Help please

So I get a tank for Christmas and left it full of water, as per instructions, with the filter running, and then added the fish - 2 mollies and 2 swordtails and 6 neon tetras.

2 days after we added them one of the mollies died, and then the next day the other one did too.

Now one of the swoedtails is looking really bad and I think he's not going to last. I dont want to loose all my fish so what is wrong anbd what should I do?

You are going through the cycling process. Do you know what size tank it is? Do you have a test kit to test the water for ammonia, nitrItes & nitrAtes. What filter does it have?
here is a link about test kits. A lot of reading but make sure you ask a lot of questions, even if they seem silly. We can help you through this

Is it possible to return your fish to the LFS (local fish shop) and then you can cycle your tank without fish?

If not, i would suggest doing a 50% water change and make sure you are adding dechlorinator to the new water

ps. Here is another link which gives information about the fishless cycle

Quickfire diagnosis is that you haven't cycled your tank.

If you have a look through the stickies somewhere on this site, they tell you how to do a fishless cycle and why it is essential.

Basically, leaving it with the filter on for a few weeks does nothing, because the nitrifying bacteria which will eventually colonise your filter have nothing to feed on.

They live off ammonia, which is produced when fish wee and poo, but can also be bought in pure bottled form, which is what you use for a fishless cycle.

If the filter has no bacteria present, the fish will poison themselves with ammonia and will continue to die. There is little you can do now you have fish in there, but get a test kit, (liquid preferably) and do 50% water changes EVERY day until the ammonia and nitrite drop to 0.

The nitrAte needs to be below 40 ideally. Change the water half each day and make sure you use dechlorinator so as not to kill off the good bacteria you may have.

Any problems let us know!

Rob

Hiya everyone and thanks for all your replies. I'm sorry I didnt give enough info. The tank I have is this -
http://www.seapets.co.uk/product-details/stkcode/950620/category/844.html

Its got some sort of filter set up in the lid and I'm not sure I have the set up right.

I haven't got a test kit but will get one tomorrow and see what the readings are. I'm going to do a water change now even though I dont know the readings - is that ok?

I've read the stuff on fishless cycling now, just wish I had done it earlier.

Thanks again for all your help, I really dont want to lose these fish if it can be avoided.

Yeah do a 50% water change today, and then test your water tomorrow and post the results on here and someone will give you advice then.

Thanks everyone. Stupid question this but I want to make sure I dont do anything else wrong. All I have been doing is taking some water out and putting new tap water in (with dechlorinator added). I've been reading though that I should have been cleaning the gravel too and I havent been doing that.

Do I need to do that and if so how?

i would say once a week for the gravel tbh but people do it more or less depnding on their out look

the main thing to do it keep ammonia -0 and nitrite-0 nitrate isnt too much of a problem bellow 100 but doing daily water changes should keep that down to near you r tap waters nitrate any way (some people's tapwater is 40)

the other option is to get some mature media or anything similar from the lfs or even one of us on here if we are close by (like for like swap) which should remove the need to water change but keep a close eye on it tho

You really won't need to do any gravel cleaning until your tank is fully cycled which can take a couple of weeks. Some people gravel clean every week but I only do it once a fortnight as I only feed the fish four days a week so there's not a huge amount of detritus to clean up.

Thanks Mary, do you mean even though there are fish in there I dont need to clean the gravel until I have a properly cycled tank then?

Doesn't it get full of muck?

Well don't add any more fish until the tank is cycled and keep the feeding down to every 2-3 days to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels as low as possible. So there shouldn't be too much of a mucky buildup as a result.

Also you'll need to do daily water changes (at least 50%) to help the fish through it. But if you do want to gravel clean, it won't do any harm - I was just trying to lessen the load for you.

Just tested the tank water and these are the results -

Ammonia 0.25 (well a bit between that and 0.50)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 15

I,ve done a water change. Do I have to check the water again after the change and then do another change if I need to?

The fish seem to be ok and I want to keep them that way!

Just carry on doing daily water changes, of at least 50%. You will have to do them for a couple of weeks or so.

ok, 50% water changes daily will keep that ammonia level from rising too much. The ammonia will continue to rise until you get a nitrIte reading and then it will start dropping as the nitrifying bacteria buils up.
As mentioned, don't feed every day, i personally would go with every other day & carry on with the w/c (water changes).
Good luck..it will get easier, honest