Mindflux Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 R.I.P "Stripey" the Long Finned Zebra Danio. He got eaten by the HOB filter tube.... I'm so crushed that in 2 days I've lost 3 fish (Stripey was an OG to the tank) I have no faith in myself to keep a saltwater tank right this second. I'm supposed to buy mhart032's Solana this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 In some aspects saltwater is easier. But I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. You might have hit a bad batch of guppies from the store. And as for the danio, was he acting weird? How long has the tank been set up (might be in the other thread)? Freshwater tanks need to cycle also, and produce nitrogen cycle bacteria just like saltwater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindflux Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 In some aspects saltwater is easier. But I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. You might have hit a bad batch of guppies from the store. And as for the danio, was he acting weird? How long has the tank been set up (might be in the other thread)? Freshwater tanks need to cycle also, and produce nitrogen cycle bacteria just like saltwater. Tank is 4 weeks "old", Petco said the paramters were spot on Saturday when I took some water for them to test and picked up those guppies that croaked two days later. The danio was acting normal last night when we went to bed, woke up this morning stuck to the filter tube. Perhaps he just got stuck. I have no way of knowing if he died and drifted into the tubing or died as a result of the tubing itself. The other fish (two mollies and a larger danio) are all acting normal I'd say. I decided on my lunch break to do a 5 gallon water change (out of 29 gallons) just in case there's something funky going on water wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Get one of these: http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3579+21426&pcatid=21426 I think some of the LFS sell them as well. I've never lost a fish due to an intake since I started using them about 10 years ago. They also work great for some egg laying fish as they harbor rotifers and prevent fry from getting sucked into the filter. How did you cycle the tank? 4 weeks is usually enough time to cycle it however, if there was never any ammonia in there, the tank wont start the cycle at all. I've seen Pet.... suggest letting a tank sit empty for 4 weeks several times. The problem is that the tank doesn't start to cycle until fish or something that produces waste is added. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 It sounds like the guppies you purchased were sick. I would do the water change and then keep everything normal. Do not add anymore fish for at least a month. You can definitely keep more than you have currently in your tank without problems - so again - it sounds like the guppies had something that spread to the danio. Take special care when you purchase fish. Check ALL the tank mates at the store. Make sure none of them have frail fins or are breathing "heavy," etc. I did freshwater for a while and ventured into saltwater a few years ago. I started with a fish only saltwater system and it was very similar to my freshwater experience. I recommend getting some "beginner" fish and corals at the on set and giving yourself some time to get used to the new system. Don't give up - we've all gone through bad batches Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindflux Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 Get one of these: http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3579+21426&pcatid=21426 I think some of the LFS sell them as well. I've never lost a fish due to an intake since I started using them about 10 years ago. They also work great for some egg laying fish as they harbor rotifers and prevent fry from getting sucked into the filter. How did you cycle the tank? 4 weeks is usually enough time to cycle it however, if there was never any ammonia in there, the tank wont start the cycle at all. I've seen Pet.... suggest letting a tank sit empty for 4 weeks several times. The problem is that the tank doesn't start to cycle until fish or something that produces waste is added. I just tossed a couple fish in after I got the tank set up and made sure the filter/heater were operating properly and let it go. Literally set up tank, next day tossed in 4 fish. Only thing I've done since then is added some silk fake plants. Been thinking of a pre-filter like you are discussing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindflux Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 It sounds like the guppies you purchased were sick. I would do the water change and then keep everything normal. Do not add anymore fish for at least a month. You can definitely keep more than you have currently in your tank without problems - so again - it sounds like the guppies had something that spread to the danio. Take special care when you purchase fish. Check ALL the tank mates at the store. Make sure none of them have frail fins or are breathing "heavy," etc. I did freshwater for a while and ventured into saltwater a few years ago. I started with a fish only saltwater system and it was very similar to my freshwater experience. I recommend getting some "beginner" fish and corals at the on set and giving yourself some time to get used to the new system. Don't give up - we've all gone through bad batches The fish LOOKED and appeared healthy until they just "didn't" two days later. Very odd, no visible signs of illness or distress that I could tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 I would probably agree with the sick fish as well then. Guppies, platy's, goldfish, and some of the other cheaper high-turnover fish commonly have diseases. Fish stores are pretty good at removing dead ones which makes the