# Tropical Fish Tank Help



## karlhague (Nov 14, 2009)

I currently have a Red Eyed Tetra, A Male and female Platy, (the only survivors)

Everything else we seem to buy drops dead, a few of our female guppies died, and shortly after we noticed little baby guppies in the tank, which seem to be thriving.

What could be causing any new additions to die? We have already used some Water Treatment that our local aquariam recomended as a just in case.

We are getting tierd of buying fish just for them to drop like wildfire and die.
I will Get the water tested as soon as i can!!!
Our tank is planted with live plants that also seem to be absolutley thriving (and growing pretty well)

Any Advice would be greatly appreciated


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

Take a sample of the water to pets at home and they will test it for free 

What size is the tank?
Where do you buy your fish from?
Do you 'float' the bags for 10-15 mins before letting the fish in the tank?


I find that you can either keep guppies, or you can't. Something to do with your water but if you find your guppies are dying then don't get them- they can be quite sensitive. I used to be able to keep them before I moved, I had them for ages. But now I can't seem to keep them alive!

x


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## fishy5 (May 4, 2009)

did you cycle?


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## karlhague (Nov 14, 2009)

PoisonGirl said:


> Take a sample of the water to pets at home and they will test it for free
> 
> What size is the tank?
> Where do you buy your fish from?
> ...


I will take a sample to pets at home and get them to write the results down for me, thanks

60X30X30 54l (Size)

WE Buy our fish From The Garden center near us (it has a specialist tropical fish Section)

And We allways leave them in the bag for at least 20minutes.

Its not just the guppies that seem to be dying, Weve had plecs, Neon Tetras, Zebra Danios, Glowlights and other community fish.

Yep We Cycled Fishlessly Before setting up , We were advised to do so for a week


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

Im guessing youre measuring in cm not inches 

What fish do you have now?
It might be worth selling/rehoming/having someone look after in a different tank and starting again.

Wash all the gravel thoroughly and the tank. (Only use warm water)
Replace the sponges in the filters.
But a complete water testing kit online.
Add a pinch of fish food every few days to help the filter.
Keep doing water tests.

I would leave it maybe for 2 weeks thats how ling I had to leave my 2ft when I first set it up then took water to [email protected] to test then bought some fish.

It could be anything from a high clorine level in your tap water to something that got brought in with one of the fish.

x


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## nic101 (Jun 8, 2009)

a week isnt long enough for it to build up good bacteria in a tank.....

can take weeks - mine took a good 4/5 weeks.... 

i suggest you google 'cycling' buy ammonia and do it likethat (and take the fishback as they will probably die now anyhow...)


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## karlhague (Nov 14, 2009)

nic101 said:


> a week isnt long enough for it to build up good bacteria in a tank.....
> 
> can take weeks - mine took a good 4/5 weeks....
> 
> i suggest you google 'cycling' buy ammonia and do it likethat (and take the fishback as they will probably die now anyhow...)


Mate these have been in the tank for nearly 4 weeks and have no signs of illness

I currently have a Red Eyed Tetra, A Male and female Platy, (the only survivors)

Who show no signs of illness , however whenever i buy a new batch of fish, the new batch always seems to die , Ill get the water checked and try everything you guys have suggested


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## karlhague (Nov 14, 2009)

Just an update Everything Died, So We Emptied all the water out, Cleaned all the gravel with hot water.(filter was cleaned)

We have since started again, Still finding Guppies drop dead on us 
( Test kit shows everything is within safe ranges)(Is planted)
(We left it to cycle for a month(no fish just adding small amounts of feed)
We however do have a plec, and 6 mollies in the tank.

The Mollies appear to be thriving as well as breeding.(Currently fed flakes,and bloodwrm pellets)(The fry get powdered flakes (Flakes crushed into powder)(they seem to hunt for the pellets the bigger fish haven't noticed)

The plec gets Sinking pellets and also seems to eat bloodworm pellets...


A few months on and we havent put anything else in the tank yet,Keep saying We are going to, but never get round to it.

Can anybody suggest any Other fish that should be okay with the Mollies, I know Neon Tetras should be fine with them, But Small LOL



I was considering buying another plec to keep the current one company, is this a good idea?


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## CanIgoHome (Oct 25, 2008)

platys, danio, Tetra, guppys some barbs or if not sure just ask you LFS


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## MoHayes (Jan 12, 2010)

red eye tetra are generally quite hard to look after. you may find its not you thats killing them it may be due to the Shop you brought them from x


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## karlhague (Nov 14, 2009)

MoHayes said:


> red eye tetra are generally quite hard to look after. you may find its not you thats killing them it may be due to the Shop you brought them from x


We stopped using that supplier due to constantly using fish from them Dropping dead all the time.

We lost the red eye with the first batch of fish during the first attempt.

And to the other person, Guppies seem to just drop dead on us, know matter what we do,


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## CanIgoHome (Oct 25, 2008)

if you have trouble with guppys but like the colors how about trying the endlers guppys which are a little smaller


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## karlhague (Nov 14, 2009)

CanIgoHome said:


> if you have trouble with guppys but like the colors how about trying the endlers guppys which are a little smaller


I will look into those, I know use my local Garden center(They have loadsa fishies ,good quality)..

