hello all im new to this hobby and am having my share of dificulties. started tank with fish about 7 or 8 weeks ago using a fluval 304 not knowing anything about cycling at that point i stocked the tank with a couple of red belly pacu's and some small tri colored sharks and some platy's . which all became a buffet for the pacu's not knowing about fish compatibility either unfortunately my lfs wasnt very helpfull. .at first the pacu's werent bothering the other fish then bammm i guess they got big enough to start eating other fish? it took about 3-4 weeks before the pacus started eating all the other fish, ok back to my problem, in about the 3rd or 4th week the water got really cloudy and i figured filter needed to be cleaned (again not knowing about the cycle thing) so i cleaned it all of it even the media i should of left alone, water still cloudy so i asked the lfs and now the tried to explain the cycle thing and told me to do a water change. cleaned the gravel and replaced about 1/3 the water was better but still not crysal clear so i then tried "crystal clear that did it but only lasted a week. then i descided to find a new home for my pacu's. now its been about 6 or 7 weeks and figured cycle is over ( I was told takes about 50 days ) i went to my lfs and purchased 6 small tiger barbs and 4 redfin tinfoil barbs . the next day the tinfoil barbs were swimming upside down and died a few hours later, swim bladder prob? and i lost 2 or my small tiger barbs and the rest dont look too good, took a ammonia test at that time and found to be .5 so now to my question is the ammonia high due to the cycle being slowwed down due to my cleaning the filter and water change too soon or something else? what can i do to save my remaining fish? should i just keep my fingers crossed and hope the remaining fish make it through the remainder of cycle?
cycling my 90 gal
- Thread starter mdcordeiro
- Start date
Do you have nitrite and nitrate test kits? If so, please post the readings otherwise you will have to buy them to monitor the progress of the cycle. These are not luxury items but are essential. To keep ammonia levels down you will have to keep doing water changes, whatever it takes to get them below 0.5 maximum but preferably as low as you can go. Even if it means doing back to back 50% water changes every day. I can't tell how far you are through the cycle without nitrite/nitrate values but I have a feeling that nitrite is on the high side causing the deaths.
You need to make a decision on what exactly you want to stock your tank with. You seem to be relying on whatever your LFS gives you and they are selling you the worst possible species. To be honest I would dump them and look elsewhere. They seem to be preying on your wallet. Pacus and tinfoil barbs are not for a 90g tank and your LFS knows this or they shouldn't be running a shop.
It's fine to clean out your filter as long as you are doing it with old tank water. Make sure you use a dechlorinator during water changes. I know this must be a bit upsetting watching your tank seem to fall to bits, but keep testing the water every day and post the results and the poeple on this forum will get you through this. At least you've learned that there's LFS out there who are worthless.
You need to make a decision on what exactly you want to stock your tank with. You seem to be relying on whatever your LFS gives you and they are selling you the worst possible species. To be honest I would dump them and look elsewhere. They seem to be preying on your wallet. Pacus and tinfoil barbs are not for a 90g tank and your LFS knows this or they shouldn't be running a shop.
It's fine to clean out your filter as long as you are doing it with old tank water. Make sure you use a dechlorinator during water changes. I know this must be a bit upsetting watching your tank seem to fall to bits, but keep testing the water every day and post the results and the poeple on this forum will get you through this. At least you've learned that there's LFS out there who are worthless.
in my opinion, ditch the pacus and start over with a fishless cycle. even just one of them will get far, far too big for a 90. you can read the "had to euthanize pacu's over the weekend" thread at the top of this forum for a good example of how big they get. we're talking hundreds of gallons to house them correctly.
take them back to the store, pick up some clear ammonia at walmart or a hardware store, and read the thread on cycling. you already have some bacteria, so it should be much quicker than a regular cycle. while it it cycling, you can use the time to research compatible fish, and then when it's done you can buy all of them at once.
good luck!
take them back to the store, pick up some clear ammonia at walmart or a hardware store, and read the thread on cycling. you already have some bacteria, so it should be much quicker than a regular cycle. while it it cycling, you can use the time to research compatible fish, and then when it's done you can buy all of them at once.
good luck!
Yeah agreed, I was assuming that the tiger barbs were all that's left. If they are not on your final wish list I'd take them back and do a fishless.
** Edit - here's some good links
cycle
Additional cycle thoughts
** Edit - here's some good links
cycle
Additional cycle thoughts
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I have removed the pacus from the tank I did that before i started with the barbs and tetras but the barbs are dying quickly. have 4 tiger barbs and 3 tetras left as of this morning . im gonna do a water change and get a nitrate and nitride test kit today thanks
P.S barbs abd tetras are comatible right?
