New aquarium owner

[Greg5530]

Hello all!

I'm new to this whole aquarium experience ! My 3 1/2 year old wanted a fish and I was told that bigger tanks were easier to control than little ones! I set up the tank and let it run for a couple days and maintained a temp of 78, I was told to buy tetra safe start to jump start the bacteria! I did just this and 3 fancy guppies and 2 zebra dianos! After just 24 hours 2 guppies have died making my self pretty sad about it, I have read just about every thread I could possibly come accross and nothing is helping! I have a 20 gallon tank water temp is maintained at 78 and ph 7! I read in to the gh and kh but was told that I just needed to worry about the ph! Needless to say since then I have killed 2 more leaving 1 zebra diano to suffer! He is not looking too good! Any help,is much appreciated!

[Andrew McFadden]

to AA
First thing is do you have a test kit? And what kind? It sounds to me like you should read up on this and fast before you loose all your fish. If you have any questions just ask this is a great site and people love to help or figure out problems. Your ph is not that big of a deal what is are your ammonia and nitrite levels. Hope this helps oh and these came from our article section here on AA if you want more reading material
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/fishin...tep-dark-side/

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/i-just...fish-what-now/

[Greg5530]

I am using test strips and also had the local pet shop test just yesterday and ammonia was at 0 along with nitrate! I really don't want to keep lying to the kiddo and telling her that they are sleeping and the fish store will wake them up aka new one, I know it's horrible! They are really not eating at all and I keep them in a room that is maintained at 77 degrees.

[Samzter]

Originally Posted by Greg5530

I am using test strips and also had the local pet shop test just yesterday and ammonia was at 0 along with nitrate! I really don't want to keep lying to the kiddo and telling her that they are sleeping and the fish store will wake them up aka new one, I know it's horrible! They are really not eating at all and I keep them in a room that is maintained at 77 degrees.

Welcome to AA! Most people on this site tend to use the API liquid test kits. The test strips are unreliable and do not read accurate answers. So I would advise getting the API test kits. Hope you like the site so far!

[Brandon K.A]

I think test strips give you a ''ballpark'' idea of your parameters, but API liquid test kit is more accurate.

[Greg5530]

Ok so all fish have officially died and I feel horrible, I'm not giving up on the tank though, what should be my next steps? I will be getting a master test kit tomorrow FYI, just test strips now gh 30, kh 40 , ph between 6.5-7.0 no2 0-0.5 and no3 appears to be 20 this is using the test strips so kind of hard to read! Any info is much appreciated

[FishontheRock]

Read the two articles that Andrew posted above.
And get a liquid test kit. I have done comparative tests and had nitrite at 1 ppm with the liquid and 0ppm with the kit.

[Andrew McFadden]

Originally Posted by Greg5530

Ok so all fish have officially died and I feel horrible, I'm not giving up on the tank though, what should be my next steps?

You need to look into getting an api test kit then move on to cycling the tank I posted articles above on how to. Since you have no fish I would do a fishless cycle. What decor do you have in the tank? Not everything is fish safe. Can you upload a picture?

[paytertot]

Definitely go fishless

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/the-al...ing/Page1.html

[Andrew McFadden]

Originally Posted by paytertot

Definitely go fishless

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/the-al...ing/Page1.html

Thanks paytertot I just noticed I didn't have the fishless cycle article up there. Haha thanks again

[Greg5530]

I will be Getting the API test kit tomorrow and will forward the test results on to the site. Here is the empty tank

[Greg5530]

I also bought the terra safe start bacteria to jump start the tank, I put this is before I even out any fish in

[Andrew McFadden]

Originally Posted by Greg5530

I also bought the terra safe start bacteria to jump start the tank, I put this is before I even out any fish in

Most of that stuff is junk and never really works from my understanding. You would be better off seeing if the store you go to will give you some seeded media from there tanks. What is the thing in the middle of the tank kinda looks like a butterfly? Did you have that and just put it in there? Or did you buy that from a aquarium shop with the rest of their decor stuff?

[Greg5530]

Nope everything I have I bought from the pet store aka pet smart and I have all ready asked them if them would and they declined saying that it was some sort of liability issue, no idea why but I don't know anyone else around with a freshwater tank.

[Andrew McFadden]

Originally Posted by Greg5530

Nope everything I have I bought from the pet store aka pet smart and I have all ready asked them if them would and they declined saying that it was some sort of liability issue, no idea why but I don't know anyone else around with a freshwater tank.

Cool then your on the right track.

[Greg5530]

Ok so I read the article on fish less cycling ang it really doesn't tell me how much ammonia I should be adding just 4 ppm so what a table spoon, I know prob so stupid but I'm trying to figure this out without harming anymore fish

[Andrew McFadden]

Originally Posted by Greg5530

Ok so I read the article on fish less cycling ang it really doesn't tell me how much ammonia I should be adding just 4 ppm so what a table spoon, I know prob so stupid but I'm trying to figure this out without harming anymore fish

When doing a fishless cycle you cant have fish in there so you can't harm them witch is great. What I always do is just add drops and keep testing till it reaches 4ppm. When buying ammonia it has to be pure 100% ace hardware sells it and I'm sure you can find it other places aswell.

[Guggiboy123]

Originally Posted by Greg5530

Ok so I read the article on fish less cycling ang it really doesn't tell me how much ammonia I should be adding just 4 ppm so what a table spoon, I know prob so stupid but I'm trying to figure this out without harming anymore fish

U don't have to put ammonia in there I didn't do Tht and my fish are just fine....did u buy the tank new or used

[Greg5530]

Ok so tomorrow ammonia, API test kit and let the testing begin!

[Guggiboy123]

Originally Posted by Greg5530

Ok so tomorrow ammonia, API test kit and let the testing begin!

Yes just post ur results