it yesterday. It says it's set to 28C/82F, but I'm having such a hard time with the heater!

Please help me!

 

if it helps, my heater is a 150-watt TopFin heater?

 

I found this on the net about temp. It may be set to high

Water Temperature: Every kind of fish has its own temperature preferences. In general, GloFish® fluorescent fish can live in a fairly wide temperature range, anywhere from 64-86°F (18–30°C), but prefer temperatures of 72-80°F (22-27°C). Depending upon the temperature of the room in which your aquarium is maintained, a water heater may be helpful to maintain this temperature range. The most important thing to remember is to avoid quick temperature changes, since these can be fatal for the fish.

If you cannot set the temp you may want to take your heater out. I keep my temp at 75 degrees

 

Okay thanks! I have no idea how to set it, it's stressing me out. But thank you!

 

Since you didn't fill out your aquarium info I have no way of knowing if you are familiar with the nitrogen cycle. But the symptoms you describe would be consistant with ammonia posioning.

So if you are not familiar with the nitrogen cycle, I highly recommend that you read up on it ASAP.

 

Yes filling out the profile with the tank information and the water tests would help a bunch. But from what I read it sure sounds like ammonia poisoning from an un-cycled tank. Read up on the Nitrogen Cycle to under stand what goes on in a new tank and how you can help it.

 

Regarding the heater, do you have a thermometer in the tank? Some heaters are pretty reliable with the temperature setting, others will be off by several degrees. A thermometer is necessary to know how warm your water really is. (Most heaters have a knob on the top that can turn to set it to various temperature settings.)

Click on the link in jdhef's post to read about the nitrogen cycle. First step is going to be getting your fish some fresh water. You will want to siphon out about half your tank water, and add back in some treated water about the same temperature.

 

It sounds like ammonia poisioning to me as well, thou the glo fish are just danios that are genetically bred (not dyed) to have those colors. The temp is fine as long as the tank is evenly heat distributed. I would test your water and see what your parameters are

pH
NH3 (ammonia)
NO2 (Nitrite)
NO3 (Nitrate)

If you can give us those 4 numbers we can tell you a lot more.