Tetras died in 24 hours.

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Ltecci

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Aug 28, 2022
Messages
4
I am new to the fish keeping world. The other day I went to fish store. I got 4 neon tetras, 3 pygmy cory catfish, blue powder gourami and a flame gourami in a 10 gallon tank.

I brought in water for them to test before I got the fish they said that the water was perfect I don't know what the levels were. I let them aclumate for 30 minutes. All the tetras died in less then 24 hour. The rest are fine and swimming around.
 
There are a few causes of fish dying in such a short space of time, and a few issues that may be down the line.

Most likely causes for fish dying in a day or so.

- Not using a water conditioner, or not using enough. Can you confirm what water conditioner you used and what dosage?
- Poor acclimating. You mentioned a 30 minute acclimating period, but what exactly did you do?
- Lack of oxygen. Do you have a filter that agitates the surface of the water, or an airstone?
- The fish were already sick. Stress of the move was just the final straw.

A few things for down the line.

What do you understand about the nitrogen cycle?

Did you cycle the tank prior to getting your fish? If so, what did you do precisely? Or is this the first you are hearing about cycling tanks? You have a lot of fish going into a small tank if its not cycled. That will cause toxic water conditions over a period of time. Probably not enough to kill fish in 1 day, but you will be seeing issues in a week or so if you didnt cycle properly or don't know how to cycle with a tank of fish.

You have also learned a valuable lesson early on. Fish store employees often know nothing more about keeping fish than you do. Their job is to sell you stuff, and not necessarily advise you on the best information to keep your fish healthy. If fish get sick or die, they get to sell you medication, other additives or more fish.

Link to a page of articles for new fishkeepers.

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/foru...ou-get-started-with-your-aquarium-154837.html
 
I let water sit for a week with a filter, aqueon water conditioner and api quick start. I use 5 to 10 ml of water conditioner and about 10 to 15 ml of the quick start.

When I got home with the fish I let the three bags sit on top of the water for 30 minutes. After that I drained most of there water and put the bag on the water for Them to swim out.

This morning I realized that my flame gourami had ether a bloated stomach of pregnant I do not know the genders.
 
It typically takes 6 to 8 weeks to cycle a tank before getting fish and there is a process beyond adding quickstart and letting a tank run for a short period. Despite what it may say on the bottle it doesnt cycle a tank. At best it "might" speed up the process from a months to weeks and involves more than just adding the product.

First up, dont add any more fish. Get your own test kit, preferably a liquid test. It should test for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. API Freshwater Master Test Kit is a good one to get. Until you are able to test your water you should change half the water everyday. Once you get your test kit you can start to cycle your tank.

Ill post an in depth description of what the nitrogen cycle is. But in brief you need bacteria living in your filtration to consume ammonia and turn it into nitrate so the waste your fish produce doesnt get toxic. This bacteria needs to be grown over a period of time.

Ill also post a method of cycling a tank with fish. You should follow this once you are able to test your water parameters.
 
The nitrogen cycle is the natural processes that go on in your tank that convert ammonia into less harmful substances.

Ammonia gets into your tank through various pathways. Fish waste, decaying uneaten food, and dead, decaying plants are common ammonia sources in an aquarium. Its also possible your tap water is an ammonia source. Chloramine is a common water treatment and when treated with most water conditioners the bond in the chloramine breaks and releases ammonia into the water.

Ammonia can be toxic to fish, depending on how much there is, and what the pH and temperature of your tank water is.

The first stage of the nitrogen cycle is the removal of ammonia. If you have real plants in your tank some of this ammonia will be absorbed as part of their natural growth. Generally though ammonia is consumed by denitrifying bacteria that lives mostly on your filter media. These bacteria consume the ammonia and produce nitrite. Unfortunately nitrite is pretty much as toxic to fish as ammonia.

The second stage of the nitrogen cycle is the removal of nitrite. A different denitrifying bacteria will consume the nitrite and produce nitrate. Nitrate is much less harmful than ammonia and nitrite, and for most aquariums the nitrogen cycle ends there. Excess nitrate is removed through your regular water changes.

A further stage of the nitrogen cycle can also happen, but its difficult to remove all the nitrate from a typical freshwater aquarium. Plants will absorb some nitrate in a similar manner to how it absorbs ammonia to grow. There are also nitrifying bacteria that consumes nitrate and gives off nitrogen gas which will simply offgas from your aquarium. This nitrifying bacteria is difficult to grow in freshwater aquarium.

“Cycling” a tank is the process you go through to grow denitrifying bacteria in your aquarium to consume ammonia and nitrite. You are said to be “cycled” when you have enough bacteria to consume all the ammonia and nitrite that your tank produces and turns all of it into nitrate. If you test the water of a cycled tank you should see 0 ammonia and nitrite and some nitrate.
 
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.
 
I will be getting a tester delivered soon. Why has only the tetras been the only one the pygmy cory cat fish and dwarf gourami are in the same tank.
 
Maybe they were already sick. Neon tetras are often not hardy fish so anything a bit off might affect them more than other fish.
 
Ok well thank you for all your help, they were in a tank of maybe more than 30.
 
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