new and confused!!

[dbaeunn]

Hi. I am a down right noob (no denying it).. I had fish as a kid (while my mom took care of them), I also had a Cichlid in highschool/college years that ended up being a carny fish a friend gave to me. I took a few years off from having fish.
NOW-- I have 2 kids, who absolutely LLLOVE fish! We came home with a few goldfish from the ping pong "carnie stand" at your local county fair. I thought it would be a good time to start up again. I had to so many I gave some of them away..
Long story short, the ones I kept died. I buy a new fish and it dies after the 2wk mark with no signs of illness. I've gone through Black molly, silver molly, dalmation molly, and fruit (painted) tetra..

The only thing that has survived from the beginning is my Pleco, Blue Mystery Snail, and 2 ADF's. The ADF's were added to the tank after the first set of fish died off.



I hope to learn LOTS and figure out what Im doing wrong (if I am doing anything wrong)

 

[treemanone2003]

First off, welcome to the forum !!

Now a couple things to help along. With the tank you have set up, how did you come about it ? What size, are you aware of cycling in a tank ? How long has the tank been running ? This will help a little bit to get familiar. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/tips-and-tricks-for-your-fastest-fishless-cycle/
Here is another on fish-in cycling. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/fish-in-cycling-step-over-into-the-dark-side-176446.html

Do you have any testing kits to test the water ? In the above two articles, you will find why these are very important to your fish. (And your sanity, lol). What kind of filter/media do you have ? Did you treat your tap water with conditioner ?

These are a few of the basics that will help us to help you. Best word of advice I could offer, be patient and take your time. It will all come to you.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium advice.

 

[dbaeunn]

The tank was given to me by my aunt.. she's always had fish in it. She moved into a smaller home and she gave it to me. I've had fish in it before and they lived fine before. It did sit for a while, but it sat inside my home w. just rocks in it and nothing else being used as an end table. It's actually an "end table" fish tank.

I'm honestly unsure of the tank size, gallon wise, it's a cube size. 15" wide, 15" water height and 15" depth. If I had to guess I would say between 15-20gal
Never knew about fishless cycling until after the fish were in it.
The tank has been up and running since mid July.

I had my water tested (in front of me) and they showed me that my water was good. After my first round of fish died. I have a Pleco, Blue Mystery Snail and 2 ADF that have survived since July. Granite the ADF's have not been in the tank since day 1 but the pleco and snail have. BUT-- I do not have any at-home kits to test it.
I have well water, not city water. And I don't use any type of water treatment for hardness or anything like that. We are fortunate to have extremely wonderful water, in that aspect.
I do use water conditioner.
I believe the filter is a Tetra wisper.
I have an adjustable heater, the tanks stays 73°-77°F

The only thing that's confusing me is everything else is living and thriving without a problem. I get a fish or two and in about 2-3wks they're floating at the top with no signs of illness. My son and I lay on the floor a few times during the day and night just watching them. After the first round of fish I was just going to leave it to those 4 and not get anything else. About 2-3wks after that, we stopped in Pet Supplies Plus for dog food and we were looking and picked up a few fruit tetras. We watched them, no signs of illness and on their 17th day in the tank one died, the next day 2 more dead and 2 days later the last 2 died.
And once again I am back down to the 2 ADF's, pleco and blue mystery snail.


The tank stays very clear and filters great. Once a week I do between 25-50% water change/gravel vacuum.

 

[dbaeunn]

I do have live plants as well.

 

[Autumnsky]

Welcome to the community.

Maybe we can help you figure out what is going on so you can have a tank you love for the long term!

A good thing to have on hand is a test kit. It will give you the information needed to know what is going on in the cycle of the tank. It probably needs more BB (beneficial bacteria).

 

[treemanone2003]

It may just be a fluke issue that you're getting fish that are in bad shape from the start. Also, without a QT setup, you could be introducing an illness that is not visible.

It may also be an issue with the Pleco or ADF's that you're not seeing when you're not in front of the tank. I'm not certain, but it's a possibility that perhaps a territorial issue is at hand.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium advice.

 

[dbaeunn]

I will definitely be getting a test kit!! Hopefully that will give me some more insight..
I will have to look more into good bacteria, the tank in the beginning did go through the "cloudy stage" and cleared right up, since every water change I've never had an issue with clouding.
I use bio bag filters.. does that matter any?
I have an amazon sword plant and another plant that's very small and in a few pieces, but I can't remember what it's called.

Would the snail, ADFs or Pleco contribute to good or bad bacteria?

 

[dbaeunn]

Maybe this will help some?
Believe it or not, there is a Pleco, a blue mystery snail, and 2 ADFs in there

 

[dbaeunn]

Okay.. how do I post a picture???
I'm doing it from my HDX.

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

 

[Autumnsky]

You can go here for lots of info on how to do things here at AA.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f9/forums-101-posting-accounts-basics-107597.html

Below is from the post about how to add a pic. There is other info about other phones.

How to add photos to a post
Click reply and scroll down to bottom of text box.
Click "go advanced" add text to message window and then scroll down.
Click "Manage attachments" A separate window will pop up.
Click "browse" Then select the file to be uploaded. Be sure that the photo is appropriately sized. 1000 x 750 pixels (or smaller) and no more than 250KB in file size. Forums software may automatically reduce the size, but smaller size photos will upload much faster. You may select several photos to upload at the same time by repeating the last step.
Click "Upload" After pics have loaded close the pop-up window
Click "submit reply" to mount the text of your message - photos will automatically appear at the bottom of your post.

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