fisherless

WOW! Geez, it shows how much of a "novice" I am in regards to tropical fish keeping.... I followed the advice of the fish shop man, and he said I could have 15-20 small fish (perhaps even 20-25 if they stayed small).... Nothing was mentioned about checking the different pH levels, or of letting my tank settle in before adding fish. Fortunately since my guppies perished I haven't had any more fatalities, but I guess it's early days yet... I'll read over the other posts and see what cycling a tank means, I've never heard of that before. I'm also going to attend the fish society meetings in my area when they are on, so I can find out more. :-?

Well, after much trial and error (having lost all 3 of my guppies), I now seem to have perfected my tank conditions! The pH is now about 7.4 - which is normal (I think!). I added Stress Coat when I added the new fish too. I've now got zebra and leopard danios, a corydora, albina glowlight tetras and swordfish in with my Siamese Fighter, neon tetras and bristle nose (algae eater). They seem, so far, to be good with each-other, and the tank looks good!

Sorry - my typo - the temperature is 26'C - not "F" although "F" is on my mind a lot with the fate of my poor fish lately!

Thanks, that's a relief that I've got the temp right.... I added the recommended amounts of stress zyme and melafix, to remove anything "bad" in the water. So maybe just a case of some fish coping with the changes better than others?!

I set up a tropical fish tank last week - (28 litres). I added guppies and neon tetras yesterday. However, 2 out of 3 of the guppies, and one neon tetra have died. Could my water temperature be killing them? It is currently at 26'F. The PH level is currently 6.6-6.8. I am trying to aim for around 7.0-7.2. I also have 1 male Siamese Fighter and 1 Algae Eater in the tank, and they appear to be OK. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks for that Melanie. It was a purely a "tongue-in-cheek" comment by me, and not meant to be taken seriously. (I had just had a bad experience after winning a fish tank on trademe, only to find that it was readvertised with another description, after I had bought it - and unfortunately I wrote on here when I was annoyed about that - arrgghh!) I now have guppies and neon tetras to replace my Siamese Fighter (who, by the way, has made a remarkable recovery, and was sold again this morning). I am following the guidelines given above, right at this moment, and am floating the bag with my new fish in the tank to acclimatise them. Thanks for all the advice on this topic. It was all been very helpful.

I understand that, thanks for the advice. However, I have now just 1 Siamese Fighter Fish, after having received a refund for the sick fish. Must admit though, the fish seller was a little less than apologetic about the whole thing! He was very forthcoming about info regarding getting the sale, but when things turned bad, he didn't want to know about it! A shame "The Warehouse" doesn't sell fish - at least you'd get a no questions refund on your purchase! Sour grapes I know, but being a novice to this type of type of fish I expected maybe a little too much help with it's care than the seller offered me!

Thanks, for the advice. However, the fish are in separate tanks. I am on my way to take the sick fish back to the shop to get a refund now!

I bought 2 x male Siamese Fighter fish from a reputable specialist fish retailer on Tuesday. One of the fish is doing really well - has been swimming around actively, and eating. The other fish however, has been very lethargic and hasn't eaten anything since I got him. He is now almost looking like he's going to die! I rang the fish man today, and he said to put a few pinches of rock salt in the water as a "pick me up tonic" for him. (I also added some Melafix and Stress Coat.) The fish is still looking very sick, and doesn't look like he'll last another day. I am very upset and sad about this. Can anyone please help me to get my fish healthy and well again?