warm or cold water fish?

togster

hi. just wondering if anyone knows anything about this. My girlfriend purchased a fish tank some fish and the usual stuff that goes with it. Within two days 8 of the ten fish had died. She went back to the pet store with a sample of the water and they said the water quality was fine. Also the temperature is correct to. Anywaydoes anyone know why they keep dying and are coldwater fish easier to keep alive??

flynnc

1 does your tank have a filter
2 if so how long was the tank running for before you put the fish in
3 how long to you have the tank now
4 have you done any water changes

Shane190

if you let the tank run for about 2 weeks before you put the fish in you should be grand....i had that problem aswell when i started with fish:D:D

Deeco

this is known as new tank syndrome you can purchase add on aqua safe and other types of chem's to help i would leave tank for 2-3 weeks the guy in shop should have told you all of this when you were buy them

you don't mention what equipment and what fish you had

Kenny_D

You need to cycle the tank. You cant just add tropical fish into some heated water. The tank takes a number of weeks to go through what is called the Nitrogen Cycle. My suggestion is to get some Tetra Safe Start and start to cycle the tank. You'll need a water master test kit to monitor the level of ammonia, nitrites, nitrate and pH at least. Do some research on google regarding what fish you'd like to keep. All fish have different requirements you need to meet such as water conditions and diet.

Also join this website and visit the forums for some good advice if you're serious about keeping a nice tank: http://www.irishfishkeepers.com/forum/index.php

Some good articles here: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/

And finally where did you buy the fish? A certain fish shop is known to sell fish who are in poor health from the start as they are kept in very poor conditions. Many of their tanks will have dead fish floating in them and some have even been seen with "white spot", a fish disease. The people who run it don't really care. It's more a case of your tank hasnt cycled fully but it helps to get advice from a good shop with good quality fish, eg. Aquatic Village in Blessington

togster

GStormcrow wrote:

You need to cycle the tank. You cant just add tropical fish into some heated water. The tank takes a number of weeks to go through what is called the Nitrogen Cycle. My suggestion is to get some Tetra Safe Start and start to cycle the tank. You'll need a water master test kit to monitor the level of ammonia, nitrites, nitrate and pH at least. Do some research on google regarding what fish you'd like to keep. All fish have different requirements you need to meet such as water conditions and diet.

Also join this website and visit the forums for some good advice if you're serious about keeping a nice tank: http://www.irishfishkeepers.com/forum/index.php

Some good articles here: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/

And finally where did you buy the fish? A certain fish shop is known to sell fish who are in poor health from the start as they are kept in very poor conditions. Many of their tanks will have dead fish floating in them and some have even been seen with "white spot", a fish disease. The people who run it don't really care. It's more a case of your tank hasnt cycled fully but it helps to get advice from a good shop with good quality fish, eg. Aquatic Village in Blessington

Hi i am actually living in sweden. Yes we bought a filter , water treatment chemicals etc. We were told to leave the tank for 2-3 hours. However its strange because the two fish that survived (red,small with black flecks around head) are still alive. I have recently bought 8 more of these and a silver "molly" fish. the red ones are alive but the silver one dead. I ppreciate all the feedback and the idea of leving the tank for two weeks makes since to me.

Kenny_D

I'd stop adding fish into the tank until you have 0 ammonia in the tank, 0 nitrites and low levels of nitrates. Also you really need to find out the actual names of these fish so you can check what their recommended water conditions are. Some fish need hard water with a high pH and others need low pH with soft water. You'll just keep killing fish if you keep adding them to an unestablised tank. Starting a fish tank requires a lot of patience. You MUST wait until the tank has cycled before adding in a big group of fish.

Fish produce ammonia. When you add a big group of fish at once to a new tank, the increase in ammonia is too much for the filter and this kills the fish. It's often called New Tank Syndrome

Please, please do some research before adding any more fish. It's not fair on the fish and there are plenty of articles on the net about setting up fish tanks so theres no excuse

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/cycling2.htm

Put in a little time and research in the early stages and you'll be rewarded after a few weeks with a really nice tank with little loss of fish

togster

GStormcrow wrote:

I'd stop adding fish into the tank until you have 0 ammonia in the tank, 0 nitrites and low levels of nitrates. Also you really need to find out the actual names of these fish so you can check what their recommended water conditions are. Some fish need hard water with a high pH and others need low pH with soft water. You'll just keep killing fish if you keep adding them to an unestablised tank. Starting a fish tank requires a lot of patience. You MUST wait until the tank has cycled before adding in a big group of fish.

Fish produce ammonia. When you add a big group of fish at once to a new tank, the increase in ammonia is too much for the filter and this kills the fish. It's often called New Tank Syndrome

Please, please do some research before adding any more fish. It's not fair on the fish and there are plenty of articles on the net about setting up fish tanks so theres no excuse

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/cycling2.htm

Put in a little time and research in the early stages and you'll be rewarded after a few weeks with a really nice tank with little loss of fish

Guess i should have read this today... My girlfriend just bought ten more fish as the store owner said it was fine and there was no such thing as New Tank Syndrome. But what you say makes perfect sense. They are already in the tank now so i guess irs pointless to take them out. Should these pet shops not be registered or liscenced??

Shane190

Am just curious but what size is your tank?

Kenny_D

Well in Ireland anyway there are no regulations or laws regarding the selling of fish. It's different for other countries. You're fish shop sounds like they just want to make a quick buck. They sound like they dont know a thing about fish health/maintenance. If possible I'd find another shop and try and deal with someone with a bit more knowledge.

The best thing to do is read a few articles on the net about setting up new tanks. New Tank syndrome is very common in the fish hobby and it is exactly what you are experiencing. Your tank has not cycled and there is a build up of ammonia in the water. Healthy bacteria needs to grow on your filter to combat the levels of ammonia the fish produce

Get a bottle of Tetra Safe Start and add the necessary amount to your tank. Make sure know exactly how many litres the tank holds as you dont want to overdo it with the safestart. Follow the instructions on the bottle religiously. This should be a big help in keeping the fish alive. It contains good bacteria to kickstart the nitrogen cycle

Found this on a quick google: http://www.firsttankguide.net/

If you've any questions please ask