First week as a fish keeper not going so well...

[BldrArch]

Just over one week ago I got my tank all cycled (fishless) so I headed on down to the LFS to get me some fish (2 Sundays ago).

1. My DH was adament about getting a pleco but being as we only have a 20 gallon, I asked the LFS if there was such a thing as a plec that didn't get big (newb, can you tell). So, he gave me a clown plec (who's grown on me, of course). Well, it wasn't a few days later when I read plecs really don't do a good job of cleaning algea and they bascially sit around eating wood all day and pooping LOL! DH thought he was necessary for a clean tank...not sure where he got his info. Oh well, lesson learned.

2. 4 days later (Thursday) I head to LFS to actually get some stock. I knew I wanted to get some Platy so he gave me 2 M and 1 F. I decided to come back in a few days for some tetra and then a dwarf guorami.

3. Sunday I'm rushing to leave for mother's day festivities and notice 1 male platy lieing listlessly at the bottom of the tank. I realize I did notice that on Saturday, he wasn't eating and was hanging out at the top of the tank I had done a PWC Saturday. When I got home later in the day, he was dead

I had expected a mini cycle to happen since I only got 1 fish to start so I was testing my water every day. Ammonia and nitrites were always 0 and the nitrates were starting to increase so by Saturday they were between 10-20. Saturday is PWC day anyways. So, I have no idea what happened to Mr. Platy.

I went to LFS yesterday to pick up some Mopani for the Plec and I told them about my platy dieing 3 days after I picked him up. So, the guy tells me more than likely he was just old ?? I went over to the platy tank and 2 were listless at the bottom like mine, and there was a dead one in the corner of the tank This makes me seriously reconsider my LFS?? Now I'm worried the other 2 have some weird disease or something. But, they're cruising around the tank and act as if I never feed them...and I think they're "gettin' it on" as well...

To top it off, my tank water is starting to get cloudy (I took the charcoal out of my filters about a week ago) and it looks like I now have brown diatomes exploding all over my decor. I did have them when my tank was done cycling, but they went away and now they're back with a vengeance.

Sigh. Sorry that got so long. I'm just a bit out of sorts on all this!

 

[eco23]

Just over one week ago I got my tank all cycled (fishless) so I headed on down to the LFS to get me some fish (2 Sundays ago).

1. My DH was adament about getting a pleco but being as we only have a 20 gallon, I asked the LFS if there was such a thing as a plec that didn't get big (newb, can you tell). So, he gave me a clown plec (who's grown on me, of course). Well, it wasn't a few days later when I read plecs really don't do a good job of cleaning algea and they bascially sit around eating wood all day and pooping LOL! DH thought he was necessary for a clean tank...not sure where he got his info. Oh well, lesson learned.

2. 4 days later (Thursday) I head to LFS to actually get some stock. I knew I wanted to get some Platy so he gave me 2 M and 1 F. I decided to come back in a few days for some tetra and then a dwarf guorami.

3. Sunday I'm rushing to leave for mother's day festivities and notice 1 male platy lieing listlessly at the bottom of the tank. I realize I did notice that on Saturday, he wasn't eating and was hanging out at the top of the tank I had done a PWC Saturday. When I got home later in the day, he was dead

I had expected a mini cycle to happen since I only got 1 fish to start so I was testing my water every day. Ammonia and nitrites were always 0 and the nitrates were starting to increase so by Saturday they were between 10-20. Saturday is PWC day anyways. So, I have no idea what happened to Mr. Platy.

I went to LFS yesterday to pick up some Mopani for the Plec and I told them about my platy dieing 3 days after I picked him up. So, the guy tells me more than likely he was just old ?? I went over to the platy tank and 2 were listless at the bottom like mine, and there was a dead one in the corner of the tank This makes me seriously reconsider my LFS?? Now I'm worried the other 2 have some weird disease or something. But, they're cruising around the tank and act as if I never feed them...and I think they're "gettin' it on" as well...

To top it off, my tank water is starting to get cloudy (I took the charcoal out of my filters about a week ago) and it looks like I now have brown diatomes exploding all over my decor. I did have them when my tank was done cycling, but they went away and now they're back with a vengeance.

Sigh. Sorry that got so long. I'm just a bit out of sorts on all this!

You forgot the first rule of fish keeping...never listen to the guy at the lfs, lol.

I couldn't tell you what happened to the fish, hopefully no disease or parasite if they appeared healthy. How did you acclimate them to your tank? It could have been something like pH shock, etc...

