Tiger Barbs sick. new tank. what to do?

[ALS2000]

Hi everyone,

I just set up my first tank. 25G. Have been set up for about 2 weeks now. I am overstocked on fish. i thought if would be ok cuz they are all really small. 9 tiger barbs (1/2 inch each). 2 rtbs. and 2 pleco. They have all been doing well until today. I used cycle and aquaplus and sea salt. changed the water every 3 days or so because ammonia is high. about 0.75-1.0. nitrite is normal. my test kit does not do nitrate. i will buy a kit for that tomorrow. the barbs are swimming funny and color is coming and going. I don't see any spots on them. Is there anything I can do to keep the fish alive. I feel that they going to die soon. I will get rid of a rtbs soon. I just found out you can't have 2 in the same tank.

thanks everyone
Al

[James]

Step up the water change, Nitrite will start to climb when Ammo starts going down. If you have another tank, move some fish to it for awhile to let your new tank cycle with less bio load.

There are products that help with ammo but I have never used them maybe someone else can recommend one that is good.

James

[blainep]

Well, let's start with a Welcome to CAC !

Now down to business.

First thing to worry about is getting your tank cycled !

To get your tank settled and cycled, you need to either step up your water changes (Daily, if needed, maybe twice per day !) and double the amount of water conditioner you use with the water change. The extra water conditioner will convert ammonia to ammonium (less toxic) and still usable by plants and cycle bacteria.

This works, but it will stretch out the time it takes the tank to cycle considerably.

The other options are to get rid of some fish, see if your fish store or a friend will hold the fish for you for two or three weeks.

The only other option I can think of is to find some filter media or substrate goo from an established, healthy tank and add it to your tank/filter. That would help to jump start the cycle in your tank.

If you live fairly close, one of the members here might be able to help out with some good used filter media, or possibly your local fish store, most stores will give you a bag of tank water with substrate mulm from their tanks for little or no charge.

[ALS2000]

thanks for the response. what is substrate goo? and where can I get some? Does that mean to borrow one of his tank ornaments? I have a friend with a healthy tank but we have different filters. I have an elite 35 that has carbon/foam only. Petsmart suggested I drop a bag of "nitrogen rocks" in the open space in the filter. Is that a good idea? thanks again.

ps. how do i know when my tank is finished cycling?

[blainep]

thanks for the response. what is substrate goo? and where can I get some? Does that mean to borrow one of his tank ornaments? I have a friend with a healthy tank but we have different filters. I have an elite 35 that has carbon/foam only. Petsmart suggested I drop a bag of "nitrogen rocks" in the open space in the filter. Is that a good idea? thanks again.

ps. how do i know when my tank is finished cycling?

Substrate goo - A highly technical term :laugh:. It's the brown stuff that builds up in your aquarium gravel (substrate).

Tank ornaments or a handful of gravel from an established tank would have lots of good bacteria on it .

Not sure what 'Nitrogen rocks' are, but until the tank is cycled, I can't imagine they'd help much.

You'll know when the tank is done cycling when your ammonia readings are 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate exists 20ish ppm.

[Melody]

:Welcome: Definitly no ammonia absorbers - they can release when they're full and without the ammonia the tank doesn't cycle.

I would suggest the same as Blaine - getting some fish out of there and getting some established filter media from a friend. You can use a bit of sponge in most filters. You're going to have to get rid of about half of the fish anyway, so you might as well do it sooner rather than later. Definitly keep up the daily waterchanges. Also feed very sparingly and only every 2-4 days.

Good luck!

[blainep]

Unfortunately, there is just no really easy way to get the cycle finished when you just have the one new tank.

If you can get some gravel/goo/ornaments from friends, it will help. Products like 'Cycle' and a few others don't do much to help.

[ALS2000]

well, almost all the fish have died now. I have only 2 tiger barbs left who are not doing too well. I have 1 pleco and 1 rtbs left who are both doing ok. I got a bag full of "used" gravel from my friend and 1 plant with algae all over it. Should I do more water changes? or just let the tank cycle? I feel terrible for the fish and don't know what to do at this point. Thanks everybody.

[blainep]

Don't feel to bad, these are mistakes that nearly every one of us has made.

Keep up with the water changes, right now it is the most effective way to keep ammonia down.

If it is available, you might consider getting a stick on ammonia alert, similar to this -
http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/AmmoniaAlert.html

They cost about $10.00, but they provide a constant watch for you.

Adding the gravel and plant will help alot also, but it will take some time yet for things to settle down.

[ALS2000]

Thanks, I will look for the ammonia stick. update: most of the barbs have died. I have 2 left only that I am keeping in a cup of conditioned water. they are doing better there than in the tank. I did another 25% water change. nitrite is at 0.3. and ammonia is at about 0.75-1.0. Hard to tell exactly as the tetratest kit is by color and the range between 0.25 jumps to 1.50 for color scale. I have only 1 pleco and 1 red tail shark in the tank now with some borrowed gravel and a borrowed plant. Do I need to get some more hardy fish to continue cycling the tank? or just leave it as is now? Should I still do any more water changes? If so, how often? Any other things I should do? Thanks.

[blainep]

Ideally you want zero ammonia, but if you can keep it down to about .25 to .5 your fish should survive.

Right now, the only way to get ammonia out, is with water changes.

I would do about a 20 percent water change. Wait about 1/2 hour for the new water to mix in and test again.

The good news is that you are getting nitrite, that means the ammonia eating bacteria is there and growing. That's a good thing.

Don't add any more fish until the cycle is complete !

Feed the fish you have very little right now, maybe every other day. More fish food = more poop = more ammonia.

Don't worry about starving them, they can easily go a week without food.

They won't be very hungry right now anyway, they're not feeling well.

As for the barbs in the cup, you need to get them into a larger container asap.
They will pollute that little bit of water quickly, also, if there is no water movement, they will run out of oxygen.

Keep your chin up, you'll get that aquarium working like it should and when it's running smooth, you'll love it.

[ALS2000]

just got back from petsmart. they gave me a big bag of sponge water from their filter. I put it into my filter compartment and let it soak for awhile before plugging it back in. now that I have almost no fish should I put some zebra danio in? I read they are really tough and will do ok in high ammonia to keep the cycling going? is this true and is it ok to do? thanks all.

[blainep]

Nope, don't add any more fish yet.

As soon as you are reasonably certain the cycle is finished, then more fish can be added.

[ALS2000]

should i do any water changes right now? or wait until the cycle is finished? I could change the water without cleaning the gravel if that helps. thanks blainep especially for all the help.

[blainep]

Yes, keep doing the water changes.

Test the water in your tank, if it shows ammonia, do a water change. Don't vacuum the gravel until the aquarium is cycled

If you can, test your water daily. I know this can seem like a pain in the butt.

You should see a gradual reduction in the amount of ammonia until it reaches zero, over the next week or two.

[ALS2000]

Hi,

Just wanted to let everyone that helped out with your suggestions know. My tank is now fully cycled. Ammonia and nitrite are down to zero. The tank took less about 3 weeks to cycle from scratch. Great suggestions were to get some sponge water squeezed from the pet store, some borrowed plants and some borrowed substrate. My shark is still alive and doing well with full color and my pleco is well also. I have now 4 minnows and 2 danios that I used to help further cycle the tank. Unfortunately all my barbs died but everything else is now doing great. Thanks again for all the help.

[Melody]

I'm sorry that you had to go through that but I'm glad its over. Make sure you add fish very slowly when you do or you'll go into a mini cycle.

[blainep]

Glad we could help out.

[CACAdmin]

Glad to hear the good news.