Newbie Help!!!!

[vwhead]

My son is 1yr old and loves fish his first word was sh sh for fish. My wife and I bought a small tank for him when my wife won him a fish at a carnival. Suprizing to all of us the fish lived for a few months. Then my wife unknowingly changed all of the water. Lesson learned. Well my brother in law bought my son a fish tank for x-mas. It is a Top-Fin 28 gallon tank and two nice sized fantail gold fish. While we ere setting up the new tank one of the Fantail's got a white cottony type growth on him and died before we got him into the new tank. Well we got the other Fan into the new tank and he was kinda lazy and slow and his upper fin was not open. We went to a Pet place and got some stuff for skin flukes and velvet. API make it it is called Genral cure. I followed the instructions and did everything it said. Well the gold fish came around and has seemed to make a full recovery. So we went to the same petstore and got a few more fish I added the three moe god fish and the seemed to be doing fine for a few minutes and then the 2 smaller fish started to act odd and lay at the bottow. I had my water tested and it was said to be good. I only changed 25% of the water I am carefull about any foregn chemicals but I still am not sure if i am getting this right I have always wanted fish but knew this was not an easy thing. Why are my fish acting lazy and is there anything wrong with them? Thank you in advance.

[destined_love7]

It could be that the tank isn't cycled. And it could be bad stock from the store. You said one died before it even made it to the tank?

[livingword26]

What kind of filter do you have, and what is your water temperature. How long has the new tank been set up? When you put your new fish in the tank how did you do it? What do you use to condition your new water when you do a water change, and lastly, you said that you had the water tested, you need to be able to test it yourself. API liquid test kits are not that expensive. We need to know what the PH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are in your tank. The ideal test kit would be:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754034&cp=&view=all&sr=1&origkw=test+kit&kw=test+kit&parentPage=search&keepsr=1

API Freshwater master test kit.

[vwhead]

Yes it did, It was in a smaller tank that i was using untill i got the 28 gal set up....SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION. These three new fish are from a different store.

[Lupin]

:welcome: to AC!

First of all, I would like to point out that your tank may not have cycled at all. Who tested your water? What test kit was used? Have you added dechlorinator on the water to replace the old tank water? I would suggest reading the sticky thread made by rbishop. Buy API liquid test kit and check your ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH regularly. Do fishless cycling and return the fish to your lfs until your tank has finished cycling. In the end, you want zero ammonia and nitrites with nitrates not exceeding 40 ppm. You are most likely having rising levels of ammonia and nitrites right now which can intoxicate the fish and eventually kill them.

Secondly, the fish you are choosing have a potential to grow more than 6 inches. What filter are you using? These are heavy waste producers and should not be kept in tanks less than 55 gallons. I would suggest switching to tropical community fish or one or two fancy goldfish instead. The former will require a heater as they will not tolerate very low temperature although heaters are a necessity for coldwater setups just to keep the temperature constant.

For foods, I'd suggest you vary the menu. Bloodworms, daphnia, mosquito larva, earthworms, commercial foods and veggies are appreciated. You can buy foods in frozen, freeze-dried or live form though the first two are safer as the risk of introducing pathogens is minimized.

[vwhead]

The filter is the one that came with the tank kit it is a Tip fin cartridge. The tank has been set up for 2 weeks give or take a day. When I set the new fish in I let the bags in the water for 20 min the I cut the top off of the bags and eased them into the water.I did not pour them out they swam out they did not drop or anything like that. I use stress coat and stress zyme as it instructs me to but i do not have my own test kit. that willl be on my next list of things to get.

[vwhead]

I did a fishless cycle and had the pet store test my well water.

[Lupin]

I did a fishless cycle and had the pet store test my well water.
I'd like to know the results. Did the store test your tank water as well? Your post is telling me you are only testing the well water, not the tank water. What did the store test for you? If they were only commenting, then the results are lacking hence I suggested you buy your own test kit so you will know the results and eventually post them up here.:)

[vwhead]

I will be getting a test kit tomorrow.Ihad them test my well water befor i put it into my tank.

