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This is my disaster: I purchased a 29 gallon from my friend, i didn't cycle correctly, lost most of my fish. I put new water in, had two guppies in there, then they were replaced with 2 swordtails. The Nitrate and Nitrite readings were normal. One female jumped out and died. I replaced her. The other female died after birth. The male then died. The last one died today. They had been pooping a clear string. My guppies in my 15 gallon are fine. There was no trace of ick. Seriously, this is upsetting me very much. Do I have the touch of death? I have been trying to do everything right, and I still screw things up. WHATS WRONG?!?!?!?

I've got a fever... and the only prescription... is more cowbell!

maybe your just choosing the wrong fish for your tank. if one of your fish jumped out, thats the first sign of a problematic tank. get a cover for it or something. Maybe even just some big sheet of plastic if money is an issue.

Secondly, you mentioned something about another fish dieing after birth?? Are you breeding or did you buy it really young? Perhaps if your not really advanced in the hobby, you shouldn't be breeding as yet, or looking after VERY young fry.

You also spoke about adding new water. When you did this, did you get rid of all the old water or just replace some of it? Either way, I guess your tank could have still been cycling. I've heard of ammonia spikes appearing and disappearing in a day due to tank cycling - that could be another reason.

When cycling a tank, its a fantastic excersise in patients. So I didn't get dissappointed, I just assumed all my fish were going to kark it when cycling, so I only bought cheap ones (like neons or something). Some of them survived and some of them died. The ones that lived were a bonus. Just be patient, do frequent partial water changes and test daily for the next few days. If nothing goes wrong, then you may be able to replace your fish.

Don't give up though as your problem doesn't sound uncommon. You just need some fine tuning. Perhaps the more advanced aquariumists will have some more advice...

Good luck!

yea chin up

If you are really interested in keeping fish, then you shouldnt give up. there are plenty of experience people on this site who are always more than happy to help newbies!

my advice:

Take a deep breath and chill, sit down have a read through this site / the net for info on cycling, and dnt be scared to ask if you dont understand something.

now have a think about which fish you will use for cycling, if you are going to use fish, some people like to do fishless cycling. if using fish, pick something hardy (i wouldnt recommend neons - they tend to be a little weak)

decided which fish? ok now get some test kits, ammonia, nitrIte, nitAte, and a ph one is handy. or you can take water to your lfs and they will probably test it for you.

plan everything, from what substrate is best, do you want live plants, lighting, types of fish everything and ask lots of questions on here, lfs tend just to tell you what you want to hear

take it steady and you'll be fine

One book that I would recommend is The Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums by David E. Boruchowitz. It is a very good guide to getting started and if you follow it carefully, you'll avoid a lot of the common problems. What is especially good for you is that it has a whole bunch of suggested stocking schemes for 29 gallon aquariums and they're interesting ones. He even tells you which fish to start with for cycling. I highly recommend this book. If you can't find it locally, you can buy it from Amazon (that's where I got mine).

Hang in there. It's a great hobby, but it does take some patience at the beginning and you have to allow yourself a little time to get the hang of it and realize that you're going to make some mistakes. But you'll get it!

Last edited by DoctorJ at 25-Oct-2004 10:41

I have been monitoring the tanks with a 5 in 1 test strip. All the levels were normal. It just seems odd that I lost my previous fish to Ick, now these fish die too? I emptied that whole @#%(*$%)(* tank and had to reseal it with caulk because it was leaking. I will keep you updated. Do you think my fish could have had internal parasites? They weren't really eating and clear strings were coming out of their hoo-haas.

I've got a fever... and the only prescription... is more cowbell!

Definitely hang in there. I have a friend that got her first aquarium a few months ago and she also did all the wrong things. Said she felt like Dr. Kavorkian because all her fish died. Then some other friends trying to be helpful bought her a bunch of fish which also died. Her tank just couldn't handle the load and not all the fish were compatible. She now only has 1 cory and it's doing well and she is going to add other fish slowly.

I wouldn't trust the test strips - sad fact is, convenient though they are, they're rarely accurate, and the second you open the bottle they all start to degrade, and fast. Tests with liquid chemicals are much more trustworthy.

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

I have a 20 gal tank, and it took me 8 wks, (yes, 8) to cycle my tank with 3 platies, (and lots of fry). I tested religiously every day, (with the liquid tests), and did not perform a water change until it was cycled. I also added a product called "New-Improved" Cycle, that has all of the beneficial bacteria in there to help with the cycling.

Did you have your temp set correctly for the fish you had in there? Was the pH also acceptable?

I have found a wealth of knowledge on this site, and if the search gets back up and running, I would try that. THere is so much info on here.

Oh, and I have had my tank up and running since August 1st. It is now fully stocked, and I have had only one death, (which was within 2 days of buying one, so Im blaming it on the LFS.) I now do weekly water changes, and test my water the day before I do the water change. Everything has been normal.

Good Luck, its been fun for me, and Im sure it will get better for you too!

The Ph in my area always runs high (8ish). and the places I've boughten fish have said that it isn't a problem.

I've got a fever... and the only prescription... is more cowbell!

I have to echo the previous poster who told you to take a deep breath and chill... it's very easy to get frustrated when starting out in this hobby. Luckily my husband and I both got interested in it at the same time so we could read posts/articles and compare notes... but we did make our share of mistakes. A lot of them were based on misinformation from the chain pet stores in our area. I would recommend starting from the beginning and reading the articles on here about cycling. We did a fishless cycle for the first tank and then when we upgraded to a 55gal we used Cycle and our overabundance of platies to cycle that one. Don't impulse buy when you add fish and also don't add more than a fish or two every 2 or 3 weeks. Read everything you can find about what kind of fish you'd like to get so you know what you're getting into. Good luck!

-Beth