Cherry barbs

[Rebby]

Hey there, I am new to the site and thank god for fish forums. I have a 240l freshwater tropical aquarium which sits comfortably at 25°c and had cycling for a week prior to adding my fish. I have sand substrate, dragon-stone, driftwood and a couple of ornaments in the tank. I also have live plants. I added my fish last week, 10xcherry barb and 2x honey gourami. I have lost two cherry barbs. 1 male and female in the 4days since they were introduced but can't tell why.
I've tested water and comes back fine. Low ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels.
Any thoughts welcome. Tia

 

[Aiken Drum]

You cant cycle a tank in 1 week, and you have a lot of fish for an uncycled tank.

You need to cycle your tank.

You say ammonia and nitrite are low. They would be zero if you are cycled. What precisely are your water parameters?

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

It normally takes around 4-6 weeks to cycle an aquarium and you need to add an ammonia source to do this. Having the tank set up for a week and then adding fish means you will be doing a fish in cycle. This is where the beneficial filter bacteria develop while fish are in the tank. For a fish in cycle, reduce feeding to 2-3 times a week for the first 4 weeks. Do a 75% water change 4-8 hours after feeding. In a month or so when the filter has cycled, you can increase feeding to once or twice a day and do a water change and gravel clean the substrate once a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Don't add any more fish until the tank has actually cycled.

If you ever lose a fish, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. This helps to dilute any water quality issues or disease organisms in the water. And don't add fish for at least a month after you lose a fish because the new fish can add stress or diseases to the tank and make the situation worse.

Post pictures of the remaining fish and tank so we can check them for disease.

 

[Rebby]

Hiya, thanks for replies. I've been dealing with a local store and have been following their directions. I was planning on doing a water change today so will do a 75% as you've said and clean the substrate.
I checked the water on Tuesday and referring to the colour charts chlorine, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate where all showing 0ppm.
I'm going to take a water sample back to store today.
I've tried taking photos with my camera but they just come out and blurry specks.
Thanks again

 

[Colin_T]

I don't like badmouthing shops but most shops want you to spend money. The sooner you set the tank up, the sooner you add fish and plants, and the sooner they get their money.

What sort of filter is on the tank?
Did the shop tell you how to clean and maintain the filter?

 

[Rebby]

That's understandable but it's breaking my heart. So attached to all my little residents already and seeing them go is making me feel bad about fish keeping now.
I have an external filter in the cabinet beneath the tank.
Fluval 307.
I've added a picture. Again it's not great quality. Phone camera is rubbish. Thanks

 

[Aiken Drum]

To cycle a tank you need to grow denitrifying bacteria to consume ammonia and nitrite that your tank produces. The bacteria needs an ammonia source to grow colonies sufficient in size to consume all the ammonia and resultant nitrite and turn it into nitrate which typically you remove through your regular water changes.

A fish in cycle uses fish waste as an ammonia source and regular water changes are undertaken to ensure that water parameters are maintained at relatively non toxic levels.

Set up your tank. Make sure everything is running smoothly. Make sure you have used a water conditioner product with any tap water you have put in your tank. Seachem Prime is a water conditioner that will also detoxify some ammonia for a day or two, so is a good choice for a water conditioner while cycling a tank with fish.

You should have a test kit. Preferably a liquid test kit. It should test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

In ideal circumstances you should be starting a fishless cycle with a low bioload (number of fish). 1 small fish per 10 gallons/40 litres is a good number of fish, but this can be tweaked a little for fish that are social and don’t do well on their own. Ideally a hardy type of fish. You may have fully stocked (or overstocked) your tank before you knew about cycling. In these circumstances, if its not possible to return fish, you will have to make the best of it.

If you haven’t already done so, add your fish. Acclimate them to the water in your tank before doing so.

Feed lightly to start with. Daily as much as is eaten in 2 minutes, or as much as is eaten in 3 minutes every 2 days. You can increase to full feedings if you are confident your parameters aren’t getting too elevated too quickly and water changes don’t become a daily thing.

Start to regularly test the water for ammonia and nitrite. At least daily. Depending on your bioload you could start to see ammonia quite quickly. Nitrite will likely take a little longer to appear.

Your target should be to keep ammonia + nitrite combined no higher than 0.5ppm by changing water whenever your water parameters exceed this target. 0.5ppm combined is a level of waste that is sufficient for your cycle to establish but relatively safe for your fish.

If you see 0.5ppm ammonia and 0.0ppm nitrite (0.5ppm combined) then leave things be. If you see 0.5ppm ammonia and 0.25ppm nitrite (0.75ppm combined) then change 1/3 of the water. If you see 0.25ppm ammonia and 0.75ppm nitrite (1.0ppm combined) then change 1/2 the water. If water parameters get worse than these levels it may require multiple daily 50% water changes to maintain safe water conditions. This is more likely to happen with a fully stocked tank.

