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Help, Need major help :(

2K views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  fish_4_all 
#1 ·
Ok,
I have had a tetra in my 10 gallon tank for about 2 years, for about a year he has been by himself so today I decided to go get a few more fish. I got a few tetra and a couple of those small shark. Now as you can already tell I don't really know too much about what I am doing :(. I really want to do what is best for the fish, I changed some of the water today and cleaned some of the gravel. Like I said the tank has been setup for a few years now, when I added fish before they died in a few weeks and I don't want that to happen again. What should I do to insure the highest survival rate possible for the fish I added today.

Thank you,
Alex
 
#4 ·
I'm new too but...

Just to be saying something, My first advice as a new aquarium owner myself, would be to make sure your water is ready. Right temperature for both species, not too chemically contaminated, Ph balanced. I got all the potentially needed water additives and 5-in-1 litmus test strips before I got the fish. Once the test strips read the right readings and the water has come to temperature and the filter has cycled it for a day or two, I get the fish in there, of course after acclimating them in the plastic bags first. But I believe fresh tap water is really really bad for a lot of fish if you don't let it sit for a day or two. Gotta let the chloride, fluoride and all that stuff evaporate and get absorbed by the filter; don't just pull half the water out and put fresh water right back in. But, like I said I'm new as well. I could be wrong.
 
#5 ·
Please get yourself a LIQUID Water Test Kit. They are much more accurate according to the majority of the people here. I myself own a Red Sea brand test kit, but I'm sure you could find one at least $20 cheaper.

This will certainly help the pros here with diagnosing your fish death problem.
 
#6 ·
If the tank has been set up for years with just 1 tetra, it probably wasn't ready for that large bio-load you put on it with many new fish. The major difficulty of smaller tanks is that with so little water in there the water chemistry can go from good to deadly very quickly. Except in special cases where you want to transplant a school of fish or you want to avoid territorial behavior, you really shouldn't add more than 3 fish per week as a general guideline. This allows the good bacteria in the tank to catch up to the increased levels of poo.
 
#7 ·
Sounds like a simple too much too fast scenario. With just the tetra in the tnak it was just able to support a very samll bioload, adding even one shark added 50x the bioload. Adding fish much slower will ehlp. Also getting the right size fish for the right tnak is a big thing to consider when you decide to get more fish. Sharks are not gonna be good for a 10 gallon.
 
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