tanks look good, but makes it hard to determine if there are going to be problems once you purchase them. I would probably give it some time. Also, if you're concerned about the other fish, you can up the temp. If they are sick, the disease or pathogen will metabolize much quicker so you can recognize and treat quicker. Higher temp will also boost their metabolism and they can fight it off better. I would also get a test kit of some kind as well. You should definitely have one for the SW tank. Even some cheap test strips will give you an idea if some parameter is way off. Don't get discouraged at loosing a few fish in the beginning. It's unfortunate, but it does happen. Just keep taking it slow and everything should work out in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindflux Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 I would probably agree with the sick fish as well then. Guppies, platy's, goldfish, and some of the other cheaper high-turnover fish commonly have diseases. Fish stores are pretty good at removing dead ones which makes the tanks look good, but makes it hard to determine if there are going to be problems once you purchase them. I would probably give it some time. Also, if you're concerned about the other fish, you can up the temp. If they are sick, the disease or pathogen will metabolize much quicker so you can recognize and treat quicker. Higher temp will also boost their metabolism and they can fight it off better. I would also get a test kit of some kind as well. You should definitely have one for the SW tank. Even some cheap test strips will give you an idea if some parameter is way off. Don't get discouraged at loosing a few fish in the beginning. It's unfortunate, but it does happen. Just keep taking it slow and everything should work out in time. Ok, I turned the heater up "one click". It was dead center and my thermo read 76 most of the time so this should bring it up a little. Tomorrow I'll bring it up again until I see 80. I don't know if I'll want to go any higher then that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasonHoff Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 save your self some headache and add some stability made by seachem! its to help your tank cycle. do a weekly water change of 15% every week. don't do more or less often or in amount of water. add some aquarium salt make sure you have a bubble stone. you added more bio load and you feeding more! so you having an ammonia and prolly a nitrite spike. go buy you self a freshwater master test kit. and monitor you water parameters if your serious about keep you live stock alive. you prolly will lose a fish or to during cycling! its just part of the game to getting you water where it need to be, where you ammonia and nitrites and converted over to nitrates and then you can start adding more live stock! but if i sound like a commercial! stability by secheam saved my interest in the hobby when i was about to quit! In some aspects saltwater is easier. But I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. You might have hit a bad batch of guppies from the store. And as for the danio, was he acting weird? How long has the tank been set up (might be in the other thread)? Freshwater tanks need to cycle also, and produce nitrogen cycle bacteria just like saltwater. Tank is 4 weeks "old", Petco said the parameters were spot on Saturday when I took some water for them to test and picked up those guppies that croaked two days later. The danio was acting normal last night when we went to bed, woke up this morning stuck to the filter tube. Perhaps he just got stuck. I have no way of knowing if he died and drifted into the tubing or died as a result of the tubing itself. The other fish (two mollies and a larger danio) are all acting normal I'd say. I decided on my lunch break to do a 5 gallon water change (out of 29 gallons) just in case there's something funky going on water wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindflux Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 Thanks. I'll check out Stability but I'm not interested in an air stone. They don't do much more than anything else causing surface agitation and I've already got something doing that. (HOB Filter). Air stones don't "inject" enough air into the water to make a difference. I sent the two replacement guppies back to PetCo today. One started acting like it was on a downward spiral so I just cut my losses and took them back and now have a smaller bioload again. save your self some headache and add some stability made by seachem! its to help your tank cycle. do a weekly water change of 15% every week. don't do more or less often or in amount of water. add some aquarium salt make sure you have a bubble stone. you added more bio load and you feeding more! so you having an ammonia and prolly a nitrite spike. go buy you self a freshwater master test kit. and monitor you water parameters if your serious about keep you live stock alive. you prolly will lose a fish or to during cycling! its just part of the game to getting you water where it need to be, where you ammonia and nitrites and converted over to nitrates and then you can start adding more live stock! but if i sound like a commercial! stability by secheam saved my interest in the hobby when i was about to quit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindflux Posted May 5, 2011 Author Share Posted May 5, 2011 Day #2 of no death. Guppies went back to Petco. They don't seem to do well in my tank at present. Replaced the dead danio with another danio. Back up to 4 fish in the tank, which is "par" for what I started with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Dustin Blevins Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I know this is a little late, but are you using tap water and treating it? I worked at Petco as the Aquatics specialist and