new aquarium.....dead fish??

[scarlett]

Hi everyone i just got a new aquarium about 8 days ago......i love it but i am not sure about all this nitrie cycle stuff :? I put 25 feeder goldfish in there just to help set up the tank and 8 days later only 3 are left??? what am i doing wrong? Today when i got home from work my tank was very cloudy? I tested ph ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate....they r all ok except i have .05 ammonia level so i added the ammonia lock chemical....i also added this stuff that is supposed to speed up the nitrite cycle. What am i doing wrong?? HELP!!! What will survive through this nitrie cycle , i dont feel like staring at an empty tank.
Please help me
newest of new

 

[mentallylost]

25 is a lot of fish to add at one time. What did you add to speed up the cycle? I used something to jump start one of my tanks. I just can't remember what it is right now. The whole cycle process takes about 4 or 5 weeks to complete and is essentially creating a biological balance platform in the tank to perform certain duties. It starts by taking fish waste, turning it into ammonia, then into nitrite, and finally into nitrate. The nitrates are then removed by partial water changes.The fish deaths actually probably came from over feeding the fish in the first place. Too much food creates too much waste and in turn too much ammonia. This is where the bacteria comes in to play. This cycle (food to nitrate) creates a bacteria platform in the gravel and filters which are what actually break down the ammonia, nitrites, and into the less harmful nitrates.
It's all kind of confusing, but it works. I wish that I would have read something like this before I bought my first fish. In my first couple of months, I lost almost $150.00 worth of fish.


P.S. Welcome to AA

 

[Toirtis]

What you need to do is start all over again from the beginning, and although an empty tank may be a bit depressing, you need to have patience if you eventually want a vibrant, active, healthy tank full of all sorts of interesting denizens.

Just a quick insight: What happened to you was far too many fish far too quickly....the ammonia was at some point likely clean off the charts (and either your test kit is faulty, your testing skills are, or somehow the ammonia dropped just before you tested), and it killed most of your fish.

OK, so...how big is this tank? What brand/make/model of filter do you have on it? Do you have a heater?

 

[DeFeKt]

either that or ur tank was to small for so many fish, and they drowned

 

[scarf]

25 feeder goldfish? Did the place where you bought the fish from question why you bought so much? I generally think I'm not as conservative in my stocking as most folks on this forum, but for my 2 goldfish I go for 1 per 10 gallons. That would mean, unless you have a 250 gallon tank, you'd be overstocking. That coupled with the fact yours is uncycled; it's a disaster waiting to (well, has) happen.

And for it to only read 0.05 ammonia, I'd say something is wrong with your test kit too.

Also, have you added dechlorinator to the water prior to putting the fish in? And have you done PWC's?

 

[patagonia]

which kind of test kit are u using? liquid reagents or test strips? still...0.05 ammonia seems a little bit too low if u had 25 feeder goldfish in there...
welcome to AA!!!

 

[Toirtis]

25 feeder goldfish? Did the place where you bought the fish from question why you bought so much?

Up here, at this time of year, I would bet that they assumed she was stocking a pond.

 

[scarlett]

hi and thanks for the advice....my fish tank is 33 gallons, so is 25 gold fish too much? I used this stuff called cycle....it says on the boxmore nitrifires,and that it keeps aquariums healthy....not sure? So it is now it is 2weeks since i bought the aquarium....i tested 2 days ago and got these readings ammonia 8, ph, 7.5, nitrite .05, nitrate 10.....i just tested today and i got this ammonia is still 8, ph is at 8 nitrite is.25 and nitrate is 15....is this normal? I only have 2 gold fish and a blue lobster in there...i cut down on feeding amounts like u said but i used ammo lock and the ammonia hasnt changed HELP...PLEASE

 

[scarlett]

i am using liquid stuff...the box just says fresh water master test kit? what is better...strips? liquids? AAAAAAAAAAAAA HELP!!! I just tested tonight and i only have 2 gold fish and a blue lobster in there and my ammonia level is at 8 YIKES!!! My nitrite is at.25 and nitrate is at 15?? What do u think?

