hi i recieved my fish yesterrday at about 10.30am. i floated them for 30mins as advised and all seemed well. at around 10pm noticed problems and sum dead fish did water change and double checked everything. lost all ten neon tetra but my 2 plattys and 2 black swords seem fine. really upset me has this and i dont wanna risk it happening again buyin more fish but only got four fish now can anyone explain why this happened
dead fish
- Thread starter emma1983
- Start date
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emma1983 said:
Did you just float? After floating, you should have added a cup of tank water about every 5 minutes. This way, the fish acclimate to your pH and nitrates. It could be part of the problem.
Also, what are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels?
i have no idea what my levels are or how to test them. my step dad had fish for years and never put anything in his water etc. i just dont understand it thinking about sticking with the four fish i got left but dont want them to be lonely
Andywhite01
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2012
- Messages
- 4
check your water hardness i think neons need water on the softer side
emma1983 said:
You test the water with a test kit, or you can take it to petsmart or another fish store to test it for free. Your four fish will not be lonely, mollies and swordtails are not schooling fish and will be okay in a pair.
DragonFish71
Great white snark
Moved to FW getting started.
librarygirl
Look It Up
It could have been the acclimation; you generally want to add some of your tank water to the fish's bag every 10-15 minutes for at least an hour before putting the fish into the tank. Since they died so quickly it was either a too fast acclimation or they were sick when you got them.
How long have you had the tank? Has it been properly cycled? What size? Before you add any more fish, give the link in my signature a read: guide to starting a FW aquarium. Good luck.
How long have you had the tank? Has it been properly cycled? What size? Before you add any more fish, give the link in my signature a read: guide to starting a FW aquarium. Good luck.
Aspencer
Aquarium Advice FINatic
After you have fish, your fish will make waste which produces Ammonia which is toxic to fish at levels higher then .25 and gets more toxic as your pH rises above 7.
You will develop bacteria in a week or two that converts Ammonia to NitrItes which is also toxic to fish at levels higher than .20.
A few weeks later, you will develop more bacteria that will convert NitrItes to NitrAtes which is toxic at levels higher then 40 ppm.
You need to have a way to test the water for these three so you can do a water change to reduce the levels so you fish will live.
That is why you need a test kit.
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
librarygirl said:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...-to-Starting-a-Freshwater-Aquarium/Page1.html
Heres the link if your on the app.
Welcome btw!
Did you use a dechlorinator?
yep, i think the first thing you need to do is buy yourself a test kit.
second thing - did you cycle this tank? didn't see that in the thread - could have been in there, but I didn't see that.
if you did not cycle your tank beforehand then I think you are now doing a fish in cycle. this will mean lots of water changes, but have no fear... we will take care of you. so... did you cycle before you got your fish? how did you do this?
welcome to AA!!
second thing - did you cycle this tank? didn't see that in the thread - could have been in there, but I didn't see that.
if you did not cycle your tank beforehand then I think you are now doing a fish in cycle. this will mean lots of water changes, but have no fear... we will take care of you. so... did you cycle before you got your fish? how did you do this?
welcome to AA!!
i set my tank up a new tank. bought a bottle of live bacteria as told to by petshop. left it 3 days and put fish in. i now have 2 sunset plattys and 2 black swords left all 10 neons died. how do i do a fish in cycle my mum never did put 30 fish in 2days after and 6 weeks later they still all fine and had babies twice. plus she never put anything in the water or tested it im so confused wish id never started.
Mumma.of.two
Aquarium Advice Obsessed
In the article posted above there is a link to an article called 'I just learnt about cycling but I already have fish!'. It will explain everything. It sounds like your mum got VERY lucky not loosing any or encountering disease.
What you need to do is large daily water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite under .25ppm. Keeping them low protects the fish from poisoning. the whole process lasts 4-8 weeks usually. Water changes are what's going to save your fish now. You need to do a 50% water change with temperature matched, dechlorinated water follows by another 50% water change. That will help bring the ammonia down for now. You will have to do 1-2 of these changes daily until your tank cycles.
What you need to do is large daily water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite under .25ppm. Keeping them low protects the fish from poisoning. the whole process lasts 4-8 weeks usually. Water changes are what's going to save your fish now. You need to do a 50% water change with temperature matched, dechlorinated water follows by another 50% water change. That will help bring the ammonia down for now. You will have to do 1-2 of these changes daily until your tank cycles.
