Tropical Fish Keeping banner

New To Fish Keeping Need Advise

1K views 8 replies 3 participants last post by  sndurden 
#1 ·
Hi my name is Nickle and I am new to fish keeping. I have three tanks a 5,10,and 29 gallon. I have guppies, tetras, glofish, and corydoras. I have also had an long first month of getting started. all three of my tanks have high ammonia levels, and my fish and plants keep dying....:-( the place where I bought my tanks(2 of them) and all my plants and fish is doing a great job of helping but I am still dissapointed because I do not have any healthy tanks. any advice is welcome. feel free to ask for any info I did not include as I am new to this.
 
#2 ·
Hey, are the people who sold you the tanks telling you what you should be doing? do they know what your water paremeters are? do they do a water testing service before selling people fish? I am a total noob as well, I have only been a fish keeper for about a month, but I have a 29g tank with 14 fish, and they are doing well. so there is something going drastically wrong for you..

First of all I would stop putting fish in your tanks until you sort the problem out. killing fish is no fun, for them or us.

did you cycle the tanks? do you know about aquarium cycling? there is a TON of info on the net regarding this subject.

from what I gather high ammonium levels are due to several factors, over stocking and over feeding when there is not enough beneficial bacteria to convert the ammonia the fish produce into nitrites, and then into nitrates (the nitrogen cycle) being the main culprits, but again i am very new to the hobby and I am still learning big time! I am sure the guys on this site will help you out, they seem to be very knowledgeable and are very helpful.

hope you get things sorted soon!! good luck.
 
#3 ·
High Ammonia lvls dying plants and fish HELP!

Ok as I stated in my other threadNew to fish keeping need advise I have three tanks 2 were bought brand new and the third was used ( put new filter cartridge in after extensive cleaning ) I am taking water samples to LFS weekly and they say ammonia is HIGH, I test at home and ammonia is HIGH. I have 3 fish in 10 gal tank w/ java moss and small nana anubia ( all fish are preg guppies)and1 snail then I have 9 fish 1 snail in 29 gal w/ green fox tail and java moss, then I have 5 gal w/ 9 fish and 1 snail and small nana anubia and wisteria w/ java moss.

The 10 gal has been set up for 3 weeks had 1 3/4 water change

The 5 gal has been set up for 3 wks and had 1 3/4 water change

The 29 gal has been set up for 1 wk and no water change yet



using jungle brand test kits here are lvls


5 gal = PH 7.6-8.4 KH 300 GH 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0

10gal = PH 7.6-8.4 KH 300 GH 0 Nitrite .5 Nitrate 0

29 gal = PH 7.6 -8.4 KH 300 GH 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0

I have use the ammonia clear tabs, have added the tetra safe start bacteria culture ( today)

and nothing seems to help.


The 5 gal has already gone through an algae bloom ( that was a mess had to change water and clean tank)


plus one guppy had 4 babies and lost them all. I dont want to get discouraged but I am beginning to think that all the money I have spent has been wasted... plus I get a new product suggestion from LFS and have to buy to "fix " my problem every time I go to store.

I would like all advice I can get.
 
#5 ·
First thing, sndurden, welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum.:-D And welcome to the hobby too. Don't get discouraged; this is a scientific hobby unlike any other because you are dealing with live creatures in an enclosed aquatic environment, which means there are some things you just have to learn to avoid problems.

And one of them is cycling new tanks. Here is a good into to this, please read it:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...inners-guide-freshwater-aquarium-cycle-38617/
This will tell you why the fish are dying from ammonia poisoning.

Nos, how to resolve this. More plants would help. Some fast growing stem plants and floating plants would almost guarantee the end of ammonia trouble.

Second, don't acquire any more fish until this is resolved, they will just overload the system and keep dying. It might help us to know which fish are in which tanks, and how many fish of each. Have a read of the linked article, then post the list of fish/tanks and any questions you may have from the article. All of us here have gone through these things, and we want to help.:)

Byron.
 
#6 ·
Ok here are the list of fish and plants in my tanks

there have been no fish added since week one of any tank setup.


tank one ( 5 gal )

2 neon tetras, 2 cardinal tetras, 2 glo fish, 2 silver tip tetras, and one spiral snail
plants: 1 nana anubia 1 wisteria and some java moss



tank two ( 10 gal )

3 yellow fantail cobra female guppies, 3 blue tail female guppies
plants: green foxtail myrio and 1 nana anubia and java moss



tank three ( 29 gal)

4 male fancy guppies and 2 lyre tail male guppies
plants: green foxtail myrio
 
#7 ·
The 5g tank is overstocked. I would suggest these fish should be in the 30g, and they are shoaling fish so you shouldhave more of them (later, when everything settles down), at least 6 of each. Check the profiles (click shaded names): Neon Tetra, Cardinal Tetra, Silvertip Tetra and Zebra Danio [Glofish are a variant of the danio].

Although it will still be crowded, I would move the male guppy into the 5g from the 29g. And move the Wisteria into the 29g.
 
#8 ·
wow, sounds like your being rather ambitious especially as you say your just starting out.

Read all the articles you can on tank cycling like Byron said, I am currently going through the is my tank cycled, isn't it phase although fish are all still alive and seem happy.

From what I have gleamed from the masses of information I have trawled through over the last couple months in preparation for setting up my first aquarium is that there are tonnes of variables, including certain fishes needs in regard to temp, ph range, compatibility etc. but the most important being the tanks ability to process the waste that is created. without a sound starting point I presume a lifetime of frustration and dead fish is in store.

I am currently into the 4th week of my new tank, had 7 glow light tetra from beginning of week 2 and then added 7 danios at the beginning of week 3. I do have 10 live plants in my 29g tank though. and my readings have been 0.25ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites and around 5ppm nitrates although the nitrates are gradually climbing. the ammonia always stays at 0.25ppm even after partial water changes, so I am hoping that will resolve itself. and there won't be any more fish going in until it does.

Everywhere I read about this hobby I see statements about patience, and I am now starting understand the importance of this virtue. hope you get things sorted soon.
 
#9 ·
more on my tanks

well I wasnt planning on having this many tanks yet but after I bought the 10g my mother bought the 5g for my 3 year old to have in his room. I ended up with the 30g at a really good deal(40.00 for the tank and all accessories plus 50 fish I traded to LFS for plants) I bought the 30g because I am leaving for college in the fall and my children and husband are staying here so I will need a bigger tank so I can take all the fish with me because my husband already has too many things to care for while I am gone. Our family are all animal lovers so we tend to go overboard sometimes..... plus I am going to vet school so ;-) I guess you could say I am an animal addict LOL
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top