New Tank has issues....Advice needed

[ecvjohn]

Hi All, This is my first post here so bear with me....

I have a 55g tank that I started three weeks ago, Per the fish store I set up the tank and ran it with Cycle for 24hrs, I put in 6 neon tetras, a few days later I added a flame gourami. All of these fish were doing fine until last night.
I check on the little guys 2-3 times per day.
A little tank history- water was clear for 5 days and then clouded up, I've let this go and it started to clear yesterday after a cartridge change in the filter.

Fish were all good until this AM , I woke up to two dead neons and the rest have spots or crystal looking things on them. I lost 3 more neons in the next hour.

I have been testing the water and it reads as follows- ammonia .25 ppm
nitrates 0ppm
ph 7.2-7.4
This is from the freshwater master test kit, not strips and has had the same readings daily for the last week.

anyhow I started the salt treatment today(1tsp per 5g) and went to another fish store who sold me some super ich cure and some antibiotic pills. I have not done these yet as I'm reluctant to put chemicals in the tank during the salt treatment.

Being a complete newbie I would appreciate any advice you all may have.

PS- I have a hang on tank filter that came with the tank, no bio-wheel just cartridges, this seems to be working as the water has mostly cleared.

 

[Watcher74]

Dump the Cycle. It's snake oil and will not help. Only use the salt in the water. Dissolve the salt in some tank water BEFORE you add it to the tank.

Slowly turn the temperature up to 85 degrees. No more than 2-3 degrees per day.

Don't add any chemicals or any more fish.

Within a week your ammonia will probably reach it's highest level. Do frequent water changes to relieve the ammonia burns to the fish's gills. Monitor the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels daily and keep us informed to the progress.

Do you replace all of the media in the filter with the cartridge? No old sponges remaining? The nitrifying bacteria need somewhere in the filter where they will not be removed and discarded.

Good luck.

 

[ecvjohn]

Thanks for the reply, no plans on more fish until the tank is stable.
I have not put anymore Cycle in the tank since day one, lack of knowledge on my part getting it in the first place.
There is a media left in the filter, a heavy floss looking stuff that the instructions say to not replace, so I haven't.

Should I do daily water changes of 10-20%? If not how frequent?

Again, I'm new but want to learn the right way of doing things.

Thanks for the help.

 

[russjet]

it is hard isnt it losing your first fish
same happened to me then i found this forum too lte to save my neons but the advice is excellent

just out of interest where are you living if it is the states then you can try and get some bio spira the only true cycling agent

i am in uk and had some shipped over
used it on tank after white spot and fish
it has moved the cycle on immensely

the ammonia that was there is gone and i am registering only 0.25 nitrite and am hoping this will go soon too.

this would prevent the cycling from adding to their stress
unfortunately we were both badly advised neons are not hardy enough to cycle with

in fact after going through my fishes demise if i hadnt got the biospira i intended to go fishless till nitrite disappeared by feeding the tank with fish food to colonise the bacteria

i used the salt heat it didnt work for me probably due to treating neons
but the level advised is between 1 and 3 teaspoons per gallon

so i aimed for two and the fish actually seemed to gain vitality but unfortunately for me they did not survive

the salt needs to be added very gradually too and watch for any signs that they are not adapting well like gasping at the surface

i added it in stages of 8 teaspoons at a time (32 gallon tank)
over several hours

i hope your remaining fish make it for your sake ,it is very disheartening to have a bad experience at the beginning.

if my advice is wrong please someone jump in and correct it

daveedka is great on lifecycle of white spot(ich)
you could try doing a search too for white spot and salt
just to check my info

good luck and keep us posted

juliette

 

[ecvjohn]

Lateast update- No more lost fish so far.

Water readings have not changed, except I made a mistake in my first post- the nitrites, not nitrates, are 0ppm and all the rest are the same readings last night and tonight.

Oh well I'll continue the heat and salt and hope for the best.