getting new fishtank help

[2e0raf]

Hi I have recently come back into the hobby after a few yarns and set up a 38liter 7gal tank with disastrous consequences and have lost all but 2 patties and a amino shrimp and one of the plates appears to be developing dropsey. I have recently Ord an new 54liter fish tank 11gal to replace. Now my question os do I start a new and throw all plants gravel water etc away and do a new cycle or do I transfer the remaining healthy play, shrimp snails and decode to the new tank?

My current readings on a test strip are all 0apart from the nitrates which are 50ppm

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post
Andy

 

[achase]

I'm guessing your 7 gallon tank didn't do well because it was overstocked. What all did you have in it? Did you cycle your 7 gallon tank before adding fish? Dropsy can develop because of poor water quality and the fish being stressed.

You should check out the two links I have in my signature (food for thought), until someone with more experience comes along with a better answer for you. I'm a firm believer in the fish-less method when cycling new tanks, but since you already have fish I think the emergency cycle article would be helpful.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Do about a 50% water change on the current tank - to get the nitrates down. If the water is nice and clean, hopefully the one platy will be able to reverse the dropsy.

How long was the original tank setup? If you're moving the fish w/o treating it, you might as well use the same decor... possibly except for the gravel if the tank had been up for a while and the gravel has gotten gunky. Though that can be solved by washing it well, it just removes any bacteria and will impact the cycle status. And you can't really treat a shrimp for much of anything anyways... (most medications are all sorts of deadly to shrimp and most inverts).

Is the new tank going in the same spot as the old? If not, set the new tank up and let it fishless cycle with the help of some established media from the old. Then once that's accomplished, transfer the fish over at that point.

Are the plants live? Live healthy plants will also help establish a cycle as well as utilizing some of the nutrients (nitrates, etc) in the water.

 

[2e0raf]

Hi, when I moved the tanks over I only used 15 liters of the original tank water, I used the original gravel with a mixture of some old gravel o had lying around. I dident wash the gravel as I didn't want to loose whatever bacterial colonies that may have been there as the old tank had been set up for about 8 month. I have live plants in the tank and now that I have a light that is bright enough for plants I will be adding more. Anyway here are some pictures of the tank as it is now

 

[2e0raf]

Hi, when I moved the tanks over I only used 15 liters of the original tank water, I used the original gravel with a mixture of some old gravel o had lying around. I dident wash the gravel as I didn't want to loose whatever bacterial colonies that may have been there as the old tank had been set up for about 8 month. I have live plants in the tank and now that I have a light that is bright enough for plants I will be adding more. Anyway here are some pictures of the tank as it is now

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Looks nice. I like the gravel color combo - white with the reddish/brown.

Have you considered adding a background to hide the cords?

 

[2e0raf]

Looks nice. I like the gravel color combo - white with the reddish/brown.

Have you considered adding a background to hide the cords?

Thank you.. will be getting background next month. The gravel color was a fluke as the i dident have enough of the red/brown gravel from the old tank so i mixed it with a tub of white gravel i had laying around

 

[FreshyFresh]

Looks real nice!

To me, all you need is a piece of black plastic trash bag or black construction paper to make a background. All black will really make your decor "pop".

 

[Kourtenay Connolly]

Hello , I'm in need of help I don't know why my fishes are acting weridly I know very little about fish and tanks. But arm I have 1 angel fish and 1 guppie swimming upside down for short periods of time and floating to the surface. The hippie currently got stuck on the auction part of the filter and the angel fish is blind in 1 eye for sure. She's pretty banged up! Please help!

 

[FreshyFresh]

Kourtenay, welcome!

You really should start your own thread for this, but anyway.. a few questions.

I'm assuming you did not establish a nitrogen cycle in this tank prior to adding fish? A lot of us have been down this road in the beginning. Google "aquarium cycling" for info on this. This is crucial stuff.

If you want to stick with the hobby, you'll need to get yourself a water parameter test kit. The one most of us use is the API Master Test Kit (for freshwater tanks). You need this and a quality dechlorinator like Prime.

Until you get these, I'd do daily water changes on your tank and refill with dechlorinated water of similar temperature. Your fish are most likely suffering from ammonia or nitrite poisoning. Water changes will alleviate this.