everything is dying!!! SOMEONE HELP!!! 3 guppies, 2 neons, 1 pleco, 1 cory catfish, ....?

Question

I have a 5 gal tank with motor & the algae,ph, & alkalinity is high, WHAT SHOULD I DO??? I am now down to 3 guppies & got 1 pleco today. The tank is new & has been running for 19 days. I treat it with(Start Right Conditioner) (Bullseye 7.0) (API Ammo Lock) I got a gravel vaccum today. WHATS WRONG HERE???

Answer 1

You should start off a new aquarium with feeder gold fish to condition the water for about six weeks before adding tropicals. With a five gallon tank you don't want more that five or six fish. A good rule of thumb is one fish per gallon for average sized fish. Be careful where you buy your fish from. I don't recommend Walmart and the likes. Use a good dealer...they should be able to explain everything you need to know and supply you with the proper supplies. Make sure your temp in the tank is right for the fish you have. Your pleco will need the algae, but when it's all gone you'll need to feed it algae waffers. Don't feed the fish too much either. The more you feed them the more waste they create and the higher alkalinity you will have. But I'm just a amature at this stuff. I've kept aquariums for most of my child and adult life. Currently I have a 60 fresh water community tank. Big thing is check with the pros. Also, visit a site that specializes in aquariums and fish.

Answer 2

First, that's too many fish for a 5 gallon tank. Definitely no pleco, cory cat needs to be in groups of 3 so no cory cats, I'd go with 1 guppy and pick up a few more neons. Could get a snail and a couple ghost shrimp for cleaners. But, hold off on buying anymore until your tank finishes cycling, otherwise they'll just die off and you're wasting your money. Take the pleco back to the store, even the smaller plecos get too big for that size tank.


The tank is new, and still cycling, but the cycle has already started with the fish you had in there. Being overstocked, there was probably too much ammonia/nitrites in there for them to handle. Also, don't use all those chemicals. Get something called Prime, use it for the water changes, and that's it. It'll neutralize the ammonia & nitrites to a safe form for the fish, but still allow the cycle to continue. Stay away from the ph adjusters, it's too hard to maintain the ph at a stable level and will end up crashing and stress/kill your fish. And I do not recommend the ammo lock either, it's crap. And be sure to do a small weekly water change to keep your tank/fish healthy.

Here's some links, do a search for cycling a fish tank.

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/startupcycle/index.htm?terms=cycling+a%20fish%20tank

http://www.aquariacentral.com/

http://www.fishforums.com/forum/

Answer 3

It sound like your problem is you stocked the tank way to fast. A 5 gallon tank should have at most 5 inches of fish. Also you need to cycle the tank or ammonia, and nitrite will build up to toxic levels. Ideally you should have put a bunch of food in and let the tank run for a week or so. This would have started the nitrogen cycle going in your tank.

At this point I'd look at getting rid of the pleco. It will grow to a foot in length and eat the cory cat, and guppies. Start vacuuming the gravel every day, and replacing 10-20% of the water in the tank. Go to 20-30 if the nitrate are over 50 ppm. Get a water test kit, or test strip(s) that test for nitrates, and ammonia. Once the ammonia levels start being non existent, and the nitrates keep under 30 ppm. You can go to once a week changing 10% when you vacuum the gravel. I'd also add 1 teaspoon of salt predisolved in a cup of tank water.

If the cory cat dies before the tank stabilizes consider having an all guppy tank. In which case add 5-6 more teaspoons over then next week.

Answer 4

you need to figure out why the fish are dying are they spotted? do they change colors? maybe they are sick. Make sure the water is at least 70 degrees, I would even turn the temp up to 75 or 80 since fish are dying. Where did you get the tank, was it used It may have had a disease in it or maybe it had chemicals in it before. DO NOT ADD any more fish. remove your filter. vac out 25% of the water and replace with 1 gallon distilled water that you buy from the store. Feel free to take a water sample to a pet store for expert help. keep a close eye on the tank and notice the changes to narrow the problem. The fish may have been sick when you got them. They may have died from shock if you put them in the tank too fast and didn't let them get used to the water. Could be a number of things.

