AquaMum Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Hi, I'm new here and I'm new to caring for fish and I'm praying somebody can help!! Anyway the day before yesterday I bought a 30Ltr Jebo R338 dimensions 40Hx25Wx40L, and not knowing anything about keeping fish I asked the sales assistant how many fish it would hold.........she said about 10, so I thought I would be safe with 4 - 2 Nymphs a Blackmoor and a comet. Its not going well they were all majorly stressed by this afternoon and at the top of tank gasping for air (I presume). So I didn't know what to do, the water was smelly so I did a partial water change and I think I had over fed them as bits of food were floating around after the new water was added. This didn't help much so I have removed 2 of the fish from the tank and they are currently in temporary accomadation (a huge square bucket with a width and breadth similar to the tank). Now the two in the bucket are looking quite relaxed (I filled the bucket with the water I took out of the tank) and doing what goldfish do.......not a lot! But the two left in the tank are still really stressed, one is at the top of the tank trying to get air and the other is darting from the top of the tank to the bottom.....and keeps disapearing behind the top of the pump and just sitting up there..... Please help me, I don't want my wee fish to die Ohh and when I changed the water I put in the aqua plus and the cyle chemicals..... What am I doing wronge and how can I fix it???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monaro1 Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 if the water is smelly after 2 days something is wrong. is the filter working? has something else got stuck in the tank or filter that should not be there?did you put anything else in the tank?eg;stones not washed,or something that will raise your ph levels through the roof. im not to good on goldfish but there is always a reason. i would put the other 2 fish in the bucket with the others untill you get it sorted.put a air bubbler in with them as well to help turn the water around and keep the surface broken good luck hope that thay all live Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Hi AquaMum... Welcome to the NZ Fishroom Sounds like you have fouled the water really quickly through overfeeding. Get a length of hose pipe and siphon out a good 50% of the water in the tank... ensuring that you get as much of the uneated food and other waste that you can. Top the tank up and get the filter running correctly... plus if you have an air pump.. set that going with an air stone. Goldies are messy fish.. both in eating and in the waste they produce... so the maintainance on the tank will be high, with partial water changes at least once or twice a week. The big rule here is... "Don't overfeed" Only feed them once a day.. or twice with smaller amounts. Make sure they can clear every scrap of food up in five or so minutes. If you have young ones... HIDE THE FOOD... so that they can't feed the fish without supervision. When the assistant said "Ten Fish".. it was 'possibly' referring to ten guppies or similar fish.. not ten goldfish, as ten goldies would not survive for long in a 30ltr tank. The four you have will soon outgrow the space you have.. so as above.. they will need regular water changes and attention. Hope it goes well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Wow 10 fish in just a little tank. I would only keep 4 goldfish in a tank that size. I would recommend that you select the best 4 goldfish you currently have and return the rest from the pet shop you got them from and get your money back or use the money to get another tank. (1 tank is not normally enough given a little time.....mts) as Pegasus said goldfish are a messy fish and produce a large volume of waste. so do weekly water changes of at least 30% Happy fish keeping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaMum Posted December 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Thanks heaps for your advise - Have followed your suggestions as best I can - I removed the 2 remaining fish into the bucket - Have changed the water, the air pump is working fine with an air stone - Incidentally is there such a thing as the fish getting too much air?? and if so how will I know? About the filter........... :oops: Well... I don't know if it's working correctly, I took out the wand thing and checked for blockages - There were none, I also put it in water and checked that the propeller thing was going - It was. There is water coming through the tube with holes in it that sits on top of the tank and the sponge that it sits on has a wee bit of gunk on it - Can someone tell me if this sounds like it is working properly? I don't want to put them back in the tank until I'm sure everything is ok - I haven't fed the fish today - but I purchased some of the little pellets - when should I feed them next and how many pellets should I put in? (I don't want a repeat drama) I message from the fish "Thank you so much for your help, we had a bit of a scarey time, we are feeling a wee bit better and are hoping to be fighting fit soon........don't think too badly of our mum, she is a bit blonde.....but her hearts in the right place......we are just glad that at least you guy's know how to help us feel better - yours gratefully, AquaClan!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Oh... one other thing did you cycle the tank before you put the fish in? OR did you fill the tank with water and tossed the fish in? If you didn't cycle the tank first then you would have a problem with rapid ammonia build up from the fish waste... only way to fix that now with all the fish in there is to do 2 water changes per week. Have fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaMum Posted December 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Thanks Wok - I only ended up getting 4 fish (thankfully) - and currently they are not in the tank I took them out as they were really stressed. They are presently in a huge bucket (containing water from the tank) and looking much more relaxed. And when I initially put them in the tank I put in aqua plus and cycle - I don't know if this counts as cycling the tank - I know you knowledgeable people do it without chemicals..... Would it be a good idea for me to completely clean the tank out and rinse the gravel etc....seeing as they are not in it at the moment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Ok.... Since you only have 4 fish now. I would leave the water you currently have in the tank and