My minnows died in the first few hours!

[Penny9577]

Please tell me what I did wrong, I bought 10 minnows and 4 comet goldfish yesterday at Petco. I also bought a 10 gallon glass tank, some plastic plants, and fish flakes. I filled my tank half way with tap water and dropped in my plastic plants and 4 marbles. After that, I poured my 14 fish in. The water was cold, just the bag. I don't know what I did wrong, but my fish started dropping like crazy. Panicked, I scooped up my fish and dropped them in a algae filled bucket of old hose water, which, I already have 2 more fish living in and I haven't changed the water for weeks so the water was murky. After that, they started swimming again and seemed fine. Although there were some minnows that were swimming side ways and upside down. And, there was 1 dead. The next day, I came out to feed my fish and scoop out the dead fish, I found that 3 more had died. And was very upset, what have I done wrong? I think the minnows are rosy red minnows and I have never raised any fish before this.

Update: Later today, around 2:00, I found that 5 more minnows had died. Now, I only have 1 minnow left. Also, I refilled my tank with hose water and scooped my fish back in the tank.

Another update: My last minnow had died D:

 

[TMaier]

Did you cycle your tank?


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[Penny9577]

Umm... what is cycle? And, I don't think I did, is that a problem?

 

[Neo287]

Hi,
This here is a helpful post on cycling your tanks:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/fish-in-cycling-step-over-into-the-dark-side-176446.html
Unless you have well water you may have to use some sort of dechlorinator to make the water fish-safe.

 

[cgthebeast]

^^^ right, not cycling was one of your problems.

From what I understand, the water wasn't dechlorinated and the water wasn't heated so that lead to temp shock and probably burns on the gills of the fish from the chlorine.

Then with the parms in that bucket being out of the roof in all retrospect, the nitrate, nitrite and ammonia probably did the rest in.

 

[traceyrollin]

Definately fish shock. Dechlorinate all water! Get a heater, make sure water is filtered and airated... let the tank set for at least 24 hours after all of the above has been completed and then try again. And read read read! You cant just dump 14 fish in a 10 gallon new set up. And 14 fish is too many for a 10 gallon. No more than 8 fish. Going by the 1 inch of fish to 1 gallon of water. Om have fun best wishes..

 

[TMaier]

Penny I don't know how old you are or if you have ever had an aquarium before. Fish have special needs and the environment needs to be perfect and ready for them before you put them in the tank. Cycling is the phrase used when referring to this set up process. It takes over a month to get the water to a place where it is fish safe.


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[nirbhao]

The good news is that you're all set to start your cycle and have time to research while that happens. You didn't mention a filter or substrate, which are both very important for the cycle. Those should be your next purchases.

 

[Penny9577]

Hey thanks, I don't have to worry about size anymore, I only have 6 fish left. 24 hours! What will happen to my fish? I already poured them back into the tank.

 

[Penny9577]

Where do you think is the best place to buy those things?

 

[Penny9577]

This is my first time getting a aquarium, I have raised several guppies and goldfish before. I just dumped them in a bucket and fed them everyday, and they survived and seemed happy.

 

[traceyrollin]

You can get everything you need at your local fish store. Ie petsmart.

 

[nirbhao]

I only have 6 fish left. .... I already poured them back into the tank.

Didn't you say they all died?

When you use terms like "pour" and "dump" regarding living things, it makes me wonder if you're just posting to get people riled up.

Petco is currently having their $1 per gallon sale, and so you certainly walked past the set-up advertising all of the components for the different aquarium builds. In that general vicinity, you'll find filters and substrate.

 

[TMaier]

This is my first time getting a aquarium, I have raised several guppies and goldfish before. I just dumped them in a bucket and fed them everyday, and they survived and seemed happy.

You are in need of a great deal of learning. I suggest you go to a local fish store, not petsmart or petco, but somewhere that has staff who specialize in keeping aquariums and can answer all of your questions. Be prepared to be there a while.