Answer 5

Sounds like your bacteria cannot establish or you have too much waste. What you need to do is 1st check the bottom of your tank to see if you have too much excess food and waste build-up in the gravel; if you have a lot you need to siphon the waste out of your tank with your vacuum (also check your filters to see if there is too much waste for proper water flow).and put freshly treated water back in the tank. If you don't find a lot of waste then your biological filter (the good bacteria) is not establishing correctly; what you then need to do is go to Wal-Mart and get a bottle of Stress-zyme (will help build your biological filter) and Tetra Aqua-safe (will help remove any heavy metals that are affecting your pH and alk). If you do not have a filter that does not have a bio-sponge (DO NOT wash a bio-sponge in tap water to remove waste- rinse it in a bucket of old tank water); make sure you allow a little waste build-up on the bottom of your tank to allow your biological filter to establish. If you do have a filter that does have a bio-sponge then put the stress-zyme and a couple (4-6) flakes of food directly into the filter. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

did u change water?? were they fine till u add all that crap?? if so u went from high ph to 7.0.. shock!!! start right doesn't work at all in my area.. why did u use ammo lock?? go get some bottle spring water bout 2 or 3 gal. of it..gravel vac your tank down and add the new water..u may need 4 gal.

Answer 7

you at the instant are not overcrowded! The guppies positioned very practically no load on the bio-filtration. The cory would be positive, additionally. every physique is stable with regard to the pleco, the generic plecos can strengthen to a length of two ft, sure, 24". additionally, whilst they get greater, they get extremely lazy. I propose bushynosed plecos, they stay small (5-6") and are stable workers. whilst the generic pleco gets to be approximately 5", you may often commerce him back to the fish shop for a small one, they like to get huge plecos back (the sell them for extra). The pink claw isn't in all probability a crab, yet a shrimp. I definitely have 4 of them in a tank with albino plecos (10) and a few small African cichlids (5) talked approximately as kribs (pelvicachromis pulcher, in case you have an interest in the Latin call). The pink claws at the instant are not bothersome whilst it includes stay fish. they don't look to be solid sufficient to hold and kill a healthful fish. Mine in basic terms subject the fish whilst the fish attempt to take over the shrimps hiding place. Now for water differences. I propose doing a 25% water replace the different day for 8 days. which will save your poisonous ranges at a potential volume and nonetheless provide the effective micro organism a raffle to strengthen and multiply to the place they are able to assist with the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. so a ways as chemical ingredients, i don't think in them. as quickly as your tank is cycled, area out the chemistry and your fish will do in basic terms positive on your faucet water (do use DeChlor, although). do not ignore to do standard (weekly) partial (25-30%) water differences. which will save your tank clean and your fish healthful and satisfied. save your clear out working and positioned clean carbon in it if the water starts smelling undesirable. The scent and the cloudiness are widely used areas of the nitrogen cycle and could clean up on their very own by way of fact the micro organism attain the suited ranges. be satisfied to digital mail me in case you have extra questions. ascertain you enter you handle two times in this internet site so it extremely is going to be extensive-unfold. stable success.

Answer 8

Could be new tank syndrome (i.e, ammonia and nitrite poisoning).

Cut down on the usage of chemical treatments and test your ammonia and nitrite readings. Those should both be 0ppm. You should have nitrates below 40ppm. If you have any traces of ammonia or nitrite do an immediate 25% water change. You may have to do this every day or every other day until the levels (if they are present) go down.

Answer 9

Quit putting Goop in your tank.Don't add any fish.Wait untill your tank has cycled.Small water changes may be necessary if your water is yellow. stop feeding for two to three days,it won't hurt them to not eat for a few days.Let the tank cycle.

Answer 10

sorry, U went too fast! it takes time to properly condition a tank, and U tried to short-cut.

bottled or distilled water is a better start, too: tap-water, however treated, often nowadays contains chloramines: they do =Not!= gas-off.

i'm sorry - but U may lose all these fish, and very fast...