Hello all.
I need some advice on how to deal with the following situation. Last week (5 August) I started my cycling process with 4 black neon tetras. All was fine. Over the weekend, however, my dad's girlfriend bought me another 6 black neons and 6 neons. I am well aware that putting too many fish in the tank while it is cycling is going to result in most of the fish doing backstroke. I also couldn't really take the fish back to the pet shop (in retrospect, maybe I could've), or reject the gift she had given me.
I introduced the fish into the tank without quarantining them (second mistake). Needless to say, neither the tank, nor the fish could deal with this. All 12 perished within the first 48 hours. A pity, but a mistake that won't be made again.
On Saturday, after I had put the other fish in, I did a 20% water change. Monday, when most of them had died, I did another 20% water change. After this whole escapade, only the four black neons that I had originally put into the aquarium are left. Monday night, our power went out at around 00:00 and only came back on at 9:30 am. Yesterday they seemed to be doing perfectly fine. This morning when I woke up, the one had lost all it's colour (it looked like a ghost and the black stripe was completely gone) and was literally lying in the corner. In a total panic, I did another 10% water change. When I got home this afternoon, it had regained some colour and was not hovering near the bottom anymore.
Now to get to my question.
I read somewhere that you can do daily water changes. Apparently you can do two small water changes per day as well. Is there a limit to how many water changes you must do? Because I honestly think the ammonia/nitrate/nitrite levels weren't where they were supposed to be. The water change must have helped. Should I do another one today?
Also, could the one have been close to dying because of the power failure? I know the temperature must be kept constant, but it seemed fine... But I don't know. Could this have been what caused the one to go ghost?
And this one that was so upset this morning is now hovering in the upper level of the tank, near the heater and filter. It also didn't eat with the others. It is still not looking as healthy as it used to. If I do do the water change, do you think it might help this one survive?
I need some advice on how to deal with the following situation. Last week (5 August) I started my cycling process with 4 black neon tetras. All was fine. Over the weekend, however, my dad's girlfriend bought me another 6 black neons and 6 neons. I am well aware that putting too many fish in the tank while it is cycling is going to result in most of the fish doing backstroke. I also couldn't really take the fish back to the pet shop (in retrospect, maybe I could've), or reject the gift she had given me.
I introduced the fish into the tank without quarantining them (second mistake). Needless to say, neither the tank, nor the fish could deal with this. All 12 perished within the first 48 hours. A pity, but a mistake that won't be made again.
On Saturday, after I had put the other fish in, I did a 20% water change. Monday, when most of them had died, I did another 20% water change. After this whole escapade, only the four black neons that I had originally put into the aquarium are left. Monday night, our power went out at around 00:00 and only came back on at 9:30 am. Yesterday they seemed to be doing perfectly fine. This morning when I woke up, the one had lost all it's colour (it looked like a ghost and the black stripe was completely gone) and was literally lying in the corner. In a total panic, I did another 10% water change. When I got home this afternoon, it had regained some colour and was not hovering near the bottom anymore.
Now to get to my question.
I read somewhere that you can do daily water changes. Apparently you can do two small water changes per day as well. Is there a limit to how many water changes you must do? Because I honestly think the ammonia/nitrate/nitrite levels weren't where they were supposed to be. The water change must have helped. Should I do another one today?
Also, could the one have been close to dying because of the power failure? I know the temperature must be kept constant, but it seemed fine... But I don't know. Could this have been what caused the one to go ghost?
And this one that was so upset this morning is now hovering in the upper level of the tank, near the heater and filter. It also didn't eat with the others. It is still not looking as healthy as it used to. If I do do the water change, do you think it might help this one survive?