put 2 of the goldfish into the tank and leave them there and only feed them very lightly once a day. Keep doing the partial water changes on a 2 weekly basis. then after the 1st week but in the 3rd fish then a week later put the last one in. the good bacteria should of begun to do its thing and started converting harmful waste into good stuff. what material do you have in the filter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaMum Posted December 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 erm..... I don't know what material it is - It's kinda white sponge like about eight inches long and 3 inches wide On the box the tank came in it says its a 4 in 1 bio-chemical filtration system - Is this good or bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Hmmm Never seen a AR388 filter system before but my understanding is that there should at least be: Sponge Carbon (black stuff) Media (white stuff that looks like kitty litter) The carbon takes bad stuff out of the water The sponge takes the big stuff out of the water and the media contains most of the good bacteria that converts nitrites to nitrates. If you only have a sponge then that would work... not as good as if you had everything else though. peek into the filter and let us know what is in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaMum Posted December 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Yes I have the media - it sits underneath the sponge. But I don't have the carbon - do I need it? And if so where do I put it or is it liquid I add to the water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Carbon is mainly used to take medication out of the tank or any other nasties. If you don't have it don't worry about it. I would say... keep things as it is and wait. Patience is a virtue. Have fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 It might pay to pick up some test kits as well, there is a master test kit with all the tests you need ( 5 ) usually on Trade Me for around $50 (good value), if your able to test the water for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate etc it can give you and us an idea of what stage the tank is at and is a good insight towards what may be the problem if your fish aren't happy. When i have an un cycled tank with fish in it i do a 10% water change daily to avoid any excessive build ups, less of a change to the fish so less stress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaMum Posted December 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 LOL Snowman - I bought the one on trademe a couple of hours ago.... Ph 7.8 Amonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0 I'm not quite sure what they are supposed to be for a new tank, also the lady sold me some aqua clean (little pebbles in a wee sack) to remove amonia and it says on the box to rinse well before putting in the basket - However, do I rinse well in tap water or tank water? And thanks for your help Wok, I know patience is a virtue...........and I want some NOW!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanksman Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Hi Aquamum. You have learned a valuable lesson already - don't get information from a salesperson in a petshop. IMHO they think they know it all yet are more than willing to make a buck at the expense of a fishs life - it is all to common to see a retailer selling a 10 litre goldfish bowl and a poor fishy to a budding aquarist. Best to get advice in here so well done for being here. One thing I think is important for you to know (in case you don't) is never ever wash your filter material under the tap. Always just gently rinse it out in a container of aquarium water which you can discard - ie not in the tank. Otherwise the beneficial bacteria which grow on the filter will die from either chlorine poisoning or from a sudden change in temperature or both. Good luck and happy new year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Hi AquaMum, Sounds like things are improving, PH should be somewhere around 7, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0 and Nitrates round 40 or less. Just remember if you are adjusting things it must always be done slowly, always wash the filter sponge, media etc in water taken from the tank, carbon doesn't last that long before it loses it's effectiveness, so I wouldn't be to concerned about not having this. Good Luck Lynda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaMum Posted December 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Yes Lyndy, things are definately improving (thanks to everyone here), 3 of my clan are looking pretty happy, although my tiny weenie Nymph is sulking at the bottom periodically.......... :-? And Tanksman you are quite right about advice from sales assistants (but to be fair she was only young) I have also found an awful lot of conflicting and confusing info on the internet and it's hard to know which advice to follow - Which is why I have to thank eveybody for tollerating my inexperience- This is such a great forum and everybody knows'stuff' and whatsmore they share!!! AND in time to save wee fishies. You live, you learn!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaMum Posted January 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 Well, sadly the 2 Nymphs didn't make it They both died within 24hrs How bad do I feel!!! - One had been quite inactive/sick for a while (and was back in the bucket as the comet was eating its tail) but the other died quite suddenly - well it had behaved quite oddly for an hour or so and then just died. Odd in that it was kinda floating to the top and seemed to be not be able to keep himself down at the bottom of the tank - The blackmoor and the comet seem to be fine.......for now, but Im a little concerned as for the last couple of days the ammonia has been 0.25-0.50 and even with water changes this is not decreasing - For the last 3 days there has been an aqua clean pouch thing in the filter which is supposed to remove ammonia, so I'm hoping that this will help........ Is there anything else I can do here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 So sorry to hear about the death of your fishies , I personally don't like to put chemicals in my tank if I can help it, the Ammonia is a little high but if you continue with doing the water changes it will drop. Do hope you have nearly got over the problems that you have been having. Good Luck and Happy Fishing. Lynda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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