# A little help pls



## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

Ok girl came home with a tank and fish 2 weeks ago, 2 yellow gouramis, 2 blue gouramis, 2 silver dollars, 1 pleco, 1 fancy gold fish, 29 gallon tank, aquaclear 50, nutrafin aqua plus, nutrafin cycle, tetramin pro,and wardley spirulina discs, gravel that is rock like and a heater stick. Ok put all this together, then put the fish in there all i knew was not to just put them in there,waited 15min put some tank water in bag waited 15 more then put them in tank with the water from the bag, then i said gotta do some research, google this site seen about cycling tank. Damn told my girl these fish gonna die cause we didnt do it right and couldnt return fish. So i just followed up with 10 percent water changes and use the aqua plus and nutrafin every time i do. I was feeding them 2 times a day then switched to 1 time cause i was reading up on a few post here and it seems one large feeding is better than 2 for less waist. Ok pay day isnt till this week so i couldnt buy all those testing kits but i did get a ph kit from a friend tested and it is a nice light blue color while my tap water is a light green bluish, dont know what it means but my friend said the water is ok for ph i guess lol. so everything seems fine but then one of my yellow gouramis dies, i notice that it wasnt eating when i was feeding them, i also notice that one of the blue ones isnt eating also. All the other fish seem to be doing fine. question is i what to do next the yellow gourami that died had 2 red spots on it. I change 15 percent of the water soon as i seen this, so what next wait it out or do a full water change i dont wanna hurt the cycle process but i dont want anymore to die i feel bad cause i thought i was doing the right thing after reading some of this post


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

Unfortunately I wouldn't hold out for the blue gouramis, They are sensitive and will not handle the cycling well at all. 

You need to do larger water changes, if it was me I would do 50% daily since you don't know the stats and have too many fish for a normal fish-in cycle, as well as sensitive fish. Feed them lightly to reduce the waste. Them going hungry is better than them dying from ammonia and nitrite. Pick up some cycle or pond dechlor when you run out of the aqua plus stuff. These are much more concentrated and overall are much cheaper/will last longer. 

Call around and see if you can get some mature media from a local store. I know it may sound weird, but ask if you can have some of there used/dirty filter material. Their tanks are cycled, the filter media contains most of the good bacteria. Take it and put it in your tank. If you get a enough you can completely skip the cycling period. A little bit will still jump start and shorten your cycling period. If they are running UFG(under gravel filters) you want some of their gravel, put their gravel in a pantyhose and place it in your filter.


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

Thanks for the info, i will do this asap i feel real bad though i was doing good,guess not. I will see if i can get a friends filter, could i just squeez out my friends filter of water and use that cause i am pretty sure he only has one and its a bigger filter than mine. i will also try to get some plants. Also i but the pleco food in the tank but i never see him eat them they r gone when i get up in the morning but i dunno if he is eating it or the fish i put 2 disc and they r gone in the morning, i see him cleaning the glass now, havent seen him do it in the 2 weeks i have had him


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

It will help a bit, take some of their tank water and clean their filter pad in it, it will probably get really dirty, but add this to your filter. It will muck up the tank for a while, but your filter will pick it up. 

another option is to cut it, depending what kind of filter he has, a cycled tank can lose 1/3 of its filter media without undergoing a mini cycle. Media doesn't need to look nice. If they don't mind and the filter has some foam/sponge bits in it these are the easiest to cut. You could take the foam bit that sits on the bottom of your aquaclear and put it in his filter to fill the holes. Put the bits from his filter in the bottom of the aquaclear.

If you are unable to get some of their media, I would still place the bottom sponge of your aquaclear in their filter, or a piece of a pot scrubber. These are cheap alternatives to the expensive sponges (cut it up). Leave it in there for 1-2 weeks then add it to your filter. The bacteria in his filter will of colonized it by then. It should help your tank finish off cycling by then.


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

ok thanks. i changed 50% of the water this morniing and used what i had of the aqua plus and the cycle stuff, i will not be using anything from my friends tank cause his catfish just died and he dunno what it was(funny talking about my tank we go to his house and find his fish dead) only that one died. hmm after looking at my tank after cleaning i see white spots on my all my fish thought it was just the pleco (so it begins) i think it is ich, how could this happen? Guess i gotta go and get something to treat it


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

ok picked up something called super ick cure hope this works without killing the fish


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

ok update. using this super ick seems to be working alittle bit, pleco seem to have taken the biggest hit on this. I see my yellow gouramis at the top getting air more than usuall but the blue one r doing it casually as they have always done, the silver dollars seem to be handling it the best(which for some reason worries me more for them). My pleco seem to be going to the top for air now, and seems to be more active in the daytime then when i first got him i dunno if its from the ich or cause i had to raise the temperature to 82. The directions say after first use, do another treatment at 48hrs and then wait another 48hr and change 25% and treat again. I am worried about this cause this tank isnt fully cycled and that will be 4 days without any water change. should i do a water change at the first 48 anyways or follow the directions completly


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Why do you have a goldfish in a tropical tank?


