new tank fish dying

[bassbonediva]

I'm sorry you lost all your fish.

The only good thing is that you get to start with a clean slate now. I would keep the barb, if your son likes it, and up the school to about six or seven. I have seven in my 29gal semi-aggressive community and they look really cool. Here's what I did with my son (who is almost 7) when I set up the 29gal in his room. I took him to Petsmart and Petco and let him show me what fish he liked. Then I went home and we researched the fish on the internet to see what would work and what wouldn't and how many we could have. Then we went back to whatever store had what we had decided on and bought the fish. Be sure to add the fish a few at a time, not all at once, or you'll overload the cycle you have established now and lose more fish. It may take a little longer than just buying what you like and tossing them in the tank, but you'll have a happier, healthier, prettier tank for it.

 

[aakaakaak]

Isn't the standard rule of thumb 3 small fish per week; fewer for larger fish?

I'm sorry about all your fish.

 

[Aquarium Mom]

I'm sorry you lost all your fish.

The only good thing is that you get to start with a clean slate now. I would keep the barb, if your son likes it, and up the school to about six or seven. I have seven in my 29gal semi-aggressive community and they look really cool. Here's what I did with my son (who is almost 7) when I set up the 29gal in his room. I took him to Petsmart and Petco and let him show me what fish he liked. Then I went home and we researched the fish on the internet to see what would work and what wouldn't and how many we could have. Then we went back to whatever store had what we had decided on and bought the fish. Be sure to add the fish a few at a time, not all at once, or you'll overload the cycle you have established now and lose more fish. It may take a little longer than just buying what you like and tossing them in the tank, but you'll have a happier, healthier, prettier tank for it.

thank you all . should i wait and length of time befor adding fish now . we start slow last time with 1 bala and catfish it was 2weeks befor we add another bala and the barbs and the week after that is when papa brought the mollies and gupie,and mollies . i thought we were moving slow . Aj my son is 15 and really trying to do this on his own and he really wanted bala sharks so .should we scrap that idea and how many fish are too many for a 30 gl and how many should we get? pet stores said we were an the right track . i really don't want to go throw this agine if i can help it and yes we do have all the testing kits and we have started a diary .

 

[bassbonediva]

I don't use a "rule of thumb" because there are so many factors when adding fish. Also, "rules of thumb" tend to be highly inaccurate (think the 1" per gallon rule, which is pretty much useless).

What I generally do is add one school at a time. That way all the fish in the school get used to each other and their surroundings before being introduced to fish they "don't know," so to speak. For example...when I was setting up my 20gL (which is still incomplete, but should be done next week ), I added my male GBR and clown pleco first. Then three days later (after the bacteria managed to catch up with the bio-load), I added ten black neon tetras, which have a relatively small bio-load. Now that my neons are established (and my bacteria has had a chance to catch up), I am going to be adding a female GBR today (if the LFS has one...keep your fingers crossed!). Next week, I'll be adding three panda cories to round out my stock (I'd add them sooner, but the LFS that carries them for cheaper doesn't have any right now).

As for the balas...you said if he can handle the 30gal, he gets to upgrade to the 55gal, right? Why not save the balas for when he gets the 55gal? I would wait about three or four days before adding fish to the 30gal just to make sure you tank is completely cycled. As I said, go find out what fish he likes, come home and research them. A great site to use to help you determine how many of what you can fit into your tank is www.aqadvisor.com . Enter your tank dimensions and then how many of what fish you want. At the bottom it will tell you if the fish will fit and if you have the proper number if they need a school. You can always come back here and ask us if they'll fit.

Oh, and by the way, as I'm sure you're learning, DO NOT listen to your local pet stores. They don't know much.

 

[aakaakaak]

Thanks for the info Bo. I'll keep that in mind once I've planted my 29.

Aquarium Mom, a bunch of people here suggest using AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor to get a better idea of what you can put in your tank. Don't live and die by the site though. No system is perfect.

"I believe" what happened is your cycle hadn't started before you started adding fish, making it go nuclear without you knowing until it was too late. I don't think you reset your cycle, so as long as the fish you still have in there live (You're down to a single barb and what else?) you can add more fish as Bo explained.
^---Does this sound right guys and gals?

