I am new to the aquarium world. I began with a 4 gal tank with 3 White Cloud Minnows and a Ghost Shrimp. These poor fish looked miserable, always swimming in the corner so I decided to upgrade to a 10 gal tank and get the Minnows a few friends. I now have 6 White Cloud minnows, 2 Platies, and 1 ghost shrimp. I did not cycle my tank properly...I got impatient and added all of the fish within 2 days of setting it up. I added the White Cloud Minnows first, they were fine, 2 days later I added the Platies. Instantly I noticed that the sunrise Platy was hiding out and not eating as aggressively as I had read Platies eat. 2 days later I observed the panda platy flash and scratch himself against the rocks twice. Today (the next morning) I witnessed this same fish flashing several times, so Ive been on the internet since trying to figure out what is going on. My sunrise platy is also flashing/scratching now. The white cloud minnows are so active its hard to tell. I see no other signs: no white spots, no obvious labored breathing, no gold dust, not holding in their fins. The only signs I see are flashing/scratching, fatigue (not very active and hangs out either near the bottom of the tank or near the top). The gills may be red...but when I look at photos of these fish their gills appear slightly red anyway, like they are wearing blush. So I was thinking parasite/velvet because their are no spots. I bought some copper treatment, but after reading several forums I am debating if I should use any treatment? Can anyone help?
Need Help. Fish Flashing.
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bshenanagins
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What are your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels? High nitrates causes flashing. Red gills could be ammonia poisoning. I would do a 50-75% water change immediately and check your levels with the API test kit
I have the test strips and everything reads within normal limits: 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites. I guess it does not read ammonia? I can do the water change, but do you think it could be a parasite. I keep reading early treatment is vital.
bshenanagins
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Could you post a pic of your tank? Platties that are not comfortable will show the exact symptoms your describing. They like planted tanks and diversity in the tank (hiding places) so that could be an issue. Nothing in your description indicates anything more to me than a water quality issue. Forget the strips, they are not nearly as accurate. Get the master API kit it's not that expensive and you can get it at petsmart or petco but call and make sure it's on the shelf cuz IME they usually only stock 2-3. Do that and we can go from there
Pic is on its way.
I will pick up an API kit tomorrow.
I completed a 50% water change tonight. I still do not see any spots. My sunset platy likes to stay under the big red rock rubbing her back on it constantly. If she is by the panda platy then shes rubbing up against her.
Thanks for your help.
I will pick up an API kit tomorrow.
I completed a 50% water change tonight. I still do not see any spots. My sunset platy likes to stay under the big red rock rubbing her back on it constantly. If she is by the panda platy then shes rubbing up against her.
Thanks for your help.
jwh0818
Aquarium Advice Addict
Definitely get the test kit asap. This will help to determine whats really going on. Im the mean time here are some great articles to read. They will help you better understand what and how to properly cycle http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ou-get-started-with-your-aquarium-154837.html
Thank you for requesting that I do a water change. There must have been something going on with my water quality. I have not seen any flashing all day today. I'm glad I did not just jump in with the copper treatments. I have not purchased the test, but will be in town tomorrow to get one. Again thank you for your help.
bshenanagins
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Glad we could help, make sure you get your API kit
So I bought an API test kit and you were right. My ammonia was 1ppm. I have been doing partial water changes every other day. My ph is staying around 7.2. nitrites 0, nitrates 0. I have lost two fish during this time. My others seem very hardy. They are no longer flashing but their gills remain slightly pink. Is there anything else I can do? I feed every other day, just enough that the fish eat it within minutes.
jwh0818
Aquarium Advice Addict
That means your tank isnt cycled. You need to continue to do your water changes until the cycle is complete
Yes, I did not properly research before beginning a tank and so I added fish to a non-cycled tank. A fact I regret. I was just wondering if there was anything more I can do to reduce my ammonia levels. They stay around 1ppm. I have read conflicting opinions on additives. They seem to be only for emergency situations if the fish are showing signs of distress. Any opinions regarding ammonia removing/altering additives or biological filter boosters?
jwh0818
Aquarium Advice Addict
The best you can do is frequent water changes and make sure you have a good water conditioner like prime
Fishperson
Aquarium Advice Addict
You seem to be good, just make sure ammonia stays under .5 ppm, and nitrite under .5 ppm, but it is preferable that both are under .25 ppm. Nitrates should stay under 40 ppm.
