A ton of sick fish!!!

[belmont0182]

I recently bought a 10 gallon tank for my college dorm room. I have a nice filter, a heater, rocks, vegetation, an air pump, etc. The problem is that all my fish are dieing, i have lost like 5 now and i dont know how to stop it. any suggestions?

[aarykb]

Well belmont0182,
Sick fish aren't good... you've found that out, but so has everyother aquarium enthusiast, somewhere along the way. There could be alot of reasons that the fish aren't surviving. Maybe the fish have some weird disease, seriously, I'm hearing that trace amounts of illegal drugs are being found in our water supply, so maybe your water conditioner can't take care of methamphetamines...

Well, I know that I haven't given much help, but here's the best advice I can give you: try your hardest, nurse your fish as best as you can, and if worse comes to worst... start over. You can always empty your tank, refill it, buy new fish and love them as much as they need to be loved.

Peace in your aquatic state of mind...

[carpguy]

Has the tank cycled yet?

Try some water changes and read up on cycling.

The fish produce toxins as waste and it'll take a little bit before you get some beneficial bacteria established to process it. Water changes will help until that can happen…

[Grassguy]

What are your water parameters. That always helps. Like stated earlier, Have you cycled your tank?

[belmont0182]

No i dont think that i have cycled my tank... i dont even know what that means to cycle a tank. Can you explain it to me, and also can i cycle my tank if it has fish in it?

thanks

[OrionGirl]

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3194

Check out the above thread--lots of good information, and explanations for the cycling process. You also should research the fish species you want as well--many fish are not suited for a 10 gallon tank.

[carpguy]

Fish produce nitrogenous waste. Its just something they do.

In the very small world of a tank, especially a small or overstocked tank, this waste can build up very quickly to fatally toxic levels. Fortunately there are bacteria that naturally occur in the world that will show up in your tank and "eat" the nitrogenous wastes. Unfortunately its going to take a month or two for them to move in and get set up. This is referred to all over the place as establishing the nitrogen cycle and its the critical first step.

The thread OG linked to is a good one. She's one of the most knowledgeable of the locals, as well as one of the most prolific (6012!?!?) Some other good bits of info can be found in this Cycling FAQ (http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html) or at the very good SkepticalAquarist (http://www.skepticalaquarist.com), especially on his Nitrogen Cycle (http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/nutrient/nitcyc.shtml) page.

The nitrogenous waste is basically ammonia. Its the end product of their breaking down the proteins in their food. One thing you can do right away is scale back on their food. Less food = less ammonia. These things are directly linked. Fish don't need to eat the way we do… you're not going to starve them by feeding them every other day, just enough for them to be finished in about a minute. Overfeeding them will kill them at this point.

Another thing you can and should do right away is get rid of some of the ammonia by diluting it with fresh water. Frequent water changes to keep the ammonia levels low.

In order to monitor the ammonia levels you'll need an Ammonia test kit. You'll want to get test kits for Nitrites and Nitrates as well. Ammonia eating bacteria will come in and turn all the ammonia into Nitr-I-te, which is also toxic but not as bad as the ammonia. Nitrite-eaters will move in behind them and convert the Nitrites to Nitr-A-tes. Nitrates are a little bit toxic but aren't that bad. Weekly water changes (25 to 50%) will keep Nitrates in check. Thats the nutshell version of the cycle. It usually takes anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks to establish itself. Most bacteria-in-a-bottle products have dismal reputations but if you can get your hands on BioSpira (a relatively new product from Marineland) it supposedly can cycle your tank immediately.

Cycling with fish is how this has been traditionally done, and there were usually casualties. Some fish had reputations for being especially tough (able to survive a cycle) but any fish in a high ammonia enviroment is taking permanent damage.

If you should be unfortunate enough to lose all your fish or want to try this again down the road, many folks now do a fishless cycle (http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/startover/fishless.shtml#fishless)… They dose an uninhabited tank with small amounts of ammonia for 3 to 4 weeks (generally). This lets the bacteria get established before the fish move in. It works.

