Hello, New Here!

[Mistyjr]

Hello, I am new at this. I used to raise fish tanks when I was younger. In February we bought a believe on the box said was a 29 gallon Fishtank but it wasnt. But a lot of fish died. And my 2 year old daughter put baby formula in the tank and killed our moss ball.


On Saturday we got a new fishtank. Friend of mine helped me for the size of the tank. It's a 40 long.
The lady that we bought the tank from didnt know the size. We bought the tank for $20 and it wasnt a bad price. Our other tank light/hood fit the one size of the tank. We put everything in our old tank into the new tank. I was looking at my friends tank on here and I liked it. I love the pretty real plants tanks with pretty fish. But anyways, We transfer the fishes and everything in the new tank yesterday. But I have noticed a lot of fish have died and didnt know what happen to them.
We only have left.
*2 Gourami Fish
*2 Dwarf African Frogs
*1 Fancy Orange Molly
*1 Baby Black Molly ( Both parents have died after given birth)
*1 small Pelco
*2 Neon Tetra's
*2 Bleeding Heart Tetra's
But everything else have died.



The new tank is too blah. I want it to be a WOW! Tank. I love the way tanks are amazing with lots of pretty plants and fish. I dont know what to do or where to start. I am new at this.

Thank, Misty

[chad320]

Read all that you can on this forum. If you want a WOW tank youve done something right already by coming to this site.

[Mistyjr]

Yes, My friend lead me to this site!

[Captivate05]

Hey Misty! I'm glad you decided to join the forum. There's alot to learn, but this is a great place for that.

First question that I need to ask you is do you know about the nitrogen cycle? It's a basic thing that doesn't get explained well when you first get started in the aquarium hobby.

[Mistyjr]

No, I dont know anything about that..

But thanks for showing me this website!

[RipariumGuy]

Heya and welcome to the forum Misty!

It takes alot of money, time, and research to make a "WOW" tank, but it can be done! I would read up on the raw basics of the hobby. Here are some sites that are real helpful.
Remember, read-read-read-read-read-read-read-readreadreadreadreadread!

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquarium/freshwater.php

http://www.fishlore.com/Articles/Bas...Freshwater.htm

Hope these help,
Jake

[Captivate05]

Ok, that will answer why your fish died.

When fish waste decomposes in the water it creates ammonia, which is toxic to fish. There is a naturally occurring bacteria that breaks it down into nitrite, which is even more toxic to fish. Another bacteria breaks the nitrite down into nitrate, which isn't so toxic fish. While the bacteria is present naturally, it takes some time for it to build up to the level it needs to be at to keep ammo and nitrite from lethal levels in an aquarium.

Since you have fish in your aquarium already, it's important to to add a product like Tetra SafeStart. I've also had good look with Seachem Stability. Both contain the bacteria you need in the tank, which will help shorten the cycle.

Plants help alot, because they "eat" nitrogen (ammo, nitrite, nitrate). You can try to see if Janelle will give you some hornwort; it's a nitrogen hog. Just float it on top of the tank and it should keep the levels down a little bit. But you still need to add SafeStart or Stability. Several people on here know other products that work, but most products that boast they add beneficial bacteria don't work well.

[Mistyjr]

We have some of the test that we bought.. It is also for ammo and nitrite,ect that we bought awhile back. Everything was okay with the water a couple weeks after we bought it. We havent test it in awhile.

[lauraleellbp]

You need to test daily and usually do daily water changes in a tank that is cycling with fish in it.

You might read through this article I wrote up on how to start up a new tank for TFH forum: http://forums.tfhmagazine.com/viewto...?f=132&t=26634

[Mistyjr]

Thanks Laura.

I didnt know how often we were supposed to do it or anything. But I will test it again and see. Just I lost the one paper that isnt supposed to say what it is.. But I will have to look it up on the internet again.

[Mistyjr]

I will have to read that. I read part of it..

My Fish Tank never got cloudy before.. Just when I bought a Male and a Female Black Molly. 2 days later. The Male started looking bad. He's eyes were popping out of hes head and the Female had 2 babies. So I put the momma and the babies into our 5 gallon tank. Because I didnt want the other fish to eat the babies. A day after they were both born. The Female and Male both died.. And so did the other baby weeks after that.
Now I only have the one black baby left. He is still so small and tiny. But he have gotten bigger and I put him into my other tank and is doing great.

I have bought all my Fish in February and bought my 2 Dwarf African Frogs about 3 months ago or so.

About a week ago. My $10 Fancy Orange Molly started getting white spots on hes back by hes face. He wasnt swimming good. Always lay by the filter and hardly wasnt moving. I dont know where he would have been getting sick. I have treated the Tank 2 times already. The second dose was yesterday..

[lauraleellbp]

If you don't properly cycle your tank at first, you can end up with very bad water quality in your tank, and poor water quality is so stressful for fish that they then fall prey to lots of other illnesses.

Get those test kits straightened out, and read through that article I linked to work on getting your tank properly cycled and improving the water quality for your fish.

"White spots" might be ich- google up some pictures of fish with ich and see if that looks like your fish. If so, high temperatures (mid 80s F) and salt (up to 1 tbsp per gallon or less, depending on what species of fish I'm treating) is what I generally use.

[Mistyjr]

I will have to get that tested. And let ya'll now what I find out.. Thanks for all the help!

[Mistyjr]

Here is the picture of my Fancy Orange Molly! Here are pictures of hes white stuff on hes back by hes face.

[Mistyjr]

Anybody??