New to aquariums, and now I'm in trouble :(

C

Cryptina

AC Members
Apr 29, 2008
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Omaha, NE
Hi all. I'm new to the boards. And I'm pretty much new to keeping an aquarium. I've had tanks in the past, but had absolutely no idea about how to keep fish... and all of them ended up dying on me.

So, I'm pregnant... and we decided to go with a pirate themed nursery. And for a "nightlight", of sorts, I thought it would be rather nice to have a freshwater aquarium. Hubby and I went out and bought a ten gallon tank, got it set up... waited a week... and were told {at the pet store} that all of our levels looked great and that we were ready for fish.

Not the case AT ALL. First off, we had no idea that we were supposed to cycle the tank WITH bacteria. No one told us, and since we didn't know to ask... we didn't ask.

We ended up buying three danios on April 13. Brought them home, set them up in the tank... almost immediately {that next day} our nitrite spiked to 5 ppm. I did a partial water change {which I read I should do on another freshwater aquarium site}, which brought the levels down. Still, the next day they were back up to 5 ppm. Another partial water change. Eventually the nitrite level ended up on 10 ppm. The fish didn't seem to be having difficulties {that we could tell}. I continued to do partial water changes. I also bought a gravel vacuum to aid in the water changes.

A week later and we were still at the same level. Went back to the pet store and asked what we should do. We were told to buy a otocinclus catfish - because they eat waste {LIARS! We now know better!}. And to STOP changing the water... else the good bacteria would keep being eliminated.

Now we have four fish, which has pretty much killed our nitrite levels! They continue to stay at 10 ppm on a daily basis. I keep changing the water {partial changes - 25 to 50% rotated every other day} in hopes that the fish won't die on me.

I did a 50% partial water change tonight and the level dropped to 5 ppm.

Please help me! I have no idea what to do... and I'm so sad that my little danios and catfish are in danger.
 
Use Prime or Amquel plus dechlorinator in your water changes and overdose a lil' bit(not too much, of course!:)) It'll detoxify the nitrite so that it's harmless to your fish but the bacteria still eats it. You will still see it on the test kit so it's impossible to know how well it worked, but it will help!

Aka dechlorinate the water before it goes in and then add a tiny bit to the tank

You can also add some hornwort.

Danios are hardy little fish and you're pregnant! Take a deep breath, and we're totally here to help you.
 
Last edited:
:welcome: to AC!

Do you have a friend who has an established tank? Borrow the used filter media and use it in your tank. Make sure though the tanks are not riddled with diseases. This may help increase the speed of cycling thus saving you from lots of trouble and stress.:)

Once you are done, you can start with a few male endler's livebearers or guppies. No females this time. They breed rather quickly and any additional fry can strain your tank's capacity to handle bioloads. Otos can be kept there but buy them only once you are sure your tank's water conditions have stabilized. Growing algae is not difficult at all. All you need is put a pinch of fishfood in a bucket of water containing small rocks. Put the bucket under direct sunlight. Expect algae in a few days. You can alternately use the algae-coated rocks to feed the otos. API liquid test kit is best recommended for accuracy of water parameter results.
 
Lupin said:
:welcome: to AC!

Do you have a friend who has an established tank? Borrow the used filter media and use it in your tank. Make sure though the tanks are not riddled with diseases. This may help increase the speed of cycling thus saving you from lots of trouble and stress.:)
Click to expand...

I don't, actually. Could I do the same thing with some type of media from the pet store? Or would that be to risky, as the store fish could be sick?
 
Cryptina said:
I don't, actually. Could I do the same thing with some type of media from the pet store? Or would that be to risky, as the store fish could be sick?
Click to expand...
It is up to you whether to trust your store or not. If not, try other shops. Be observant of the inhabitants' conditions. This will help you indicate whether it is safe to ask their filter media or not.

I edited my post above so you'll need to reread the last paragraph.:)
 
SchizotypalVamp said:
Use Prime or Amquel plus dechlorinator in your water changes and overdose a lil' bit(not too much, of course!:)) It'll detoxify the nitrite so that it's harmless to your fish but the bacteria still eats it. You will still see it on the test kit so it's impossible to know how well it worked, but it will help!

Aka dechlorinate the water before it goes in and then add a tiny bit to the tank

You can also add some hornwort.

Danios are hardy little fish and you're pregnant! Take a deep breath, and we're totally here to help you.
Click to expand...

We were told by one of the store employees that Amquel was a good thing to use, but at the time of our last purchase they were sold out! I'll go out tomorrow and look again.

I have been dechlorinating the water with every change. So far so good in that aspect. Should I keep doing daily water changes?? Someone else, on another thread somewhere here, had been told to do water changes twice daily. Should I do that instead?

I really appreciate the advice! :)
 
Lupin said:
:welcome: to AC!

Once you are done, you can start with a few male endler's livebearers or guppies. No females this time. They breed rather quickly and any additional fry can strain your tank's capacity to handle bioloads. Otos can be kept there but buy them only once you are sure your tank's water conditions have stabilized. Growing algae is not difficult at all. All you need is put a pinch of fishfood in a bucket of water containing small rocks. Put the bucket under direct sunlight. Expect algae in a few days. You can alternately use the algae-coated rocks to feed the otos. API liquid test kit is best recommended for accuracy of water parameter results.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure we'll have to deal with babies, as we have three danios but they are all different types... one zebra, one leopard, and one gold. Not sure if babies are possible?

I do have algae wafers for my oto. We had live plants, but ended up removing them because they looked just awful, and the roots were starting to "rot" {for lack of a better word}.

I'll look for an API liquid test kit tomorrow :)
 
OH, honey....you poor thing. You will find unfortunately many LFS will give you the wrong advice. My biggest advice at this point would be to relax, it will all come together for you and try not to worry your self to much :)

Keep up with water changes, adding the Prime or Amquel Plus. If you can get a python it makes water changes much easier, no buckets required.

You came to the right place though there are many here that will help you every step of the way!

We have all been there at one point, I know I was :grinyes:
 
The water changes disrupting cycle thing is a myth - the bacteria don't live in the water, but on the surfaces. Water changes are required - 95% a day if necessary - to keep the nitrite below lethal levels.

I personally advise adding 1/2 a teaspoon of salt for every 10 gallons in these situations because chloride competes with nitrite for uptake at the fishes' gills. You need to maintain that level in proportion when you do water changes.
 
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