Help!! My fish are dying 1 by 1

[DukeNukem713]

it was my roomates bottle of stuff. store employee never told me to buy anything. they dont work on commission you know. just sayin, thanks though

 

[LyndaB]

I definitely hope that's not all you took away after reading my post..... don't make me cry, it's Friday and I love Fridays. Don't make me cry.....

 

[DukeNukem713]

ha no ofcourse not

 

[absolutangel04]

it was my roomates bottle of stuff. store employee never told me to buy anything. they dont work on commission you know. just sayin, thanks though

Just for the record, NOBODY on here is implying that they work on commission. Its just that most of us on here have seen person after person led astray by advice given from fish stores. There are some really great stores out there and some really great, knowledgable employees. But, most of them are not. In the end, they are paid to sell you stuff. If you don't buy things from their store, their store goes out of business and they do not have a job. Thats what people are trying to say. There are many awesome fish store employees out there, but the problem is that they are someties few and far between.
Sorry that people have been snappy with you. People here usually have the best interest of the fish in mind though. I understand how frustrating conflicting information is.

 

[DukeNukem713]

so my roomate told me that the stuff we put it (it was his stuff) to speed up the process was actually bacteria, and advised me to not change my water. what do you guys think? i thought it was something that helps balance then nitrates

 

[absolutangel04]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Bad roommate. So, most bacteria in a bottle is totally worthless. Honestly, his tank probably worked out because he stocked it slowly. If he didn't have a test kit and do water tests every few days, there is not way of knowing that for sure either way.
The beneficial bacteria needs ammonia as food, so it doesn't survive in the bottle. Thats why most bottled bacteria products don't work (maybe his is different. Who knows? But I doubt it.) If the bottled bacteria is alive, it will find something to cling to. It does not live by floating freely in the water (for the most part), it needs a surface to hang onto and grow. The point of changing the water is keep the ammonia level in the tank from turning toxic. If you leave it all in there, the ammonia can poison the fish before the bacteria has a chance to establish itself.

 

[KatieJ]

^ +1. I agree, very misinformed roommate.

Chemicals that the pet store tries to sell you in order to "speed up the cycle" are absolutely useless. The only way to really and accurately assure your tank is cycled is waiting, testing, and more waiting and more testing.

 

[DukeNukem713]

yes well i think my amonia levels might be the problem (maybe theyve turned toxic) because i had so much gunk in the gravel. so my questions is, if my amonia levels are too high, would this bacteria in a bottle be helpful, and should i not change my water? and vice versa. my roomate may not be the best aquarinist (real word? who knows), but hes the smartest man i know (besides my dad haha), and none of his fish have died

 

[Sharkbait54]

yes well i think my amonia levels might be the problem (maybe theyve turned toxic) because i had so much gunk in the gravel. so my questions is, if my amonia levels are too high, would this bacteria in a bottle be helpful, and should i not change my water? and vice versa. my roomate may not be the best aquarinist (real word? who knows), but hes the smartest man i know (besides my dad haha), and none of his fish have died

If you don't change the water the ammonia won't magically go away.

 

[DukeNukem713]

so i dont want the amonia even though ive added the bacteria? ie. i should change my wate?

 

[Matthewjasonzahn]

Angel fish die all the time in my tanks. Any other fish or amphibian thrives, but angel fish just don't seem to last. Get a black ghost and a PVC tube. Those fish are {mod edit} darn near indestructible.

 

[librarygirl]

I'm really sorry you're getting misinformed by the LFS and it seems your roommates. The bacteria in a bottle products are not reliable at all. They may work for some (or seem to work and then in a few months the cycle crashes and all fish die---it's happened to people on here) but not others. Bacteria needs certain conditions to stay alive and bottling bacteria which is then kept in varying conditions and moved from one place to another is not reliable.

You do not want ammonia in your tank with fish in there. Water changes are the only way to remove this. Your friend who added fish two days ago and a bottled bacteria is going to start having problems once the fish start eating and giving out waste. The beneficial bacteria you need are mostly going to live in your filter media and some on the decorations and substrate; very little if any in the water itself, so water changes will NOT harm the cycle. They will help save your fish.

This is really not as difficult as it seems. You want to:
1) get a liquid test kit, like the API Master kit if you dont already have one. The strips are not accurate
2) test your water daily. Any time ammonia and/or nitrite are over .25, do a water change to get them down as close to 0 as possible. This may mean a larger water change, it may even mean more than one water change in one day. If your ammonia is 1 for example, a 50% water change will only get the levels down to .5 which is still toxic, so you'd want to do another water change preferably more than 50% to get them down to under .25; same with nitrate over 20
3) use a good dechlorinator like Prime. It not only detoxifies the chemicals in the water but will help detoxify the ammonia, etc between water changes. Not to be used in place of water changes
4) You'll be doing this for some weeks as the tank cycles. When the tank can keep ammonia and nitrite at 0 on its own without water changes, your tank will be cycled and then you'll just need to do a weekly water change. This can take 3-8 weeks on average however. Keep up with testing and water changes as needed.
5) do not add any chemicals (ammo-lock) etc to your tank. They are not needed and can do more harm than good. You'll only need your test kit and clean dechlorinated water for water changes.
6) feed sparingly; leftover food can cause ammonia to spike as well as cause the fish to produce more waste which causes more ammonia. Feeding a little once every couple of days is advisable.