Since you are new, this isn't a big deal, but you should put this thread here: Freshwater & Brackish - Unhealthy Fish - Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community, in the unhealthy fish section, not in the getting started section. But its okay, a mod will move it when they see it.
to Aquarium Advice!It has been 6 weeks now. I am finally entering into to Nitrite phase of the cycle but still have ammonia as well. How much longer can I expect this to take? I never realized what a slow process the cycle was.
Also, I was reading on another forum about the cycle that recommends infrequent water changes because by changing the water I am removing beneficial bacteria thus increasing the time to complete the cycle. I must admit I kind of did this to finally get the nitrites going. I went 4 days with out changing the water. I don't know if it was coincidence or if it really helped by delaying the PWC's. Since doing so though my ammonia and nitrites levels have been very high so I am again doing PWC's. I have been doing 50% water changes every other day. By the second day my levels are off the chart again so today after completing a 50% PWC I waited 2 hours and checked the water again. My ammonia levels are still high at a 1 ppm (which is much lower than it was) and Nitrites are zero. What are your recommendations. I don't want to torture my fish by not changing the water out but am destroying the cycle if I change the water daily? Also, should I not be vacuuming the rocks? I have only been doing so in the front, not under or around any of the decorations so I am not sure if I have been inadvertently slowing the process even more?
Thanks again for all of the helpful advise.
Also, I was reading on another forum about the cycle that recommends infrequent water changes because by changing the water I am removing beneficial bacteria thus increasing the time to complete the cycle. I must admit I kind of did this to finally get the nitrites going. I went 4 days with out changing the water. I don't know if it was coincidence or if it really helped by delaying the PWC's. Since doing so though my ammonia and nitrites levels have been very high so I am again doing PWC's. I have been doing 50% water changes every other day. By the second day my levels are off the chart again so today after completing a 50% PWC I waited 2 hours and checked the water again. My ammonia levels are still high at a 1 ppm (which is much lower than it was) and Nitrites are zero. What are your recommendations. I don't want to torture my fish by not changing the water out but am destroying the cycle if I change the water daily? Also, should I not be vacuuming the rocks? I have only been doing so in the front, not under or around any of the decorations so I am not sure if I have been inadvertently slowing the process even more?
Thanks again for all of the helpful advise.
Fishperson
Aquarium Advice Addict
The beneficial bacteria (bb) live on the surfaces of the tank, mostly in the filter, so doing water changes will not affect the cycle very much. If you are changing the filter pad like the companies tell you to do (once a month or so) than that will slow you down. Have often do you vacuum the gravel.
Every other day when I did a PWC I would just vacuum the area right in the front. It's right under where I drop food in and where the fish eat so I figured I would just clean up any mess they were making that could be contributing to high ammonia levels. I'm guessing I probably should not do this any more.
BTW I feed only once every 2nd to 3rd day depending on how frantic they swim up to the top of the tank when I turn the light on in the morning.
Do you think I should be doing more water changes (less gravel vacuuming) to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels safe for the fish? And since most of the beneficial bacterial reside on the surfaces then I should not be slowing this whole process down, right?
BTW I feed only once every 2nd to 3rd day depending on how frantic they swim up to the top of the tank when I turn the light on in the morning.
Do you think I should be doing more water changes (less gravel vacuuming) to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels safe for the fish? And since most of the beneficial bacterial reside on the surfaces then I should not be slowing this whole process down, right?
Fishperson
Aquarium Advice Addict
You should really only vacuum once a week, more is unnecessary IMO.
That's a good feeding schedule. After cycling, you can up that to once a day or just once every 2 days, but more that that isn't necessary.
You can use the gravel vacuum to take the water out of your tank, without actually vacuuming the gravel. That's what I would do, and vacuum half the tank once a week. So week one, vacuum the left side, and week 2 the right side, etc., etc.
I said most because I'm sure that some live in the water, but it is such a small amount that it doesn't really matter.
