Aquarium substrate

adriandilly

Hi. Ive had a tropical aquarium set up for the last 3 weeks. 48 litre tank. Ive had two Mollies and two Platys for the last two weeks and last week I bought three Panda Corydoras. Unfortunately one of the Pandas died on Thursday. My water was tested by Pets at Home and was found to be perfect. I got two more as a free replacement, but Im now wondering if the problem could be the substrate I use.. black and white gravel.. is this too rough for the corys' barbs?.. I got some Pewter Sand today and put it in one corner thinking theyd love it; but so far theyve barely touched it. could pewter be too sharp or rough too? i dont want to lose any more fish!

The temp is 25°C and ph 7.6. I noticed the ph spiked to 8.2 around the time the cory died. Could that be the problem?

Thanks in advance!

Fosterdog

Right firstly the reason your fish died is because your tank isn't established enough for corys. As your tank is only three weeks old and you've had fish in it for two weeks it is highly unlikely it had finished cycling before you added the fish.
Please read the article on this link about fishless cycling

http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles_51/fishless-cycling-article.htm

Even when a tank is cycled correctly you can't just add too many fish too often, every time you add new fish the tank takes time to re-adjusts to take the additional bio-load added, in a huge tank (6ft +) the water quality will barely be affected by new additions but in such a small tank it can take weeks to adjust before you should even thinking about adding more fish.

On top of all that certain fish will never do well in a recently set up tank, some need a well established (6 months +) system.

Corys need very fine gravel or sand, they prefer a planted tank and like to have bogwood to chew on. The substrate does need to be smooth or it can damage their barbels and when they get damaged the fish has no way of finding food so will starve. They really are not a fish for such a new tank and also prefer to be in higher numbers 5 minimum 8+ideally but the tank is probably too small to take that many. Also they need perfect water conditions.

What filter do you have?

Pets at home isn't really the best place to get advice on fish if you have a local fish/aquatic store they are the best place to go. The fish sometimes cost a little more but you get fish that have been cared for properly, each species will be in a suitable tank not just in the small selling tanks at PAH.

adriandilly

Fosterdog wrote: »

Right firstly the reason your fish died is because your tank isn't established enough for corys. As your tank is only three weeks old and you've had fish in it for two weeks it is highly unlikely it had finished cycling before you added the fish.
Please read the article on this link about fishless cycling

http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles_51/fishless-cycling-article.htm

Even when a tank is cycled correctly you can't just add too many fish too often, every time you add new fish the tank takes time to re-adjusts to take the additional bio-load added, in a huge tank (6ft +) the water quality will barely be affected by new additions but in such a small tank it can take weeks to adjust before you should even thinking about adding more fish.

On top of all that certain fish will never do well in a recently set up tank, some need a well established (6 months +) system.

Corys need very fine gravel or sand, they prefer a planted tank and like to have bogwood to chew on. The substrate does need to be smooth or it can damage their barbels and when they get damaged the fish has no way of finding food so will starve. They really are not a fish for such a new tank and also prefer to be in higher numbers 5 minimum 8+ideally but the tank is probably too small to take that many. Also they need perfect water conditions.

What filter do you have?

Pets at home isn't really the best place to get advice on fish if you have a local fish/aquatic store they are the best place to go. The fish sometimes cost a little more but you get fish that have been cared for properly, each species will be in a suitable tank not just in the small selling tanks at PAH.

Thanks, I wish I had this advice 3 weeks ago rather than listening to PAH.
I asked if the Pandas were okay with a gravel substrate and whether my tank had aged enough they said yes that's fine.
Both times I have bought fish, they've asked how long my tank has been set up and whether it was planted or not, but were still happy to sell me them.
The form they fill in appears to ask the right questions, they just don't know the correct answers.
The filter is an Interpet PF1

Fosterdog

At least they sold you a filter powerful enough for the amount of water your tank holds, you'd be amazed at how many kits come with inadequate filters.

Another slight problem with the fish you have is that corys do better at around 22c degrees, Platys should be around 25 and mollies more like 28.
The corys should be ok up at 25 but it really is at the lowest end of the scale for mollies and they can lose their colouring and get quite dull at lower temps.

Most people make similar mistakes with their first tank and you learn as you go.

It may be worth joining this forum
http://www.aquahobby.com/board/index.php

It's not the busiest place but a lot of members really know their stuff and are very helpful.

adriandilly

Fosterdog wrote: »

At least they sold you a filter powerful enough for the amount of water your tank holds, you'd be amazed at how many kits come with inadequate filters.

Another slight problem with the fish you have is that corys do better at around 22c degrees, Platys should be around 25 and mollies more like 28.
The corys should be ok up at 25 but it really is at the lowest end of the scale for mollies and they can lose their colouring and get quite dull at lower temps.

Most people make similar mistakes with their first tank and you learn as you go.

It may be worth joining this forum
http://www.aquahobby.com/board/index.php

It's not the busiest place but a lot of members really know their stuff and are very helpful.

Cheers, I'll give it a look
Pets at Home keep the panda corys in with the mollies which is the sole (!) reason I bought them; so they must not know about the proper temperatures either! They looked lively in their tank but there were tens of them. Was trying to figure out how the tank in store looked so clean.. Would it be because they've been established longer, scrupulously maintained, or is it because they have filtering tanks below and a backlight?