2 Tropical fish died after a week

[Gluggy]

Hiya

 

When I got my tank they gave me two solutions, one was called cycle and another one. I had to use one of these for a day and the other one for three days.

 

My boyfriend tested the water for me while I was at work and he said that they are all within what they should be. He said the NO2 is higher than last time but still within what it says.

 

I am going to do a participial water change on Saturday (once treatment has finished) and keep testing the water to make sure its ok.

 

Thanks for your help and I will take a look at that site.

 

The only acceptable limit for NO2 (Nitrite) is zero, anything else indicates that the tank is still cycling due to an insufficient bio filter. Although not as bad as ammonia nitrite is still harmful to the fish and as myself and others have said before certainly wont be helping their recovery.

 

Unfortunately your now in a bit of a catch 22 situation as ideally regular water changes are needed to remove the Nitrite but at the same time doing so is going to mess up the dosage of the medication - having said that i've just noticed the course of meds finishes soon so this could be worse.

 

Personally I'd finish the meds on Saturday and then stop using them altogether, from there on do daily water changes and keep testing the water - your looking for zero Ammonia, zero Nitrites and an increase in Nitrate, once this happens the tank will be cycled and safe for the fish. Also whilst this is ongoing reduce the feeding to once every two days as this will minimise waste production and give the filter more chance to catch up / cycle. Once the tank has cycled it *might* be viable to continue the meds if needed but be aware that these can sometimes have a negative effect on the bio filter and could start the cycling process all over again so would be something of a calculated risk.

 

Hope that helps?

 

**edit**

 

Nutbrown can type quicker than me it seems so sorry for the duplicate / similar post

[Nutbrown]

Lol, nevermind. Double post, double reliability

 

I also agree that once this course is done I wouldn't even consider a re dose. Especially as the parasite can only be killed when free swimming. So if the neons were never infected then the parasite has not reproduced (let off the free swimming stage), since the loach died.

 

In theory this dose should have killed them all.

[Tinyshiny]

Thanks guys, you give some really good advice. How much water would you change daily, 25%? I will do as you've said and stop using the treatment when the course runs out. I will also just feed them once every 2 days like you've suggested until the tank is cycled.

 

The NO2 was 1mg. Hopefully this will go down to 0 with daily water changes.

 

My tank is 23L so my tank is way to small for the loach. I told the aquarium before I got him how big my tank was and they never said I couldn't have him, suppose they just wanted a sale. It's annoying though because they should be giving you good correct advice so you don't harm the fish in anyway without knowing about it.

 

Thanks again guys and I will let you know how I get on in a couple of days

 

PS the dwarf loach is cute, I think I saw one of those when I went last and asked him if I could get that and a fighting fish (when my tank if ready for more fish) but he said most loaches tend to nibble at fighting fish fins I'm obviously not going to get anymore fish until my problem is sorted

[Gluggy]

Thanks guys, you give some really good advice. How much water would you change daily, 25%? I will do as you've said and stop using the treatment when the course runs out. I will also just feed them once every 2 days like you've suggested until the tank is cycled.

 

The NO2 was 1mg. Hopefully this will go down to 0 with daily water changes.

 

My tank is 23L so my tank is way to small for the loach. I told the aquarium before I got him how big my tank was and they never said I couldn't have him, suppose they just wanted a sale. It's annoying though because they should be giving you good correct advice so you don't harm the fish in anyway without knowing about it.

 

Thanks again guys and I will let you know how I get on in a couple of days

 

PS the dwarf loach is cute, I think I saw one of those when I went last and asked him if I could get that and a fighting fish (when my tank if ready for more fish) but he said most loaches tend to nibble at fighting fish fins I'm obviously not going to get anymore fish until my problem is sorted

 

Start at 25% and see how you go from there, given the small tank size it wont be hard to increase this if needed anyway.

 

Tend to agree with you about shops making a sale and not really looking at the bigger picture, seems allot of people don't really consider them "pets". True story but a few months back we had the RSPCA door knockers come round, the guys 1st question was "do you have any pets", i replied along the lines of "a few tropical fish tanks" at which point he kinda laughed and said "i'll take that as no then", needless to say he didn't get the donation he was aiming for

 

Anyway rant over lol, it looks like your getting on top of things and fingers crossed it pans out ok :-)

[Nutbrown]

Well yeah 23l is pretty small. To be honest once it's cycled I'd suggest no adding anything other than the neons (so they can be in a nice sized shoal). Or you can try a betta and a group of neons. But neons can sometimes be nippy (it's hit n miss). Equally some male bettas wont tolerate ANY other fish in their tank... so really it's one of those see and find out. And make sure you buy from somewhere reputable where you can bring the betta and/or neons back if there is a problem.

 

I wholey recommend fish inc. They're not as upfront with advice as I'd like in an ideal world. But at the end of the day they are a business. And unlike some places they tread the business/welfare line as well as you can expect any to.

 

So although they will rarely completely turn down a sale, they will some times. And if it's an uncycled tank you'll always be sent home with a bag of filter mulm (full of live bacteria), to get the tank going and protect the fish. Plus they actually know what they're on about, so when you say 'Could I bring this betta back if he attacks the neons or vice versa' they shouldn't look at you like you're mental. lol.

 

One last thing. Obviously 0 ammonia and nitrite is the only truely safe level. But we recommend aiming for below 0.25ppm on the forums (we've seen the lowest mortality rates there). So I'd do whatever size water change gets it down that far. Which for me, considering the tank size to possible temp fluctuation on a water change, I'd advise 2x50%. With an hour or two between them to allow the temperature to re adjust.

 

Edit: Oh by the way as for loaches nibbling on a bettas fins... well. Much like the other advice you've recieved that's absolute rubbish. Some loaches can be territorial/mildy agressive if not kept in the correct sized tank/group. But on the whole they're one of the most peaceful and easy going groups of fish you can buy. Second (probably) only to corys. lol.

Edited March 18, 2011 by Nutbrown