Fishprobs93
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2019
- Messages
- 7
Yesterday (6/22) I bought the 10 gal. GloFish tank/beginners kit. I also purchased the gravel, a live moss ball and decorations. The person at petsmart assured me that it was okay to get fish same day and that I had everything I needed. I take home 2 glo tetras, 2 glo daino and 1 green lantern platy. They told me to float the bag for 15 min and then dump them in.
The tank took me around 1.5 hours to rinse everything, set up the filter and lights, and put everything together. I added Tetra Aquasafe and filled the tank. By the time I had finished, and was ready to float the bag, 3 fish had died already and I was left with only 2. (1 glo daino and the platy). I called the pet store and they said that the fish might have been suffocating in the bag and to dump them in now. I told them I didn’t think the water was warm enough yet and they said it was better to give them a chance. Well the 2 fish basically died 2 hours later after many cycles of appearing dead but coming back to life.
Today we take the 5 dead fish back, along with a sample of our water, and explain to the same guy that helped us yesterday, what happened. He said that the advice they gave over the phone was wrong and also that they shouldn’t have suffocated in the bag after only 1.5 hours. Our water came back mostly in the clear, except it was slightly too alkaline. He gave us 5 new ones (4 glo tetras and 1 green lantern platy) and told us that this time, to allow the fish to actually float in the tank in the bag. Then to do a 20% water switch and pour the water from the bag in with the fish because that water has been treated and will help make it more acidic. He also gave us the API Quick start and told us to add that before we add the fish.
So we come home, remove some water, put the Quick Start in, and then float the 2 bags. The fish seemed totally fine until the bags began to float in the tank. They kept trying to swim but obviously couldn’t , because of the bag. It was during the float period that we lost 2 of the tetras. Then we do what he said, and slowly dropped the untied bag into the water so the tank water mixed with the bag water and they swam out. The platy drops to the bottom of the tank where he stayed till we pronounced him dead about 30 minutes later. 1 tetra died within an hour. The last remaining tetra is currently still alive but seems to be very stressed. We went to dinner and when we came back, I found him in the bottom corner twitching and not swimming. He stayed that way for about 45 minutes (who knows how long he was doing that before we came home though). I read online that turning off the light might help, so I did and he started swimming immediately. He’s still swimming around but kind of more in an “inching” way. Like a pigeons head when they walk. The fish kinda darts forward a little in order to move. I’m not sure he’s going to make it to morning. If he does, I’ll still feel bad because he’s alone in there and I know they like to have friends.
So anyways, I’ve done a lot of research today and now know that I wasn’t given the best advice through this process. We are way in over our heads. We are committed though, as we have already dropped quite a bit of money on all of this and it was all for our daughter... who thinks the fish are “sleeping”. As frustrating as this has been, I’m actually kind of enjoying the challenge and can now see how people make this into a hobby. I certainly don’t want to kill anymore fish though. I have read up on the nitrogen cycle and cycling tanks. Is it really going to take 4-8 weeks before we can get fish in there? I don’t mind being patient but I wish I knew all this before we brought fish home to begin with... because there’s no way my daughter is going to be able to handle 1-2 months of no fish in this thing after getting so excited. I thought the quick start was supposed to help the cycle sort of happen immediately.
Where do I go from here? What are my next steps to make this go quickly and painlessly? I’ve included the exact parameters of the water, according to the pet stores test, below. Also, I have been adding small pinches of fish food and we do have the live moss ball in there, if that makes a difference. Tank is slightly cloudy and there are some small clusters of bubbles that formed at the top of the waterline(not sure what that’s about). Temp is between 74-75 degrees F.
Ammonia: 0-0.25
Nitrate: 0
Nitrites: 0
Hardness: 75
Total chlorine: 0
Total alkalinity: 20-40
PH: 6.8-7.2
The tank took me around 1.5 hours to rinse everything, set up the filter and lights, and put everything together. I added Tetra Aquasafe and filled the tank. By the time I had finished, and was ready to float the bag, 3 fish had died already and I was left with only 2. (1 glo daino and the platy). I called the pet store and they said that the fish might have been suffocating in the bag and to dump them in now. I told them I didn’t think the water was warm enough yet and they said it was better to give them a chance. Well the 2 fish basically died 2 hours later after many cycles of appearing dead but coming back to life.
Today we take the 5 dead fish back, along with a sample of our water, and explain to the same guy that helped us yesterday, what happened. He said that the advice they gave over the phone was wrong and also that they shouldn’t have suffocated in the bag after only 1.5 hours. Our water came back mostly in the clear, except it was slightly too alkaline. He gave us 5 new ones (4 glo tetras and 1 green lantern platy) and told us that this time, to allow the fish to actually float in the tank in the bag. Then to do a 20% water switch and pour the water from the bag in with the fish because that water has been treated and will help make it more acidic. He also gave us the API Quick start and told us to add that before we add the fish.
So we come home, remove some water, put the Quick Start in, and then float the 2 bags. The fish seemed totally fine until the bags began to float in the tank. They kept trying to swim but obviously couldn’t , because of the bag. It was during the float period that we lost 2 of the tetras. Then we do what he said, and slowly dropped the untied bag into the water so the tank water mixed with the bag water and they swam out. The platy drops to the bottom of the tank where he stayed till we pronounced him dead about 30 minutes later. 1 tetra died within an hour. The last remaining tetra is currently still alive but seems to be very stressed. We went to dinner and when we came back, I found him in the bottom corner twitching and not swimming. He stayed that way for about 45 minutes (who knows how long he was doing that before we came home though). I read online that turning off the light might help, so I did and he started swimming immediately. He’s still swimming around but kind of more in an “inching” way. Like a pigeons head when they walk. The fish kinda darts forward a little in order to move. I’m not sure he’s going to make it to morning. If he does, I’ll still feel bad because he’s alone in there and I know they like to have friends.
So anyways, I’ve done a lot of research today and now know that I wasn’t given the best advice through this process. We are way in over our heads. We are committed though, as we have already dropped quite a bit of money on all of this and it was all for our daughter... who thinks the fish are “sleeping”. As frustrating as this has been, I’m actually kind of enjoying the challenge and can now see how people make this into a hobby. I certainly don’t want to kill anymore fish though. I have read up on the nitrogen cycle and cycling tanks. Is it really going to take 4-8 weeks before we can get fish in there? I don’t mind being patient but I wish I knew all this before we brought fish home to begin with... because there’s no way my daughter is going to be able to handle 1-2 months of no fish in this thing after getting so excited. I thought the quick start was supposed to help the cycle sort of happen immediately.
Where do I go from here? What are my next steps to make this go quickly and painlessly? I’ve included the exact parameters of the water, according to the pet stores test, below. Also, I have been adding small pinches of fish food and we do have the live moss ball in there, if that makes a difference. Tank is slightly cloudy and there are some small clusters of bubbles that formed at the top of the waterline(not sure what that’s about). Temp is between 74-75 degrees F.
Ammonia: 0-0.25
Nitrate: 0
Nitrites: 0
Hardness: 75
Total chlorine: 0
Total alkalinity: 20-40
PH: 6.8-7.2
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