Tanksitting problems

[MrMiyagi]

Ok this has probably come up in the past but i haven't been able to find a topic about this so i'm gonna ask.

I have been tanksitting for my uncle the past week or so. He just has a little 5g with 4 danios and a neon tetra. I really wished he would have done some research on aquariums or something but he hasn't and so now he's been having a bit of new tank syndrome. Since the tank has been in my care i've been watching the chem levels and they aren't dooing to good.

For one he never let his tank cycle so his ammonia is Super hight right now. His nitrites have barely started to go up with no sign of ammonia going down. As for nitrate, it's at about 0.

Well as i figured one of his fish, the neon, has come down with what i think is ammonia poisoning. Earlier today i found it stuck to the filter intake. I thought he was a goner and so i went in to net him out. The as soon as i touched him he swam around the tank extremely fast about 2 or 3 times and then launched out of the water and onto my keyboard. I quickly put the fish on MY 10g thats in the same room. He's been doing kinda bad and i don't know if he's gonna make it. The change wasn't too drastic. same pH and same temps. Tonight i'm gonna up the temp. a bit and if he's still kickin i might get some salt to put in there.

I wanted to know is there any hope for him recovering? Willl he be able to get healthy?

Also I wanted to know if i should add some kind of chemical to help speed up the cylcing process? If so what would yall recomend?

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi MrMiyagi,

The only chemical cycling products I would recommend are Bio-Spira, from Marineland, or Stability, from Seachem. However, if you have a cycled 10 gallon tank nearby, just squeeze the filter sponge a bit -- get some "brown sponge scrunge" out of it and add this to the 5 gallon's filter. If you have bio-media like bio-balls or ceramic media in the 10 gallon tank, take out a few rings or balls and add them right into the 5 gallon's filter. You could also add some of the 10 gallon's gravel to the 5 gallon tank. You could get some new, clean pantyhose and put some gravel in the toe, cut the pantyhose, tie a knot in it, and add to the 5 gallon tank. These methods are the fastest and easiest way to colonize the 5 gallon with some good bacteria. The cycle should begin, and you'll see the ammonia levels dropping. It still won't be instant, though, so you'll have to keep testing and doing water changes. Changing 2-3 gallons of water a day for the 5 gallon tank, depending on your ammonia reading, shouldn't be that hard, though. Just don't rinse the filter media -- the newly introduced bacteria is colonizing in the filter, so the media shouldn't be disturbed. It's best not to do gravel vacs until the tank fully cycles -- again, because you don't want to disturb the colonizing bacteria. If the ammonia is very high, you can do gentle vacs to remove some of the waste that is producing ammonia in the gravel.

How is the tetra doing? Are there other tetras in your tank? Tetras do best in groups, and not just one by itself. Maybe that's why it was stressed. Was it getting along with the danios? Keep an eye on it, and if possible, it would be best to put this tetra in a small QT tank until you determine that it won't pass any diseases onto the fish in your tank. Put some plastic or silk plants in the QT tank so it has places to hide.

 

[MrMiyagi]

well the 10g that i put the tetra in has a few flame tetras and a coupe of neon tetras so he some company there. Unfortunately he didn't make it though the night . He was swimming odd and i guess he got stuck to the filter and couldn't get off it.

I have some eheim boi subsrate thats in my filter. I'll put a few rocks of that stuff in te 5g filter and mybe some gravel too. I've been worried about the little danios that he has in there but man those guys are bulletproof 8O . no sign of any problems with them.

As for the cycling chemicals, I always hear a lot about Fritz Zyme. My lfs swears by it and a lot of their customers really like it too. Has anyone tried it?

 

[talloulou]

Danios are good fish for surviving cycles. Not really good fish for a 5 gallon though unfortunately. They need room to swim as they are fast as bullets as well. Neons are horrible fish to cycle with as they are somewhat more sensitive to water parameters. Do lots of water changes on the 5 gallon. Good luck.

 

[MrMiyagi]

yea I I definately wouldn't have picked the same fish as he did but u know what can i do. Maybe i could get him to do a bit of research so that he doesn't loose any more fish .

Well thanks you for the advice guys

 

[Kizayaen]

Neons are horrible fish to cycle with as they are somewhat more sensitive to water parameters.

I've been keeping tetras for about three years now, and my experience has been that the round-bodied tetras (serpaes, black/whites, etc.) are a lot sturdier than the narrow-bodied tetras (neons, glowlights, etc.) Anytime I have anything going on with my tank... whether it's bad water conditions, sickness, or whatever... my neons are my first to feel it. Generally I notice the problems by watching their behavior, treat the problem, and the serpaes never seem to miss a beat.