Mayday! Mayday! Fishes drop like aeroplane crash!!

[geezer333]

Help Help bought 6 redline terpode , 3 oto, 2 cory on sunday . 1 red line died in the plastic bag when acclimatise in the tank. The next day 2 terpedo died and today 1 terpedo, 1 cory and 1 oto missing . The other oto is dashing here and there, left with 2 terpedo, 1 cory which are not in good condition. I notice there are tail rot in the terpedo and they are breathing heavyly.

My tank is 2x1x1.5 ft, about 1 month old ,using Ehiem pro 2222, 36 watts PL light, with electric control co2 .Co2 at about 1 bps

Plant got nanas, java fern , java moss, us fissidents and wild plants (treated with iodine and qurentined0
Fish got 1 adult platy 7 juvenile, 5 yamato and 7 top feeder fishes

Please help me

[Salphur]

Hi geezer,
there might be some problems with your water parameters or otherwise, the fishes you bought might have been greatly distressed during transportation or already problematic at the LFS which you bought them.

If all your other older inhabitants are alright.. i suspect would be the fishes from the LFS is problematic.

Hope it helps.

[torque6]

ive noticed you started setting up the tank early last week, and planted some new plants yesterday, wouldnt be surprise you are facing problems now.

You might want to spend time reading up on some methods of cycling and invest about 4-6 weeks before adding any more fishes/shrimps to your tank. Not much to advise since you've already "rush" and bought stuff for your tank.

[geezer333]

Hi Salphur thanx for your help I think what you say might be right.

To Torque6 thanx for notice me since last week but my tank should be about 3 weeks already its just that I didnt post anything but reading up the thread of the expert here anyway I will stop adding fauna but only plant, thanx for your advice anyway Cheers

[torque6]

If your water parameters like that quite hard to sustain fishes, give it another 2-3 more weeks of cycling, believe you are quite close to the end of your nitrogen cycle. Just remember to add fishes slowly, like batches of 5 or less and increase after 2 weeks.

[geezer333]

Hi Torque6 thanx for the advice , I will keep that in mind . BTW for a 2x1x1.5 ft tank how many fishes and shrimp can I keep ? What is the bioload ratio of fish against shrimp (eg how many shrimp to replace 1 fish) Thanx again Cheers

[Verminator]

Roughly 1inch of fish body length for every 4.5 litres of water.

Basically divide the total volume of water in your tank (litres im doing this for), if you dont know it in litres i suggest google convert it ;]. So divide total volume of water by 4.5 and you get the total length of fish you are recommended to have in a tank. Obviously its up to you if you stock less of the larger species, or more of the smaller ones.

Bearing in mind, that if you choose to overload what the given value is then you run the risk of stunted growth amongst your fish.

Thats for tropical fish btw, its something else for marine.

[torque6]

yes. roughly 1 inch per gallon of water.

[dnsfpl]

sad for you
i am also encountering the same issue
1 day 1 shrimp die, highly likely due to weather
hopefully tomorrow no causality

[Quixotic]

I think you may want to read up on the potential maximum size of the fish you bought.

If the red line torpedos are Puntius denisonii, these can grow up to a maximum size of 15 cm TL (total length). These are schooling fish usually kept in a group with plenty of swimming space.

As such, I would really really hesitate to keep them in a 2 feet tank, as stress may be a factor as well. IMHO, they are likely to be much healthier, and show their best in tanks that are no less than 3 feet length.

[geezer333]

Ok noted thanx for all the advice really appreciate it Cheers

[torque6]

sad for you
i am also encountering the same issue
1 day 1 shrimp die, highly likely due to weather
hopefully tomorrow no causality

weather is pretty hot and water evaporation is becoming a pain, i lose about an inch of water in my 10L per day as compared to previously.

[dnsfpl]

i believe mine will be equally bad after installing fan haha

[geezer333]

Sigh my 6 red line terpedo, 2 cory and 1 oto see liao liao (all dead) left with only 1 oto the sole survivor from this badge that I bought. Anybody want to donate pei kim for this fishes

[Verminator]

Don't get any more fish for atleast another 3 weeks minimum. Let you water mature and get various test kits to check your water paramaters. And if something is wrong, do appropriate water changes as nescessary. After this let your tank mature and stabalise. Then when you do come to add fish, add them in batches of 6 at one time, then get more atleast a week later. Shrimp, tetras or plecs would probably be best to add first, leave barbs and cory's till after...sometimes they can be a bit finicky when added to new set-ups.

Another thing to concider would be how long are you fish in transportation, to your home and to the shop. When getting the fish enquire how long they've been in the shop perhaps. If they've only just arrived i'd leave them in the shop for a week or so, don't risk transporting them again so soon after arriving as this may have been the downfall of your last batch of fish.

Good luck with that mate! Keep us posted on how it goes =)

[blue33]

Another way is get a small tank or pile with airstone for oxygen, place the water(comes with the fish water) and fish inside and slowly introduce your current tank water into it, sometimes the PH different or others factor may stress up your fish. This way you can monitor the fish whether getting any stress. Before you introduce back to your current tank.

[Verminator]

You suggesting letting wate rinto the bag of fish slowly! If you are this is both wastefull of time and effort.

It takes a fish days to acclimatise to a tanks new conditions, not minutes. Look at tetras, they never show there full colouration for atleast 2-3 days when in a new tank.

I wouldnt suggest gradually filling the bag with tank water, ineffective. As for the pH possibly being different then yes, but if its either of the extremes then its not fit to introduce fish. So long as the pH is within a species of fish's range then its safe to add them. Just keep the lights low for a day or two, plants will survive and the fish will become less stressed when added.

[geezer333]

Hi bro Verminator and bro Blue33 really appreciate for the pointers. I will take note of the pointer Thanx .

P.S still waiting for some kind soul for the pei kim

[torque6]

Remember, i did say you will end up with an empty tank. There is no hard and fast rule to successfully keeping fishes in your tank, just have to read alot and take heed to some of our advise, because whatever you are facing we have already been down the path.