New Tank, First Snags

[AquaBear]

Hello everybody! I have hit my first snag w/my 16g FW, actually two of them. So far, the advice I've seen on here is much better than what's in some of the books, so I will turn to the forum.

First full week w/my new setup (2 Platys, 2 Zebra danios), putting together a peaceful tank, put a female Betta (from a community tank) in last night. Found her dead this morning, the clerk at Petco said the Betta might have been sick when I bought it. I removed her immediately, but now how do I know if my other 4 are okay? If she was sick, she could have spread something into the tank (I don't have a quarantine tank yet...sorry).

Secondly, tested Ammonia last night 7 p.m. - zip. Tested it 15 minutes ago and it's starting to register (.25ppm), I think. These old eyes aren't what they used to be, but I *swear* it's got a bit of a green tint. I may very well be starting to cycle already. Heading to LFS for some RO water, because I think this means I'm supposed to do a partial water replacement, and I want to get some water ready just in case.

Am I doing what I *should* be doing? Any advice would be truly appreciated.

--AquaBear

 

[bunebop]

Did you have the female betta? or was she in a community tank at the store? I would wait till your ammonia is readable before doing a water change. I keep thinking there's nitrite in my tank and everyone else I show it to says i'm crazy. Also do you have the strip or liquid tests? I've found out the hard way that the strip tests are basically useless. I would just leave the other fish and watch them carefully. Did you make sure to acclimate the betta and everything and is it at a stable temperature? When you buy a new fish, try to make sure there are no dead ones in the tank w/ them, especially at chain stores like petco.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

You probably don't need to worry about buying RO from the LFS. Just tap water and dechlor should be just fine.

 

[AquaBear]

No, I didn't already have it. It's one my son picked out. I had a feeling I probably shouldn't have, but I'm really trying to get the kid interested in something.

I do get a very tiny reading of ammonia, but I know it can build up to toxic levels quickly, and I don't want to lose any more fish. But at the same time, I don't want to interrupt the cycle if it's getting ready to go.
Either way, I have taken an oath to NEVER buy fish from a chain store again...they're a conglomeration that I believe carries fish as just another home pet accessory...a LFS makes their living with fish ONLY, and I think the people who work there really do care more about them. The girl who sold me this fish could just as easily have been flipping burgers. What was I thinking?

And RogerMcAllen, the water in Colorado is heavily treated with chloramine, so I'm real leary that even a good chemical additive would give me decent water...most people I know at work with tanks go the RO route.

Thanks to both of you for the advice. I will keep watch on the fish for the next couple of days. The lady at my LFS said the Betta might not have been in there long enough to spread anything, so I'm crossing my fingers.

--AquaBear

 

[TankGirl]

I would watch the water every day and do your water changes as necessary, but don't add any more fish for a good 6-8 weeks until your cycle is done and the tank is good and stable. It takes time for the bacteria to establish, so waiting on more fish is going to go a long way to easing any difficulties you might encounter.

 

[chasgood]

AquaBear
Is your City water very hard or have a high and well buffered PH? That is why I use RO. Before throwing RO in the tank do a little testing in a couple of glasses. Try different ratios of tap and RO water to get the hardness and PH needed. Let the water set in the glass for 18 to 24 hours and test again to see if the PH holds. I found that for my City well water a mix of 33% RO does the trick(3 parts tap to 1 part RO). That plus a dechlorinator should work. Using nothing but RO water will lower the PH to about 6 and there will be no trace elements needed by the fish.
Another route you may try instead just to get the chloramine down is a faucet type filter like the Pur Plus. The carbon in the filter should remove a good amount of the chloramine. The filter plus using a dechlor from the pet store should do it. As a bonus you have better tasting drinking water.

Hope this helps.

 

[Menagerie]

I gave some advice on water changes in your other thread. I am sorry to hear about the female betta. Keep in mind, that many are sold ill. They are produced in a "puppy-mill" like fashion. Although, from your other thread, you said you might start a betta only tank, which any betta would love. A 2.5 or 5 gal tank with heater and small sponge filter work great.
It is possible to keep bettas in comunity settings, but you do need to start with a healthy fish. I just added a red female betta to my very peaceful community and all seems well (she was QTed before hand).
Many of the dechlors take out both chlorine and chloramine. The city of Calgary treats their water, which is from the river. As a student, I have gone the cheap route with my tanks and have had great success--dechlor is the only thing I add.

 

[AquaBear]

Thank you all again for the terrific advice. My pH is right around 6.8, alkaline is 20, kH is 25, Nitrite 0, Nitrate is trace at about 15, Ammonia is (I think) .25ppm, temperature is 76. I'm not sure about the Ammonia, but it does look like there's a hint of green in the tube.