Hope That Helps…

[belmont0182]

thanks for all your help guys.

so how much will the testing kits cost me...you have to remember that i am a poor college kid, and that i have spent a ton of money already. oh well ive got to do what ive got to do.

thanks again.

[viboy]

If all you are planning to have at present is a 10 gallon I would only get the ammonia test kit. Buying just the one test should not be very expensive - probably cheaper than the cost of replacing the fish that you lost.

It sounds like most of your problems are due to a lack of understanding about cycling. Reading up on cycling and researching the type and amount of fish you can have in a 10 gallon should give you less grief.

[demon_surfer]

instead of buying a test kit you could take a sample of water into a local fish store and they usually will test it for free.

[belmont0182]

ok i am going to take a bag of water to the petstore later tonight.

i usually go to petsmart, is that a good place to go or should i find a local store?

[Grassguy]

PetSmart may be fine, but I have found that most independent LFS have a wealth of information. The one here tends to give more attention to their customers, because they want you to come back.

[belmont0182]

i frequent petsmart and a local store called VI Pets, both have knowledgeable employees, they carry a different selection of fish

[carpguy]

The test kits aren't terribly expensive. Figure somewhere between $5 and $10 per. If thats going to put a dent in your weekly budget…

Ammonia is the real killer and its something your going to want to keep an eye on. It'll help you guage the frequency of water changes and help you know when its OK to back down towards a more normal water change schedule. I'd definitely get at least that one.

Nitrites aren't as lethal. When the ammonia fades you know that you're in the middle of the nitrite spike and should keep up with the changes for a few more weeks. Ideally its something you'd want to keep an eye on, but its not as critical. Brown gills, gasping at the surface, escape behaviors (like jumping) are all signs of ammonia and nitrite poisoning. If the fish look panicky, its probably a good idea to get some fresh water in there.

Nitrates are something you'll always need to keep in check. Regular water changes do that. Checking with your local water company (try the web) will let you know if your tap is unusually high in nitrates. If your the type of person who's actually going to use it I'd get one, but good practice is really more important.

That cycling FAQ I posted earlier is part of a larger and very good Begginner's FAQ (http://faq.thekrib.com/begin.html) that includes a bit on which test kits you absolutely should have and what it means to skip some of the others. Lots of good info.

I tested a lot when I was getting started, much less frequently now. Its good to understand the chemistry involved and its important when troubleshooting… if you come on and say "This is the problem…" someone will invariably ask "What are your levels?" It helps to know.

Hope it works out…

[belmont0182]

thanks for the good info all!!

i went to petsmart today and they tested my water for free. It turns out that i have a very high level of amonia in my tank, and i think that that is alot of my problem. i bought some stress zyme and hopefully that will cure my problems.

i have high hopes and if all goes on schedule i hope to buy a pair of swordtails after thanksgiving break.

one additional question. at walmart they have these 1 gallon tanks that come with a hood, and an underground filter with airpump. they are only $10, would that be a worthwhoile investment as a hospital tank for my 10 gallon?

[Ghetto2k4]

what kinda fish u goin to put in that 10 gal tank?

[belmont0182]

i have two female guppies and a female molly(all the males died). Once my water stabilizes and becomes disease free i hope to get a pair of platys, a pair of swordtails, and a male guppy.

[Dangerdoll]

Originally posted by belmont0182
one additional question. at walmart they have these 1 gallon tanks that come with a hood, and an underground filter with airpump. they are only $10, would that be a worthwhoile investment as a hospital tank for my 10 gallon?

This may very well be a good investment for the future Belmont and I would recommend it. The only thing is that you will be in the process of cycling your current tank (following the recommended info attached). If it were me, I would get the tank but not set it up just yet so you can concentrate on cycling that one you've already got. Then, once that's ready to go, work on that little one, using some of the established gravel and water (that's just completed cycling, maybe do this during water changing maintenance) for the hospital tank so the cycling won't be so lengthy. I don't know whether it's done by everyone but I certainly like to have an established healthy hosp. tank due to past experiences.

HTH

[belmont0182]

ok, ill wait until my 1st tank is done. the smaller tank has an undergroung filter, will that make cycling that tank different than my 20 gallon?