There are two links in my signature: 'new tank with fish' and 'what is cycling;' give both of those a read. Good luck.

 

[absolutangel04]

yes well i think my amonia levels might be the problem (maybe theyve turned toxic) because i had so much gunk in the gravel. so my questions is, if my amonia levels are too high, would this bacteria in a bottle be helpful, and should i not change my water? and vice versa. my roomate may not be the best aquarinist (real word? who knows), but hes the smartest man i know (besides my dad haha), and none of his fish have died

The bacteria bottle isn't meant to instantly neutralize ammonia. Even if you just use that stuff, you are supposed to treat the tank over a period of time so the bacteria can establish themselves. I still do not recommend using the stuff, but if you want to take the advice of your roomate and try it, go ahead. It certainly won't hurt anything.
So, since the bacteria in a bottle doesn't instantly fix the ammonia level, yes, you do need to change the water. Changing the water is what will make the ammonia level less toxic while the bacteria colony is getting established. It really is easier to do a tank cycle if you have a test kit. Read the article librarygirl showed you. They explain very well what parameters to expect. This tank is harder than a new tank since it came to you with some issues, but no worries, it can be fixed and you will have a healthy fish community before you know it.
Just a note: black ghost knives are HUGE. They get to be like 20 inches long and need a huge tank.

 

[DukeNukem713]

black ghost knives? i dont have the cash for that!!

after this whole cycle process i think im gana ditch my flimsy fish and get cichlids, they seem to be much hardier. and i think its pretty cool to breed them. and i'll just move my guppy breeding operationg to 1gal jars and 2 10 gal tanks. thanks for the advice, im gana buy a kit tomorrow.

 

[LyndaB]

move my guppy breeding operationg to 1gal jars

Please don't....... that's cruel. You'll need a filtered, heated environment for them. How would you do that in a jar?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

black ghost knives? i dont have the cash for that!!

after this whole cycle process i think im gana ditch my flimsy fish and get cichlids, they seem to be much hardier. and i think its pretty cool to breed them. and i'll just move my guppy breeding operationg to 1gal jars and 2 10 gal tanks. thanks for the advice, im gana buy a kit tomorrow.

As Lynda said, please don't put them in jars.
I don't know who recommended you a BGK but they get way too big for your tank.
What kind of cichlids were you getting?

 

[DragonFish71]

Just my 2 cents so here it goes and I'm not known for sugar coating.

1) You came on here for advice and you are getting some very very good advice at that but you want to blow it off. That irritates people. You asked, they answered, the least you could do is take what they give you and work with it.

2) You stated the tank was a mess when you got it. The move and cleaning it some stirred up the crud which caused the tank to go out of balance, cleaning the filter media and adding more fish didn't help with that but you didn't know this. Your best bet from here on out is to do water changes, daily, and use nothing but a good dechlorinator. Prime is the best for the money, super concentrated and lasts forever. Again, use NOTHING else, no ammo-control, no beneficial bacteria additives, nothing, except maybe Stress Coat which can help the fish some.

3) Refer to #1. Stop arguing when people are trying to help. Just because the fish store guy or you room mates say something, that doesn't make it so. If your roommate said he owns Brooklyn bridge, that doesn't make it true.

 

[DukeNukem713]

As Lynda said, please don't put them in jars.
I don't know who recommended you a BGK but they get way too big for your tank.
What kind of cichlids were you getting?

got the idea here

http://www.guppies.com/forums/showthread.php/18080-Easy-breeding-tanks

i mean theyre doing fine. its a little tight but its to keep them alive right now. the 1gal jars are big though, this guy even raises fry in them. and i made a tiny diy filter for them, and i use my desk lamp as a heater

 

[davePM]

got the idea here

http://www.guppies.com/forums/showthread.php/18080-Easy-breeding-tanks

i mean theyre doing fine. its a little tight but its to keep them alive right now. the 1gal jars are big though, this guy even raises fry in them. and i made a tiny diy filter for them, and i use my desk lamp as a heater

No, just no! Its cruel and won't give the fish any sort of life !

 

[DukeNukem713]

As Lynda said, please don't put them in jars.
I don't know who recommended you a BGK but they get way too big for your tank.
What kind of cichlids were you getting?

probably some jack dempseys, flowerhorns, maybe en electric ram if i have the money. and definitely an oscar. i dont want huge cichlids i just want like 2inch ones so i can watch them grow.