Out of my depth!

Hey guys, first post, new member and have loads of problems with my tank, so help please.

This might be a long one so sit yourselves down! Ok, got a tank a couple of months ago, followed the advice of the shop to the letter, was very careful about washing the gravel, made sure the water was the right temperature, added the dechlorinator and everything. I left it running for two weeks to get ready for fish and then went and got my first lot of fish. I took water to the pet shop and they tested it and everything was ok, so I got 4 platties, and and a male betta.

Everything was fine for a while then one of the plattys died and a couple of the others were staying near the top of the tank. I asked the pet shop and they said it was the water and said to increase how much water I was changing from about 20 to 40% for a few days. I did this and things seemed to get better. I got some 6 neon tetras which the shop said were hardier than other fish and good for a beginner.

I kept taking water to the shop for testing and they said the ammonia was a bit high so I bought some Ammo Lock which they said would bring the ammonia down.

Things seemed to ease a bit, but now the betta started to get really ragged looking fins and one of the plattys is looking ill again. It's got a whjite spot on its side and isnt swimming right.

I just dont know whats going on here but really need some help and dont know if I am getting the right advice from the shop or if they are selling me sick fish anyway.

Can anyone give me a bit of advice so I can get this all sorted?

Hi Webster. Welcome to TFF.

Sorry to hear about your problems but I'm afraid you're yet another victim of bad LFS advice. It sounds like your tank was not cycled properly so the fish succumbed to ammonia and/or nitrite poisoning. This means that there was not sufficient filter bacteria to process the fish waste so the fish died as a result.

If I was you, I'd find another fish shop as that lot don't sound like they know anything about fish. Neon tetras are NOT hardy at all and should only be added to tanks that have been matured for a couple of months. I doubt if they'll survive either but if you read this Sticky that I wrote about Cycling With Fish, there's some tips there about how to help your fish through the process.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Hiya webster, and welcome to the forum. Sorry you are having bad luck with your tank, but as Mary has said, you are not the first one to be given bad advice from a local fish shop (lfs) or pet shop.

Reading Mary's info on Cycling with fish will help a lot, and dont be afraid to ask as many questions as you need to - we will help all we can.

The only thing I would add is that the raggedy fins of the betta may need to be treated, and the whitespot may be a bit of bad news too. Can you put a picture on here for us to see, or describe it more for us. Is the white spot smooth, fluffy like cotton wool or more like a grain of sugar?

If you can give us a bit more information that will help us give you more advice.

Hiya Diana and Mary, thanks for the welcome. The white spot looks like a lumpy thing, not soft and fluffy. Sorry I cant get a decent photo - dont have a camera and the fish moves whenever I go near the tank with the phone! I suppose its more like a grain of sugar than anything cottonwool ish.

Is that something to worry about? I just feel there is more to deal with here than I am able to handle - I just dont have the knowledge or experience.

webster, have you got your own water testing kit yet? That is one of the first things that you need to do, and start testing your own tank water every day. If your test results show anything other than ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate of less than 40 you do a 50% water change.

Your fish are getting ill probably because of the poor water qulity and the only way you can keep a check on that is by testing it ypurself.

Hiya driver, sorry I lost the internet connection last night and so am just getting back on here now. I have got a water testing kit and have tested the tank and got this information ph 7'6, ammonia 1, nitrite 1, nitrate 10. I have done a 50% water change as told in the information on here.

I still have ammonia and nitrite so do I do another change now or wait till tomorrow? Do I still use the Ammo Lock? Wont that take the ammonia too low?

Also do I need to treat for this white spot and the raggedy fins? What would I use that would treat both?

I would do another water change, dont use the ammo lock any more coz you are controlling the ammonia with water changes instead. I am not sure about the treatment, hopefully someone else will be able to tell you about that.

Tbh, there's no point treating the fish until the ammonia and nitrite are both zero because the water changes will just dilute the meds. anyway so they won't be of much use. Just test the water each morning and keep doing 50% water changes until the levels are zero.

webster wrote:

I still have ammonia and nitrite so do I do another change now or wait till tomorrow? Do I still use the Ammo Lock? Wont that take the ammonia too low?

As driver says...If your test results show anything other than ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate of less than 40 you do a 50% water change. So in answer to that part, the ammonia neds to be non existant.

You will soon have things sorted with water changes. I know it's stressful at times but it gets sooooooo much easier.
The white spot could be a indicator of stress which, with the water issues you have had, will more than likely be due to that. Good luck & ask lots of questions if there's anything you're unsure about

Oh yes... to the forum