# Aquarium Trouble, Please Help



## hmlchinadoll (Jul 13, 2008)

Hiii everyone! This is my first time posting on this forum, so I hope this is the right board for my topic. Anyways, I have a 5-10 gallon aquarium(not quite sure how many gallons) that I have been having issues with. I've had it over 2 years now, and it has never really had much of a success. I've just recently started it back up again, hoping to breed fish. I took it outside and rinsed it out good, and then used aquarium wipes to get the remaining dirt out. I added all new gravel, plants, and water to it. I added Stress Coat and Proper pH 7.0 to the water. The next day I went to Saluda River and bought a Zebra Danio to cycle the aquarium's new set up. The Zebra Danio did good for about 2 days, but then on the 3rd I noticed it was floating with it's head up higher than it's body. I noticed the temperature had rised to 78 degrees, when I usally try to keep it no hotter than 75 degrees. So I took her out and changed about 25% of the water and reapplied the Stress Coat and Proper pH 7.0. Once the water was fixed, I put the Zebra Danio in a ziplock bag and let it float inside of the aquarium for about 30 minutes to get use to the water change. I put the fish into my net and was just about to place her in the aquarium when I noticed she wasn't moving around. I looked real close and noticed she wasn't even breathing. I was about to go ahead and keep her out of the water, when I decided to go ahead and put her in the water to see what would happen. Several minutes later, her body was still floating around, but I noticed she was breathing heavily. I added aquarium salt and put some food into the aquarium to try and get her to come back to normal, but she just kept floating. Maybe 15 minutes later, she started showing some signs of auctual life. My mom suggested that I add an air stone to the aquarium to supply the fish with more oxygen. The fish seemed to be doing better. I noticed she was still acting a bit wrong, so I kinda thumped at the side of the aquarium. I believe that could have been a mistake because she started jumping around in and out of the water. Now she is still floating around but still showing signs of breathing. Do ya'll think she has a chance of still living? Am I doing everything that I should? If you have any advice, that would be great.


Thanks-
Heather


Before I changed water and cleaned aquarium:

Nitrate- 200 (unsafe) 
Nitrite- .5 (caution)
Hardness- 0 (low)
Alkalinity- 0 (low)
pH- 6.2 (acidic)


Current test result:

Nitrate- 20 (safe)
Nitrite- 0 (safe)
Hardness- 0 (very soft)
Alkalinity-180 (ideal)
pH- 6.8 (neutral)



I will try and add pics here soon......


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## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

hmmm, well the other day i had a problem with my cory which was kind of similar. he was swimming around fine the days before, but then he started swimming in weird patterns and swimming upside down at times, as well as laying upside down on the gravel. immediately i changed 35% of the water, added pH stabilizer, water conditioner, and replaced the filter. the very next day, he seemed to be swimming fine and back to health, just like he is today. 

how long has this tank been set up because it might be from 'new tank syndrome' even though you are cycling it. which reminds me, how long did you have the tank up before you actually put the danio in? and make sure you aren't overdoing it with chemicals, because that also can contribute to the problem.


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## hmlchinadoll (Jul 13, 2008)

It was just an empty tank full of water for a long time. I just cleaned it out and put new water in not too long ago; maybe four days ago. So the new water was in the aquarium for about a day before I added the new fish. Could that be the problem?


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Also, your test results sound like you're using test strips. They've been known to be quite inaccurate. I'd recommend picking up a liquid test kit, Aquarium Pharmaceuticals makes a great one.


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2008)

Read about fishless cycling. 

Also, skip the pH chemicals...they do more harm than good. Test you pH out of the tap and see what it is. Depending on its reading, you probably won't have to worry about it.

What are the dimensions of the tank? If you know the dimensions, you can find out the volume, thus in the future will know the proper way to stock your tank.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

first to rinse out everything is not really good- you kill off the biological filter.
Do you know about cycling a tank?
What are the ammonia readings?
Never mind adding anything to to change the PH - it is a waste of time and money- get fish that can tolerate the ph you have like tetras.
Sometimes danios are not very healthy from the store and therefor do not tolerate the cycling process.
why not do a fishless cycle?
You need to find out how big the tank is. There isa big difference between 5 gallons and 10 and you need to be accurate with the amount of chemicals you are putting in. Too strong a dose of your Stress coat and ph adjuster may be toxic for your fish. If the fish wants to jump something in the water may be burning it.
Tell us what the measurements of the tank are so we can tell you how many gallons it holds.
Five gallons IMO is not big enough for a danio anyway.


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2008)

mousey said:


> first to rinse out everything is not really good- you kill off the biological filter.
> Do you know about cycling a tank?
> What are the ammonia readings?


They stated that they just recently reset the tank up, not that they were trying to clean an existing, established tank. There's nothing wrong with a thorough cleaning if you are starting a tank over...
The whole reason they bought the danio was to cycle the tank, so I'd assume they at least know the basics of the cycling process.

