What am i doing wrong with my aquarium!??

Question

I have a fresh water aquarium and i need help!! It seems i am doing something wrong! I have followed every internet sites directions on how to clean the tank and everything but it seems that every time i clean the tank my fish die! I NEED HELP! Im going to buy more fish today and really want to do it right. Ive tried and tried but nothig is working. Basically- so far- the only thing im curious about is the hp levels and the nitrite (sp?). I dont own anything to check for that. Should i buy something for that? Could that be the problem? Also- when i add new water... should i put the conditioning drops into the new water? How doees that work? Should i fill the whole tank up and then put in enough for 10 gallons everytime? HELP! Also- How many fish should i have at the most possible for a 10 gallon? HELP

Answer 1

OK Wolfie, take a deep breath and let it out. Are you relaxed?

Sometimes new fish keepers are overwhelmed with the information out there, and they feel they need to do so many things to make it work. Some people turn their aquariums into chemistry experiments. Trust me on this one tip: Keep it Simple.

So you have a tank. You have installed a filter. You have installed a heater if you're keeping tropical fish. You've rinsed and placed about an inch of gravel (more then this is unnecessary and harder to keep clean). You've added all new water, treated it with dechlorinator, and allowed the tank to run empty to aerate for 24 hours. You've added plants, or whatever decoration is suitable to the fish you want to keep.

Next you need to get the tank cycled. Since you've read up on various sites, you must know what this is. There are many ways to cycle a tank - I would recommend doing it the easy old fashioned way - start with fish.

This is where your patience comes into play. Let's assume you're starting a community tank, and that it's 10 gallons. Buy yourself just a couple of small fish - say, 2 glowlight tetras for example. You don't need to buy 'cheap disposable fish' because you're going to take it slow and careful this time, and the fish will survive in full health. Right? Right.

Now you will not be adding fish again for several weeks, so just concentrate on keeping these fish happy and healthy and don't worry about having a busy, packed tank just yet.

The only tests you need are Ammonia and Nitrate. Sometimes Nitrite is necessary, sometimes not (explained further down).

The first thing you should do is test the nitrate and take note of the levels. In clean water they should be 0, but sometimes tap water already has some nitrates in it. Don't worry about this, just note down the measurements. Measure twice to be certain.

During the cycle you should test the tank for Ammonia levels - every day for the first few days, and then a couple times per week. If you do the cycle right and introduce a very small amount of fish, you may find these levels barely even reach measurable levels. This is a good thing. If you do measure it at any level above .5ppm you should do a water change of 1/3 of the water to bring them down and save the fish from harm. Once the tank has developed the bacteria to deal with ammonia, nitrites will start to rise. If your ammonia levels never rose past .5, then you don't even need to worry about testing nitrites because they won't rise harmfully either. If ammonia levels did rise to dangerous levels, then you should test for nitrite as well so you can deal with it before it harms the fish.

Regardless of ammonia or nitrite measurements, do regular weekly water changes and gravel vacuuming - granted, this may seem excessive for so few fish, but it's an excellent habit to get into for later when the tank will need it. At this point you can change as little as 5% of the water. **Always use tap water adjusted to a temperature close to that of the tank, and always treat the water first in a bucket, or treat the tank before adding the water - and you treat enough for the water you are replacing, not for all 10 gallons of the tank.
For those who maintain a weekly routine the tank will stay clean for a very long time to come, and you won't need to change out more then 20% of the water at a time, even once the tank is full. You may hear that partially changing water interrupts the cycle - this is not true - a small water change will hardly remove any of the toxins built up over the previous week.

Ok, so now a few weeks have gone by. You want to know if the tank is cycled? Test for Ammonia - it should be 0. Test for Nitrites if you wish, they should be 0. Test for Nitrates. They should be present, or higher then when you first noted them in your water. You are now ready for more fish.

Be careful, and add them slowly. Just get a couple more and introduce them. If the two fish you bought are schooling fish, then buy a couple more of the same type to expand their group before adding other species. Wait a week, make sure things are stable and healthy, and let the bacteria grow to match the larger stocking levels. Keep adding your fish in this manner, taking your time to gradually increase the stocking levels. Stop stocking altogether sooner then later - understocked tanks are much easier to keep healthy and clean then overstocked tanks.

Figure on about 10 small sized fish - an example might be 6 neon tetras and 4 corydora catfish, or 6 glowlight tetras, 3 corydora catfish, and a dwarf gourami. You will run into a certain guideline called the 'inch per gallon' rule. It's unreliable. With very small, low waste, and peaceful fish you can usually go over it, with large active, or territorial fish you usually need to be well under it.