everyone is right, every now and then there are bad batches of unhealthy fish (especially in the summer with heat and shipping). However, I've dealt with a few people in north Austin area who we couldn't seem to keep fish alive no matter what. The only thing that worked in these cases was going to RO water. The tests we used at Petco were your basic tests for ph/nitrates/phosphates/etc. and I really think there's something going on in north austin water that just makes it really hard for the fish. If you're still having problems and using tap water, I'd suggest trying RO. I can almost guarantee it will work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonSequitur Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 +1 on the RO water, unless you're also adding a dechlorinator (Amquel, Prime, etc) and possibly an ammonia neutralizer (Amquel, etc). According to the guys at Aquatek when it is as dry as it has been lately, tap water quality has declined, leading to increased organics, ammonia, potentially chlorine in the tap water. You can treat the water for these contaminants, but if you have access to RO water it will definitely make things more consistent. The only issue I've had with running RO water in my freshwater systems is it seems to speed up snail shell erosion, so if you're looking at keeping (or breeding) mystery snails, you'll need to add some Ca, Alk, Mg back into the RO since snail shells are primarily calcium carbonate on top of an organic matrix. I ended up switching back to dechlorinated and nitrogen compound tested tap water for my planted tanks just to keep my snails happy. Also, I've found guppies and other "starter" fish to be surprisingly unstable lately. Not sure about the size/parameters of your tank, but have you considered a female betta or two? They're often just as colorful as males, tolerate imperfect water quality well, but aren't territorial like the males, and with (IMHO) better personalities. I have about 10 of them in one of my tanks now and they're a blast to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindflux Posted June 13, 2011 Author Share Posted June 13, 2011 Sorry for the late reply I was out of town. It's a 29 gallon tank with your standard lighting on it, aquaclear 50 filtration. I am using tap water and treating it with something to remove the chloramine in my water. I keep the tank at 78-80F. Not much in the tank other than gravel and some fake silk plants and a cave or two for fish to hide out in. As far as parameters, Nitrate/Nitrite/Ammonia all come back zero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Been out of town as well. Austin water is pretty inconsistent in its parameters. I get algae blooms every spring and often in the summer which I have attributed to huge spikes in silicate and phosphate levels. Austin also uses chloramines which are significantly more difficult to break down than water treated with sodium or calcium hypochlorate. However, I have never heard of RO being required. FW fish are pretty tolerant of basic water parameters. Even sensitive fish are fairly adaptable as long as their water is stable. I do 50% water changes per week and treat only with Prime directly in the tank and I only lose fish to old age at this point. I've got some cardinal and rummy nose tetras that are pushing 6 years now. If it requires RO water to keep basic fish alive I would seriously consider getting a professional to run a full diagnostic on the water supply. I would suspect that there is something else that is killing the fish, and it could easily be a concern to human health as well. Could be something as simple as copper or could be lead or something actually harmful. Also, on the test kits, if you're still losing fish, you may want to have a LFS double check the water. Austin water has 5ppm+ nitrates out of the tap, and will have detectable ammonia most of the time. I've tested with seachem and salifert kits as well as the crappy API ones and there's always measurable nitrates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindflux Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 I have some fish that thrive in the tank and others just flounder. I don't think it's a water quality issue at this point. I did have all my danios die, but that was after a male betta I put in (via my dads suggestion) nipped all their tails. They died one by one a couple weeks later, I had removed the betta right after it happened but I guess they just couldn't heal or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Dustin Blevins Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I know it seems kind of crazy, but we would do water tests and all normal parameters would come back normal, but fish would still come back the next day dead, this is while others were 100% fine. After asking a few people, it seemed like the people that were coming from the area around round rock / cp / and far north austin were losing the fish while the people coming from different areas (all around austin) were doing fine. It could have just been a coincidence that the people from those area's just werent having good luck, but I think it has something to do with the water due to the fact when the people that were coming back constantly switched to RO they had 0 problems with their fish. On a side note, if you are getting the fish from petco, I know they will replace the fish as long as you bring it in with your receipt not sure about the other stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindflux Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 Things have been OK since my gourami ate two of my blue tetras. I took the gourami back and the tank has been stable since then... with..11 fish. 2 Platy's 2 Blue Tetras 2 White Tipped Tetras 1 Pleco 4 Albino Cory's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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