# Help needed....fish in trouble....!



## willies (Feb 28, 2009)

Hi All. First of all thanks for reading.

OK, let me start with saying that my wife got a fishhtank the other day, and pretty much populated it straightaway (as a surprise for me when I got home from work). I know that's totally wrong, she does now too but hey, we're now facing the consequences....

So - she boughttwo Snake-tailed Guppies, four Tetra, two (dwarf?) Coral Platys, and then was given about another eight tiny fish which I haven't identified yet from our neighbour.

So yesterday was nice, we watched the fish swim around etc. The filter pump must have been dodgy, as when we came down this morning the tank was cloudy, and half the fish (including the Guppies) were up the top, nibbling the surface, and the others (including the tetra) near the bottom. Things weren't looking up. The filter pump had stopped entirely.

I should mention that prior to the fish going into the tank, my wife had put in some AquaSafe stuff in, as per the instructions.

Ok so back to today - The fish aren't right. I popped down to the local aquatics place to get a nitrite tester (searched for info on here) and a new pump. By the time I got back, my wife was upset because one of the guppies was dead :-( 

So, I test the water, and sure enough the nitrite was about 0.3, or thereabouts. 

Now don't beat me up here, we just did what we thought was best;

1) We filled a bowl with 50% tank water and 50% tap water, and put the remaining fish in it.
2) I emptied 4/5th of the tank out, and refilled with fresh water treated with Aquasafe (to remove chlorine) and King British Safe Water (to add bacteria).
3) I installed the new pump (Fluval 1 PLus), the correct capacity as checked with pet-store. 
4) I fit the air-pump back in.
5) I check the Nitrite levels of the water again, much much lower now at about 0.05, maybe 0.1 at a push.
6) Put fish back in.

Now the problem is, is five of the fish (the guppy and the tiny unidentified fish (may be guppies as well)) are up the top of the tank again..... :-(

What do I do? Will the new filter (which I dripped water from the old filter onto the sponge) just take time to do it's job? Have I made things worse? 

HELP DON'T LET MY FISH DIE! :fish:


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## willies (Feb 28, 2009)

Video of their behavior if that helps.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzv1f0fqqmI


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## Finz4Fun (Jan 31, 2009)

did u check water params?


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## willies (Feb 28, 2009)

Finz4Fun said:


> did u check water params?


I checked the nitrate content.....?

The second guppy is at the bottom.....it's about to croak it :sad:

And one of the unidentified ones is at the back, dead :sad: :sad: :sad:


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## willies (Feb 28, 2009)

HELP! What other paramaters can I check....although all the pet stores will be closed now - not sure what I can do.....


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## <3~Pleco~<3 (Jan 31, 2009)

Your tank is probably going through the cycling process. The fact that you put all those fish in at once is making the process harder on your fish, because of all the wastes produced.


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## <3~Pleco~<3 (Jan 31, 2009)

Your unidentified fish look like cardinal tetras.
The parameters you should check are nitrates, nitrites, ammonia and ph. You can buy kits that come with everything needed to check these. I would look into those.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

When fish look distressed, change water. Remember to use dechlor. Lower the water lever to make a waterfall from the filter. It sounds like the fish are "gasping for air". You need to churn the water to get oxygen into it. Switching filters cause the tank to "cycle" again. Read about "new tank syndrome".


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