Don't add anything to the water except dechlorinator. The fish don't need it and it only complicates matters and increases the chances of problems. All fish need for long term health is clean water and a properly designed tank.
Don't try to change the PH - most fish are highly tolerant of a wide range and tap water almost always measures at a tolerable level, usually between 7 and 8. Try to change it, especially with 'quick fixes' bought at the fish store, and the water will become unstable and difficult to manage, and the fish will fall ill. Take a sample of your tap water to the fish store and have them test it. Don't listen to their recommendations, just have them tell you what it is. And don't settle for 'soft' or 'hard' or 'low' or 'high' - ask for numbers. Now that you realise your water falls between the safe levels of 6 to low 8's, you have nothing to worry about.

Choose your fish wisely. In a little 10 gallon tank the fish must remain small - no more then 3 inches fully grown. They must be peaceful, since the tank has no room for territories. Make sure schooling fish are kept in schools for their own comfort. It's better to go with 6 of one type of tetra, say, then 1 each of 6 different types - and even if it sounds neater to have more 'variety', the nicest tanks have larger shoals instead.

Don't overfeed, fish are cold blooded and need little food, especially because flakes and pellets are condensed nutrition. Just what they'll eat in about a minute once per day. If you leave for the weekend - just leave - feeding blocks can pollute the water and contain almost no nutrition, and having somebody who doesn't understand fish come in to feed them will often spell disaster. Fish can go weeks without food -they're built for it, so don't worry - go, have fun.

Take it slow, keep it simple, choose your stock wisely and you'll succeed.

Answer 2

Wait. Slow down. Don't buy fish until you've read up on the tank cycle and have cycled the tank. This can take a few weeks. You need a liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Don't worry about the ph. If you can drink the tap water safely, then the fish will be fine in it. There are few sensitive species that are sold for tanks,and fewer can fit in a 10 gallon. The only conditioner you need is dechlor, which you will add for 10 gallons as you fill the tank. Once you've completed the cycle, you can worry about fish. Cycle using fish food or shrimp instead of wasting money on fish that will probably die.

Answer 3

The tank has to cycle, you need to leave some of the water that's in the tank there, give the tank time to grow some algae. You can buy a product to speed up cycling, but don't add a bunch of fish at once. after about 4 days of it running, buy a cheap fish(danio are good) Let it live in the tank for a few days before you buy a few more fish. Do NOT do a full water change at any point, unless you have other tanks to transfer some water from. If they are dying every time you change the water makes me think you aren't putting in the decloranator in there. Look at the bottle and make sure you are using the right stuff.
guppies, danios, neons etc are good for that size tank. Type of of fish you buy will determine how many you can put in. Also do not buy a algae eater or pleco for about a month after you get your tank running well.
Time to go clean a few tanks for me now :-)

Answer 4

I assume you do a complete water change everytime you clean

Well that's the biggest mistake you can make, you'r only suppose to do weekly partial waterchanges of 25% with a gravelsiphon, that's it


Also don't buy any fishes right now, get your tank up and running first

you're suppose to condition the water before adding it into your tank

pH are pretty unimportant, unless you have cichlids or something, with tropicals it's no problem

you will need an ammonia and nitrite test kit, to follow the levels of your tank, these 2 levels need to be at "0" and are the most toxic chemicals to your fish
please read through the following link and learn
http://fishlesscycling.com/articles.html


Hope that helps
good luck


EB



Feel free to email me if you need further help

Answer 5

Leave the tank to cycle for a few weeks i.e. no fish. Add them in sparingly a couple at a time then wait another couple of weeks while the nitrites balance out. No need to change to water so regular for a while after the first fish go in.

Just take your time. It's always exciting buying new fish but try and resist and the water quality will be better when you do add them.

Your local aquarium centre will always be stocked ;-)

Answer 6

the problem starts by stocking when the tank is crashing. that doesnt help.

it seems that you are new to fishkeeping, and certainly by asking how many fish, you might be overstocking.

Did u cycle the tank?

Alot of factors affect the success of the tank.

My advise is to change the water and allow the tank to settle for 2 weeks before getting any new fish. You dont want to keep adding fish when the tank is going though down times.

When changing the water, i use tap water but i use a de-chloirinator like stress coat, you just add it straight to the tank.

stocking is a whole different issue, it depends on the fish you have or planning on getting. As a 10 gallon is that big so you can stock that much.

so i would stop buying fish for awhile and allow the tank to settle.