New tank, fish dying

[bleubelle]

Hi all,
I'm new to aquariums and wasn't smart, and now I'm paying for it. Really want to get this right so our aquarium can thrive.

I didn't cycle the water (didn't even know what that meant). 10 gallon freshwater tank. Filled, added Start rite. After a few days, got 5 neon, 2 bloodfin, and 5 black skirt tetras. I've been losing about 1 a day...3 neons and one bloodfin gone. Black skirts are doing ok.

Tested last night with API Master kit, and here are the stats:
82 degrees (too warm - turned down the heater)
pH: 7.8 (on the high side for tetras, as I understand)
Ammonia: .25
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 20

I'm concerned about my survivors. The bloodfin is acting strangely, swimming very quickly in place in one spot kind of mid-to-low in the tank, relatively close to the filter. His gills look red to me. Black skirts are acting fine, but a few are kind of translucent and I can see red along the spine. Neons are acting ok. No white spots or bulging on any of them, and, besides this bloodfin, none have been acting particularly strangely prior to dying.

I got them at Petco, and since then have found a reputable small shop that's willing to help. Without the water stats, they thought maybe a bacterial infection. Added a capful of Prime last night...they said I could do a capful every 2 days until it's under control. Planning to cut feeding to every other day. I'm taking out dead fish as soon as I notice them. The tanks at Petco had several dead fish...we thought that just happened in that environment (I know...naive!!).

Any ideas? Like I said, I know I got off on the wrong foot, but would like to recover if possible! I've done a ton of research, but just can't put my finger on the best route from here...

 

[Mundle]

Hi I did the same about a year a go
I bought some fish including black skirts
Without cycling and all my fish dies besides for b s t
I then cycled with b s t and now my fish tank is flourishing
Neons mollies guppies blue ram
Baby's being born
Good luck
If you have any questions just ask

 

[Rockka75]

You could buy some Stability by seachem for your tank. It helps establish a bio filter in your tank. It also is a preventive to "new tank symdrom" (uncyled tank). The first say you double the dose and then add it everyday for 7 days. I've used it and it works.

 

[DragonFish71]

You'll need to do water changes until the tank stabilizes. Your fish are suffering from the ammonia. Do your change, refill using Prime, do this every other day until the tank is fully cycled.

The cap full of Prime without a water change is pointless.

 

[aptom203]

Sounds like it's simply a case of ammonia poisoning form not cycling the tank. I think almost all new aquarists find this out the hard way- if you do end up loosing all of them, don't panic and scrub out the tank etc. That'll make your fishes sacrifice in vain. The best thing you can do at this point is monitor the water levels, change the water regularly and eventually things will stabilize. If you don't have any survivors, keep the water and filter in the tank as is, and gradually re-stock once the levels even out.

If you are concerned there may be bacteria or parasites in the tank, then simply waiting a week or two to a month before re-stocking (assuming no survivors) should deprive parasites and bacteria of hosts and food for long enough to drop levels down.

 

[spoonman]

Lots of water changes. The red gills are from ammonia poisoning.

 

[bleubelle]

Thanks guys. I'll start doing daily water changes tonight and see what happens. Also going to test my tap water to figure out what's going in vs. what's being introduced once it's in the tank. What % should I plan on changing daily?

 

[bleubelle]

I don't have a place to keep a "hospital" -- for any that appear sick, should I get rid of them, or can they recover if water gets better?

 

[aptom203]

Ammonia poisoning doesn't 'catch' but it can do permanent damage to a fishes liver and gills- and generally speaking more than one fish gets it because they're all in teh same ammonia rich water. Of course, remove fish that die as soon as possible, as they will add even more ammonia to your tank if they are allowed to decay in there.

As for water changes, I'd aim for at least 40% a week, but check your readings each day. If ammonia is more than 0ppm or nitrites more than 5ppm do an extra water change.

Once your readings come up as 0 ammonia and between 0 and 2-ish nitrites for 2-3 days in a row, you're basically in the clear, barring catastrophic water chemistry changes. You still need to do regular water changes, though, as nitrates over about 20ppm can also be toxic to fish. I personally stick to about 40% a week even in my healthy, cycled tank.

In the long term, live plants, a decently thick gravel bed coupled with stuff that disturbs the gravel like burrowing snails and shrimp and careful feeding all work to help keep your system balanced- which can help stop issues like this from occuring again.