Don't Know What To Do Anymore!!

[GoldenCompass]

I have kept fish for a few years now with never any success. The average lifespan of ANY fish I have is about a month and a half. I keep a freshwater tropical tank and normally get mollies, platies and guppies. Occasionally I will have a frog or Betta (with extreme caution).

My problem is, aside from the obvious, it keeps on happening. Here's what I do to set up and maintain my tank:
1) Decorate and set up. I have an airstone, filter and underwater filter. The tank is planted. There are no live plants.
2) Cycle it. First time ever I bought a throw away fish. When I found out that I shouldn't be doing that, I used freshwater Biozyme. For the tank I currently have, I used the ammonia cycle technique (which I could not figure out for the life of me! I would always dose it way off the charts and it would never come down). I ended up using the ATM brand "colony" which is used to rapidly cycle a tank with real nitrifying bacteria, neutralize ammonia and nitrite spikes naturally, and prevent and eliminate "new tank syndrome."
3) Make sure the water is at the right temperature. It normally sits at 82-84 degrees.
4) Test the water parameters and do a separate ammonia test. I use API liquid test for ammonia and regular test strips for everything else.
5) Add the fish. This I did practically all at once. I was careful not to overdose the tank with fish. I originally bought 5 neon tetras, 2 mollies (dalmatian and lyretail panda), 2 guppies (male and female), and frog. When adding the water, I turned off the light and let the bags float in the aquarium for 10 minutes. Then I added 1/2 cup of water every 15 minutes until each bag was full. I then scooped out each fish and waited until they swam out of the net. The water in the bags I dumped down the sink. I kept the light off overnight.
6) Feed the fish. This I do 2 times per day, every day. I scoop out a little bit of the water and let the food soak (I have .5mm pellets) so that it is softer for the fish.
7) Change the water. This is done every 2 weeks. I take out 15% of the water (since I have a 20 gal. tall, I remove 5 gallons), use the siphon to suck up any food or waste particles, fill a 5 gallon bucket with tap water, add the freshwater salt for 5 gallons and add API Stress Coat + for 20 gallons. I don't test the temperature of the water that I am adding but I try to keep it close to the temperature of the tank water. Before adding the water into the tank, I turn off the light. I add 1 gallon of water every 15 minutes until all the water has been transferred into the tank. I will not clean all the decor unless I see some algae on it. If so, I keep the decor in the tank and just scrub it lightly. The light stays off until the next morning.

This is my entire process. I do not understand, if I have been following all of this very carefully, why my fish keep dying. I have seen some start to swim funny (they will swim normal but then when they pause, they float), get bloated and their scales become fuzzy (no white fuzz), get caught on the filter or just hide until they die.

Is there anything I am doing wrong?? I buy all my fish from Petco and occasionally Petsmart and spend 30 minutes just watching the fish I am looking to get to make sure the tank looks clean, fish look healthy and perky, there isn't any dead fish in the tank and there's no obvious signs of disease (like ick). Please help me. Any advice is truly appreciated.

 

[dalto]

I am not really sure I understand your cycling process. It sounds like you are trying to do some type of fishless cycle. Adding all those products shouldn't hurt anything but what are you using for an ammonia source? Also, how are you checking that the cycle is complete?

Next, never add the fish all at once in a new tank even if you did a fishless cycle. Adding a relatively large bio-load like that can cause a mini-cycle even your tank is cycled.

Lastly, 15% every other week may not be enough. You need to test your water regularly when your tank is new and let the results tell you how much water to change. After your tank is fully established you should have a rhythm for the appropriate water changes.

 

[Aliray]

Just a question? I have a tank with tetras and I keep the temp at 76. Why do you keep it at 82 to 84? Do the fish need that high a temp? Alison

 

[GoldenCompass]

I am not really sure I understand your cycling process. It sounds like you are trying to do some type of fishless cycle. Adding all those products shouldn't hurt anything but what are you using for an ammonia source? Also, how are you checking that the cycle is complete?

The ammonia source is the ATM product I mentioned.

Lastly, 15% every other week may not be enough. You need to test your water regularly when your tank is new and let the results tell you how much water to change. After your tank is fully established you should have a rhythm for the appropriate water changes.

What am I looking for when I test the water to let me know how much water to change?

