Newbie Here . New Tank . Fish Dead .

[ikon]

Hey I just bought a 20 gal tank a cpl of months ago . I do the regular water changes ( 25 - 50 % ) , clean the gravel and all that good stuff . I even take my water to petsmart to have it tested ( they said its too expensive to buy the test kits and they can do it for free ) . I have 3 live plants and a cpl plastic plants , bubble wand and a cpl ornmants. The fish I have are 2 tequila guppies , 5 zebras (came witha free 30 gal tank i had) , 1 red wagtail ( i think thats what they are called the other one died on me ) , a HUGE sucker fish (who just sits on the bubble wand all day and night ) , 2 lemon tetras , black molly and a marble molly .

My question is the black molly keeps bumping or nudging the marble molly all the time , its like the black is being a pain in the neck . Everytime the marble swims away the black one follows , well then te black one swims away the marble will follow . What the heck is going on here ?

I also found 5 small babies . Now with the amount of fish I have would that be too many fish when the babies gets bigger ? If so , what should I do ?

When I do a water change shoudl the tap water be COLD , or WARM ?

Also , one last question , the bio wheel sometimes wont turn and when it does turn it turns then stops , then turns , then stops , then turns , etc ... what the heck does that mean ?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

What are the most recent water test results? (in number value) Test Kits are very cheap to be purcahsed online. The AP costs about $20 if purchased online. A good liquid reagent test kit is vital in aquaria.

The 5 zebra fish, are they zebra danios? The sucker fish I am assuming is a pleco. If you are saying that it is HUGE, then it is probably a common pleco. Therefore it is too large for your tank and needs to be returned to the lfs.

If you are wanting to raise the fry, you're going to have to return some of your fish. I personally don't believe that Mollies should be in a tank smaller than 29 gal. But that is just my opinion. Some people think a 10 gal is sufficient. The mollies are most likely breeding.

The water that goes into your tank should be the same temp as the water that is in the tank. Get the two temps as close as possible.

If the bio wheel is not turning very well, take it out and rinse it off in used tank water. Clean the sludge off of it. It is common for bio-wheels to turn and stop and turn and stop. Well, IME it is.

 

[TDWagner]

If the bio wheel is not turning very well, take it out and rinse it off in used tank water. Clean the sludge off of it. It is common for bio-wheels to turn and stop and turn and stop. Well, IME it is.

Make sure you use tank water to rinse it, not tap water...tap water will kill the bacteria. Also might want to take a brush to the bearing and axle. Sometimes they gunk up and don't allow free rotation. The starting and stopping won't hurt as long as it doesn't come to a complete stop.

 

[jcarlilesiu]

my bio-wheel starts and stops.. stays stopped for a second or two, then does a quick fast full spin and stops again. No matter what I do, cleaning or otherwise... it still does this. I would assume that starting and stopping is ok, as long as the part exposed to the air isn't stuck like that for any duration which will kill the bacteria. If I recall, the owners manual addressed this.

 

[Musket]

Once the babes get big, then yes, the tank will be too small for everyone. Either give some to friends or get another tank. Another option: if you can't get a bigger tank yet and want to keep everyone, than at least get a bigger filter or an additional filter.

Always match as close as possible the new water temp to the tank water. Be sure to use your dechlorinator before adding the new water to the tank.. Some say you can add it after, I say why risk it, add it to the water before putting it in with your fish. I for one am very attached to my "kids" and would hate to see anything happen to them, for a foolish thing that I could have prevented. Just my opinion.

I have no experience with Bio Wheels, but all the above suggestions are accurate in rinsing them in tank water (drawn from the tank, not rinsed in the tank), clean the impeller, it is amazing how hair, plants and debris get gunked-up in there.
Best of luck, welcome to AA

 

[Purrbox]

Having the LFS test your water for free is all well and good if they are open and you can get there when you need to know what's going on with your tank. Well worth the expense in my opinion to have your own test kit so you can find out whether an ammonia spike is causing your fish's problems and it just happens to be an hour after the LFS closed when you notice the problems.

 

[ikon]

nitrate.......

What are the most recent water test results? (in number value) Test Kits are very cheap to be purcahsed online. The AP costs about $20 if purchased online. A good liquid reagent test kit is vital in aquaria.

Ya ive been thinking about getting my own test kit so i dont have to drive across town to petsmart to get a free testing .... but anywayz when i took my water there ammonia levels were low , and i cant remember if he said if the nitrate or the nitroium (spelling) were high .. but he said i was WAY OVERFEEDING which caused a eextreme sludge clear like film on the glass... i have slacked off on the overfeeding , but im starting to get the white film again , and the dang sucker fish (like i said this sucker is HUGE probably about the size of my hand , looks like NIMROD in the tv show SURFACE) isnt eating the sludge on the glass, cuz hes too lazy and loves the bubble wand while sitting right next to the impaler on the bubble wand ..

The 5 zebra fish, are they zebra danios? The sucker fish I am assuming is a pleco. If you are saying that it is HUGE, then it is probably a common pleco. Therefore it is too large for your tank and needs to be returned to the lfs.

ya i think it is zebra danios they have long black strips on it and at an angle they have a red tint ... and i cant return the sucker fish cuz he came with a FREE 30 gal tank i have along with the zebras..

