Lost fish

[jmats]

he'll be gone within the hour. RIP


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[jmats]

I'm ****ing heart broken I spent a lot of money on these fish and they're all dying. Only the ones I don't really like are left and they'll be gone too. I just let the filter run for a week and used quick start..... I didn't know there was more stuff to do to cycle the tank. I googled it and didn't find **** other than just let the filter run.


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[CoronaBlue]

Well if you want to try and save the ones you have you need to start doing daily water changes. Your now doing a fish in cycle. Do about 25 to 30 percent changes daily. Your fish are dying cause you have no beneficial bacteria in your tank.

 

[jmats]

How long do I do that for?


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[CoronaBlue]

What size tank? What filtration do you have running? Fish in cycles take a few weeks. As stated before your going to need to buy water test kit, this is the only way to know when your tank has finished it's cycle.

 

[jmats]

75 gallon tank with fluval 406. I was doing 2 water changes per week... What should the liquid test read when the cycle is complete?


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[HUKIT]

75 gallon tank with fluval 406. I was doing 2 water changes per week... What should the liquid test read when the cycle is complete?


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I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

I would start by reading this.

 

[CoronaBlue]

I would guess right now your nitrite/ammonia is high. You should always have nitRATES (you get that from food and waste). When your tank is cycled your nitRITES, will read almost 0 and your niTRATES should be under 40ppm.

 

[fish wrangler]

0 ammonia, 0 nitrItes, ~20 ppm nitrAtes. The nitrAtes will vary depending on how many water changes you do and how big they are.

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[jmats]

Thank you. One last question, when doing a water change do I add quick start to the new water or just use the tap? This might be where things went wrong for me...


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[fish wrangler]

Is quick start a dechlorinator? I use prime or let the tap water sit out for a couple days to let the chlorine evaporate.

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[jmats]

Yes it's a dechlorinating substance. I add this every time I do a water change?


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[mikem691]

Ummm If this is API quick start that is just for jump starting the cycle. You still need a dechlorinator like prime.

 

[jmats]

Okay thank you


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[militantpotato]

If using buckets, dose each buckets with enough prime for 5 gallons. If using a hose to add water to the tank, dose the tank with enough to treat 75 gallons before adding new water. Also, make sure the new water is within 2f of the tanks water.

It's also important to know if your city uses chlorine or chloramine. If it has chloramine you need a dechlorinator that says it treats them. My vote either way is prime though.

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[CoronaBlue]

I just ordered SAFE, used it for the first time last night. That's another option that treats both.

 

[militantpotato]

I love safe. Safe is prime without water, it's a bit tricky on smaller tanks but saves tons of $. Dissolving it in a cup of water prior to adding it to a tank is a good idea.

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[jmats]

I'm 90% positive the problem was chlorinated water. After posting on this forum I went and purchased prime right away and dumped in the recommended amount for emergencies. I have been using two caps worth of prime every water change and I have not had a problem since.

There should really be more information on tank cycling and dechlorination out there. Before setting up this tank I thought I had it under control, because I did everything I researched before hand. But information on cycling and dechlorination are lost in the abyss of the Internet and I didn't even know this stuff existed until I started losing fish.

This forum helps a lot, I have learned so much over the past 2 weeks. My girlfriend is actually getting pissed because all I talk about is what I'm learning about my fish and about aquariums. Thanks guys.


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