Bubbler good or annoyance

[yelloguy]

First of all, I just started my first tank (15G). I set up the tank on Sunday and gave it more than 48 hours as instructed by my LFS. (I had not read up on the "cycle", I did just now). Then on Thursday I took some water sample and had LFS do a test and he said all was good. So I bought three Platys (2F, 1M) and two tetra neons. I wanted to start small but the fish store was having a sale and 5 fish came out cheaper than 3 I intended to buy.


They did fine on Friday but on Friday evening, I added some more water to the tank. I took warm water from the sink (a quarter bucket) and despite it feeling colder than the water in tank, I added it anyway (since the quantity wasn't much) and then added some more conditioner to the tank.

This morning, one Platy and one Neon Tetra was stuck to the filter intake. To be honest I didn't see before adding water last night but I think it was adding water that caused the fish to die.

Now I am worried about the other fish. I switched off the filter and bubbler and fed the fish again. They seemed to be swimming calmly and enjoyed the food but when I turned the bubbler on again, I saw small particles rising up ad fish getting upset. So I turned it back off.

Then I turned the filter back on, and the fish seemed fine.

So, should I have the bubbler off? Is it any good to the fish to have it switched on?

Also do I need to change water now (it will be one week old tomorrow)? Or will this cause additional stress to the fish and I should hold off a few more days?

Any advice appreciated.

 

[Rbishop]

Well, as you now know, the LFS has mis-led you.

When they say your water is okay, you need to know what criteria they are basing that on. If you used a water conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramine, the water is okay for fish in general. And it is good to bring the tank to temperature.

However, your tank needs a bacteria colony to handle the fish wastes. A new tank with no fish will usually indicate no ammonia or nitrites, unless those are in your tap water to begin with.

Now that you have fish in there, you are in the midst of a fishy cycle. You should have your own liquid test kit that can test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Perform water changes when ever you see detectable ammonia or nitrites.

You also need to get a thermometer so you can get your replacement water matched to the tank temp.

The air stone is okay, but not necessarily needed provided your filter is adequately agitating the surface. The fish will get used to the water changes and are still getting used to the new surroundings. The temp shock may have something to do with it, but it could just as easily be poor fish quality from the LFS.

 

[jm1212]

i have heard an LFS tell another customer that even though they had 0.5 ammonia and the same for nitrite, their water was "okay." any readable ammount of ammoina or nitrite is not ok at all. okay is to general of a term for them to use...next time you have them test your water, tell them to give you the acctual numbers.

it also sounds to me like they where shocked by the temperature change in the water. neons are known to be fragile, so if the temperature difference was significant enough it may have did them in.

 

[yelloguy]

Well, the temp difference was big enough to be felt by dipping a finger in the tank and then the bucket. So I am guessing that was it.

I will leave the bubbler off for now and I will buy the water testing kit.