Almost new tank...fish dying....help!!

[IbTb]

I have a 20 gallon freshwater tank with tropicals in it. Temp is 80 degrees, water is clear and filter looks good. It has been set up for almost a month and just over the weekend, 3 of my guppies have died and one of my plecos!!! 2 more guppies are looking sickly. When I first set it up I had 7 guppies, 2 mollies, 4 tetras and 2 plecos. Now I only have 1 pleco,4 guppies, 4 tetras and both the mollies look strong. What could possibly be going on to kill off my fishies???

 

[DesignsOnYou]

Did you cycle the tank? My first thought would be ammonia poisoning. The water being clear doesn't really mean anything. We can help you out more if you give us some stats.
Water parameters - ammonia, nitrite, nitrate
Whether or not you cycled the tank, and how long the tank has been cycled if you did
It also sounds like you were overstocked. Now that some have died, you might be ok. What kind of tetras are they? Also, if the pleco is a common, it will outgrow your tank.

 

[IbTb]

Ok maybe I shouldn't have afish tank at all...because I have NO idea what you are talking about!!
When I bought the tank it was a complete set up from petsmart. When I talked to the fish guy there he said that the set had everything I needed. He also helped me to pick out the fish. As for Paco the Pleco.....he's albino and the tank at pets mart just said albino plecos......With all my lack of knowledge that I didn't even know I was missing.....I suppose my next question is.....How the hell do I run a fish tank with out killing poor animals left and right?!?!?!?! I have pics of the fish if that helps any.....

 

[DesignsOnYou]

Ok, we'll start slow. For now you can just run to the store to get your water tested, most pet stores will do it for free. But if you're going to get into the hobby (and you care about killing fish, which clearly you do) it's probably best to invest in a water test kit. API makes a good one. Get the liquid, not the strips. The strips are hard to read and often aren't as accurate. What you need to know is how much ammonia, nitrite and nitrate is in your tank. If the ammonia is over 1 ppm, do a water change (with a dechlorinator, Prime is the most often recommended) to get it below 1 ppm. Same thing with nitrite, if it's over 1 ppm do a water change to get it below. Read the stickys on cycling, or go to MissFishys profile and click on the link to her website to find info on cycling. At this point, you're doing a fish in cycle, which means that unless you keep an eye on the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) and do water changes to keep the levels low, you will probably lose more fish. Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any more questions.

 

[supra1997]

Here is the key to any home aquarium success, WATER CHANGES!!!

Your fish need a biological state in the tank to make it their own environment to live in. Cycling is this process. The problem to me sounds like too much ammonia too. Usually the bottom guys die off first when this happens. Even though you are filtering the tank, you still need to do weekly to bi-weekly water changes to ensure that the water isn't becoming too poisoned for your fish to live in. Just take out about 5-8 gallons of your water and replace it with 5-8 gallons of fresh clean water of the same temperature, or close to it. Do this once a week or once every week and a half and you will not have any issues. Also make sure that you are not feeding them too much. 80 degrees seems a little to high to me, maybe crank down the heater to about 75 or so. Also when you are doing a water change, use the vacuum to get the dirt out of the gravel too. Turn it over and sweep it around. This helps get any extra food, waste, etc. that is stuck in the tank.

 

[DesignsOnYou]

Just wanted to add to supra's post that you need to be sure that the clean, temp matched water that you put back in has been dechlorinated, using a product such as Prime that I mentioned.

 

[supra1997]

Yes sorry, forgot that part!

 

[IbTb]

Ok thats helps alot!! I'm going to try that!! But still one more question. Design had mentioned that my pleco may grow out of the tank....does that mean I should return him???

 

[Whiskers]

yes you should if it is a common pleco. my pleco is 15"+ and in a 110 gal tank and when it hangs on front of glass it covers about half the height of the tank. that and the bio load increases the bigger they get and your little tank wouldn't handle its size or bioload. keep asking questions. oh, and welcome to the tank.

 

[Kissyboots]

Yeah, definitely return the plecos (I see you have two...!) They get too big for a 20g and are mega poop machines, or so I have heard.

Do some water changes and start your cycling. Here's MissFishy's link: MissFishy's Guide to Fish You'll have to do a fish-in cycle, but a cylce is better than no cycle at all.

Get yourself a test kit. I'd recommend this one: Freshwater Master Test Kit (you get an 8% discount there because you are an MFT member; private message f8fan for the code.)

Other than that, don't add more fish until your tank is stable. Keep up with the water changes and enjoy your new hobby! Welcome to the tank!

 

[IbTb]

Well only one now...Jorge died....Paco is still going strong. I'll be really sad to get rid of him...I was really excited about my plecos!!

 

[brian1973]

If the pleco is small you could get by for now until you decide rather you want a bigger tank but it will eventually require a large tank. I think every one has covered the bases well so thats all I have for now.. Welcome to the tank.

And dont sweat the fact you have lost a few fish, most of us have made similiar mistakes.

 

[MissFishy]

IBTB, please please take a look and read through the ENTIRE site linked in my profile. Read over cycling and stocking. Your fish are dying of ammonia poisoning because you didn't cycle your tank. In the future, don't take any advice from store employees, not even fish store employees. They rarely give you any useful or correct advice.

 

[IbTb]

OK so I read your page MissFishy and I did a fish in cycle and cleaned the gravel last night.Unfortunatly, I have to wait until Saturday to buy the test kit. My guppies are still doing poorly I think. The mollies and the tetras and the pleco look good. Are the guppies to far gone or should they be perking up.I'm so sorry to keep asking questions.

 

[Kissyboots]

If you need answers, then ask. Don't be shy! Hehe.
I'd say keep up with the water changes to lower the possible ammonia you've collected. Also, that cycle should last a while, which means you just started it.

You could just go to anything other than Petco or Petsmart (I don't think they have it) and get BioSpira. It's live bacteria and can get your cycle to run really quickly. That might actually solve your problem. They used to sell only stuff that had to be refridgerated but I think now they also have stuff that can be room temperature. Just read the label and make sure they have been keeping it correctly, or else everything will be dead in there.

 

[Whiskers]

i don't know how tough guppies are but, if your water quality gets better, i think they would survive and as you say perk up. just keep a eye on them and keep working on improving your water conditions through the cycling process. dont be sorry for asking questions for thats a part of how we learn. untill you get your test kit take your water in and have pet store check it for you. like missfishy said and most will agree, ppl at pet stores are rarely good at giving advice so its better you ask this forum and get answers from ppl who know. i'm not saying that all pet stores are bad for advice since i found a couple ppl working at them that really did know what they were talking about but thats usually not the case.

 

[MissFishy]

Ammonia will cause permanent damage but, if you get the water conditions to where they should be, they should perk up and be able to live a moderately healthy life. Your fish in cycle has just begun. You need to go out and buy the test kits and make sure to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels below 1.0 ppm during the whole cycle. Good luck! Feel free to ask any questions, that's what we're here for.