I didnt cycle my new tank :( help!!!

[AmandaB]

I know I know.. I feel so stupid, I bought a 55 gallon freshwater tank for Christmas and didnt cycle it. I have tropical fish in it and 4 have died in the last week I changed my water today... 25% of it anyway and put conditioner in it but when I got home 2 more where dead.... I dont want the last 4 to die so plz help me what should I do? I know my ammonia Levels are to high.... I have 3 angelfish and one swordtail fish left, I bought a kit with the tank so I have the filters and a heater.....

 

[AmandaB]

I know.... not smart but I'm new to this, I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank and I have had 4 fish died in the last week I know my ammonia levels are to high, I took 25% water out added conditioner and water then went to work, when I got home 3 more where dead..... I dont know what to do I have 3 angelfish and 1 swordtail fish left. I have a good filter and a heater along with a air pump (my son likes the bubbles) lol what can I do to save the fish I have left? Plz plz plz help me my son is going to freak out if he sees another dead fish, he is only 4 and doesn't understand why I keep killing the fish lol plz help me so he will stop telling everyone I keep killing his fish lol

 

[Mcgolg76]

Get a test kit and do a 50% water change every time the ammonia gets higher then .25. It's a pain but only to keep your fish from ammonia poisoning

 

[AmandaB]

okay I'll go get one tomorrow thank you very much, When will the tank level its self out? How long should it take

 

[AmandaB]

my fish are all swimming at the top like they're gasping for air, what do I do about that is it because of the ammonia levels?

 

[Tommy10]

A couple weeks

 

[Tommy10]

What were the fish that died? Angel fish are aggressive and could have killed the other ones... The cycling problem is bad but stocking may be another problem

 

[tnfinfan]

Gasping could be ammonia or nitrite. Both are toxic but are necessary to establish the bacterial population. Just keep changing water as needed and testing. It can take weeks to get through the process and your fish aren't types known to withstand the fluctuations so you may well lose them. But, once it's over, lesson learned and the tank ought to stay level with a reasonable fish population and routine maintenance.

 

[AmandaB]

Thank u I'll get a test kit tomorrow and just keep changing the water

 

[AmandaB]

2 Swordtail and a sucker fish, I know angelfish are aggressive but the 3 I have just hang out in there lil cave together thry dont really mess with the others

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[Ewokbuns]

Okay. Too many times this happens to new people in the hobby. It happened to me aswell. Your best bet is too do LARGE water changes. Like 50% to bring down the ammonia. If you have a test kit make sure to test the water. And what I do is put the tap water in a bucket and putting the conditioner in it and let it sit for some time. In your case just put in bucket with conditioner and put in tank.

 

[threnjen]

Here is the link with the detailed stuff about how to handle this when you already have fish.
I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice
Although everyone pretty much covered the basics.

 

[Tommy10]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/i-jus...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html here's a link to a good article, you may have read it all ready but just in case you haven't, here

 

[Mebbid]

I would increase the change amount to 50% and start with two back to back water changes waiting an hour between them. That should drop your ammonia level significantly. We can go from there after that.

 

[ScotJudd]

Hi Amanda. This is tricky. To cycle a tank you need ammonia to encourage a good bacterial colony in the filter. Fish don't like high ammonia levels. All you can do (if you intend to cycle with the fish in situ) is to constantly check ammonia levels and keep them low by water changes. The filter bacteria will develop but more slowly than doing a fish-less cycle. When your ammonia is reliably sorted by the filter ammonia will have been converted to nitrite. This needs monitoring and again use water changes to reduce nitrites until the nitrite to nitrate bacteria forms a colony. When ammonia and nitrites remain a zero then regular small water changes to dilute the nitrates will keep your fish happy. Real plants also help keep the nitrates under control. I advise you get a test kit ( API freshwater master test kit is a good choice) and test regularly and record your results. It's amazing how after a while you can see and understand what your water is doing and how it is behaving. I will repeat what I've said before on here 'fish keepers keep water not fish'. Get the water right and the fish look after themselves.
Hope you don't have any more losses. Steve.

 

[AmandaB]

Thank you for the advice, I dont have any live plants in my tank, are they hard to maintain? Which ones do u think I should add and why?

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[AmandaB]

Ok sounds good, I'll do that then test the water and let you know, I do have one concern tho, none of my fish are very big the biggest is maybe 2" is it save to do 2 50% water changes with them being so small? I just dont want to stress the out too much

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[AmandaB]

Safe*

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[nathanden]

yes its safe might be stress full but its all you got to safe them good luck and let us no how it goes

 

[Mebbid]

As long as you temperature match the water and don't change more than 50% it's not particularly stressful for fish.