Help! Already lost a few

R

realtorjoesgirl

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Aug 22, 2007
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I first posted in here about a week ago after I set up my 28 gallon tank. Since then I've lost the 2 plecotamuses I had and just discovered one of my neons is gone. :( I've had tanks in the past and always just accepted loss as a part of having a tank, but after being in this forum and reading the posts, I realize it's more than just filling a tank, picking out some pretty fish and dumping them in. I feel really BAD about my fish even though they were pretty little. My other two neons are "quivering" and staying in one place so I don't know how long I'll have them.

Anyway, I read the post about cycling and of course will not be buying any more fish until I know it's safe. What sort of "media" do I buy to start the bacteria? Are you supposed to take some of the water out and put in new on a regular basis? Wouldn't that negate the effect of having your tank water stabilize?

Thanks!

Karen

P.S. On a side note, I got up this morning to feed the fish and my dog, a beagle, had somehow gotten the canister open and ate the entire thing! Off to the pet store I go today!
 
by "media" we mean "filter media", like a cartridge that has been used in the filter of someone's else tank for a few weeks, or any kind of sponge filter used in the tank, a bio-wheel someone lets you borrow, or even a bag of top-layer gravel put into your tank or mixed in with your gravel. all these things contain the good bacteria that you need.

The cycle stabilizes due to the bacteria performing the necessary chemical conversions (by eating) to turn ammonia into nitrite into nitrate. The bacteria, being microscopic themselves, can feed off of very tiny amounts of these things. In the interest of your fish, you want to change the water on sometimes a daily basis during a cycle, otherwise they can suffer long-term health problems or even die from exposure to the toxic ammonia and nitrite. as long as you do water changes correctly (use dechlorinator, don't pour tap water into the filter, turn the filter off during water changes, match the temperature), they will not harm the bacterial colonies and you fish will stay healthy as well.
 
Well, I lost all three neons and now have two Dalmation mollies left. The good news is I found an awesome fish store here in Columbus and went there yesterday to get a testing kit and a few other things (replace the can of food the dog ate).

They were very nice and said that my last two fish should be OK since they're hardier than the others I had. I tested the water this morning (just fo ammonia as that's all the time I had) and it was at 1. So I changed out about 10% of the water, added some destressing liquid that came with the tank, and the two mollies perked up. So I will continue to watch them and test the water before I add anything else.

Question: If you do frequent water changes, where do you keep the water so it's not coming right out of the tap? (I used dechlor). My tank's 28 gallons so I'd have to have 7 gallons of water to replace 25%. Any ideas on an easy way to have water available? Also, the testing kit suggested using some kind of "de-ammonia-ing" product to change the ammonia in the tank to non-toxic. Do these things work and is it an alternative to all the testing and water changes?

Thanks,

Karen
 
Stick with water changes as a way to dilute ammonia. There is no substitute to testing the water. I'd suggest testing your nitrites, nitrates and pH as well.
 
realtorjoesgirl said:
Question: If you do frequent water changes, where do you keep the water so it's not coming right out of the tap? (I used dechlor). My tank's 28 gallons so I'd have to have 7 gallons of water to replace 25%. Any ideas on an easy way to have water available? Also, the testing kit suggested using some kind of "de-ammonia-ing" product to change the ammonia in the tank to non-toxic. Do these things work and is it an alternative to all the testing and water changes?

Thanks,

Karen
Click to expand...
Karen,

Prime is often used as a de-chlorinator and this is a product that also tranfers ammonia into it's non-toxic state that can still be used by bacterias (Also, this will still register as ammonia in your testing). I thnk AquaSafe also does this???

As for water, if you are using a de-chlorinator then you do not need ot age your water. I personally use old kitty litter buckets to do my PWCs. I add the amount ask for, pour in the water and transfer this to the tank.

The other method is to get a Python and pour the water directly into the tank, but one must treat for the total volume each time not just the water being replaced. I don't care for this method as clearly not all of the water is being treated "instantly".
 
If amonia is at 1 I would do a 50% water change. Wait an hour or two and test again. If it still isn't below .25 do another 50% water change.
Since you will be doing a fish-in cycle you will be doing LOTS of water changes to upcoming 4 weeks!
If you haven't already done so, buy an extra bucket so you can keep on getting water out instead of having to take one bucket out, empty it, start again...
It can be done, it just is a lot of work. When I started I did fish-in cycled because I absolutely didn't know any better. I found I got to learn to test, do water changes and keep an eye on my fish very fast!
Steep learning curve - this fish keeping!

L.
 
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