Hello, I am another noob that needs help, and another long post
After my daughter got a fish at the fair, we decided it would be nice to have more fish so that that little fish, wouldn't be lonely.... So we go to petsmart and take advice from the store girl that works at the fish department. Here is what she said for us to do:
Buy a 10ga tank, a cover with the lights, a Top Fin 10 filter, Total Tropical Gourmet flakes, and Aquasafe to make my tap water safe. Then she said to set it up and add 1 teaspoon of the Aquasafe to the water and let the tank run for 48 hours. Oh and in the meantime put the fish we got at the fair in a bowl.
Next morning we woke up to find the fish from the fair, dead.... needless to say this was very sad for my daughter.
2 days later and thinking we are ready to buy some pretty fish, we go to Petco and as instructed by the store clerk there, I get 4 Neon Tetras and 2 Golden Rams. I take them home with the gravel, fake plants, fake rocks and a castle. Then I get home and wash the gravel, plants and rocks very well, then I put everything in and it looks very nice. Finally I add the fish..... Next morning 3 of the Neon Tetras are dead and stuck to the filter . The other fish still looked ok at that time...I wait until the store opens and take the dead fish back and ask for help on what to do. I am instructed to put freshwater salt in the water and take another Neon Tetra home so that My live Neon Tetra is not alone, I also buy a thermometer. I get home and put the new fish in, my temperature is between 78F and 80F. Wake up this morning to find the new Tetra dead and the other fish (1 neon Tetra, and 2 Golden Ram) have lost some of their pretty colors and are looking faded, even though they swim all over the tank and seem happy to follow each other around.
So then I get on the net and find this site, and I find out about the cycle and all the stuff I should have done, and I feel horrible for bringing those poor fish home after work I go straight to petco and buy an AP Freshwater Master Test kit, I speak to another employee there who finally seems to know what she is talking about, who talks to me about water changes and actually shows me how to do it.. She also tells me to get the Gravel Vac, a product called Cycle, and another one called AmQuel+ to remove ammonia, nitrate and Nitrite. ...
When I got home I noticed that one of the Rams looks more faded, but they still look kinda happy, getting close to the top of the tank as soon as I get close.
I know that this post was really long but I am really lost and need all the advice you nice people can give. Listed are the results of my water tests and the products that I have bought, which I am not sure which of them I should really use or not!
Test Results:
PH: 7.6
Ammonia : 1.0 (I know it's high
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: 0.0
Products I have :
Aquasafe water conditioner
Freshwater Salt
Cycle from Nutrafin
AmQuel+ (supposed to remove ammonia, nitrite ad nitrates)
Gravel Vac
Top Fin 10 filter
Total Tropical flake food
AP Freshwater Master Test Kit
The fish in Tank are: 1 Neon Tetra and 2 Golden Rams (color fading
questions: What can I do now to save the fish that are living? and what products should I use and not use? and please explain what is the best water to use for the freshwater fish, and if I can continue using the tap water with the Aquasafe?
Thank you so much for reading all this and for your help!!!
Luisa
After my daughter got a fish at the fair, we decided it would be nice to have more fish so that that little fish, wouldn't be lonely.... So we go to petsmart and take advice from the store girl that works at the fish department. Here is what she said for us to do:
Buy a 10ga tank, a cover with the lights, a Top Fin 10 filter, Total Tropical Gourmet flakes, and Aquasafe to make my tap water safe. Then she said to set it up and add 1 teaspoon of the Aquasafe to the water and let the tank run for 48 hours. Oh and in the meantime put the fish we got at the fair in a bowl.
Next morning we woke up to find the fish from the fair, dead.... needless to say this was very sad for my daughter.
2 days later and thinking we are ready to buy some pretty fish, we go to Petco and as instructed by the store clerk there, I get 4 Neon Tetras and 2 Golden Rams. I take them home with the gravel, fake plants, fake rocks and a castle. Then I get home and wash the gravel, plants and rocks very well, then I put everything in and it looks very nice. Finally I add the fish..... Next morning 3 of the Neon Tetras are dead and stuck to the filter . The other fish still looked ok at that time...I wait until the store opens and take the dead fish back and ask for help on what to do. I am instructed to put freshwater salt in the water and take another Neon Tetra home so that My live Neon Tetra is not alone, I also buy a thermometer. I get home and put the new fish in, my temperature is between 78F and 80F. Wake up this morning to find the new Tetra dead and the other fish (1 neon Tetra, and 2 Golden Ram) have lost some of their pretty colors and are looking faded, even though they swim all over the tank and seem happy to follow each other around.
So then I get on the net and find this site, and I find out about the cycle and all the stuff I should have done, and I feel horrible for bringing those poor fish home after work I go straight to petco and buy an AP Freshwater Master Test kit, I speak to another employee there who finally seems to know what she is talking about, who talks to me about water changes and actually shows me how to do it.. She also tells me to get the Gravel Vac, a product called Cycle, and another one called AmQuel+ to remove ammonia, nitrate and Nitrite. ...
When I got home I noticed that one of the Rams looks more faded, but they still look kinda happy, getting close to the top of the tank as soon as I get close.
I know that this post was really long but I am really lost and need all the advice you nice people can give. Listed are the results of my water tests and the products that I have bought, which I am not sure which of them I should really use or not!
Test Results:
PH: 7.6
Ammonia : 1.0 (I know it's high
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: 0.0
Products I have :
Aquasafe water conditioner
Freshwater Salt
Cycle from Nutrafin
AmQuel+ (supposed to remove ammonia, nitrite ad nitrates)
Gravel Vac
Top Fin 10 filter
Total Tropical flake food
AP Freshwater Master Test Kit
The fish in Tank are: 1 Neon Tetra and 2 Golden Rams (color fading
questions: What can I do now to save the fish that are living? and what products should I use and not use? and please explain what is the best water to use for the freshwater fish, and if I can continue using the tap water with the Aquasafe?
Thank you so much for reading all this and for your help!!!
Luisa