Have mercy. Help!!

[Kwhite]

Ok, so we finally got our 29 gal tank set back up and moved our black skirt tetra, pleco, and Chinese algae eater into it. They seem so much happier.

I went and got 7 little tiger barbs and a rubbernose pleco and put them into the 10 gal just vacated by the other fish for quarantine purposes. The plan was to keep them there a week or two then move the tiger barbs to the 29 gal once I'm sure they are healthy.
This was day before yesterday. The barbs seem stressed still. Their color is faded and they are all hovering under the plants. Their mouths are opening and closing very quickly.

Parameters:
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40
Ph 7.2
Hardness 150
Alk 120
Ammonia 0.25

I'm so worried about these little guys!!!! Please help!!! What am I doing wrong? I'm scared I'm gonna lose them. Ill try to attach a pic of them hovering under the plant.

 

[Kwhite]

I should also add I did about a 35% water change before putting them in there. Vacuumed the gravel a bit. The params I posted are from today.

 

[Kwhite]

Anyone?

 

[Samphotog]

That is a very large number of fish to add all at once. Did you acclimate them at all? I'm guessing your ammonia is spiking a lot right now until your BB can compensate. I would say that, if you're intent on keeping them in there, you should be monitoring params frequently and probably doing larger daily or every other day changes until your ammonia is down. Start testing to see how often you should do them

 

[Kwhite]

I didn't think that would be to many to add to an empty tank considering my tetra, my poop machine pleco and Chinese algae eater stayed in there for 3 months with no problem. My ammonia is still sitting at 0.25. I floated their bag in the tank for almost an hour. The rubber nose I added is only about an inch long and he seems fine. I want the barbs in my big tank but I'm afraid to move them over there until I am sure they are healthy. My algae eaters and my tetra survived the fishpocalypse and I don't want to risk them.

They still seem very pale. They are eating well though, when the food goes in they dart around getting at it. They seem more active when the light is off so I've been keeping it off more than I normally would.

 

[Kwhite]

Oh, and thank you for the advice. . I love my fishies and want them to do well and appreciate all the good info people put on here.

 

[Samphotog]

Well (and don't quote me here) it is possible that the new fish combined have a greater bio load than the original party. Does your tap water have that ammonia level? The act that it hasn't gone down means your BB is a bit overwhelmed. That ammonia isn't exactly good for them and any higher will almost definitely be fatal since they're in bad shape as it is.

Check your tap water and report back with that as soon as you can if it's 0 then do another 50% WC and see if that doesn't bring it down. Until your BB can pick up the pace, you're going to need to pick up the slack with more frequent PWCs unless, of course, your tap is .25 too. If it is then you might still want to do the frequent changes if the levels rise above .25 in order to keep it down.

Oh and you should research drip acclimation. Just setting the bag in the water will only adjust the water temp. It's very likely that they came from different water conditions and without proper acclimation there's a good chance they're in shock from the new water. Are they breathing normally?

 

[Kwhite]

Thanks again


The tap water is at .25 too. The little guys are sitting there breathing heavy, so I added some ammonia clearing tabs and some API quick start, and some salt for good measure.

 

[Samphotog]

Hopefully that will help.

Just curious, what water conditioner are you using?

You could go and buy distilled water to try and bring it down somewhat. You don't want to get rid of all of it just yet since the tank will need it to cycle to handle the bio load.

Oh and you should stop using the quick start unless you plan to keep buying it. It's land based bacteria that will die over time since it's not meant to be underwater. Before it dies, however, it will use up nutrients before real BB can get to it. It's actually possible that could be part of the problem but I don't know that for sure.

 

[Kwhite]

Well I got the ammonia down and they are now swimming around and acting much better. Apparently that was the problem. Now hopefully their color will return and they will stay in good shape until im sure its safe to move them to the big tank. Thanks!

 

[Samphotog]

That's great to hear!

 

[Kwhite]

Thanks again for your help! One more question: how long would you recommend keeping these guys quarantined? I want to get them into their bigger, permanent home as soon as possible bit don't want to risk my 3 fishpocalypse survivors.

 

[Samphotog]

Two weeks is usually the recommended minimum. One if you want to take the risk. I've heard as much as 4 weeks. I'm sure some do more. It depends on what is at stake I suppose.

 

[Kwhite]

That's what I was figuring on. Thanks again!

 

[Samphotog]

You never answered this but make sure you're using a good water conditioner too. Most can make it so it is still safe for the fish to be in the tank even with dangerous things like ammonia until the tank can cycle. Still not a great idea but at least they'll probably survive it

 

[Kwhite]

Sorry about that. I'm using kordon NovAqua Plus water conditioner. Do you have one better to recommend?

 

[Samphotog]

I've never heard of that. I use Seachem Prime. Thad what most people will recommend on here

 

[Kwhite]

Thanks, I will look for that next time I'm at petsmart. I want to get the best stuff I can, I love my fishies and want to keep them healthy.

 

[Samphotog]

If you're able to, it's a little cheaper on Amazon but I know the petsmart here carries it