 

[scarlett]

thanks 4 the advice about overstocking.....what r PCWs???? today i tested i only have 2 golfish and a blue lobster is there and here is what the reading were...ammonia8,ph8, nitrite.25, nitrate15??? So now what?? i dont know what is next...or do i just wait? Oh and yes i added the dechlorinator before adding the fish.

 

[scarlett]

I have a 33 gallon fish tank. I have an under the gravel filter...i dont know the name brand. I do have a heater and my temp is at 80. I only have 2 goldfish in it and a blue lobster. I tested today and here r my results....ammonia8, ph8,nitrate15, nitrite.25. These sound a bit more accurate then the last. Do u really think that i should start OVER 8O

 

[Toirtis]

I have a 33 gallon fish tank.

Good...its a good size.

I have an under the gravel filter...i dont know the name brand.

Not very efficient and a real pain to maintain....get rid of it and buy yourself a nice powerfilter....like an Aquaclear 300 (Aquaclear 70).

I do have a heater and my temp is at 80. I only have 2 goldfish in it and a blue lobster.

80ºF is a bit high for your 'lobster', but about 12ºF too high for your goldfish (which are a really bad way to cycle a tank anyways).

I tested today and here r my results....ammonia8, ph8,nitrate15, nitrite.25. These sound a bit more accurate then the last. Do u really think that i should start OVER 8O

Yes. Return the lobster and goldfish (if you don't, they will likely not last out the week as it is), and allow us to talk you through the way to do this correctly....you will end up with a beautiful, healthy, colourful and active community tank that will be easy to care for and a pleasure to own.

 

[mattrox]

PWC's are partial waterchanges. You need to get the ammonia level down to below 4ppm. It seems that nitrite has started to appear, so it shouldn't be too long until you have a fully cycled tank.

 

[oxymoron]

Your ammonia is reading 8ppm because that is as high as the test reads, I would bet that it is much higher. I would do a 20-30% partial water change once a day until the ammonia is down to 1ppm or less, that high ammonia is frying your fish and they will more than likely not make it through the cycle. Sorry you had to go through all this and I am so happy I found this site before I went out and started buying fish.

 

[oxymoron]

Sorry I meant 1ppm or less if you are keeping the fish in, which I don't recommend if you can take them back. I agree, I would take the fish back and do PWC until the water is around 3-4 ppm and then just test daily. If the ammonia goes below 1ppm then add half a cap full of pure ammonia (with no detergents or other additives). Then eventually your nitrites will start to spike much higher and eventually come back down. Once your ammonia and nitrites are back down to 0 ppm then you can reintroduce fish to the tank.

 

[scarlett]

Partial or full water change?

So do u think that I should take all or just some of the water out? i have no fish in the tank and it has been sitting empty for 2 days now? should i do a full change and clean everything? or just partial? Oh i am looking into getting a new filter? How much does this filter u told me cost? Can i get it antwhere?

 

[flambore]

thanks 4 the advice about overstocking.....what r PCWs???? today i tested i only have 2 golfish and a blue lobster is there and here is what the reading were...ammonia8,ph8, nitrite.25, nitrate15??? So now what?? i dont know what is next...or do i just wait? Oh and yes i added the dechlorinator before adding the fish.

Your ammonia level is way too high, as is the pH if you want to have community fish (may be ok for the goldfish for the moment? dunno). Even though you added ammonia lock, you still need to do frequent water changes. At this point, probably 50% of your water at a time until you get that ammonia level down to a reasonable level.

Once the ammonia level starts to drop, the nitrite and nitrate will go up. You'll still need to do water changes to get these counts down. Once the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are at zero, you're good to go, but your pH will need to be ~7.0 for most community fish.

 

[krazymom]

PCW is partial water change. You should do that to help your fish out.