Any other fishkeepers out there?

bagpuss_fan

We used to have a lot of fish, including a breeding pair of angels! Amazing for a learner fish keeper. Anyway, one of the fish suddenly looked like a pine cone, so I asked in the local shop and was told it was dropsy. She gave me "dropsy cure" to put in the water, which I duly did, because she was an "expert".

At about midnight, I was amazed to see every fish at the top of the tank (not realising they were actually struggling for air)! 20 minutes later they were spiralling downward one by one - panic is an understatement. We emptied every suitable container in the house including the kids toy boxes, filled them straight from the tap with luke warm water and quickly moved the fish. No filters, no pumps, just tap water in a box! About 6 survived their emergency overnight accommodation!! They would all have died if i'd left them in the tank!

Very tricky things to keep, fish, and costly when they all die!!

Do you use air fresheners? or plug-ins by any chance? Most of these types of things can kill fish.

PS: we had a tank the same as yours and had to get rid because it was so ridiculously hard to keep clean when I was pregnant (large bump in the way!), and my S-I-L didn't like us hanging her son upside down in it to clean it!! he he he. As long as you have the correct pump and filter, I can't see why the fish wouldn't be getting enough oxygen.

betterbargains4u

No plug ins...no air fresheners....and most certainly no smoking of pot, or any other substance for that matter!!
We now have only one fish left, as the poorly one died tonight!

ailuro2

You need to cycle a tank as another poster said.

This means you need to grow nitrosomonas and nitrobacter which are healthy bacteria that process your fishes' waste. Otherwise when they poop in the tank it breaks down and rots into ammonia (anyone remember the nitrogen cycle from schooldays?)

I suggest you get a test kit and check the water for ammonia and nitrItes. These are both harmful to your fish. Do your homework online, the kids at the local pet shop tend to waffle a version of what the guy before them said.

If you can't afford to buy a test kit (less than £20) then change half of the water in the fish tank every second day for at least two weeks. By this time you will hopefully have saved up enough money to buy test kits for the water, and will be able to get a better picture of what's going on on your tank. Do not 'give the tank a good clean' as the bacteria live on the surfaces of the tank, so you can eradicate them by cleaning too well. Same goes for the filter, a rinse in old tank water (because it's dechlorinated - chlorine also kills the good bacteria) is all it needs. The filter is about surface area to host the nitrosomonas & nitrobacter too.

'http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3839 willl explain it all a bit better for you.


Finally, oxygen transfer takes place at the surface of the water- the pump simply moves the water around to encourage the water to circulate. Having a small surface area means less opportunity to transfer oxygen, so the number of fish your tank can have is reduced.

LittleTinker

You need a long tank, not a tall tank....fishies dont like tall tanks

ailuro2

You can add airpumps and tubing that will add a little more O2, again it's more money.
Air curtain is probably the maximum way to get the oxygen to a larger surface area.

sodamnfunky

Sounds like the tank never got cycled properly, which is not unknown for a ineperienced fishkeeper.

Also those cylinder type tanks dont give much surface area for gas exchange which oxygenates the water. As someone else pointed out, you need a long tank as opposed to tall, and more width to gain surface area

Kimitatsu

Agree with many of the posters here, you need to cycle your tank properly. If I was you if your fish die then I would clean your tank out and start again (use vinegar and clean water to clean it out though, no chemicals!)

Also goldfish are hard to keep, harder in many cases than warm water fish as they need a lot of water per fish! We have marine, tropical and cold water fish and the goldfish were some of the hardest to get established!

MXW

My son has a dwarf gourami and yesterday we noticed a small red round circle on it's tail. Today this apears to have spread to it's body, the circles are a faint red colour. Does anyone know what this is? Would I be better getting rid of the fish out of the tank so that it does not infect the other fish?

Many thanks

Froglet

Sounds like a bacterial infection starting and they do quickly spread.How is the water quality,does he apply good maintenance with regular water changes,good filtration etc?

try asking the question here
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/forum/index.php

they are extremly knowledgeable and helpful/friendly.i am a member here and there is always someone who will know exactly what to do.

MXW

Froglet wrote: »

Sounds like a bacterial infection starting and they do quickly spread.How is the water quality,does he apply good maintenance with regular water changes,good filtration etc?

try asking the question here
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/forum/index.php

they are extremly knowledgeable and helpful/friendly.i am a member here and there is always someone who will know exactly what to do.

He changes the water every week and cleans out the filter, checks the water on a regular basis. I will check out the website, thanks for your reply.