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

ah i have one goldfish in the tank, why is there something wrong with that. I thought it was cool


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Goldfish are cold water fish. Although they will live in a warm tank, they prefer cold water. Also goldfish will get really big and may bully or eat your other fish in the future. They are also really messy which will hurt your other fish before the tank cycles. 

I recommend you either buy the goldfish it's own 20g+ tank or return it to the store. Most stores will return the fish if you bring it in, especially since they were the ones who sold it to you knowing what you would put it in. The other option, is if you have an outdoor pond, gold fish do really well in those. Just keep the pond from freezing and it should survive even northern winters.

As far as your cycling problem goes. Buy some Seachem Stability. It should keep your fish from being harmed by the cycle, and will make the tank cycle in about a week if you follow the directions properly.


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

didnt think 1 goldfish would hurt guess i will see if i can get him a new home, dont think the pet store will take him back its been 2 weeks already


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

To be honest, you could probably keep the goldfish in that tank for a little while. It will live, but it would be more confortable in a cold water enviroment. The goldfish wont hurt your other fish when it is young, but in a few months it will get big and somewhat aggressive. Before that time comes, you will have to decide what to do. Pet stores will usually take fish back. Some may return your money, and some wont. At least the fish has a chance at maybe getting put in a proper aquarium.

If you really want to keep it long term, buy it a 20 gallon or bigger tank. The single goldfish look looks really good in my opinion.


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

ok another update things seem to be going smooth with the ick treatment they r starting to fall off. the fish have none on them while the pleco has just a couple. I guess the next few days will tell, to see if the get back onto there skin. I have to change out 25% of the water on thursday and retreat. I wanna know after that 48 hrs do i change another 25% out and retreat or just retreat without changing 25% of the tanks water


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

keep the ich treatment going for at least a week after all spots have disappeared. The parasite ich goes through a life cycle where it is both free swimming, attached to the fish, and dormant for a short period in the gravel. The spots falling off the fish will naturally happen. They then land in the gravel, have a rest period. And burst open releasing lots of the free swimming stage, which go on to infect the fish. Once they attach to a fish they form a cyst which is what we see. The med can only harm them in the free swimming stage. It is important to continue the treatment for at least a week, preferably two, to make sure they are fully taken care of. Most of the time people suffer reoccurring ich problems is because they stopped treatment when the parasites where no longer visible. They are still present in the tank and stopping treatment at this point means they will likely reappear in a few weeks time.

I would change 25% then retreat.


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

cool thanks for the info. They r starting to act normal. I will be getting some plants and such for them cause they really have no where to hide. should i wait till i finish the treatment fully before i add them? These things will be the last items i will be putting in the tank for awhile. I would like to add them and 1 rainbow shark if possible before i finish the treatment just incase i introduce ick back into the tank by putting them in. Maybe if they have it and i am alrdy treating the tank it will kill it also. If u understand what i am saying


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

I would wait to put anything in the tank until the treatment is done and all of the medication has been removed from the water. When you do buy plants make sure you treat the plants to make sure there are no snails or snail eggs on them. You will get an infestation if you have them. 

Also, someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think a rainbow shark will get too big for a 29 gallon tank.


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

ok i just want to make sure i dont get ick again cause i dont have an extra tank and would rather but the new fish and plant thru 2 or 3 days of the ich treatment rather than getting it again and exposing the fish to all of that treatment. I will be getting a bigger tank didnt know they r so much cheaper on petsmart.com than in petland discounts


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## alliecat420 (Mar 28, 2009)

invest in some bio spira.. it's kind of pricy but they say it can have your tank cycled in 24 hours.. since you have lots of fish i wouldent hurt to try to speed up the cycling


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

another update. did the 25% water change along with treatment. the fish seem to have none on them and are more lively then before, think they r getting use to me the yellow gouramis seems not scared of me comes withing reach of my hand when i put it in the tank. The pleco seems to be reinfested or the ones i couldnt see on him r about to fall off, anyways only half way thru the treatment. Thru all this the pleco seems to be getting more active, i see him cleaning the glass. Which brings to mind a question i see him cleaning the glass but the glass has nothing on it atleast to my eyes what is this about? I found out he will eat alittle cucumber, i am doing this cause the fish seem to get to the spirulina discs before he does epecially the gold fish i see i will have to move his greedy behind real soon. I went ahead anyway and put brazilian sword plants in the tank anyways cause my gmoms is old school vodoo doctor (kidding) and said they will releave stress in the fish, which has seem to be working very very well. I know people well say that that is not a aquatic plant but she has been growning them in nothing but water for 30+ yrs and they all look good she always complains about having to tream them. I dont understand cause she doesnt use any fancy equipment or pumps, just her old school home made stuff. water is still alittle cloudy but not bad, overall everything is looking up i am starting to love my tank i set and watch them all the time.


