New 10 Gallon But Fish Already Dying? Help!

[daikim]

Oh dear. I agree with many of the posts here, the tank should be cycled first and a dechlorinator like AquaPlus is also a wonderful thing to have, also the temperature of the water needs to be correct so a thermometer is also a must have (tropical fish need temperatures around 70 to 80 degrees usually). I hope you have a good filter as well, something like Aqua Clear would be good to begin with. Also, a fighting fish is not really a community fish usually and you mentioned an african something you weren't sure of, if it is an african cichlid a 10 gallon may not be suitable for this fish and usually they are more aggressive and harder to take care of for a beginner. And if your fish died on the the transport home, that is a usually a bad sign on the part of the pet store (who gave you bad advice to begin with) either with sickness or if the travel back home was long the fish may not have gotten enough oxygen. For now since you have the fish and don't have an extra tank I would get something like Cycle to help the fish a bit and maybe return the african cichlid if that is what it is. You'll need to get other things eventually such as a heater when it gets colder and a gravel cleaner. There's a lot of information on the internet as well as many books at your library or book store available to you and it does help a lot =) Let us know how the tank is doing !

 

[Roan Art]

. . .For now since you have the fish and don't have an extra tank I would get something like Cycle to help the fish a bit . . .

Unfortunately, Cycle is pretty much snake oil. It does not contain the proper bacteria that live in FW aquaria and any bacteria that it may have are most likely dead. The bacteria need to be refridgerated in order to slow their life cycle down to a stop. They cannot live in a bottle -- they are live organisms that need food and oxygenation.

Cycle is known to cause massive nitrite spikes in some tanks.

I would avoid it like the plague.

Roan

 

[newtosnails]

I am very new here too, but I had and kept up a 10gal in the past for about 2-3 years.

I did keep a Beta in my tank successfully. He was healthy and did not attack the other fish at all. All I had in my tank otherwise were: 3-4 Platies, 2-3 Mollies, 1 little shark fish (after the Mollies passed on), and 1 plecostomas (sp??). So at most, I only had 8 fish in my tank at one time.

Even as a somewhat beginner, I recognized you have too many fish for the tank. Make sure you treat the water, and read all the suggested info they gave you here - it is very good. I read through it all myself, and I learned alot!

Good luck with everything!

 

[icecubez189]

I can't see how you can get off yelling (all caps) at this person or asking them if they have read any books when the advice you are giving here is totally out to lunch.

Your tank will not cycle if you let "it sit around, fully furnished, and run for a few days WITHOUT FISH" [sic]. That will do absolutely nothing to cycle the tank.

In order for the tank to cycle, you need to have a source of ammonia to build up the first part of the nitrogen cycle. That means decaying matter, ammonia, or fish.

I suggest you read this article:

Cycling a Freshwater Tank

Roan

would adding some fish food to an empty tank start up that fishless cycle (fish food falls to bottom, stats to decay, then etc etc) or would using the ammonia be the most accurate sure fire thing?

 

[polocrosseplyer]

NewFisherGal - how is everything going? any new problems with the tank you need help with? it can be overwhelming, but dont worry you'll get it and once you do, it will be a lot of fun.

 

[Roan Art]

would adding some fish food to an empty tank start up that fishless cycle (fish food falls to bottom, stats to decay, then etc etc) or would using the ammonia be the most accurate sure fire thing?

Yes on both counts. Fish food works, but ammonia is more accurate.

Roan

 

[fishcatch22]

Again, please hold on the bad advice. Not only will that overstock the tank but cycling a tank with a full bioload is just asking for trouble.

Roan

(ahem) i'm sorry for my temper, I didn't fully explain the cycling process or good stocking polices. I don't think clearly when i'm angry.(does anybody?) I hate it when my temper flares out of control like that! i'm normally a calm man. also, pet fairy already explained she should add them one at a time, after it was cycling was completed so I saw it unecessary to reiterate it.