Help!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

the0perator

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Dec 29, 2015
Messages
1
Let us start form the beginning, I got a 10 gallon fish tank for Christmas. The next day i set up the aquarium and dechlorinated the water. I let the fish tank run for a while to make sure everything was working properly and make sure to have a constant temperature. I went to the pet store and bought three neon tetras, one delta blue guppy, and a panda Cory cat fish. I left the tetras in the small tank I was using before(which held my other fish that i put in the new tank(guppy and African dwarf frog)) The next day I put the tetras in because the rest of the tank was doing great. The next day all of my tetras were dead. I did a little research and nobody suggests neon tetras were great starter fish and were too sensitive. I didn't think much of it and believed that they were not the fish for me. Late yesterday I was looking into aquarium help and learned about cycling your tank. I had no clue about this and already have fish and a running tank! What should I do now!! I can return two of the fish but I can't return the other guppy of afd that I previously had. I am still a little clueless about the situation and need help. I don't want to end up a fish killer! Currently my fish seem alright but is it also ok for me to wait until two days from now? Do I have to act quickly? I thought the best way to do this is to return the two new fish and put my old fish back in the smaller tank(which I never cycled and the fish were fine). But I still need to understand, How should I cycle?!
 
If the smaller tank has had fish in it for a while, it has already cycled, so I would put any fish you want to keep in that.

Do you have a test kit? To truly understand and properly cycle your tank you'll absolutely need one, preferably an API freshwater master test kit.
 
thanks so much! :thanks:
I dont have a test kit so is there anything else i could do to prevent my fish from dieing? Or will they die? I put in some easy balance plus to reduce ammonia. also, I thought that two little guppies in a 10 gal tank couldnt do that much damage in a couple of days. So maybe I have some time to think this over and find a good way to deal with this. I am also using fish food which reduces ammonia.
 
Last edited:
You should be able to get a test kit. They're not expensive and they last a long time. It's generally considered an essential piece of aquarium equipment up there with heaters and filters. Without it you'll basically be cycling blind and never know for sure if your parameters are safe.

As for keeping the fish safe, I would return what you can and anything you cant should go in the smaller tank.
 
ok, i moved my old fish back into their old tank and leaving the ones that I got from the pet store in for tonight. I will return them tomorrow. Thankyou for all your help! I better reaserach before getting fish next time:fish2:
 
Back
Top Bottom