Remember to add water conditioner whenever you put tap water in the tank.

Over time the frequency of water changes and amount you need to change to maintain your ammonia + nitrite combined target will reduce. You can also start testing for nitrate and should see this rising. If you are finding the ammonia and nitrite in your tests are consistently low, and you aren’t already fully stocked, you can add a few more fish. It may take a few weeks to get to this point.

Once you add a few more fish, continue to regularly test the water and continue to change water if you exceed the 0.5ppm combined ammonia + nitrite target. With added bioload the frequency of water changes and amount you need to change may increase again until your cycle has caught up. Again once you are consistently seeing low ammonia and nitrite you can add some more fish. Rinse and repeat with testing, water changes, and adding fish when safe to do so until you are fully stocked.

You can then cut back on water changes to control nitrate only. Typically you want to keep nitrate no higher than 40ppm, but I would recommend changing some water every 2 weeks even if your water test says you don’t need to.

A fish in cycle from an empty tank to fully stocked can take several months.

A good way to speed up this process would be to put a small amount of filter media from an established filter into your filter, or get a sponge from an established filter and squeeze it into your tank water. Perhaps you have a friend who keeps fish who could let you have some? This will seed your filter with the bacteria you are trying to grow and speed up the process.

Another option is bottled bacteria like Dr Tims One + Only or Tetra Safestart. These products wont instantly cycle a tank as they claim but in a similar manner to adding established filter media they can seed your filter with the bacteria you are trying to grow to establish your cycle. These products are hit and miss as to whether they work at all, but are an option if established filter media isnt obtainable and may speed up the process from several months to several weeks.

 

[Colin_T]

That's understandable but it's breaking my heart. So attached to all my little residents already and seeing them go is making me feel bad about fish keeping now.
I have an external filter in the cabinet beneath the tank.
Fluval 307.
I've added a picture. Again it's not great quality. Phone camera is rubbish. Thanks

Power filters should be cleaned at least once a month, unless they are new. In which case they shouldn't be cleaned for the first 6-8 weeks. This it the time the beneficial filter bacteria are developing and attaching themselves to the filter media. The filter media is anything in the filter that traps gunk, holds good bacteria, or removes chemicals and heavy metals from the water. This includes filter pads, sponges, ceramic or plastic beads/ balls, carbon, zeolite, phosphate or nitrate removing substances. Basically, if it's in a filter and used by the filter for trapping gunk, holding bacteria, or removing things from water, it is filter media.


To clean a power filter:
1) Turn the filter off and unplug it from the power socket. Take the filter outside or put it in the bathroom or kitchen sink before opening it. This will stop water splashing on the floor.

2) Take the filter media out and wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media when it has been cleaned. The cleaned media can sit in the aquarium or another bucket of tank water while you clean the rest of the filter. The bucket of dirty water can be poured on the lawn/ garden outside.

3) Wash the filter case and impellor assembly under tap water. The impellor assembly consists of a magnet with 3 or 4 plastic blades on one end, and a steel or ceramic shaft that goes through the middle of the magnet. There is normally a rubber grommet on either end of the shaft and sometimes a plastic washer between the grommet and impellor. Make sure you don't lose these bits because the pump won't work properly without them.

4) When the impellor, shaft and inside of the motor (where the impellor lives) are clean, put everything back together and put the filter back on the tank.
*NB* The motors for power filters are normally sealed in a plastic resin and are unlikely to get water on the electrical components and blow up or burn out. So a bit of water splashed on the motor should not cause any problems.

If you have carbon (small black granulated substance) or Zeolite (small white granules) in the filter, these should be removed and replaced with some sponge.
Carbon adsorbs chemicals from water and is not normally needed in the average aquarium.
Zeolite adsorbs ammonia and interferes with the development of the good filter bacteria.

If you have filter pads/ cartridges in the filter, these can be replaced with sponge. But add some sponge to the filter and leave it with the filter pads for a couple of months, then throw the pads away. You can buy sponges for different brands of filter and use a pair of scissors to cut the sponge to fit your filter. Sponges last for years and get squeezed out in a bucket of tank water and re-used. I used AquaClear sponges but there are plenty of other brands. Just get one that is slightly bigger than the filter pad and cut it to fit.


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PRIMING FILTERS
You have an external canister filter that needs to be filled with water before it is turned on. The filter is set up with the clean filter media and sealed up. You connect the filter to the aquarium by 2 hoses. One hose is an intake and the other is a return. You have the intake hose in the aquarium, and the outlet/ return hose in an empty bucket. Suck on the return hose so water drains from the aquarium, into the filter. Let the filter fill with water and start flowing out of the return hose. Then put your thumb over the outlet of the return hose and put the hose in the aquarium. When it is fitted in the tank, turn the filter on.