My Sister and I both got 2- 5 gallon fish tanks recently, they are equipped with a bio wheel and filter.... She had 2 goldfish, both of which died with in weeks of each other, and later an algae eater, who also died quickly after getting him. I had a betta who was very lively, who i had about 2 or 3 weeks, and he died too. I've noticed that upon touch the 5 gallon feels warmer than my 10 gallon fish tank-- is it possible that the biowheel produces heat? Or what do you think could be killing them? Any help would be appreciated since i don't want to get more fish, just to have them die! Thanks!
5 Gallon Death Trap?
- Thread starter bluegourami
- Start date
My Sister and I both got 2- 5 gallon fish tanks recently, they are equipped with a bio wheel and filter.... She had 2 goldfish, both of which died with in weeks of each other, and later an algae eater, who also died quickly after getting him. I had a betta who was very lively, who i had about 2 or 3 weeks, and he died too. I've noticed that upon touch the 5 gallon feels warmer than my 10 gallon fish tank-- is it possible that the biowheel produces heat? Or what do you think could be killing them? Any help would be appreciated since i don't want to get more fish, just to have them die! Thanks!
2 - 3 weeks is about the time it takes to build up enough waste to kill a fish. "Algae eaters" and goldfish require far more room than a 5 gallon, unfortunately, so your sister was doomed to failure from the start.
There are "stickies" about cycling in the beginner section. Essentially, your tank has to build up beneficial bacteria for your fish to survive in a tank. This bacteria only establishes itself by feeding off your fish's waste and, while it's initially populating your tank, the waste your fish generate can get to seriously toxic levels before the bacteria settle in and get to work. You need to test the water regularly during this period and perform water changes accordingly (or cycle with straight ammonia instead of fish or one of the effective cycling agents [Biospira or Stability]) to keep the water habitable.
There are "stickies" about cycling in the beginner section. Essentially, your tank has to build up beneficial bacteria for your fish to survive in a tank. This bacteria only establishes itself by feeding off your fish's waste and, while it's initially populating your tank, the waste your fish generate can get to seriously toxic levels before the bacteria settle in and get to work. You need to test the water regularly during this period and perform water changes accordingly (or cycle with straight ammonia instead of fish or one of the effective cycling agents [Biospira or Stability]) to keep the water habitable.
well, here is what is getting me--- the cycling thing sounds right---- i can really see how that would be the problem.... and i know absolutely nothing about bio-wheels so i have no idea what it is they do exactly, but one of my sister's goldfish was in a one gallon (i know, bad on the fish) with no filter or anything, and knowing her i know he only got water changes when the tank was cleaned... but that fish lived for 2 years... (until we put him in the 5 gallon) -- i mean i totally understand how the ammonia levels will increase dramatically... but it seems like if he was gonna die he shoulda died in the one gallon-- unless the bio-wheel comes into play here or something--- in which case i'm kinda lost
oh, ok, i read one of the stickies, and i understand now why you need to cycle... (only hardy fish survive) but as i was reading some of hte comments, one kinda struck me... someone was saying something about bettas, and how they were gonna use the gravel of the betta tank to help it cycle or something... and someone else said "cycle a betta tank?" and the other one said lol, no.....---- so bettas do need to be cycled right? Sorry, i get a little confused!!! 
Any tank size is better filtered...
What we're saying is that you need to prepare the tank for the betta (cycle it) before you put it in there...or be VERY good with your water changes. You need to monitor your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels in the tank to make sure they don't get too high. You need to get a thermometer in there to make sure that the temperature stays steady.
What we're saying is that you need to prepare the tank for the betta (cycle it) before you put it in there...or be VERY good with your water changes. You need to monitor your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels in the tank to make sure they don't get too high. You need to get a thermometer in there to make sure that the temperature stays steady.
Could be the fact that those were goldfish that you had, which do not belong in anything smaller than a 10-20g and should be housed in 55g+ as adults. This is a small tank. Admittedly you can't do TOO much as far as fish go in a tank that size, especially if you're a beginner. Beginners make more mistakes, and very small aquariums offer very little room to make mistakes, and **** can go wrong pretty fast. Ammonia can build up extremely quick in small uncycled conditions and stress fish to the point of killing them.
