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kimunaffected

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 29, 2020
Messages
46
I am sadly an experienced rookie. A stay at home mom we use to do goldfish and then switched to tropical community fish. Ultimately i scaled back and went with a betta tank. The kids are growing a bit older and I decided to jump back in & I can’t believe I am back in this position and I need help. This is so hard.
I can’t believe I am back in this position and I need help. This is so hard.
let me back up and give you all the info.

We have had a 5 gallon heated tank to avoid water crashes went with a betta and happily had him for 3 years.
when we lost him I kept the tank going for a few weeks and the kids convinced me to do 3 neons tetras & I got a new live plant.
I picked up some test strips ( have not needed this in so long with the betta. Just weekly water changes )

With the exception of finding two pest snails over the next two weeks everything was fine.
And I thought I could easily add two fish & upgrade to my clean unused 9 gallon fluval tank since our family voted to abandon the betta idea and go back to community tropical varieties.
Thinking it is the better tank and essentially just doubled the water.

So I did a regular partial water change in the 5 gallon. Without vacuuming gravel. And moved everything over. Plus one bag of new gravel. I kept the old filter stuffed in the back with the new filter. And filled the tank up with new water treated with safe start & stress coat. Floated the two new fish ( glo fish tetra’s) and released them.
This morning all 3 original neons are dead. �� ugh so my assumption that it just be an easy upgrade is way wrong. And I basically have an uncycled tank huh? Will I loose everyone ? Or could it be something else?
I did a 25% water change and I am watching close. Tests strips seem ok, But the are only 5 in 1 so guess I am not seeing an ammonia reading??
So moving forward what do I do?
I gave away my 35 gallon guppy tank a few years back because I couldn’t get it right ��
I wanna make this tank work.
 
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Welcome - I’d ask the fish store to check water readings with a solution / vial test kit (or grab one yourself). Test strips I find to be inaccurate.
 
Thanks so much I did order one and it will be here Tuesday and I am doing daily water changes I haven’t used the chemicals to lower ammonia before. Is it something I should consider?
 
Here is this mornings Strip test. I did a 25% water change and both fish are doing well. I do have more questions.
I am really kind of hoping I moved everything over from the small tank and I am just being paranoid. This yellow tetra is very bossy to the other one ( probably because there is only 2 of them ?) anyways I went through the old stuff and found my old driftwood and figured I would boil that but I also found a bottle of Top Fin bacteria supplement ( it just expired 12/2019 ) should I add some?
 
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The Top fin likely won't do you any good, probably oldish and not much beneficial bacteria left.

But if there is some left add it after a morning water change and check by evening to make sure it didn't make any number go UP! All the help you can get if it is still active.



Most expiration dates are good for up to 6 mos. to 1 year for hard things like pellets / pills sealed meds and stuff that has been protected from moisture, humidity, higher heat, and light, stuff which could cause degradation of the product.

Other stuff would be less, like up to 3-6 months.

If you knew the product used to be clear and now it is cloudy I wouldn't use it. Or used to NOT be stinky and now is stinky, etc. not use it.

Pill form of something which is now powdery or flaking off. Smells rancid - no, you get the idea. (I know you weren't asking about powdered or /meds/ foods, but just in case someone else reads this later, could be useful.)
 
Once I see my master kit results of course. But would I be able to get away with 4 or 5 of these tetras ( total) if we had no other fish? Essentially this tank would just be a mini school of these glo tetras? Or am I better living them with this number and consider something in addition?
 
You are meaning about the 9G tank?

The Tetras these?
https://shop.glofish.com/collections/glofish-tetra

Are Also called Blackskirt tetras (long or regular fin versions) like these very inexpensive fish compared to the Glofish, and usually more hardy (so I have heard from reports - never had any Glofish) or more so than the /Glo versions.

One thing is, the same kind of fish will group together "school" / shoal together, the Glo version and regular version.

BUT, if you get several of these fish, either Glo or regular kind, make sure you are getting one male for 2-3 females. That is one of the key issues as the male will exhaust the female which causes illness and or death and males bicker at times.

These fish are generally recommended for a minimum 10G for swimming space and water quality. If one gets a group of these guys like should be 6-8-10-12 (or more) fish, they love to swim around. Having them in a good size grouip would be recommended.

They are community fish and go well with bottom fish and other fish in a tank. So having a bigger tank, is advantageous.

Back to your question though. Your tank is minimally adequate. Better with at least a couple more of the GloTetras, Having over filtration in gallons per hour water turnover would be smart.

If you do not have extra filtration, then go for 2 pwc per week instead of one. If you are committed to caring for the tank using best practices, you can keep these guys safe and well.

I would venture to say, when you get the fish tank stable, running properly with stable parameters and no fish deaths for at least a month, you could do a group of Pygmy Cories (they are adorable). Making sure to run them through a QT process to keep your other fish safe as well. :)
 
This is absolutely amazing! Thank you so so much for this information.
I am absolutely committed and in no rush. I am eager for my kit to arrive so I won’t be flying blindfolded anymore.
 
It is great that you are really committed to this project and the well being of the fish.

Sometimes there are failures, even when you try very hard. Some people can find success barely making an effort. But when you are armed with as much information as possible, you can help drive the tank in the direction you want. In the future you might even have a bigger tank and much more room for the fish to swim around and maybe a bigger community.

But with that size tank and excellent water quality you can make it work.

The Cories are darling. There are a couple other types of Dwarf Cories. Corydoras Hastatus, and C. Habrosus and another I can't recall and recently read about. All staying under/appx 1 inch.

My Bronze/Green/Albino Cories - C. Aeneus, frequently seen in stores look like 1.5-2" and I have 2 which are much bigger than that.

The Dwarf Cories are active in the tank.

The Pygmy Cories swim all over in the tank, up towards the top and in the middle and all around the bottom. My little group of 4 in the Wine glass tank come to the top to get fed, lol. They will be getting a few of the other almost 12 which are in a different tank, after being in QT, to keep them company tomorrow.
 
Great thanks so very much! That is so much information I have flagged this so I can refer back to it.
, on another note.
My email this morning from Amazon said that my delivery has been delayed until Thursday so I did my partial water this morning & did a dip test here are my readings is there anything you can see from this to help me verify whether the seeded or upgraded tank did what I expected? so I’m not a worry wart until my test kit gets here?
 

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Bottom half of strip
 

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So I know I am not seeing anything that says omfg do a water change. And I haven’t even done my partial water change today. But I know more experience can’t hurt me right now.
 
Posted results. I am happy to see the ammonia so low prior to even doing any water changes or maintenance. Do the other numbers look okay?
 
Yes!

Ammonia is often observed at just the slightest hint of color towards green but not .25 and it is a issue all the time trying to read it.

Checking on the white part of the test chart is smartest way to see. Good light sure doesn't hurt either.

Nitrite should always be pretty blue, that one is easy to read.

Nitrate is 0 ish, looks a tad / shadow above yellow, but well with in the safe zone - basically 0.

Hooray, the real test kit!

(The strips work until they don't and give you a false reading, even after double checking strips with the liquid test kit, and your fish die because you don't really understand what's going on and don't do a water change [that's me from 7 years ago - still traumatized about it])

Really glad the kit came and you can have more comfort knowing where you stand!
 
Thanks
So do you think my seeding attempt can be called a success or failure or am I back to fish in cycling or do you think I accomplished what I was going for transitioning from the 5 gallon to the 9 gallon flex?
 
Helped I think, usually you would see a bit more nitrAtes. It could be 0 because of all the water changes though.

Watching over everything and time will tell.
 
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