What did I mess up?

[VN]

Hi,
I'm pretty new in having an aquarium, so I'll probably have lots of questions in these coming months.

I set up a 10 gallon aquarium with 6 fish in it. 2 gold colored algae eaters, two black tetras, and two silver dollars. Everything went fine for a month. The water cleared up beautifully, I put a couple of plants in, so those little snails started to show up and everybody seemed happy and healthy. Until one of the silver dollars had a wound (I think) on it's side. After a day it looked scarry, it looked like it was covered with some white hairy stuff. After 2 more days it died. I got an other silver dollar, that's when everyone of my fishies started to get sick (not the algae eater though). There were no particular simptoms, no wounds, but they became disoriented and died the next morning. Now I only have one last black skirt tetra and the two algae eaters. But my tetra changed color. it looks like it lost part of the blackness in its fins. So part of it is black and part of it is clear.

I don't understand what I did wrong. If I have to start over, can I use bottled water instead of tap water? Would that be safer?

[rthoman]

How ofter do you change the water? What type of filtration are you using? Also do you test the water for pH and ammonia?

[VN]

I just set up this tank. After the third week I changed about 20% of the water and also cleaned out the gravel.
I have an external filter - I don't know the professional name of it - It's on the outside of the tank, a pipe in the water sucks the water up, then it goes through a carbon filter and then back to the tank.
Looks like my last blackskirt is going to pass away soon. It seem like he can't move, I can see him breathing, but he is not moving at all.
Oh, and I also took the water to a pet shop where they tested it, they said it was fine.

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

hey veronica! first off , i am definately not trying to be rude, but i think you need to do some research on fish stress, water chemistry, and so on...who knows why the first fish died...could have been ammonia or nitrite in a new aquarium, and those will level out...as for the rest of the fish, i am assuming you didn't quarantine your new silver dollar--he is probably the culprit for bringing disease, but you need to check your own water in my opinion--lots of these kids at petsmart and places like that don't even know what role these chemicals play in the lives of our fishees, they are making 5 dollars or so an hour...what do they care if they don't perform the test correctly? anyway, you will be able to have much more success if you read up on some of these things, and check your water regularly....as you get more experience, you will also get much more adept at spotting illness early on in the course of most diseases and will be able to treat accordingly saving most of the sick fishees....also read up on diseases, especially common ones like ich,
fungus, etc...may give you some insight as to which fish are healthy, and which fish you shouldn't buy...best of luck, let us know if we can help you again if you have questions about the material you are reading.

[VN]

Thanks for the reply. It was not rude at all!!! I do need to look up some things. As I said, having an aquarium is new to me and I have a lot to learn. I also tested the water for ammonia and it was fine.
I want to get a good book on how to keep a healthy environment for my fish. Do you have any recommendations? I have read a couple of booklets already, but these didn't go into so much detail. One of the reasons I joined this forum was to learn from you guys. The experienced ones
Oh, and can you recommend some types of fish for me to start out with also, ones that are maybe not so sensitive? Anyway I'll try my best keeping my aquarium healthy.

Thanks again.
Veronika

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

well iam a little biased i think, because i am very partial to cichlids....i do have some tropicals, but the cichlids are much more interesting....that said--not sure which of your fish is still alive-and the cichlids i have are too big for your tank....um...my fancy guppies seem to be pretty tough, and they are very pretty and active and i have seen them play in the currents and such...you might try them out, but be warned!!! they will have lots of babies, and for some reason they don't seem as interested in eating them as the feeder guppies....?so you may have some to give to friends! lol--can't suggest a good book, i only have a fish disease book, but you can find most of the info on the net--when you have time, go to google and put in a search for aquarium water chemistry and so on, you will find lots of info--as with anything on the net, read lots and try to differentiate between who knows something and who just wanted a web page....if you have any trouble finding good info, check out our links section, if that isn't sufficient and you aren't getting much out of google, let us know and i will see if i can post some more links....good luck!

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

forgot to add that guppies like salt, not table salt! i use kosher salt, but any salt without additives will do--it's great that you have tested for ammonia, but you definately should check your nitrites too, especially while your tank is newly set up! i am through rambling for now!

[VN]

Thanks for your reply. The good new is that finally the water in my tank cleared up beautifully and for the first time everything looks good. (knock on wood ) I got a pair of guppies and black mollies. They are doing fine and they seem to like me better than the tetras . They always come up to me if I get close to the tank. Isn't that sweet? I had very little time to read after stuff, but I'm getting there. Thanks again!

[VN]

Yessss! I'm happy to inform you guys that I tested for Nitrate also and the result is 0.25 which is not too bad for a month old tank. Right? :P

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

well, i am not sure why you would be worried about nitrate at this point, maybe nitrite....you sure which one you measured? glad to hear everyone is doing fine...mollies also like salt, and both mollies and guppies tend to do better with a little salt for aquariums like i mentioned before...You are well on your way to successful fishkeeping, keep at it! you should very definately watch your ammonia very closely for awhile...

[VN]

Hey!
I thought that nitrate in new tanks can also climb high. Guess I was wrong.. wasn't I?

Anyway the strange thing is that the level of ammonia in my tank is more alkaline than acidic. I also thought that ammonia levels tend to go up because of left over food and the fish's metabolism. Now it seems to me like in my tank the water is becoming more and more alkaline. How can that be? Is that also a bad thing? Should I keep it around natural? (If yes, than how do I do that?)Right now it is close to ph8.

I'm so sorry about all of these questions, I just want to learn everything at ones. But I guess water chem is the most important thing.

Thanks,

[VN]

One more question... I was just wondering: Is tail rot contagious? I lost one of my mail guppies. He had a part of his tail missing, but it could have happened so that one of the other fish took a bit of it, so I wasn't so worried. He looked okay to me. But this morning I found him dead. But my other fish look healthy, they have their tail and everything. I don't know the cause was tail rot or not... if it was how come the others didn't get it?
This may be another stupid question, but hey... I'm still learning.

[Ramrebel]

I had a nitrite prob when I first started a tank (1 month) - a water change fixed it
this might help

Ed

Originally Posted by VN

Hey!
I thought that nitrate in new tanks can also climb high. Guess I was wrong.. wasn't I?

First the ammonia starts to climb, then the nitrite, then the nitrate.
In a cycled tank, ammonia and nitrite are 0, nitrate readings will vary but should be low.

There's a great page on the nitrogen cycle here and one on water chemistry here.

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

Anyway the strange thing is that the level of ammonia in my tank is more alkaline than acidic.

didn't see this earlier...ammonia level is either present at x amount or nonexistent, totally different test than acidity....

and as for a rise in ph--what is your water out of the tap after it sits for 24 hours? is it soft water? do you have lots of air bubblers in the tank?