P.S barbs abd tetras are comatible right?
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Tinfoil barbs, or tiger barbs? Let's get is straight.
Tinfoil barbs are a lot hardier than tiger barbs, and will practically thrive in raw sewage. Great fish to cycle a tank with, but not one I'd keep because they grow at an obnoxious rate, and eat everything. They'll keep up with the Pacus though. Tigers are not as hardy as tinfoils, and the little sumatra barb is a bit sensitive to ammonia and chlorine.
The tank cloudiness is what we can attribute to 'new tank syndrome' , and usually occurs after your tank is done cycling after ammo/nitrite levels drop off and allow water born bacteria or algae to consume what's left of the nutrient stack. You should let it follow it's course.
I can tell you what happened here because it's obvious, and the only frustrating part are the dumb and misguided answers in this thread. Basically when you cleaned the Fluval you nuked the bacteria colonies responsible for ammo/nitrite reduction, and caused an ammo spike given those pacus likely put out a lot of it.
Personally you coulnd't force me at gun point to use external biological filtration in the form of a cannister, wet-dry or bio-wheel because these contraptions are the invention of marketing depts and not biologists. Ideally biological filtration should occur *inside* you tank and not inside some plastic gadget where it will be both unreliable, and prone to problems like ammo spikes when you clean them.
If you have a tank long enough, external colonies of bacteria will grow inside the tank in the gravel to compete with the external gadget giving you some redundancy. However, with a new tank, bacteria are going to primarily establish themselves where there's the most circulation and contact area.
My suggestion is to add some power heads inside the main tank, and only use the Fluval (if at all) for occasional mechanical filtration. If you have sufficient circulation inside the main tank the ammo/nitrite cycle will fix itself in short order (within a few weeks), and all will be well.
Tinfoil barbs are a lot hardier than tiger barbs, and will practically thrive in raw sewage. Great fish to cycle a tank with, but not one I'd keep because they grow at an obnoxious rate, and eat everything. They'll keep up with the Pacus though. Tigers are not as hardy as tinfoils, and the little sumatra barb is a bit sensitive to ammonia and chlorine.
The tank cloudiness is what we can attribute to 'new tank syndrome' , and usually occurs after your tank is done cycling after ammo/nitrite levels drop off and allow water born bacteria or algae to consume what's left of the nutrient stack. You should let it follow it's course.
I can tell you what happened here because it's obvious, and the only frustrating part are the dumb and misguided answers in this thread. Basically when you cleaned the Fluval you nuked the bacteria colonies responsible for ammo/nitrite reduction, and caused an ammo spike given those pacus likely put out a lot of it.
Personally you coulnd't force me at gun point to use external biological filtration in the form of a cannister, wet-dry or bio-wheel because these contraptions are the invention of marketing depts and not biologists. Ideally biological filtration should occur *inside* you tank and not inside some plastic gadget where it will be both unreliable, and prone to problems like ammo spikes when you clean them.
If you have a tank long enough, external colonies of bacteria will grow inside the tank in the gravel to compete with the external gadget giving you some redundancy. However, with a new tank, bacteria are going to primarily establish themselves where there's the most circulation and contact area.
My suggestion is to add some power heads inside the main tank, and only use the Fluval (if at all) for occasional mechanical filtration. If you have sufficient circulation inside the main tank the ammo/nitrite cycle will fix itself in short order (within a few weeks), and all will be well.
Oh come on. The guy is having problems and his LFS throws him tankbusters. You have a personal complex with external filters. They are great for hosting bacteria. Get over it.
lets not fight guys, my problem is with tiger barbs dying. i did have tinfoil barbs too but they were swimming upside down after only one night in my tank? so much for them . now id like to do the best i can with this tank BUT at this point id like to make it work out witht he filter i have. at this time im not wiling to spend too much more on this tank im almost ready to spike it out the window (not really but close) so i guess im gonna keep doing the water changes regularly until i can get through the cycle. and keep my ammonia down right?
mdcordeiro said:
Pretty much! Thats the best thing you can do for the fish at this point. The closer to 0 the better. Also get those test kits ASAP. Once the ammonia is gone the nitrites will start to appear, which is also very hard on the fish.
changed about 30% of my water tonight ammonia is lower so far 0- .25 maybe test kit is hard to tell or im color blind :dance2: lets see what happens i didnt get a chance to get the nitrate and nitrite test kits yet but i will soon.
also when i do a water change i clean the gravel with the tube right?
also when i do a water change i clean the gravel with the tube right?