10 gal,which started with 8fish1frog1algeaeater 2 plasti plants 3 bulbs for real plants but they are slowly dieing their fins are close together and they just hide in the log and lay down till they die, i treated the tank twice for fungus, but its still happening. I have guppies,platies, mollies, and an angel fish.
2007-02-04 07:41:46 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
It's over crowded!!
In a 10 gallon tank, start with 2 fish. Get Mollys or Platys to start. They are sturdy and don't die easily. Those frogs are too messy, and get too big for a 10 gallon, skip them in the future.
The tank needs to cycle and build up beneficial bacteria to keep the fish healthy.
A 10 gallon only holds about 5 full grown fish, 6 or 7 if they are Guppies or Zebra Danios. Anymore and overcrowding will kill the fish.
Get Stress-zyme and add it to the water everytime you add fish.
Change 10% of the water every 2 weeks. A gravel vaccum will make it easier.
2007-02-04 07:48:13 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
Ian,
You've been asking this same question a few times now, and you've generally gotten some pretty good advice. For a 10 gallon tank (especially one that was just set up) you have too many animals. With all the fish and frogs, you are generating a lot of ammonia and this is toxic to the fish. In time, bacteria will help break the wastes down and convert the ammonia to nitrate (what is meant by cycling your tank), but you don't have enough bacteria built up at this point to keep more than 1-2 fish healthy. You may also be contributing to their deaths by adding unnecessary chemicals to treat fungus. Most fungal infections in an aquarium are secondary to another problem - you may see fuzzy white growth on the fish before or after they've died, but this isn't likely the cause of their deaths!
You don't say what kind of filter you are using on the tank (or if you are using one). Are you using a heater? Do you use a dechlorinator and allow the water to come up to room temperature (at least) before you add it to your tank? Rather than add more chemicals, do frequent (every other day) water changes of 25-35% of your tank's volume. And consider either getting a second/larger tank or taking several of your fish back to where you purchased them to reduce the number of fish you have per gallon.
Here are some useful websites to guide you in setup, tank maintenence, and stocking:
http://www.firsttankguide.net/
http://www.fishlore.com/
2007-02-04 09:42:59 · answer #2 · answered by copperhead 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Did you cycle the tank first or by "which started with 8fish1frog1algeaeater 2 plasti plants 3 bulbs for real plants," do you mean that those were the fish you chose the day of or days after you bought the tank. If you didn't cycle (look it up on the internet) then its the toxic ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels that are killing your fish. If you did cycle the tank then there could be a disease running rampid in your tank. Think about odd behavior or symptoms your fish had. Look up other disease than fungus that cause these symptoms.
2007-02-04 07:55:30 · answer #3 · answered by rhi(09)ler 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
instead of treating the water change it! dead fish cause ammonia spikes -- anytime anything dies even if you catch it right after it dies you need to change the water -- it makes bad water -- if you mulitply this by how ever many have died you can see a really big problem.
does it look like the fish have fungus? fish fungus usually looks like snot. fish seldom get fungus so treating them for fungus does little good.
do they have anything else? white spots, black spots, cotton patches, red patches, breathing heavy and laying at the bottom? swimming like crazy or brushing up against the plants? these are all different symptoms of different illnesses.
change the water -- start all over again. if you don't have a water testing kit keep changing it every couple of days if it smells bad unitl it doesn't smell anymore. ammonia stinks and it kills fish. it helps if you have a gravel vacuum while you are changing the water to clean out extra food and poop from the bottom.
no offense but you can't run an aquarium on chaos. if you just dump stuff in it will die. keep cleaning the water and feel free to ask for advice on here by describing what the fish look like -- clamped fins are signs that your fish are sick but not enough to diagnose what they are sick from. right now though i think you probably have crazy amounts of ammonia and the only thing that is going to help is changing 1/2 the water every couple of days.
2007-02-04 09:00:33 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You have way too many fish in that small of a tank. Do you have anything for aeration? The water needs oxygenate to support the fish life. By having that many fish, there is too much waste (ammonia) in the water. Also did you let the water cycle before stocking the tank? Try again fresh and allow the water to cycle (usually 1 month) and add 2-3 fish at the start. Guppies are quite dirty fish and the smaller the tank, the more often you need to clean it. Try the web site below and get some ideas. Good luck to you.
2007-02-04 07:50:42 · answer #5 · answered by biker_beeotch 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
You still haven't told me about your conditioner. Are you just tossing the fish in with ordinary tap water? You need to use a dechlorinator. You need a filter and a heater, which you still haven't mentioned.
Most importantly, you need to get some of these fish out of there! There are WAY too many fish in this tank. A 10-gallon tank can accommodate about half of these, although you still haven't told me what kinds of fish you have. This makes me think that you don't know what kinds of fish you have. Is your frog safe? You need to do more research before you start throwing random fish together.
I'll also give you the best advice yet: If you are getting your fish at a big chain store like Petsmart or Petco, go to a small, clean local pet store instead. Big chains sell sick fish, because 1)they move fish out so fast they don't know they're sick, and 2)they don't care becaus they sell so much stuff it doesn't matter to them, they are not losing an investment.
I'll check back.
2007-02-04 08:23:41 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
u put too much in at once.
also frogs produce toxins so this is could be whats doing it.
do you have a filter for the tank if not then that could be why
you need more hideing places to reduce stress. stress kills
2007-02-04 08:49:18 · answer #7 · answered by Joanne 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hmmm......did u just do a water change??? Hmm...if soo maybe u changed to much of the water.....do u have a filter and a heater???How old are the fish????
2007-02-04 07:46:36 · answer #8 · answered by Seth B 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
alot has to do with the brand of fungus killer you have used. The same thing happened to me. Then I started using rid-ich+
2007-02-04 07:48:06 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
maybe your tank is over crouded try getting 2 tanks or taking something(s) out.
2007-02-04 07:45:34 · answer #10 · answered by ap 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