I went to LFS to buy tube test kits for the rest of my tests (people on here have convinced me the strips are not as good), and while I was there, I picked up a Mini-Bow 5 to start a Betta-only tank (complete setup for $40, I couldn't pass it up). They really are beautiful.

Much appreciation to everyone.

--AquaBear

 

[Menagerie]

Good deal on the betta tank. I'm sure you and your new betta will be spending lots of quality time together

 

[AquaBear]

I had a built-in bookshelf in the living room w/removable shelves, nice and dark, and out of the way. I put him in a black tank with black gravel and a black background. It makes his radiant blue stand out incredibly well. He's the prettiest thing in the tank. I popped in a silk Calpera mexicano (sp) and a little bridge so he has places to hide, and he looks very happy. He had been in a community tank at LFS, so I hope he appreciates the peace and quiet.

I did a 10% water change today (in the 16g FW), ammonia is still registering around .25ppm. I tested pH with strips, 6.8...tested it with the tubes, 7.2. Quite a difference, but I have to believe the tubes are more accurate, based on what everybody has told me on here. I am testing the ammonia sometimes twice a day now, and will do water changes as frequently as necessary to keep the kids happy. I think I'm CYCLING.

--AquaBear

 

[Menagerie]

I think I'm CYCLING.

It has started!!!

 

[TankGirl]

Yay! It had to happen, only natural, but nothing like delays to get us antsy, huh?

 

[AquaBear]

I'm watching the ammonia very closely, and am going to do the water changes you guys recommended. Hopefully the cycle will be mild and everybody will come through it...since I started relatively soon (tank has been set up for 9 days), maybe it'll be an equally quick cycle. (crossing fingers)

Now I have another problem. I noticed some pronounced white spots on the fins of about 3 fish this morning, so that Betta I had that died had to have been sick and has now infected the rest of the tank. (I am most DEFINITELY going to have to invest in a QT as soon as I get this thing cycled.) I picked up some Ich medication today at lunch and now need to play Fish Doctor.

I take it these are more of the growing pains you pros have spoken of. I feel much better going through this knowing there are so many nice folks out here to share their experiences.

--AquaBear

 

[pkremer]

Sometimes ich will ONLY infest the gills, and then it is hard, if not impossible to see them. That could explain why the betta died...his gills may have been infested with parasites, now that they are reproducing, they are attaching all over your other fish.

If you do decide to go the medication route for treating ich, be careful not to overdose...a lot of medications are just as good at killing the fish as they are ich.

Paul

 

[AquaBear]

Thanks, Paul. I just found a second fish floating, but this was one I had before the Betta. Found a Zebra danio floating w/an ulcerous blotch under it's gills. I started a new thread over in the "unhealthy fish" category.

 

[TankGirl]

The high temp treatment (86F) works extremely well for ich - there is an article about it on this site. I have done this in tanks with fish that can tolerate higher temps and in the absence of plants, and was very pleased with the results - no medication to worry about.

 

[Muppeholic]

AquaBear, I'm in Colorado too! Have you tested the tap water to see what it's normal parameters are?

I know mine is 7.6 pH, 6 dGH, 0 Ammonia/Nitrite . . . We use PRIME to dechlorinate, etc. and have had good success with it. On major changes (more than 25%) we'll do half tap water and half distilled bought from the store.

 

[AquaBear]

TankGirl - Thanks for pointing me to that article (I hadn't found them yet). I now feel better about treating this stuff. I think I am going to continue doing 30-50% water changes daily to keep the ammonia down while I'm treating...I'll just have to hold back cycling for a while.

Muppeholic - I haven't actually tested "normal" water, but I hear it's not so great out in Aurora. The guy at my LFS recommended PRIME and that's what I've been using the last day or so, with all these water changes. I have some distilled that I use for boiling things and topping off the tank, and RO water that I'm going to use to mix up my SW tank, but the general theme I'm hearing on-line is to use tap water whenever possible because of the good stuff it contains that distilled/RO doesn't have. (p.s., what part of the state you live in?)

--AquaBear

 

[Muppeholic]

Along the Foothills area. . . I know we are technically using the same water as Denver proper uses but I don't know if Aurora does.

I've found that our Vitamin Cottage prices were slightly cheaper for Deep Rock Distilled water than Safeway. (At least on the gallon level . . . I can't remember for the 2.5 gallon.)

 

[AquaBear]

Aurora has it's own reservoir, depleted as it is. :-(

I've been reading less-than-positive comments on here about using distilled water to fill a tank (which is a shame, because I have 35 gallon jugs of it in my dining room), so I think I'm going to start mixing equal parts of RO water and tap water treated with that Prime solution (tap water adds minerals or something). I'll do the same for my 75g SW when I get the time to get it up and running. And I'll just use the distilled for the occasional top-off or boiling things before I put them in the tank.

--AquaBear