New to this aquarium thing - dead fishy

[Meeg1971]

Ok, so I guess I'm a bad fish owner with a 10 gallon tank (this was what was recommended to me by the pet store since we were just starting out).

I am new to this, my 6 year old just lost his 2 year old goldfish and he cried for 2 days. He decided that he wanted to be a fish owner and decided to get into fresh water fish (he really wanted salt water, but I think that's a lot of work). Anyways, down to the local fish store and bought a 10 gallon tank, got it ready for a week and brought our fishies home after getting the all clear that the water tested perfectly (2 tiger barbs and 1 catfish). This was Wed night, by Fri morning, 1 of our tiger barbs was gone.

Got the water tested, ammonia was really high, did a 50% water change, ammonia now down to .25 and staying there. I am wondering what I should do next, do I continue to do water changes daily - or just leave it? I have bought the ammonia testing kit and will test faithfully. Do I need the ph, or the other tests or is the ammonia the main one I need to keep testing for? When I change the water, I use the tap water conditioner, wait an hour and add cycle. I am careful with feeding as well. I don't feed them much, as there are only 2 fish in there.

Sorry for all of the questions. This is the first time I have owned tropical fish and I think it will be fun, once I get the hang of it, but don't want our fish to suffer in the meantime. I really get attached to them.

Thanks in advance. I really wish I knew about this site before I got the fish. I relied on the "expertise" of the family owned pet store.

/Meeg

p.s. The other tiger barb and catfish seem to be doing well.

 

[misterking]

Welcome to the tank! Don't worry and don't see it as your fault - unfortunately people new to the hobby are often sucked in by people at pet stores which can lead us to make expensive mistakes. I myself started out like your son, but at 8 years old, fascinated by fish and "compromising" for a freshwater, I've never looked back!

The problem with pet stores is, although they often do have expertise, they often ignore this to make a sale.

The problem here is, as I'm sure you've realised, ammonia poisoning. What has happened is, an immature filter with a very small or non-existant bacteria colony has suddenly had fish waste added to it. Ammonia in the fish waste hasn't been converted to nitrIte (also toxic) and then nitrAte (harmless).

For the future you should read up on cycling a tank properly, which is when this colony of beneficial bactera has been allowed to build up to a sufficient amount in the filter and on rocks/decorations and gravel to cope with fish waste.

For now, keep up with the water changes every time ammonia gets high. I strongly suggest buying tests for pH, nitrIte and nitrAte. What brand and type (liquid/paper strip) of test are you using? I reccommend, as will probably 90% of users on this forum, investing in the API freshwater master test kit, which tests for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, pH and high range pH, using liquid droppers and colour charts and is very accurate. This means you can test also toxic nitrIte levels, and see when your tank is fully cycled.

Don't add any fish until your levels are settled for a week or two as follows: ammonia 0, nitrIte 0, nitrAte between 10 and 20. I know it'll be hard with a little'un wanting to buy fishies, just try to keep away from the fish store and he won't be able to guilt you into buying more fish (I used to be an expert, trust me! haha).

Then, when settled, add fish slowly and only a few at a time until fully stocked. For small tanks and for newbies it's often reccommended to follow a "one inch of FULLY GROWN fish per gallon", meaning you can house 10 inches of fully grown fish. I'd consider buying a few more tiger barbs, they grow to about 2 inches each, because they can be quite nippy when there aren't many. Do you know what catfish you have bought? Corydoras catfish like to be in groups aswell or they tend to hide a lot.

Unfortunately a 10 gallon isn't a lot of space and you won't be able to safely (well, healthily) house many fish in there so if you want to keep your son's interest it might be worth upgrading to a larger tank in the future. They can be expensive but craigslist and ebay generally have some great deals, and sometimes stores sell used tanks for quite cheap (one near me recently sold a 6ft tank for £150, gutted I missed it!). Honestly, it's often better for newbies to get bigger tanks of around 30 gallons or so, they're far easier to maintain than small ones and can mean a good sized community of fish can be kept. For example, if a heater breaks it doesn't take as long to cool down in a small tank which can often be fatal, or if a filter breaks water quality deteriorates faster in a smaller tank. This isn't neccessary now but may be worthwhile in the future looking around for good deals.

Anyway I hope this helps, I'm sorry it's so much info but it's all useful, and I'm sorry your introduction to the hobby started with a fatality, but it happens to all of us and we learn from our mistakes and move on up

 

[Meeg1971]

Thanks for your reply and help, I really appreciate it.

I have the API ammonia kit and will go out and buy the rest of the tests. In getting the smaller tank, my son knew that we wouldn't be able to get a lot of fish and he is fine with that.

We have a lead on a free large tank from someone who wants rid of it and we are going to take it.

We do have the Cory catfish and he's been hiding a lot.

Thanks again. So glad I found this site!

 

[OrangeCones]

If you use PRIME as your dechlorinator, it will detoxify the ammonia but still allow the tank to go through the cycling.

 

[Meeg1971]

Thanks, I'll look for that next time I'm at the aquarium supply store.

 

[KyleBradley]

Ask the pet store that duped you for a handful of gravel from their established tanks! That will turbocharge your cycling to almost instant! I cycled a new tank in 4 days with the filter cartridge from an established tank, and the fish I put in are going strong!