[mid-posted/alot of snippage/summary at end]
"NSP" wrote
> Hi all!
> Welcome to my comedey of errors.
hello neil, welcome to the hobby of fish keeping. a wonderful source of parodies
for any comedy of errors. ;-)
> 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
i'd return this guy. if you really want one you can pick one up again at a later
date, but as for now, he's probably not too happy in an uncycled tank.
> 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
i'd return these guys also. unless they are the dwarf type, they (like the
pleco) will quickly get to large.
> 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)
return this guy too. the pleco, gouramis and this guy are generally great fish
for people who 1.) have an established set up, 2.) have a large enough set up,
and 3.) have a great deal of experience.
> 1 Female swordtail
>
> 3. Current losses
> My poor wife has become the aquatic grim reaper as she has been
> putting the corpses in the freezer to bring back to the pet shop for
> warranty (lucky us!).
dont replace the fish that have died! get an in-store credit. you want to do
this for two reasons;
1.) the new fish you are bringing in could just be adding new "illnesses" to
your already unstable tank.
2.) you're going to lose more fish anyway. slow the process by letting the
population in yur tank drop, fewer fish at this point have a better chance of
surviving than having alot of fish does.
> 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.
no. this is of course my opinion, but without the tank having cycled, adding
medications is only going to complicate things even more. you really need to let
the cycle happen.
> As we don't have a hospital tank,
i'm assuming this means you no longer have the 15 gallon.
> I'm concerned that medications will
> hurt our baby Platy and cause havoc with the cycling process.
quite right. not so much that the medications could actually "hurt" the young,
it is more of a "stabilization" issue, one of the things i've learned is to
"leave it alone" in a sense. the more you mess with something with added
chemicals and such, the more difficult you make it for the tank to find it's own
ballence of cycle.
> The other fish in the tank seem to be ok.
they probably wont be for long. be prepaired, you're going to lose more fish.
> 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?
yes. yes. and no.
yes. it is very important at this stage to do lots of water changes, i
personally at this point would be doing a 10% per day water change. it will keep
the levels of toxins down to a more bearable level.
yes. it is important to keep the temperature stable, there are many different
ways and opinions on this one, one way is to use "touch" to adjust your tap
water (mix of hot and cold) to match your tank temperature, another way is get a
digital thermometer and match the temperatures exactly using the same hot/cold
method above, another is to let your water sit and adjust to room temperature
before adding.
no. water changes will not harm your cycling process. but it will make your fish
alot happier and healthier through the stress of it. (remember though, you're
still going to lose some more).
> If I do a cycle change, can I put the aquaclear in after the water is
> poured in the tank? Will letting the water stand overnight equally
> remove chlorine?
make sure you are using a dechlorinizer for chlorine/chloromine otherwise you
will kill your cycle and some fish as well. most people i believe add it to
their water change bucket as it is filling. although i have seen people add it
directly to the tank ad they are adding the new water. because it works
instantly (dont ask me how because i dont know, i take it on faith that it does.
;-) ) you sould be safe in either case. (someone disagree with me quick if i am
wrong on this one!). letting the water sit overnight will not be effective if
your water company uses chloromine instead of chlorine. either find out exacly
what your company uses or just dont take the chance, use the dechlorinizer.
> Here is a little more detail as to what happened:
> I started everything fresh without medicine. I put the cycle and
> chlorine clearing chemicals (Hagen). All the filter materials were
> replaced with new ones.
dont do that again if you can help it. the less stuff you are changing around
the better. including filter material (actually, especially(!!) filter
material).
> Any ideas?
stability. the key word to fish keeping from my perspective. you're tank will
create it's own level of stability if you let it. the only thing you need to
change at this point is the water, 10% every day till it begins to stabilize,
check your ammonia and nitrites every day, you may need to increase the water
changes to keep the toxins down to a safe level.
do not treat with medications, in my opinion this would only complicate things
even more. you may raise the temperature to about 80-82 degree to help flush the
ick out. add some aquarium salt also to help get the ick under control, it is
debatable as to just how much this helps a tank or the fish, but in my opinion,
it cant hurt and it makes me feel better because i am adding something. ;-)
getting rid of the pleco, gouramis and loach right now is the best thing for
them, other wise they are just going to suffer, make your other fish suffer
because of the increased demands on the water, and probably die themselves
anyway. replace them after you have an established tank and are a bit more
experience with these types of fish (i.e. know more about the fish themselves
and the environments they require).
of the remaining fish you have, (this is going to sound cold) be prepared to
have most of them die, expect it. do not over feed them! if nothing else,
underfeed them, i would personally stop all feedings on a daily basis, feed
twice a day every other day and only what they will eat in two minutes, no more.
if they act hungry (which they will) consider this, they're getting more food
now than they were at the pet store. ;-)
a worst case scenario is that everything is going to die within a week. if this
happens then you can start over again with a bit more experience and succeed. i
have never heard of anyone failing to cycle a tank on the second time around but
there are lots (myself included) that failed it the first time around.
there are lots of people here willing and wanting to help, just keep us informed
on how it's going and we'll keep throwing out our opinions and advice. :-)
best of luck to you neil,
tedd.
p.s. one last piece of advice, there is no such thing as a stupid question here.
>> Stay informed about: Comedey of Errors - Wait or Medicate 
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