If you are wanting to raise the fry, you're going to have to return some of your fish. I personally don't believe that Mollies should be in a tank smaller than 29 gal. But that is just my opinion. Some people think a 10 gal is sufficient. The mollies are most likely breeding.

the babies (fry i assume thats what they r ) has black spots on it like the marble mollie does ....... i didnt know i could return fish..



If the bio wheel is not turning very well, take it out and rinse it off in used tank water. Clean the sludge off of it. It is common for bio-wheels to turn and stop and turn and stop. Well, IME it is.

ya i arelady cleaned all the sludge off in the same water as the tank.. (but not in the tank .. but still stops and goes ......

 

[Macrosill]

I have found that as the water level lowers due to evaporation the biowheel will slow and sometimes stop and go. Once the water level is brought back up it spins smoothly again.

Brian

 

[bunebop]

I really recommend you get your own liquid test kit. As a former petsmart employee I can tell ya that the employees don't always know what's going on w/ the tests or the results and at the one I worked in at least we used the dip stick things which are far less accurate than the drops. For now you might want to look into setting up that 30 gal you said you got the zebra danios with. With the fish you have the the babies it sounds like you're gonna need the extra room. You also might want to start looking around for a new owner of your pleco for when he outgrows the tank or consider upgrading (this is how MTS starts... ) Also your tetras would be happier in a larger group if you set up the 30 gallon. Another option would be to put all the fish in the 30 gallon except the one's that are breeding and use that tank as your molly tank.

 

[ikon]

I really recommend you get your own liquid test kit. As a former petsmart employee I can tell ya that the employees don't always know what's going on w/ the tests or the results and at the one I worked in at least we used the dip stick things which are far less accurate than the drops. For now you might want to look into setting up that 30 gal you said you got the zebra danios with. With the fish you have the the babies it sounds like you're gonna need the extra room. You also might want to start looking around for a new owner of your pleco for when he outgrows the tank or consider upgrading (this is how MTS starts... ) Also your tetras would be happier in a larger group if you set up the 30 gallon. Another option would be to put all the fish in the 30 gallon except the one's that are breeding and use that tank as your molly tank.

ya ive been thinking about getting my own test kit .. but i dont know what kind to get theres so many...... 8O

i dont have the space for the 30 gal tank or id be using that instead of the 20 gal..... im gonna be taking the pleco to a local fish store on saturday along with the mollies ( the black molly keeps nudging our marble molly all day and night ) if we put the black molly in a feeder net the marble molly comes up to the breeder net and just sits next to the net .. kinda weird , i guess shes into S&M i dunno..... ill prolly take the lemon tetras back also ..... and get some colorfull fish .....

as for the bio wheel its moving a lot faster now .. i found there was some sludge or other crap where the vent was on the bottom of the impaler..

 

[Fishyfanatic]

For a test kit, the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit is the way to go.

 

[maxwell1295]

Since you're near a PETSMART store, you can just print this page and take it with you to the store. They will pricematch their online price. You can get the AP FW Master kit for $13.49 plus tax without having to worry about shipping.

 

[severum mama]

Yep, mine price matches their online prices too. I've gotten some pretty cheap filters this way too. Wish I'd known about it when I spent $25 on my AP test kit!

 

[ikon]

test kit....

Yep, mine price matches their online prices too. I've gotten some pretty cheap filters this way too. Wish I'd known about it when I spent $25 on my AP test kit!

ya i took my water sample to petsmart and i noticed they use the test strips .... or the fishdude got his results from some strips .... he said everything was fine.... ammonia was low and nitrates was on high side of the good side.. not in the bad area but could be better......

and i found out my girlfreind used glass cleaner on the INSIDE of the fish tank.... 8O

but i do ahve a quesiton i noticed that the baby fish (( 6 of them they look like the marble molly) and a cpl of the other fish they like to hang around the corner where the heater is...... shud i turn the heater up some or are they just being silly ?????

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Most likely they are hanging out in that area because it feels safe. What is the temp in the tank?

If the employee did use strips, I would not trust the results. Did you ask for the specific value of Ammonia?

 

[ikon]

test strips and heater....

Most likely they are hanging out in that area because it feels safe. What is the temp in the tank?

If the employee did use strips, I would not trust the results. Did you ask for the specific value of Ammonia?

nah i didnt ask about the value of ammonia but he did say it was low and the only thing that got his concern was the nitrate levels but even he said that it wasnt nothing bad but could be lower but not in the danger zone... umm ill prolly go out and get my own test kit... i mean if im gonna have a fish tank as a hobby id like to know more about the testing stuff ..

as for the fish hanging out in the heater... their not there all day and all night but the do love that heater (even the big fish) the temp ranges from 74 to 78 ... the heater kicks on a cpl dozen times a day ...

do ya know why fish likes to go up n down up n down on the glass ????

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Swimming up and down the glass is very common. My fish do it ALOT.

 

[ikon]

up n down .......

Swimming up and down the glass is very common. My fish do it ALOT.

ohhhhhhhh i thought they were trying to find a way out...

i seen a commericial yesterday.. and it showed some ppl inside a fish tank (with no water ) , with grass a few trees and a house walkin around mindless...... and it showed fish and water outside of the tank .. the fish was staring at the tank .,..

i thought it was neat and makes ya see it from another perspective.....