But yes, do post your ammonia readings.

Although, it is a little odd that your nitrate reading is so high this early on in the tank's life.


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## hmlchinadoll (Jul 13, 2008)

height- 10 in
width- 8 in
lenght- 16 in


I will go do the ammonia test right now.


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## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

is it possible to get a picture of your tank as well? that also might be incredibly helpful.


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## hmlchinadoll (Jul 13, 2008)

let me upload the pic on photobucket, then i'll post it on here while i'm waiting for the ammonia test to finish.


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## hmlchinadoll (Jul 13, 2008)

i just done the ammonia test and it turned out yellow which means it's 0 ppm(mg/L). I don't know much about this area. Is this good or bad? 

I took a pic of it to show ya'll the color because I may be wrong. I'll post the two pics in just a second.


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## hmlchinadoll (Jul 13, 2008)

Let me know if ya'll need a pic of the side of my aquarium. 

In the ammonia test pic, it looks like the colors under the first tab are yellow too, but here they look more green. Maybe it's the cameras flash.


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2008)

Ah, that's an Eclipse 6....about six gallons.

You want ammonia to be at 0, but it should rise during cycling and then fall back to zero as beneficial bacteria accumulate. Then nitrites will rise and eventually fall also, and you're left with an excess of nitrates. Nitrates are less toxic but you don't want ammonia or nitrites in an established tank.

I'd suggest only a betta for this tank. They're easy to care for and do make pretty inhabitants for small tanks such as yours.


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## hmlchinadoll (Jul 13, 2008)

Wow, I'm impressed you know what kind of aquarium it is. I had no idea what it was since we've had it for a while. 

I've heard that for every inch of fish you have, there should be a gallon of water. So if you have two 2 inched fish, you should have at the least 4 gallons. Is this correct?


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

That rule is kind of outdated and doesn't really work in many cases. I agree with ScubaKid, you're best off just keeping a single betta in that tank, maybe with some shrimp if the betta won't eat them.


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## hmlchinadoll (Jul 13, 2008)

Okay, thanks. I just checked and I believe the danio is dead. Poor girl.


Also, I think that rule only applies to fish that don't like to school. So that may be what I do; possible a pair of cherry barbs might do good. I have one in my sisters much bigger aquarium, and it always stays hidden by itself. I do believe I read somewhere that they like to be just in pairs; correct me if i'm wrong. I'm not sure yet what I will decide to do. For now, I'm going to let the aquarium cycle fishless for several days more.


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

The "one inch per gallon" rule can loosely apply to the smaller bodied fish such as some of the smaller tetras. The problem with this is, they need schools of 6+ so you still go over your limit. Deeper bodied fish don't count in that rule. Also you have to take into account the full adult size of the fish. Most fish you buy at the pet stores are juveniles and will get bigger in time. What you are really looking at is the amount of waste the fish put on the bio of the tank rather then the room they have to move. Some fish are just naturally messier then others and will overload a small tank like that.

You can do a fishless cycle by wrapping a piece of c0cktail shrimp in a nylon stocking and dropping it in the tank. As it decomposes it will release ammonia and start the cycling process. Keep checking the ammonia and nitrite levels every few days and when they both read 0 and you have a nitrate reading do a 15% water change and you will be good to go.


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## hmlchinadoll (Jul 13, 2008)

Okay thanks, I will deff try that.


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

I'm pretty sure cherry barbs need to be in schools. You could maybe have a pair of guppies, but I would go with 2 males or 2 females...If you get males and females, you'd have an overstocked tank FAST, haha.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

I'm going to let the aquarium cycle fishless for several days more.[/QUOTE]
see article on fishless cycle- tank does not cycle without a source of ammonia.
See what 'buggy' said about using the shrimp for the ammonia source.


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2008)

Cycling also takes about six weeks to complete.


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Just get some BioSpira or the new Tetra stuff to skip the cycle. It isn't fun.

I'm more concerned with the nitrate reading at 200. Has anyone else ever heard of a reading nearly that high?


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

they may have hit an extra 0 by accident, or they have something terribly wrong with their tank. Also if it was with test strips, a lot of them have the highest level as something rediculous like 80-450 with no actual numbers. I may be wrong though


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

> ziplock bag and let it float inside of the aquarium for about 30 minutes


Did you have any air in the ziploc with the fish & water? It is possible to smother a fish by putting it in a closed container full of water.


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## fishboy689 (Jul 16, 2008)

hmlchinadoll said:


> I've heard that for every inch of fish you have, there should be a gallon of water. So if you have two 2 inched fish, you should have at the least 4 gallons. Is this correct?


An oscar can reach 13 inches, would you put an oscar in a 13 gallon tank?

The answer of course is no, that rule will only fit the smaller fish species.


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