help me... i need help so fast :(

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purple

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 22, 2005
Messages
41
Location
australia
Hi everyone.. firstly i am new and called purple ;)

secondly... my little community have been living in harmony except for some aggression from my gorgeous rainbow shark (he murdered my little molly :() HOWEVER, i moved them all from their 2 footer into a 4 footer and thought they would do well... it is the second week and i have lost 3 fish and a fourth and maybe fifth are on their way out.

ok.. SO I have a four foot tank.. filter is some Korean rubbish magic jet filter .. it basically draws the water in and then shoots it out through the jets on the top that create a mass of bubbles in the water.. i am sure you all know the kind i mean.

The water temp is stable..... i have been adapting the ph levels over the last week and admittedly they have been very acidic but are stabilised now on neutral.

I lost a gourami about a month ago to some horrible wasting thing... it just seemed to disapear until it died... :(

SOOO , i have a small (5cm) rainbow shark, grey shark, two little tiger fish thingos, a siamese fighter, a goldfish, an angel fish, i had 6 tetras but now have four (two got eaten) i had two little catfish but again one got eaten ( i am thinking it was the rainbow shark) i have two black widows.... errrrrr.... that is about it.. a strange assortment but they have always got along (except the rainbow shark)

So, the grey shark started swimming oddly and now is just kind of floating upside down... he has a mark on his side, either a bite out of him or a white spot. The rainbow shark hounds the grey one constantly... always has done.

My siamese fighter is just kind of floating sadly in a corner....

OH OH OH .. i have a Loach not sure which type though.. orange with black stripes and he is starting to sit on the bottom o fthe tank as well :cry:

WHAT is it.... what can i do.... are they sick, or is the rainbow shark killing htem off one by one and taking bites and causing massive distress in my tank.... please help.. i was so happy putting them in their new home and now it is breaking my heart.
 
BTW... the first two fish have completely disappeared.. gone.. no trace left. And the third was a half eaten and empty carcass...... :cry:
 
first of all, g'day fellow ozzie !!!
but i think users will need more info to be able to help u....
ie...1. did u cycle ur tank?
is it new decor/gravel etc? or did u use the old stuff...
planted/ non planted??
are u returning to buy more fish, are they infecting ur tank?
how much do u feed them?
just a few things people might need to know to give good advice:p
where in oz u from?
 
Hi de :) ok, sorry about that.

I used new and old gravel, i used the old plants (plastic) and old rocks and stuff.... the loach is a clown loach yes. I am sorry but i haev no idea what cycle my tank means :( i did put two new fish in... two little tetras, but i have bought ALL my fish from the same place and never had a problem before :( btw, i had to finish my grey shark, it was my little girls and it was just barely alive so i popped him in the freezer to put him to sleep and am going to buy her a new one tomorrow so she wont know the diff.... :cry: what do i do to stop this happening... what is going on.... the ph is still to acidic, i have bought it down again....
 
look for sum threads on cycling ur tank... be more useful then me trying to explain something im not quite "on the ball"about
just read u have a goldfish in there...
do u have a heater?
 
acidic is a low ph value. if you dont know what cycling the tank is your going to have dead fish, sorry about that, maybe you should have been informed before you started keeping fish but I dont think anyone is. keeping goldfish with tropicals is never a good idea, I would ask someone else at the place you have been getting the fish.. like a manager or owner instead of the employees, or just ask here before your next purchase..
 
The water temp is stable..... i have been adapting the ph levels over the last week and admittedly they have been very acidic but are stabilised now on neutral

That is problem number one. Adjusting your ph creates a stressful environment for your fish.

Goldfish and Tropicals are not really the greatest of tankmates as they require completely different parameters. Heat is one...filtering is the other. Since you had no knowledge of cycling, your tank probably could have some very toxic levels of ammonia, nitrite or nitrate.

I wouldn't get another shark for the tank or any other fish until you make some adjustments:

1. Read about the Nitrogen cycle - Simply put, beneficial bacteria converts harmful waste.
2. Get a reliable test kit - Aquarium Pharmaceuticals FW master test kit is great.
3. Decide on whether you want a tropical or goldfish tank
4. Research your fish selection - Some fish are naturally aggressive towards others and do have minimum tank size requirements. The shark is an example.
 
