Is there something wrong with my fish ?

[Blahblahblah]

I first got my tank on December 27th 2015 ( uneducated on aquarium).
Fish in cycling ( again didn't know what I was doing)
29g Petsmart Topfin brand tank kit
Topfin hob water pump with 2 filters
Prime water conditioner
Level's are:
PH- 8.2 ( Tap water is high )
Ammonia- .25 ( can never get it to 0)
Nitrites-0
Nitrates- 20
I do water changes once a week ( 5 gallons)
One wk I clean the glass, next wk just pwc, next wk clean the gravel, next pwc
I did a water change 2 wks ago and replaced one of my filters, but left one hoping it won't harm anything. I took the new one and took the charcol out and then rinsed it in the bucket of tank water before putting it in the pump.
My Fish are:
3 Golden Panda Mollies
2 Red Wag Platyies
1 Mickey Mouse Platy ( I've lost and replaced 3)
4 Black Skirt Tetras
2 Corydoras
2 snails

No quarantine tank yet but will be getting one.
I bought 2 Mickey Mouse Platy's and let the bag float around for about an hour, and then put them in. The next day I noticed one was just floating in the middle of the tank and would only go up or down slowly. Just thought I'd keep an eye on him. The next day I took a good look at him and noticed he had no rear fin and looked like something white. I thought oh no he's gonna go. So I took him out and took him back to the store a couple of days later. In the mean time it looked like the other one was looking for it, and went hiding in my large rock display. I went and got a new hoping this would help the one that was left. Still didn't see it for a couple of day. I looked in the rock and found it dead. Wth!

Well Now my 2 newest ( have had them for 2 months now) Panda Mollies are hanging up by the heater and gulping air and blowing bubbles. Now they're sitting on the bottom. My other Molly ( One of my very first fish ) looks like he's losing some of his color. Now some of my other fish are sitting on the bottom. So yesterday I did another pwc and vacuumed the bottom. The water in the bucket was really brown.

I had 2 Guppies that were extremely bulling my oldest Molly. It was bad! So I donated them. My oldest Red Wag Platy I think as been lonely and lived in the rock for months until I just got another one about a week ago. The older one looked like maybe he had some tiny white spots on him, but now I don't think I see any. I'm so confused at what is going on with my fish. I'm hoping someone can help me.

 

[FishayFishay]

I first got my tank on December 27th 2015 ( uneducated on aquarium).

Fish in cycling ( again didn't know what I was doing)

29g Petsmart Topfin brand tank kit

Topfin hob water pump with 2 filters

Prime water conditioner

Level's are:

PH- 8.2 ( Tap water is high )

Ammonia- .25 ( can never get it to 0)

Nitrites-0

Nitrates- 20

I do water changes once a week ( 5 gallons)

One wk I clean the glass, next wk just pwc, next wk clean the gravel, next pwc

I did a water change 2 wks ago and replaced one of my filters, but left one hoping it won't harm anything. I took the new one and took the charcol out and then rinsed it in the bucket of tank water before putting it in the pump.

My Fish are:

3 Golden Panda Mollies

2 Red Wag Platyies

1 Mickey Mouse Platy ( I've lost and replaced 3)

4 Black Skirt Tetras

2 Corydoras

2 snails



No quarantine tank yet but will be getting one.

I bought 2 Mickey Mouse Platy's and let the bag float around for about an hour, and then put them in. The next day I noticed one was just floating in the middle of the tank and would only go up or down slowly. Just thought I'd keep an eye on him. The next day I took a good look at him and noticed he had no rear fin and looked like something white. I thought oh no he's gonna go. So I took him out and took him back to the store a couple of days later. In the mean time it looked like the other one was looking for it, and went hiding in my large rock display. I went and got a new hoping this would help the one that was left. Still didn't see it for a couple of day. I looked in the rock and found it dead. Wth!



Well Now my 2 newest ( have had them for 2 months now) Panda Mollies are hanging up by the heater and gulping air and blowing bubbles. Now they're sitting on the bottom. My other Molly ( One of my very first fish ) looks like he's losing some of his color. Now some of my other fish are sitting on the bottom. So yesterday I did another pwc and vacuumed the bottom. The water in the bucket was really brown.



I had 2 Guppies that were extremely bulling my oldest Molly. It was bad! So I donated them. My oldest Red Wag Platy I think as been lonely and lived in the rock for months until I just got another one about a week ago. The older one looked like maybe he had some tiny white spots on him, but now I don't think I see any. I'm so confused at what is going on with my fish. I'm hoping someone can help me.

Okay, there is a lot to cover. Stay with me. So first off and most importantly, you are not done with the nitrogen cycle if there's still some ammonia showing up. Therefore, do not clean your gravel or filter pads at all! This is crucial to let the beneficial bacteria build up where ever it can. You cleaning the filter pads or the gravel only pushes you back farther. What you want to do use prime every two days and keep the ammonia level down with water changes because it seems your fish are being affected. Hence them staying on the bottom and losing color. Put an air stone in the tank too if you don't already have that because it seems they are going up there for air. Ammonia is making them suffocate.