 

[bassbonediva]

I "believe" what happened is your cycle hadn't started before you started adding fish, making it go nuclear without you knowing until it was too late. I don't think you reset your cycle, so as long as the fish you still have in there live (You're down to a single barb and what else?) you can add more fish as Bo explained.
^---Does this sound right guys and gals?

Yup, sounds right!

+1 on the warning about AqAdvisor, as well. That's kind of why I suggested bringing any stocking questions back to us.

 

[Aquarium Mom]

I don't use a "rule of thumb" because there are so many factors when adding fish. Also, "rules of thumb" tend to be highly inaccurate (think the 1" per gallon rule, which is pretty much useless).

What I generally do is add one school at a time. That way all the fish in the school get used to each other and their surroundings before being introduced to fish they "don't know," so to speak. For example...when I was setting up my 20gL (which is still incomplete, but should be done next week ), I added my male GBR and clown pleco first. Then three days later (after the bacteria managed to catch up with the bio-load), I added ten black neon tetras, which have a relatively small bio-load. Now that my neons are established (and my bacteria has had a chance to catch up), I am going to be adding a female GBR today (if the LFS has one...keep your fingers crossed!). Next week, I'll be adding three panda cories to round out my stock (I'd add them sooner, but the LFS that carries them for cheaper doesn't have any right now).

As for the balas...you said if he can handle the 30gal, he gets to upgrade to the 55gal, right? Why not save the balas for when he gets the 55gal? I would wait about three or four days before adding fish to the 30gal just to make sure you tank is completely cycled. As I said, go find out what fish he likes, come home and research them. A great site to use to help you determine how many of what you can fit into your tank is AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor . Enter your tank dimensions and then how many of what fish you want. At the bottom it will tell you if the fish will fit and if you have the proper number if they need a school. You can always come back here and ask us if they'll fit.

Oh, and by the way, as I'm sure you're learning, DO NOT listen to your local pet stores. They don't know much.

thanks agine you guys have been a great help . only one barb sooooo far has lived and right now she is really struggling . so we will do more home work this weekend and let you all know how it's going thanks

 

[Aquarium Mom]

trying to get started agine

hi we have let our tank cycle through and now everything seam to be fine except for the ph it is at 7.8 the same as it comes from our sink the fish store people said we need to bring it down befor we get fish . is this true we want to start our tank off with tiger barbs. how can we bring down the ph and how do we keep it down when we do water changes or add water?

 

[Newman]

no, the LFS is being lame just so that you can buy some pH buffers and other products from them. you dont need to do any of that. 7.8 is great for stuff like african cichlids, goldfish, livebearers, and most other hardy fish.
30 gal wont house most afican cichlids too well, but shelldweller cichlids should be able to fit. you can have 2 goldfish in there if you decide to go with those. if choosing livebearers, I suggest platies or guppies. a group of 8 would be nice.

those are the fish that will thrive in your water. now if you want to go with some other hardy fish that prefer more neutral to acidic water, you can still try to do it if you acclimate correctly from the start. this means you can still keep stuff like some of the more easy to keep barbs if that is your favorite fish.

 

[Thyra]

My mollies are going fine in pH 8.2 water and actually so has my betta now for almost 2 years.

 

[blue_ram]

@bassbonediva Please read this:

Brown Blood Disease - Aquaculture - fish health ammonia nitrogen methemoglobin oxygen concentration nitrite - 02/06/2008

Salt is probably the only thing that can inhibit fish die-offs due to high nitrite concentrations.

 

[kurtismjohnson]

i hate to be "that guy" and I realize this may be bad forum etiquette, but if you get a chance could you check my post about the gravel vacuum right below this one? Thanks!

 

[blue_ram]

hi we have let our tank cycle through and now everything seam to be fine except for the ph it is at 7.8 the same as it comes from our sink the fish store people said we need to bring it down befor we get fish . is this true we want to start our tank off with tiger barbs. how can we bring down the ph and how do we keep it down when we do water changes or add water?

7.8 is acceptable for most fish you would buy at your local fish store since they are already acclimated to your local water and PH.

Over time as the tank gets established, the ongoing ph will drop due to nitric acid released by the nitrogen cycle. This will stabilize with routine water changes and probably level off in the 7.0 range.