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Pet Forum / Aquaria / Goldfish / March 2005New Tank Question
I've had 3 small fantails for about 2 years in a small Eclipse tank (~2 gallons). They've thrived with no problems, but, of course, they needed more room. So I started a new 10 gallon for them. Setup, filled, treated, etc. and waited for 2 days (I know, I should've waited a week or so). Then I made another mistake by adding a black and a calico moore after about a week. The original fish were kind of timid and tended to lay near the bottom in the back corner (but they've always been kind of timid, so I didn't think much of it). The calico moore died after 2 days. The black moore died the following day. One of my original fish died a few days later. Checked ammonia and nitrate/nitrite levels.........looks good. The pH is a little low, around 6. Added salt as a general tonic. Now the 2 fish are still acting a little unusual, and I've noticed a few white spots/bumps along the tailfin of one of them. Doesn't look quite like ich (white spots are less defined), but could be. I want to start partial water changes and possibly treat with Quick Cure, but I'm not sure if it's too early in the nitrogen cycle to risk depleting or killing off beneficial bacteria, which could lead to more problems. And I still can't figure out why the others died so quickly and unexpectedly, since ammonia/nitate levels were almost zero. Any thoughts or suggestions? Milky-G For starters....even after you bought the 10 gallong tank, you are way too overstocked, as goldfish are very messy fish. What exactly were your test readings...."nearly zero" as you put it for ammonia/nitrITE can be...or IS fatal for any fish... SOunds to me like your tank went through a massive ammonia and nitrITE spike because you overloaded your tank... In future, cycle your tank without any fish (look up fishless cycling on google) to avoid unecesarilly stressing and killing your fish) 1 goldfish per 10 gallons please > I've had 3 small fantails for about 2 years in a small Eclipse tank (~2 > gallons). They've thrived with no problems, but, of course, they needed [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Milky-G > For starters....even after you bought the 10 gallong tank, you are way too > overstocked, as goldfish are very messy fish. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > In future, cycle your tank without any fish (look up fishless cycling on > google) to avoid unecesarilly stressing and killing your fish) If he has an established tank there's no need to do a fishless cycle. He can move his bacteria to the new tank and viola! Ready-for-fish. A You added two new fish to a system that was possibly unstable. You also added fish without quarrantining them. Likely the new fish brought some disease/parasite to the mix and with the change in conditions, the older fish's immune systems couldn't deal with it. ALWAYS quarrantine new fish for 4 to 6 weeks, otherwise you're playing Russian Roulette. Sooner or later you'll get the aquatic bullet. Start partial changes now, it can't hurt and it will help. Sick fish need extra clean water. Healthy fish too! The salt is okay, but not more than 1 level tsp/gallon, especially if you have no way of measuring the amount in solution. To make sure the salt content does not creep up, before you do a water change replace any lost to evaporation BEFORE the water change (of course, temp and dechlorinate it properly). Add back in the amount you would have taken out. So, if your 10g tank has a 20% change, that would be 2g, add back in 2 tsp (disolved prior) to the tank. Hold off on medicating until you know what you are dealing with. Shotgun approaches can be harmful to the fish, and your tender biological bacteria system in that new tank. Lilly > I've had 3 small fantails for about 2 years in a small Eclipse tank (~2 > gallons). They've thrived with no problems, but, of course, they needed more [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > of it). The calico moore died after 2 days. The black moore died the > following day. One of my original fish died a few days later. Checked > ammonia and nitrate/nitrite levels.........looks good. The pH is a little > low, around 6. Added salt as a general tonic. Now the 2 fish are still [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > cycle to risk depleting or killing off beneficial bacteria, which could lead > to more problems. And I still can't figure out why the others died so > quickly and unexpectedly, since ammonia/nitate levels were almost zero. Any > thoughts or suggestions? > > Milky-G > To make sure the salt content does > not creep up, before you do a water change replace any lost to > evaporation BEFORE the water change (of course, temp and dechlorinate > it properly). That sentence means, replace any water lost to evaporation, not salt, salt does not evaporate! Sorry Lilly, it didn't read exactly clear! Re-reading it, you're right. Replace the water, not salt! I really got to get more sleep and caffinate myself properly. :-) Lilly > > To make sure the salt content does > > not creep up, before you do a water change replace any lost to > > evaporation BEFORE the water change (of course, temp and dechlorinate > > it properly). > > That sentence means, replace any water lost to evaporation, not salt, > salt does not evaporate! Sorry Lilly, it didn't read exactly clear! hehe...sleep usually helps.... But in my case...i sometimes think that my brain just goes "thats it....i've had enough....I'm outta here.."...and then hear footsteps and a slamming door.... > Re-reading it, you're right. Replace the water, not salt! I really got > to get more sleep and caffinate myself properly. :-) [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >> salt does not evaporate! Sorry Lilly, it didn't read exactly clear! |
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