New Tank Question

I've had 3 small fantails for about 2 years in a small Eclipse tank (~2
gallons). They've thrived with no problems, but, of course, they needed more
room. So I started a new 10 gallon for them. Setup, filled, treated, etc.
and waited for 2 days (I know, I should've waited a week or so). Then I made
another mistake by adding a black and a calico moore after about a week. The
original fish were kind of timid and tended to lay near the bottom in the
back corner (but they've always been kind of timid, so I didn't think much
of it). The calico moore died after 2 days. The black moore died the
following day. One of my original fish died a few days later. Checked
ammonia and nitrate/nitrite levels.........looks good. The pH is a little
low, around 6. Added salt as a general tonic. Now the 2 fish are still
acting a little unusual, and I've noticed a few white spots/bumps along the
tailfin of one of them. Doesn't look quite like ich (white spots are less
defined), but could be. I want to start partial water changes and possibly
treat with Quick Cure, but I'm not sure if it's too early in the nitrogen
cycle to risk depleting or killing off beneficial bacteria, which could lead
to more problems. And I still can't figure out why the others died so
quickly and unexpectedly, since ammonia/nitate levels were almost zero. Any
thoughts or suggestions?

Milky-G

For starters....even after you bought the 10 gallong tank, you are way too
overstocked, as goldfish are very messy fish.
What exactly were your test readings...."nearly zero" as you put it for
ammonia/nitrITE can be...or IS fatal for any fish...

SOunds to me like your tank went through a massive ammonia and nitrITE spike
because you overloaded your tank...
In future, cycle your tank without any fish (look up fishless cycling on
google) to avoid unecesarilly stressing and killing your fish)

1 goldfish per 10 gallons please
"Milky-G" wrote in message
...
I've had 3 small fantails for about 2 years in a small Eclipse tank (~2
gallons). They've thrived with no problems, but, of course, they needed
more room. So I started a new 10 gallon for them. Setup, filled, treated,
etc. and waited for 2 days (I know, I should've waited a week or so). Then
I made another mistake by adding a black and a calico moore after about a
week. The original fish were kind of timid and tended to lay near the
bottom in the back corner (but they've always been kind of timid, so I
didn't think much of it). The calico moore died after 2 days. The black
moore died the following day. One of my original fish died a few days
later. Checked ammonia and nitrate/nitrite levels.........looks good. The
pH is a little low, around 6. Added salt as a general tonic. Now the 2
fish are still acting a little unusual, and I've noticed a few white
spots/bumps along the tailfin of one of them. Doesn't look quite like ich
(white spots are less defined), but could be. I want to start partial
water changes and possibly treat with Quick Cure, but I'm not sure if it's
too early in the nitrogen cycle to risk depleting or killing off
beneficial bacteria, which could lead to more problems. And I still can't
figure out why the others died so quickly and unexpectedly, since
ammonia/nitate levels were almost zero. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Milky-G

"anemone" wrote in message
...
For starters....even after you bought the 10 gallong tank, you are way too
overstocked, as goldfish are very messy fish.
What exactly were your test readings...."nearly zero" as you put it for
ammonia/nitrITE can be...or IS fatal for any fish...

SOunds to me like your tank went through a massive ammonia and nitrITE
spike because you overloaded your tank...
In future, cycle your tank without any fish (look up fishless cycling on
google) to avoid unecesarilly stressing and killing your fish)


If he has an established tank there's no need to do a fishless cycle. He can
move his bacteria to the new tank and viola! Ready-for-fish.

A

You added two new fish to a system that was possibly unstable. You also
added fish without quarrantining them. Likely the new fish brought some
disease/parasite to the mix and with the change in conditions, the
older fish's immune systems couldn't deal with it. ALWAYS quarrantine
new fish for 4 to 6 weeks, otherwise you're playing Russian Roulette.
Sooner or later you'll get the aquatic bullet.

Start partial changes now, it can't hurt and it will help. Sick fish
need extra clean water. Healthy fish too! The salt is okay, but not
more than 1 level tsp/gallon, especially if you have no way of
measuring the amount in solution. To make sure the salt content does
not creep up, before you do a water change replace any lost to
evaporation BEFORE the water change (of course, temp and dechlorinate
it properly). Add back in the amount you would have taken out. So, if
your 10g tank has a 20% change, that would be 2g, add back in 2 tsp
(disolved prior) to the tank.

Hold off on medicating until you know what you are dealing with.
Shotgun approaches can be harmful to the fish, and your tender
biological bacteria system in that new tank.

Lilly

Milky-G wrote:
I've had 3 small fantails for about 2 years in a small Eclipse tank
(~2
gallons). They've thrived with no problems, but, of course, they
needed more
room. So I started a new 10 gallon for them. Setup, filled, treated,
etc.
and waited for 2 days (I know, I should've waited a week or so). Then
I made
another mistake by adding a black and a calico moore after about a
week. The
original fish were kind of timid and tended to lay near the bottom in
the
back corner (but they've always been kind of timid, so I didn't think
much
of it). The calico moore died after 2 days. The black moore died the
following day. One of my original fish died a few days later. Checked

ammonia and nitrate/nitrite levels.........looks good. The pH is a
little
low, around 6. Added salt as a general tonic. Now the 2 fish are
still
acting a little unusual, and I've noticed a few white spots/bumps
along the
tailfin of one of them. Doesn't look quite like ich (white spots are
less
defined), but could be. I want to start partial water changes and
possibly
treat with Quick Cure, but I'm not sure if it's too early in the
nitrogen
cycle to risk depleting or killing off beneficial bacteria, which
could lead
to more problems. And I still can't figure out why the others died so

quickly and unexpectedly, since ammonia/nitate levels were almost
zero. Any
thoughts or suggestions?

Milky-G

Lilly wrote:
To make sure the salt content does
not creep up, before you do a water change replace any lost to
evaporation BEFORE the water change (of course, temp and dechlorinate
it properly).

That sentence means, replace any water lost to evaporation, not salt,
salt does not evaporate! Sorry Lilly, it didn't read exactly clear!

Re-reading it, you're right. Replace the water, not salt! I really got
to get more sleep and caffinate myself properly. :-)

Lilly

Geezer From The Freezer wrote:
Lilly wrote:
To make sure the salt content does
not creep up, before you do a water change replace any lost to
evaporation BEFORE the water change (of course, temp and
dechlorinate
it properly).

That sentence means, replace any water lost to evaporation, not salt,

salt does not evaporate! Sorry Lilly, it didn't read exactly clear!

hehe...sleep usually helps....
But in my case...i sometimes think that my brain just goes "thats it....i've
had enough....I'm outta here.."...and then hear footsteps and a slamming
door....
"Lilly" wrote in message
oups.com...
Re-reading it, you're right. Replace the water, not salt! I really got
to get more sleep and caffinate myself properly. :-)

Lilly

Geezer From The Freezer wrote:
Lilly wrote:
To make sure the salt content does
not creep up, before you do a water change replace any lost to
evaporation BEFORE the water change (of course, temp and
dechlorinate
it properly).

That sentence means, replace any water lost to evaporation, not salt,

salt does not evaporate! Sorry Lilly, it didn't read exactly clear!