Just a question? I have a tank with tetras and I keep the temp at 76. Why do you keep it at 82 to 84? Do the fish need that high a temp?

I've just always thought that that is how high to keep the water temperature.

 

[dalto]

The ammonia source is the ATM product I mentioned.

ATM Colony is a bacteria source, not an ammonia source unless I am missing something. If you add bacteria to your water and there is no ammonia source the bacteria will simply die.

What am I looking for when I test the water to let me know how much water to change?

You are looking for your nitrate levels to be low and ammonia and nitrite to be 0 or close to it. Keep in mind that the amount of those elements you remove is equivalent to the amount of water change that you do. So a 15% water change removes 15% of the nitrates.

I've just always thought that that is how high to keep the water temperature.

It depends on the fish. However, ammonia is more toxic at higher temperatures so I would start with something a bit lower. Somewhere in the upper 70's. Most common freshwater aquarium are riverine fish so they deal with different temperatures in the wild. As long as the temperature swings don't happen too fast and are within their range it should be ok.

I would be willing to guess that your tanks have not really been cycled and that your fish are dying due to ammonia poisoning.

 

[Mebbid]

Id say your problem is the choice of method in cycling your tank. The bottled bacteria products are iffy at best and most commonly they are just junk.

Instead you just need to get the fishless cycle method down. Check this link to figure out just how much ammonia to use. Ammonia calculator

If you want to skip the whole fishless cycling method then you need to test the water daily for both ammonia and nitrite. BBoth of these levels need to be kept at 0.25ppm or below. Any time either raises above .25ppm then you need to do a 50% water change.

After the tank has cycled then a weekly 50% water change is usually plenty to keep the water healthy for your fish.

 

[philipraposo198]

I used ATM colony and I can tell you the product works. Mebbid, your not normally wrong but your wrong in this case. Have you used this product correctly?

My 75g cycled in 10 days using ATM colony with sensitive fish. 13 cardinal tetras and golden ram. No deaths.

Atm colony doesn't provide ammonia though. Your supposed to add a few fish to feed the bacteria.

If I had to guess your not properly cycling your tank.

If you want help with ATM colony and cycling your tank send.me a message. I will help you through your cycle.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Mebbid]

I used ATM colony and I can tell you the product works. Mebbid, your not normally wrong but your wrong in this case. Have you used this product correctly?

My 75g cycled in 10 days using ATM colony with sensitive fish. 13 cardinal tetras and golden ram. No deaths.

Atm colony doesn't provide ammonia though. Your supposed to add a few fish to feed the bacteria.

If I had to guess your not properly cycling your tank.

If you want help with ATM colony and cycling your tank send.me a message. I will help you through your cycle.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

I'm pretty certain in your case there were 2 rams one of which died wasn't there?

To be honest, the only BB supplement I would trust is Dr. Tims. I've tried multiple different ones and they have all failed miserably.

However, let me restate what I said earlier. SOME people have luck with the bottled bacteria. However the vast majority of people don't. If it was the other way around they would have a better reputation for success.

 

[trennamw]

Bottled bacteria can go either way, like probiotics in the vitamin section, the bacteria might all be dead.

It definitely sounds like ammonia poisoning. And likely it's much too warm. The higher temp, as mentioned, makes ammonia more toxic.

Even at a lower temp, it's important to not add fish until you do understand cycling and you have a clear plan. We can all help with the cycling process.

As I understand, you can start with a FEW hardy fish in a new tank, with a commitment to a lot of testing and water changes. Bottled bacteria might help but might not. All it does is introduce bacteria faster than waiting for them to settle from the air and reproduce.

For fishless, keeping the temp high is good, and you need a touch of phosphate (possibly from a tiny bit of fish food). Making the pH go up with baking soda helps as well. Add bottled bacteria if you wish, it may or may not help.

Either way, you just see ammonia at first. Then bacteria A establishes and eats the ammonia and puts out nitrite. Then bacteria B gets established and eats the nitrite and puts out nitrate.

With fish in, you have to change water a lot so you never have more ammonia or nitrite than the fish can tolerate. You can't speed up the cycle by having high temp, high pH, and high ammonia.

I'd suggest you get Dr Tims fishless cycling kit, with the ammonia and bacteria, and follow those directions. And check in here for help at each step.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.