Help?!

[khawk7708]

Hi. I joined the forum in search of help. My son got an aquarium for Christmas and we are having trouble with it. The aquarium is a 20 gallon freshwater. It has a hood, filter, heater, thermometer, aerator, gravel, bubble stone, and a few decorations in it.
When I set it up, I followed the directions for set up that came with the tank. I added water declorinator and washed everything with clean water. I wanted to wait for a few days before adding fish, but my son's grandparents came for an unexpected visit with 8 fish (2 tiger barbs, 2 goldfish, 2 swordtails, and 2 others that I forget the name of). We floated the bags for 30 minutes to let the fish acclimate to the tank temp and dipped the fish out of the bags so we didn't get the bag water into the aquarium.
And now, all the fish have died except 2 and they do not appear to be healthy. This led me to the pet store to get some testing supplies. Here's the results:
Nitrates: 20 ppm
Nitrites: 1.0 ppm
Total Hardness: 300 ppm
Total Chlorine: 0.0 ppm
Total Alkalanity: 180 ppm
pH: 8.4 ppm
Ammonia: 0.25 ppm

I'm really not sure what to do next. The aquarium has been set up since saturday and the fish were added monday. I might also add that the water has been crystal clear until today and it's somewhat cloudy this morning. I really want a safe and healthy home for our fish. Can anyone tell me what I need to do? Thanks

 

[ywagner]

Hey man,
Do not worry cause there is a simple fix. This is called PRIME, it is a product which will neutralize the ammonia and nitrites and nitrates in your tank, this will make them harmless to your fish. As for the dead ones try to bring them back to your lfs for a refund, they most likely will want a water sample so bring that too.

As for how they were acclimated, the 30 minutes was fine for the temps but make sure after that to slowly add water so they can adjust to PH ammonia and etc

I would also buy aquarium salt as it makes the fish feel better, it will rejuvenate them and help to rebuild slime coat.

Overall buy the prime and see if you can get refund, also look up the cycling process it will clear up a lot


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[dcutl002]

I wanted to wait for a few days before adding fish, but my son's grandparents came for an unexpected visit with 8 fish (2 tiger barbs, 2 goldfish, 2 swordtails, and 2 others that I forget the name of). We floated the bags for 30 minutes to let the fish acclimate to the tank temp and dipped the fish out of the bags so we didn't get the bag water into the aquarium.
And now, all the fish have died except 2 and they do not appear to be healthy. This led me to the pet store to get some testing supplies. Here's the results:
Nitrates: 20 ppm
Nitrites: 1.0 ppm
Total Hardness: 300 ppm
Total Chlorine: 0.0 ppm
Total Alkalanity: 180 ppm
pH: 8.4 ppm
Ammonia: 0.25 ppm

+1 on ywagners quote. I would like to add:
1: goldfish are not compatible with tropical fish
2: tiger barbs are not compatible with swordtails
3: yeah, use the prime because you want your NITRITES at zero.

your tank will need to cycle before you can get comfortable adding more fish. I would just leave the two that are still alive in there and if they make it i would find fish that are compatible with them. Tropical Fish Compatibility Chart https://www.petco.com/assets/livefish/FreshwaterChart.html

 

[SFAquariums1]

Aside from compatibility issue, that was a lot of fish to add at once. If your tank wasn't cycled....adding fish causes ammonia to rise. Goldfish are poop factories so 2 goldfish alone is slightly overstocked for a 20 gallon. Especially a brand new tank. In my opinion 1 goldfish for he first 20 gallons and 1 goldfish for each additional ten gallons of water.

I also agree with the above poster regarding the compatibility of the species as goldfish are cold water fish.


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[dcutl002]

In my opinion 1 goldfish for he first 20 gallons and 1 goldfish for each additional ten gallons of water.

That's true. Goldfish get huge. A Common Goldfish can get 12" long and a Fancy goldfish can get 6-8 inches long. just to put things in perspective, I had 2 fancy Goldfish in a 55 gallon tank for 17 years and that was it. For a 55 gallon tank I would keep only 1 Common Goldfish.

 

[SFAquariums1]

That's a good thought. For people who are insistent on having goldfish, I recomend 1 for first 20 and one for each additional 10 gallons. For example in a 40 gallon tank there should only be 3 goldfish! Once they get fully grown, you will need to upgrade. Just food for thought


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