And if they become Ill within the first 7days you can take them back and swap them!!!.

However they do have the quarantine tanks for new stock on show (hence why i use them)

And they let me choose which Fish I want after browsing (The last place just picked random ones)

I really like red Tailed Black sharks, But have no idea if my tanks big enough.

(I belive its a 80-85 liter tank)


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## Guest (Jan 12, 2010)

Even though your local aquatic store utilises quarantine tanks, I would highly recommend that you invest in your own. Certain problems aren't clearly evident from the outside, such as internal parasites, and often aren't spotted by the staff. By quarantining your fish for a couple of weeks, you will seriously reduce the risk of encountering problems later on.

Also, a note on the Red Tailed Black sharks (_Epalzeorhynchos bicolor_). These fish can grow upto 15cm/6" in length and ideally need a tank bigger than 85 litres. I would only recommend these fish to people who have a 4ft tank at their disposal.


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## karlhague (Nov 14, 2009)

Pleccy said:


> Even though your local aquatic store utilises quarantine tanks, I would highly recommend that you invest in your own. Certain problems aren't clearly evident from the outside, such as internal parasites, and often aren't spotted by the staff. By quarantining your fish for a couple of weeks, you will seriously reduce the risk of encountering problems later on.
> 
> Also, a note on the Black sharks (_Labeo chrysophekadion_). These fish can grow upto 60cm/24" in length, and are really only suitable for public aquariums or the small band of specialist aquarists who have the resources (and space!) to house them properly.


I'm looking into getting another tank , However with two horses, and the dogs, and then the fish, Finding spare cash is becoming a pain.

Thanks for the info in the Black Sharks I never realized They could get so big Another of My LFS said that it would be fine in my Current tank Realizing how big they gt , I wont buy one.

Would Two plecs get along together?

As Ive been thinking of adding a second one in (And no hes not just an algae cleaner, he gets his own food too LOL)(Sinking algae stuff, and what ever bloodworm pellets that innocently fall near his hiding spot(the other fish wont go near if hes hiding there)

I remember as a Kid, My grandad used to have a tropical tank built into where the old fireplace was (It went the whole way along the back wall of the living room)

I remember how Full it was, How many different fish he had in there, and Mainly the Red tailed Blacks LOL.

No idea how he did it but he had 6-7 co-exisiting peacfully(where ever i read online it says to keep them on their own)


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## Guest (Jan 12, 2010)

In terms of adding Plecs, this will depend on the species. Some only grow to around a few inches however a few others can top a metre in length and unfortunately, one of the most common species, the Common or Sailfin plec, is also one of the largest. The most suitable plecs for the average aquarium belong to the _Hypancistrus_, _Peckoltia_, _Panaque_ and _Ancistrus_ genera. Take a look at PlanetCatfish • the online home of aquarium catfishes

Many of the species from the genera listed above are also assorted into a group known as L or LDA numbers, just to make things easier when it comes to identifying them. Most L or LDA numbers require lignin, an organic chemical compound that aids digestion. The most widely available source of lignin is bogwood, which can be obtained from aquatic stores.


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## karlhague (Nov 14, 2009)

Pleccy said:


> In terms of adding Plecs, this will depend on the species. Some only grow to around a few inches however a few others can top a metre in length and unfortunately, one of the most common species, the Common or Sailfin plec, is also one of the largest. The most suitable plecs for the average aquarium belong to the _Hypancistrus_, _Peckoltia_, _Panaque_ and _Ancistrus_ genera. Take a look at PlanetCatfish • the online home of aquarium catfishes
> 
> Many of the species from the genera listed above are also assorted into a group known as L or LDA numbers, just to make things easier when it comes to identifying them. Most L or LDA numbers require lignin, an organic chemical compound that aids digestion. The most widely available source of lignin is bogwood, which can be obtained from aquatic stores.


Unsure On what species it is, Will look into it,


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## karlhague (Nov 14, 2009)

Just cleaned my filter, and done a small ish water change (25%) (used old water for filter cleaning.

And Have noticed what appears to be an oil like substance on the top of the tank?

Just wonderd what it could be, as its only just noticeable


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2010)

The oil-like substance is caused by protein from fish food, just like the foam that you see from waves on the ocean, it is caused by dissolved organics and other substances. You'll find this in most aquariums and while nothing to worry about, increasing surface agitation and skimming the surface using a sheet of greaseproof paper will remove it.


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## karlhague (Nov 14, 2009)

Pleccy said:


> The oil-like substance is caused by protein from fish food, just like the foam that you see from waves on the ocean, it is caused by dissolved organics and other substances. You'll find this in most aquariums and while nothing to worry about, increasing surface agitation and skimming the surface using a sheet of greaseproof paper will remove it.


Phew thanks so much pleccy.

I give the fish two small feeds a day, every other day they get a few Bloodworm pellets, should I feed bloodworm more regularly?

Sorry about all the newbie questions LOL


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