If you have any fish that are still alive I suggest you return them to that store or they will not live very much longer.


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[JoeMan]

You need to dechlorinate the water. Get a filter and properly cycle the tank. Go out to your local pet store asap and start cycling the tank. Honestly those fish are goners if you dont do this right

 

[Potluck]

Sorry to say but the remaining fish will probably not make it either Nitrate isn't a thing you should stress over ammonia and nitrite is, you should get prime it's a water conditioner that you use everytime you do a partial water change you add the amount listed for the water you put back into the tank, also water temp 74-76 degrees is my preferred temp but since other fish like it higher, as far as the filter it goes in your budget, I've always used aquaclear filters I would get an aqua clear 30 for the 10 gallon and center it in the middle so you don't have a dead zone on filtration, if you can't get it in the center try to get it close, petsmart sells both the filter and the substrate but I would not recommend buying fish there, when getting substrate as you're new to the hobby and no one ever told me this, get smaller crushed substrate not big pebble nor sand, also you will need a master liquid test kit and a gravel vac for a 10 gallon and a heater for a 10 gallon, it's going to take a while for your tank to cycle, this is where the master liquid test kit comes into play, it tests for ammonia, ph, nitrite, Nitrate of you read the article on the nitrogen cycle then you should know what happens first but if not I'll shortly explain, first you will get high ammonia after a while you start to get nitrite which eats ammonia, eventually your ammonia will drop to 0 and your nitrite will get really high (this is where the good filter comes in) inside the aquaclear filter there are ceramics stones called media, those build up good bacteria which eats the ammonia/ nitrite finally you will start getting Nitrate readings (make sure you read instructions on the Nitrate test for the test kit as it's the only one that you have to do differently than the others you, have to shake the Nitrate bottles hard for 30 seconds before you add the drops to the water in the tube from the tank then shake the tube hard for 1 min and let sit 5 minutes, once you have Nitrate, your ammonia and Nitrite WI drop to zero and you're good to go, from that point on you will do partial water changes weekly to keep everything in balance by gravel vacuuming and adding new water treated with prime back into the tank so if you add 3 gallons back into the tank you will use .3 ml of prime or 6 drops it won't hurt to use .5 ml.

As for the fish right now you have to get a filter as mentioned, I would get an aqua clear 30 and do partial water changes daily to try to keep your fish Alive using prime cause it locks the ammonia and nitrite for 48 hours.

I however do not know if this will cause your cycle to not work.

 

[Penny9577]

No, I had 10 minnows and 4 goldfish with 2 fish that I do not know of which kind they are. 10 minnows died and 2 goldfish died. I used the term pour and dump since that is normally the terms used for water. Since fish live in water I transported them in water by pouring it in a tank or whatever the case is.

 

[nirbhao]

10 + 4 + 2 - 10 - 2 = 4. So you lost 2 more since your last post.

People who keep fish generally don't refer to them as part of the water, which is why the terms struck me.

The previous posters have already said everything you need to hear. I'm not sure what your goal is here correcting us on minor irrelevant details, but there are no kind words headed your way.

I'm muting this thread because it's only going to upset me.

 

[Autumnsky]

Hi Penny9577- You have been given good info so far and a good link for fish IN (the tank) cycling.

Read through my signature link about getting started in keeping fish.
There is a great deal of info you should know before buying any more fish.

Get Prime at the store local to you, right away and use it as directed please. The chlorine and chloramines the municipal water providers add to the water to make it safe to drink, makes it unsafe for fish.

Here is some info on the water conditioner Seachem - Prime

 

[Jeknightica]

Along with these guys, you sincerely need to RESEARCH. Fish aren't something that you can just drop into some water and give food to. Individual fish needs and water chemistry are extremely important I keeping your fish alive and healthy. If this is your first time, learn from it, research your fish and prepare your tank mechanics and water looong before you actually buy the fish.