On 12 Nov 2003 12:40:42 -0800, (NSP) wrote:

1. New tank setup - less than a week old.

- 23 US Gallons
- Aquaclear 200
- 1 dose of Hagen Cycle, Aquaclear
- PH 7.0 - 7.5
- 79 - 80 degrees F

2. Fish

1 Placostamus
1 Pregnant Female Guppy
1 Pregnant Female Platy
1 Healthy Male Fancy Guppy
1 very sick (will probably die when I get home) Male Fancy Guppy
1 Male Platy
2 healthy Gouramis
2 Neon Tetras (one appears to have a salt grain on it - I think it is
ich!)
1 Baby platy in a breeding trap (very cute and healthy looking - 3
days old)
2 Serpae Tetras (I think this is what they are called)
2 Zebra Daneos
1 Clown Loach (it's a bottom feeding fish - I may have the name wrong)
1 Female swordtail

Thats way way way too many fish for an uncycled tank. Unless you have
a large tank (which you don't), it's best to start very slowly with
only a few small fish. The store should not have sold you all those
fish at once knowing you were just starting a new tank!
Tetras are schooling fish and should be in groups of at least 7 to 10.
Clown Loaches should be in groups of at least 3 - preferably more.
You don't mention what kind of Gouramis, but they can be aggressive.
IMHO Plecos should not be put in uncycled tanks at all because they
are very messy fish and add a lot to the bio load.


3. Current losses

1 Male swordtail
1 Female Guppy

What happened when the fish died :

Both fish became lathargic, hovered at the surface of the water, and
DIED.

Have you tested for ammonia and nitrites? That is probably the cause
of the illnesses.


QUESTION:

I know the tank is very new and it needs to cycle to the proper
bacteria and nitrate levels. However, given the ich on the neon tetra,
I'm not sure if I should medicate or not.

If the fish has only 1 spot of ich, I would wait. The other fish will
either die quickly or recover when the tank cycles. Avoid medicating
an uncycled tank because it will just stress the fish more and is more
likely to kill them.

As we don't have a hospital tank, I'm concerned that medications will
hurt our baby Platy and cause havoc with the cycling process.

Walmart has 10 gallon tanks for only $9.00. You can get a very cheap
filter for a hospital tank just to aerate and mechanically/chemically
filter.


Also, is it safe to do a water change? Do I have to be concerned about
temperature changes in the tank? Will a waterchange harm the cycling
process?

You need to do water changes. If you don't already have test kits for
ammonia and nitrites you should get them. Test the water daily and
do water changes to control these levels. Water changes will only
harm the cycling process if you don't declorinate. Otherwise they
only help. Yes, you do need to be concerned with temperature changes
of more than 2-3 degrees. The more temp change there is, the more
stress there is on the fish.

If I do a cycle change, can I put the aquaclear in after the water is
poured in the tank?

It would be better to add the declorinator before you add the tap
water.

Will letting the water stand overnight equally remove chlorine?

I think that depends how much chlorine your tap water contains. Also,
sometimes water companies use Chloramines which takes more like a week
to evaporate.

I tried treating the fish with Furon-2 for ich (the Neon Tetras I
mean). I could only give a 2 day dosage though because I had to swap
the tanks. I did not want to put this stuff in the new tank.

Ich needs to be treated for it's full life cycle which is 2 weeks.
See http://www.thekrib.com/Diseases/ich.html

There is lots of good info on all these subjects at The Krib.

Good luck!
Cris