Tiny white spots are bad bad bad!
If you see any fish in the store with white spots, you want to shy away from not only the fish but the whole store! This means they are not taking care of their fish and they are carrying diseases and parasites. This is a notorious parasite called ich. Do some Google searches and you'll figure out how nasty it can be.
In my opinion it's the most common and nearly one of the deadliest parasites in the hobby. I've seen it take out people's whole tanks. Including one of my own.

Do yourself a favor and don't spend your hard earned money on just any medicine for this, do your research. Figure out which medicine will benefit your fish tank, not kill the beneficial bacteria or even your fish(along with staining your tank).
Keep a close eye on that fish and all of your others. Another way to get rid of ich is to crank your heater up to about 86F. This is will not only kill the actual parasite but kill all of the reproduction of it as well. And a quick side note, be sure to count all of your fish every day. No offense but any of your fish can go at any second so make sure they're not dead and rotting away behind a rock or cave because that too will cause ammonia.
Cut down on your feeding, feed maybe every other day and only a pinch a day.
I think I covered it all, don't be afraid to ask questions and no question is a dumb question. I understand you are a beginner and you are searching for guidance/help. You will not be crucified for doing something wrong, I will make sure of that. Good luck on your adventure so far and welcome to the hobby! Don't be discouraged, we've all been here.

 

[Blahblahblah]

The instruction for the filter said to have the water level almost touching the down spout. Is this correct ?

I did a pwc every other day and dosing the tank with the maximum amount of prime for 2 weeks. Dose that not detoxify the ammonia?

I only swish the filters in the bucket of the water I take out of the tank. I've never rinsed them in clean water.

I use gallon jugs to put clean water in my tank. I put Prime in the jugs first then fill them. Then they sit for a week before my next water change.
Then I add one more dose straight in the tank. I also remove the charcoal from my filter cartridges.

I resently have added aquarium salt to the tank. Should I or should I not use salt ?

2 of my Panda Mollies have developed big bellies. One is a male the other a female. They are the ones who started sitting on the bottom

I've learned a lot from helpful people like yourself on this forum. Thank you very much for your advise.

 

[Blahblahblah]

One of my fish died today. The one I thought I saw spots on. I told him out and there were no spots on him. He is dark red with a black tail.

 

[gilpi]

That is a lot to cover!
Some simple basic stuff that has worked for me and others. .. I would get rid of the charcoal, never change flilters, just rinse them occasionally. If you feel the need to change them often could it be you're overfeeding? I would recommend using what ever container you use for charcoal to replace it with filter media to build up more beneficial bacteria.
Use only the recommended prime, more is not better and once you add prime to the water, it can be used right away.
Again, do not ovefeed, fish don't need to eat as much as we think.
And I would stay away from the meds all together, the spots or ick can be cured as mentioned by raising the heat.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[RenardTheFox]

So, for starters- i too am a newbie and I cycled my first 10 gallon tank withy two current gold fish. One thing that really helped, as mentioned, was getting an air stone. It really improved their conditon and they weren't gasping. I was told goldfish produce a lot of ammonia, so it was a constant battle for a little while.
I also did a 2/10 gallon water change every other day.
Lastly, I bought a moss ball. It May be coincidence, but I'd swear it improved everything by a Lot.
Hope this helps!! Good luck!

 

[Mebbid]

1st - Ammonia
If your ammonia level is reading 0.25ppm and never goes above that level, its safe to ignore it. 0.25ppm is perfectly harmless to fish and our test kits will frequently give us a false positive of that level.

Out of curiosity, what test kits are you using?

2nd - Acclimation
You are acclimating your fish improperly and i think this might be one of your problems.

When acclimating you need to match the ph as well as the temperature. A rapid change in ph can stress fish making them susceptible to illness and even cause them to die 1 to 2 weeks later.

To acclimate properly, float the bag as usual but keep adding tank water every 10 minutes or so. Empty out half the water in the bag and repeat the process. I generally do this over 2 hours or so.

3rd - Tiny white spots
Tiny white spots are frequently caused by ich. They have a funky life cycle which could be why you no longer see the spots. They attach to fish, drop off, breed, and repeat the process. They also will attach to fishes gills making them impossible to see and causing breathing problems with fish.

Keep an eye on your fish and if you see a reemergence of white spots crank the heat up to 86 increasing the temp by 1 to 2 degrees every half hour or so. Keep it there for 2 weeks after the last white spots go away.

4th - Stocking
I would wait at the very least 2 to 3 weeks before adding any new fish. Let things calm down before adding new factors in the equation.

5th - Aeration
The water surface needs agitation (ripples) to properly aerate the water. Without this your fish can suffocate. If you dont have this then drop the water level or add an air stone.

6th - Filter maintenance
The filter pads should almost never get changed. Only replace them when they are completely falling apart. They should last 6 to 10 months on average.