OK.. well thanks :) i do know what cycling your tank is, i didnt know that is what it was called though, i just call it getting the tank ready :oops: i have a bacteria kind of tea bag in the filter that puts good bacteria into the tank, it is the first time i have used one so i may just take it out today and go back to my usual drops. When i said acidic i did mean alkaline, again, i am sorry, i do know the diff :oops: SO, the tank was very alkaline but it is now neutral... i will go out and buy a good test kit today and test the levels of everything else... i will do a partial clean??? yes or no??? i am just thinking of the fish that have died in there over the last few days and figure it would be best to do a water change. Do all the proper testing... then see how they are for a few days and keep telling baby girl that her sharky is still hiding in the rocks :oops: is that a plan??
 
:cry: Some absolutely horrible things are happening in my tank today.. it is like a horror movie... one black widow has a bulging eye, my angel has fin rot, my goldfish is mottled and just sitting..... my rainbow shark is losing life as we speak :cry:

I have done a 10 per cent water change today... i tested Amonia and nitrate and nitrite and ph... ph is now neutral and amonia and nitrate/nitrite are normal?????????

I on really bad advise didnt cycle the tank.. i did just put my fish in their new tank.. so i am guessing that this is what is killing them, even though levels appear to be normal i am assuming the stress on the fish bought all these horrible things out in them and they are all doomed to die :cry:

Should i do 5 - 10 percent water changes over the next week... or do a bigger change in one go.. because our water has a lot of other metals in it and i am guessing that i do need to add neutralised and ph balanced water to this tank to save anything at all.. PLEASE.. some advise would be so appreciated on wether this is the right way to go. The damage is done, it has been a huge and sad learning curve but i want to try to save the ones that are still doing well.....
 
What rae the readings of Ammonia and nitrite?

What size (volume) is the tank?

If ammonia burn is the problem you will need daily 30% pwcs.... even twice daily to keep levels under control.

Try to find a new home for the goldfish. They produce a lot of waste and generally are not kept with tropicals.

Don't add any chemicals to water except chlorine remover.
 
HI Mattrox... i didnt get the readings.. i took some water to an aquarium place and they tested it, the colours were all normal. I really couldnt afford to spend another 80 bucks today, i will get a full kit next week. The tank holds 196 litres of water, not sure what that is in gallons..... the gold fish is dead now anyhow so i dont need a new home for her... :( i did a 5 per cent water change today and added neutraliser and made sure it was the correct ph.... i was just going to do that every day for a week but i dont know.. i just dont know what to do.
 
Sounds like a cycling issue......

I agree with mattrox. The test results are very odd considering the symptoms. If I were you I would do a 25% water change (of course vacuum the substrate when you do this, if it's gravel) and MAYBE remove the carbon filter leaving only the bio filter behind. I say maybe because I'm not positive that this will help. I'm thinking that removing it will allow your tank to cycle faster as no bacteria will be filtered out by the AC.

I wish you the absolute best of luck :|

Joe
 
:( far out... ok, i spose the levels may have stablilised by now which is why they are reading normal.... but the damage is already done??? could that be right?? tomorrow i will just go buy a kit and cover the cost on next months credit card.

Thanks Joe, at the end of the day although i adore my fish, they are replaceable and i will be much more knowledgeable when i fix this than i was when i started, so there are positives :)

Bye for now... i will come back to let you know how i went when i have fixed and solved the problem.
 
defekt... i took another sample in today to a diff aquatic centre and the owner tested my Amonia levels, the water was clear so that indicates no nitrates/nitrites. The ph was WAY to high AGAIN!!!!!! so.. what i have done is a 25 per cent water change, i have adjusted the ph AGAIN, taken the carbon out of the filter and put some broad spectrum medication into the water. I will see how that pans out over the next few days.
 
HMMM strange. had a friend in a similar situation wit his angel tank, couldn't figure out why he was constantly losing fish...
turns out his grandson was using his tank as a wishing well and putting copper coins into it....then another friend lost a number of fish after his partner sprayed flyspray through the house, and unfortunatly he didn't have a lid on the tank...
 
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