[destined_love7]

You did a fishless cycle in 2 weeks?

[vwhead]

I was told it is 48 hours I guess I guess I was misinformed.

[vwhead]

I have i fancy tail gold fish and a koi and som ohther small gold fish.

[vwhead]

I was told it would take 48 hours I guess I was misinformed. I have 1 fancy gold fish 2 Koi and some small gold fish.

[vwhead]

Whay is my first fancy gold fish doing so well?

[destined_love7]

It could be a fluke. The sticky here on fishless cycling is a great one. Check it out...then go inform your pet store. lol.

[Lupin]

I have i fancy tail gold fish and a koi and som ohther small gold fish.
I'd return the koi to the lfs. The fancy goldfish are usually fine in a tank less than 30g but no smaller than 20g. Kois can reach more than 24 inches and therefore do not suit most home aquaria. They're better off in the pond.

[Lupin]

It could be a fluke. The sticky here on fishless cycling is a great one. Check it out...then go inform your pet store. lol.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598

[vwhead]

Thank you both for all of the help I will try to get back on here tomorrow. whe I get the water test results. to see if there is anything I can do to help them

[leighasnana]

If you know someone who owns an established tank (a healthy tank which has been running for awhile) get some of the filter media from their filter. Don't clean it & put it into your filter behind the media you're using. When you pick up your test kit pick up some cheap plants and float them in the tank, the more the better. This will help to cycle your tank. You can also take some of the gravel from the established tank, put it into a nylon and throw it in your tank. The plants will take in the ammonia and nitrites. Feed very lightly for at least a couple of weeks. What goes in must come out and the waste causes amonia which you don't want right now. Amonia and nitrites must read zero for the fish to be healthy. There should be a booklet included in the kit which explains the cycling process. Lastly do some research on stocking the tank. How many fish & types for your tank and how you should add fish a little at a time.

Your second option is to return all of the fish and do a fishless cycle.

Do post the reading from your kit. If the readings aren't zero you should do a large water change - 50% while vaccuming the gravel.

[The Zigman]

Should be noted that, unless I am mistaken, the water tests can tell you about hardness, and ph, and other things, but will not show if your tank has been sucessfully cycled... there isn't anything in the water sample that would prove to the LFS that the tank was cycled, so although your water might be in excellent condition for the fish, the tank ecosystem might not be ready for the livestock...

[livingword26]

I was told it is 48 hours I guess I guess I was misinformed.

Don't feel bad, you are not the only one who has been duped by the local fish store, it happened to me also. If you are going to keep your fish and go through the fishy cycle with them, then you must be prepared to do partial water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrites in your tank below .25 parts per million. That can take a total of approximately six weeks. The other alternative is to return the fish until the cycle completes.

[vwhead]

I just tested my water. NO3=40 NO2=1 PH=7.5 and kh=240 and gh 180. What is my next step?

[Firebelly__girl]

You need to get a test kit with ammonia ones in it.

[livingword26]

No3 should be 20 or less, but the NO2 is more of a danger, it should be less than .25. I would do a 50% water change right now and another in the morning. Then check again. I also agree that you need the ammonia test done asap also. Also, you are using a water conditioner to remove the Chlorine and Chloramene from your tap water aren't you?

[vwhead]

No water conditioner on my tap water.

[livingword26]

You should be using something like this on any tap water you add to your aquarium:

http://pet.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pPETS-3760414t400.jpg

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753920&cp=2767036.2769160&pg=2&numResultsPerPage=40&fbn=Taxonomy%7CWater+Conditioners&searchSort=TRUE&f=Taxonomy%2FPET%2F2769160&fbc=1&parentPage=family&keepsr=1

Otherwise you are putting poison in your tank.

[ITHURTZ]

He has well water no need for that.