Catastrophe with new fish

[Candybugs]

We bought 3 fish they were in separate bags and one of the rubberands came off when we tried to get it secured the whole bag slipped and the fish went in unacclimated 5 days ago . It is dying for sure and it's hard to watch. My question is any advice on what to do. Just wait and let nature run its course or something else. This is sad . He spins and lays on the bottom and why is it taking so long.

[Slaphppy7]

Is the tank cycled?

[Rocksor]

When a fish swims and spins, it is called the spin of death. I would euthanize the fish.

[Boundava]

Sorry to hear your fish is suffering, euthanizing it is the best choice for it so it doesn't continue to suffer.

[Candybugs]

Thanks I use bottled water is cycling for tap water ?

[Candybugs]

Ok it's done I've never had to do anything like this myself . I just needed confirmation before doing such a thing . I'll introduce my fish later . I'm sad right now

[Slaphppy7]

Cycling a tank means growing bacteria that will take care of the fish's waste.

They won't live long in an uncycled tank unless you do massive (tap) water changes every day, with a good water conditioner.

Please read as much info in the beginner section that you can, particularly the "cycling" stickies.

Don't be distraught, many of us started out just like you...have a look at the 10G journal of mine in my sig below.

We're here to help, read the stickies and get back with us with your questions.

[Candybugs]

I don't use tap water and I clean alot I only have 1 fish and a catfish sucker he's real small. I do the change a half the water a week and total clean 1 x a month

[Candybugs]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160223/40e7f5e518ee7f089c77fb6f67f93416.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160223/07690c1ef7690f4ef41643f98f634472.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160223/d9ee20a89a45056667c071edd244e00b.jpgThis is my Ladyfish.

[Fish & Bird Kid]

Hi. Sorry for your loss. Were these your first 3 fish? When you're ready to say hello and share your tank, I'm sure you'll find some helpful information here. I sure did!

[claire.chapman11]

When my fish(tropical) are suffering, I melt two ice cubes in a small container of water and drop them in. Takes about 3 seconds. The shock knocks them out pretty quickly and painlessly

[Candybugs]

No we a few tanks this was just a horrible accident.

[Candybugs]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160224/511d13f678e346d1b43433e00022e1d1.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160224/d09351a0ebba27920421cc8c86e24b4b.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160224/3c694cd0725033702edd3351dc61648c.jpgthe 1st one is Lady at the pet store she looked sad her fins were all down. She's the prettiest fish I've ever seen I really feel lucky to have her. The dwarf frog is in another tank . He's doing so well he's grown and is turkey baster trained he knows when I pick it up he's getting fed. He hangs in the front of the tank and looks back at me. I love him too.

[gadget228]

Welcome to the AC... :22:

[Candybugs]

Thanks gadgethttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160224/f80e54a96708c7d255be6a9889249c7d.jpgThis is Ladyfish happy.

[Candybugs]

I'm going to a fish store tomorrow with a notepad and gonna get a lesson in this . Now I'm wondering is tap water better because of minerals. I'm so not knowledgeable in this I don't even know where to start. I really appreciate the help from you guys . I want Lady to be as healthy as possible for as long as she can live. I know she's just a goldfish but I'm so in love with her I don't want any mistakes . Off to the aquarium fish store tomorrow.

[Slaphppy7]

Be sure to read the discussion here

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=79134

[Candybugs]

R u saying go to a good fish store. That thread gave me frog forum flashbacks Uvb is a real struggle over there. I don't want to sound stupid but that was about incompetent fish salespeople. Is that correct. I have a 75 gal tank that i just got but now I know I don't know enough by a long shot to set it up . Thank you for your help.

[Silbar]

Your Ladyfish is a real beauty.
Please be careful of fish stores that want to sell you fish before your tank is completely cycled and please do not use fish to cycle the tank.
Here is a perfect example of incompetent fish store employees who steer people in the completely wrong direction.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=123258

Now that is why you cycle without fish. I feel so sorry for this guy!

[RiversGirl]

I am glad you've joined our community. It is my opinion that you can learn more from the members and posts in here than you are likely to at your local fish store.
No need to be in a rush to travel there tomorrow, read up in here instead. Ask questions, research, take notes.

I'm glad you love Lady and are committed to providing her with a healthy home. There are many knowledgeable members here who are happy to help guide you towards exactly that goal. Welcome to the AC.

[Boundava]

I don't use tap water and I clean alot I only have 1 fish and a catfish sucker he's real small. I do the change a half the water a week and total clean 1 x a month

What do you mean by a "total clean"? Once your tank is set up the only thing getting "cleaned" is the filter, maybe the glass walls are wiped clear of algae/debris-but no cleaning of them. A 50% water change is great and fish and plants need the minerals in tap water unless it is very, very hard, or has a very high/low pH; then you can use RO water and add minerals back into it. When you do a water change you should add something to detoxify the chlorine and chloramine in the tap water; Prime is a product I have used for decades and does a great job.

Lady is a beauty and she will live a very long life (20+ years) with good care and diet and a big tank with great filtration.

[Candybugs]

I hv the pH test kit so I'll ck my tap water . I live in Los Angeles and don't trust our water but I'll get over it if it's what's best. This cycling is like Chinese sign language to me. I'll figure it out its only 2nd day of even knowing about cycling. Total clean means all new water and clean the rocks and plants. I'm probably washing away the good stuff. Ugh.

[Silbar]

When you are ready to get the new tank set up we will help you through the cycling process. You are not alone. Fishless Cycling was new to me until a year ago when I found AC. Everyone here was so helpful and now I am getting ready to start my 4th tank.