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

ok everything seems to be looking fine with the ich treament, still gonna treat for recommended 10-12days. Only thing i am worried about is one of my blue gouramis doesnt seem to be doing well. Its dots r fading and it will not eat, it just hovers at the top of the tank. I see a little lump towards the back of it where u can see the spine of the fish. Other than that all the fish seem to be doing great nice colors and r active more than ever. Water is almost crystal clear


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

Sounds like you are riding through this like a pro. Keep up with the waterchanges, and get that test kit asap.


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

Ya everything is looking up. Water is clearer than ever now, ich seems to be gone but i am still treating for recommended time. The only problem i am haveing is with the one blue gouramis other than that everthing is going good. My pleco is starting to put his fin up full sail havent seen him do that since i got it, hopefully that is a sign that he is doing better Thanks to everyone here who help me.


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

My blue gouramis has died, i dunno why he wouldnt eat but it died just like my other yellow one it was still looking like it was swimming but was dead. The other fish r doing great especially during feeding time they get crazy. Atleast they r doing good. what should i get to replace the yellow and blue gouramis any suggestions. I am getting rid of the gold fish tomorrow at my lfs


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

eh... lets see first purchase for you should be a test kit =)


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

Think i am gonna get a test kit and wait on the fish i think the blue and yellow gouramis died from this desease i was looking at online cause i do remember them rocking back in forth.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

A lot of diseases are caused by water impurities and dirty water. The test kit would definitely be a good thing to buy.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

> A lot of diseases are caused by water impurities and dirty water


 Not precisely true, but practically true. Like a coal-miner's who dies of pneumonia. Technically, it was a bacteria that killed him, but it was inhaling dust that damaged his lungs so he couldn't recover. Ammonia burns gills doing permanent damage, even to survivors, "nutrients" in the water feed the growth of organisms some of which can harm fish, the wrong amount of dissolved ions in the water can damage a fish's kidneys. 

Clean water is one of the best medicines and one there is no good excuse not to use. Test kits are helpful, but its not the test kit that helps, its the water change you make because the test kit convinced you that the tank needed it.


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

That in all said what else can i do with what a test kit will tell me cause i am limited to the water i get from the faucet. I let it sit and i us the aqua plus stuff on it. I hear people say dont use ph and other booster cause they just mask the problem and i dont want to be dependent on these things. I will get the test then wait it out and see how the water is and then get fish that are proper for my water type without having to use these other chemicals. One thing i am notice is that my pleco is starting to get more aggresive of his food. In all they r all jocking for postion to get the food. I dunno but i think the plants i put in there had a big impact on the tank even tho i only put 2 in there the water has been so clean i find myself looking at the tank all the time.You guys have help me learn thinks that i didnt even know existed about fish, I alway thought u could get a fish, tank and filter and ur good to go. Yea right


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

water change water change water change, test kit to tell you if your water is okay. keep finding things to read and you'll realize what a fun hobby it is. Just remember, your fish are astronauts, your tank is the space ship, the equipment the lifesupport. =)


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Toshogu said:


> Just remember, your fish are astronauts, your tank is the space ship, the equipment the lifesupport. =)


HAHA. I never thought about it like that before. GREAT analogy!


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## richierichdolla (Dec 6, 2009)

update. everything seems to be doing good. got rid of gold gourami,and the gold fish, silver dollars will be given away to my friend tomorrow cause he has bigger tank. i have changed to 5neon tetra, 2swordtail,1 guppy or platy cant find it one internet the guy said it was a pinapple something but the fish i find is not what i have, mine is smaller. I also have 5 smaller fish like neons but they r not neons they look like sharks with silver body and a white horizontal strip and a orange back fin,they r just alittle bitter then neons but not much. I have my fiend moms come test tank every week, she said its doing great specially with the problems i had(let her do it cause i figured i need some professional help since i was having problems). I am gonna keep my blue gourami i love him and he is real friendly so he will be the biggest fish in there beside the pleco. I have learned alot a decided to change my tank because i see now that the fish i had need more room and i will not be getting a bigger tank anytime soon. my tank is looking very much alive and is what i was looking for in my vision, more community like and active.


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