Diatoms are a pain in the butt. I got 7 Otos, some RCS and 3 Amano shrimp which absolutely tore through mine. I also added a phosphate / silica absorbing filter pad, I'm not sure if it helped or if the diatoms just burned themselves out and the timing was coincidental. Now the tanks all clean . It's okay to run carbon and see if it clears the water. Just don't follow the instructions and throw the thing out and replace it every month. Just do what you did and cut the carbon out when you're done and stick the cartridge back in.

You should check in the classifieds section of the site. Severum mama (member and mod) just posted an update stock list of what she sells. I've gotten fish from her before and have nothing but wonderful things to say about her. She also quarantines all of her fish before sale, so you know they're healthy when you get them.

Hope things work out a little better for you from here on out. At least your bio-filter from your fishless cycle is strong!!!

 

[BldrArch]

Thanks eco! I didn't recognize you with the new avatar and all LOL! I'm afraid I'm not a footi fan so I have no idea who that is.

Here's how I acclimated the fishies:
1. put bag in water for 15-20 minutes.
2. poured about 1/2 cup tank water into bag every 20 minutes over the course of 2 hours.
3. netted them and set them free into the tank

I'm open to suggestions but I did read about the drip method and am sorry to say I just don't see me going through all that

 

[eco23]

Thanks eco! I didn't recognize you with the new avatar and all LOL! I'm afraid I'm not a footi fan so I have no idea who that is.

Here's how I acclimated the fishies:
1. put bag in water for 15-20 minutes.
2. poured about 1/2 cup tank water into bag every 20 minutes over the course of 2 hours.
3. netted them and set them free into the tank

I'm open to suggestions but I did read about the drip method and am sorry to say I just don't see me going through all that

First...it's Lionel Messi...greatest football (soccer to us Americans) player on the planet, lol. Don't feel bad, I'm the only person I know that watches soccer.

The way you acclimated them is fine. Drip acclimation is super easy, but not really necessary. I do it anyway just for the sake of caution. I float the bag, then pour the fish and his water into a large clean pitcher, get a syphon going with a piece of airline tubing (really easy), then use a paper clamp (not clip), to control the flow so it's just a slow drip...drip...drip. Then I forget about him for a couple hours, net him and put him in the tank. Plus I find it impossible to keep the stupid bag upright in the tank when you try to bag acclimate them.

It was probably just bad stock you got. If you've got a good lfs near you try it, but I love severum mama. I was nervous about mail ordering fish...then I realized that's how they all get to the lfs anyway, lol.

 

[Homedog98]

Try some ottos and some nerite snails to get rid of the algae. Add the nerites now (they don't breed in freshwater) wait for the tank to be established for a while (preferably 6 months... No shorter then 4) and it'd be safe to add anywhere from 3-6 ottos. Eco's got you covered on the rest, no need to add there. It definitely sounds like bad stock.

 

[eco23]

Try some ottos and some nerite snails to get rid of the algae. Add the nerites now (they don't breed in freshwater) wait for the tank to be established for a while (preferably 6 months... No shorter then 4) and it'd be safe to add anywhere from 3-6 ottos. Eco's got you covered on the rest, no need to add there. It definitely sounds like bad stock.

Yeah, I picked up a couple too many Otos. Everybody told me they have a huge die off rate, and to buy more than I actually wanted. I got 7 and they're all healthy, alive and fat now months later. I'm gonna try to re-home some of them with Deckape since he lives close by. I love those little guys and appreciate all the work they did too much to give them to someone around here I don't know...especially a lfs where'd they probably end up in an uncycled tank with a bunch of Oscars and Pacu's or something, lol.

 

[Copachick]

Did you happen to notice if the one male was bullying the other male Platy? Im surprised the guy at the store gave you two males and one female. The males can get very territorial over the females. They say you should get two females for every male in the tank. It happened to me, one of my males bullied the other one so much that he eventually was too beat up and weak to survive.

 

[BldrArch]

Did you happen to notice if the one male was bullying the other male Platy? Im surprised the guy at the store gave you two males and one female. The males can get very territorial over the females. They say you should get two females for every male in the tank. It happened to me, one of my males bullied the other one so much that he eventually was too beat up and weak to survive.

Well. That's interesting. I honestly think he was just old. But it's possible there was some bullying going on. Good note for the future. On a separate note, the female is definitely knocked up and I swear she'll drop them any day. It's like the other fish know that little morsels are going to be spewing out of her any minute as my bloodfin tetra just hover near her. And the male will not leave her side (he doesn't harass her, just hangs by her). I'm about to do a separate post on what to do LOL!

Oh. And I think I'm going to fire my clown plec and hire some otos. He sucks at keeping the brown algae off the tank glass.