[Candybugs]

Thank you I'm gonna have to buy another filter to do a separate tank from the one Lady is in.

[Boundava]

I hv the pH test kit so I'll ck my tap water . I live in Los Angeles and don't trust our water but I'll get over it if it's what's best. This cycling is like Chinese sign language to me. I'll figure it out its only 2nd day of even knowing about cycling. Total clean means all new water and clean the rocks and plants. I'm probably washing away the good stuff. Ugh.

See when you said "total clean" I had a flashback to my childhood where my day pulled my goldfish out of their tank and bleached the whole tank/gravel, plants, filter and "rinsed" it before putting the goldfish back in and I came home to my poor goldies dead, this was way before we knew about anything to break down chlorine; we were total :newbies:

Your version of total clean is ok-but you probably don't need to clean the rocks and plants unless they have bad algae.

Cycling is pretty easy:

1. Fish make waste (ammonia). Even a little bit of ammonia is bad for your fish, higher amounts (.25+) can burn them and will kill them.
2. When you are cycling you are growing 2 basic types of bacteria; the first are called Nitrosomonas species convert ammonia (NH3) to nitrIte (N02-).
3. NitrItes aren't quite as bad as ammonia, but will still kill your fish at levels higher than .5 ppm. As your nitrIte levels rise Nitrobacter species will grow and convert nitrIte to nitrAte (NO3-).
4. NitrAtes are removed by plants and water changes. At high levels they aren't good for your fish either but can be tolerated from 20-40 ppm. Sometimes your tap water can have nitrAtes too.

Cycling your tank is just a way of growing these two types of bacteria in your filter media-and a small extent in your substrate in adequate amounts to deal with the waste your fish produce (bioload). You can cycle a tank 2 different ways; the first is with fish already in your tank. With a fish-in cycle your fish supply the ammonia and you wait for the Nitrosomonas to convert it to nitrItes. You have to constant testing of the water to make sure your levels of ammonia are below .25, and are doing almost daily water changes at first to keep the ammonia levels low. Because the ammonia is so low in the tank it takes a long time to get nitrItes to show up, then you are still doing daily, every two day water changes until the Nitrobacter colony is big enough to convert the nitrItes to nitrAtes. Once you have zero ammonia/nitrItes and some nitrAtes then you are cycled-but this can take a couple months and be very stressful on your fish.

The fish-less cycle is a lot faster (usually within a month) and you cycle your tank by adding enough pure ammonia without fragrance or surfactants (found at hardware stores like Ace/True Value, maybe Walmart in cleaning section but watch for additives) to test 1-3 ppm (depending on tank size and what the tank's bioload will be) and then leaving your tank alone for 3-4 days and testing to see what the levels of ammonia are. If the ammonia levels are going down-but you have no nitrItes then add some more ammonia at same dose and wait another few days. Once you see nitrItes you add ammonia at half the original dose and only when the ammonia tests at 0 ppm in the tank. One day you will have 0 nitrItes and can test for nitrAtes, this means you have cycled your tank and can now add fish to it. Bacterial like warmer temperatures so its a good idea to have a heater in the tanks at about 84 degrees F. while the tank is cycling to encourage their growth-they also like oxygenated waters so if your filter doesn't move a lot of water you may want to add an air stone for surface agitation.

The sticky for fishless cycling can be found here:

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=5640

Benefits to a fishless cycle is that:

1. It is much more humane than forcing your fish to experience the ammonia and nitrIte buildups for months until you cycle.
2. It is much faster than cycling with fish, I cycled my 10 and 20 gallons in 3 weeks-but I used a little bit of seeded media from my 75 gallon filter.
3. If you used a lager ppm of ammonia to "grow" more bacteria you can usually stock your tank completely with your fish (unless you have fish that need more established tanks like corys, plecos, rummynose tetras and otos).

If you have a filter on your tank already you can use some of the ceramic media (if you have it) to cycle the tank faster-or if you have one of those cartridges-you can take the floss sleeve off the plastic and squeeze it into the tank you are cycling-as this is where some bacteria will grow in your filter. By the way you don't need to use carbon in your filters unless you have medicated your tanks and need to remove the medication from the water. Many of us don't use carbon and it is a $$ saver without harming your fish in any way.

I hope this helps you and am sorry if I am stating something you already knew.

[Candybugs]

Your number 1 on the earth to me today. Thank you. I'm gonna buy another tank filter heater because I'd never do this with my Ladyfish in there. We already had an ammonia burn on her so I've been doing big water changes ever since and it went away in 2 days after I changed the water. I'm sorry your Dad bleached your fish. Mine used to get me a dog then take it to a "no kill farm". I belived him back then now I just know he lied.

[Boundava]

Goldfish don't really need heaters unless your house gets really cold. Temperatures of 65-72 degrees are perfect and if your house is an average of 70 degrees the tank should be the same.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/goldfish/oranda.php


I'm sorry your Dad bleached your fish. Mine used to get me a dog then take it to a "no kill farm". I belived him back then now I just know he lied.

He was trying to help me-he didn't know any better, I don't think he remembers it. Sorry about your dogs-that's harsh. We didn't have a dog till I got cancer. He broke us to dogs when he died. I couldn't look at another Westie without sobbing for years.

[Candybugs]

I have a bearded dragon a chameleon tree frogs a dwarf frog and all the furry too and this cycling is way more confusing and worrisome than any of those guys to me. I'll get it done but cycling and Dad on the same day is no bueno for me apparantly. LOL. GRRR .