Bad fish keeper..help please

N

nomisbails

Small Fish
#1
Dec 19, 2009
43
0
0
NW London
#1
I have recently obtained a 32 gallon tank, cleaned the gravel thoroughly, fishless cycled the tank for a week befor letting the fish loose in it, watched the dosing of cycle and water treatment and done regular changes since introducing the fish. At first only the platie, guppy and one cory went in and I have introduced another since (a week ago). The water is cloudy and I cant do a thing to get it right. I feel a bit crap at all this now and im worried I will lose the fish. Ammonia is a little high and cant get it down, I have tried to use ammonia remover but no joy and dont want to just add chemicals unless neccesary. I will keep doing partial changes to help, is the tank cycling again? Also the nitre levels are about .5 - 1. please help me out a bit to help my fish. Thanks:(
 

N

nomisbails

Small Fish
#2
Dec 19, 2009
43
0
0
NW London
#2
Also forgot to add fish behaviour, guppy is sitting on top of water gasping (or thats what it seems to me), cory,s being very reclusive and the platie is also behaving this way, as if frightened or nervous. hope this hellps a little with diagnosis.
 

Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#3
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#3
ammonia in the water will stress them out for sure, and their behavior indicates poisoning, so it might be too late for them..

your tank is indeed cycling again and the cloudy water is a bloom of bacteria (the ones that feed on ammonia likely)
The only way to get through this is to give it time and do water changes to keep ammonia below 1ppm at all times.

I am still to this day confused on what you mean by "Nitre" is it NITRITE or NITRATE? you need to keep Nitrite levels below .5 ppm always with necessary water changes.
Always use treated water, never rinse your filter cartridges or anything that goes in your tank with tap water, blah, blah you get the picture.

Also fish-less cycling should take way more than a week, even with Cycle. also if you didn't refrigerate the Cycle bottle after opening, your wasted your money becuase unfortunately once opened, is not refrigerated all the bacteria that are supposedly in that bottle will die rapidly.
 

N

nomisbails

Small Fish
#4
Dec 19, 2009
43
0
0
NW London
#4
never knew about the cycle in fridge...why dont they tell you things like that on the bottle! will do changes and hope for the best then. live and learn. thanks for the info and the help. It was NITRITE by the way. I have tried to keep an eye on things and the fish seem to be quite hardy so fingers crossed. Thought it was high ammonia levels, what are the chances of the fishh surviving while the tank cycles with them in? I know not good.
 

Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#5
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#5
your chances of keeping all fish alive -25%
your chances of keeping at least 1 alive -60%
I wish you the best of luck with this, these mini cycles can be deadly, good that you caught it in time...
 

N

nomisbails

Small Fish
#7
Dec 19, 2009
43
0
0
NW London
#7
Well just did a huge change, threw away the old cycle bottle and opened a new one....straight in the fridge! I hope I cann prove you wrong and keep all of them alive, how long till the next change? do I add cycle for the next few days? really any info on the next week would be great. I am determined to add more fish with these ones still in it! Again thanks and yes it was lucky I caught it, after the last time (smaller tank now imaculate with 6 white clouds in it) I realised the signs and bought test strips to keep tabs on it. Wish me luck..just a foot note all the fish are now active, platie is moving, guppy with him swimming on the bottom and cory's searching for food...
 

Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#8
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
#8
active fish can be deceptive....one moment they're all "^__^" and the next morning they're all "x__X"

Basically do a 50% water change when you see ammonia nearing 1ppm and/or nitrite nearing .5 ppm

I don't mean to condemn your fish, they just sound really poisoned from what you described..but hey my goldfish survived in water with 4ppm ammonia so I'm sure they have the chance to make it ^_^
 

N

nomisbails

Small Fish
#9
Dec 19, 2009
43
0
0
NW London
#9
Well this is the second time I have tried to condem the platy and the guppy. I know they can be up and down, so do I just keep changes untill the nitrite gets below .5ppm - 0 to be exact and the ammonia levels out? do I keep it at 50% untill then?
 

N

nomisbails

Small Fish
#13
Dec 19, 2009
43
0
0
NW London
#13
Just a quick update, the dechlore didnt get the ammonia levels down and since the outcome wasnt good I decided to do an 80% change in water, also the nitrite levels started to climb....if they are going to die better in clean water :). To my amazement they are still kicking around and seem happy so far, will try to do a 20% water change for the next 2 days and add cycle to help out and see what happens. If this is bad tell me, if not ENCOURAGEMENT please...lol
 

N

nomisbails

Small Fish
#15
Dec 19, 2009
43
0
0
NW London
#15
active fish can be deceptive....one moment they're all "^__^" and the next morning they're all "x__X"....well guess what they are all well and I have even added more fish since. Guess the constant changes worked and I was careful cleaning filters etc. So happy days so far...apart from 1 bad tempered platy! but thats the least of my troubles! thanks for the help and for saving the fish with me.
 

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