Beginner at freshwater aquariums - some challenges I've had to face

I'm still new at this 'hobby' and its something which has really caught my interest, an interest which I have learned is also a quite expensive one.

Approximately 4 weeks ago I purchased a 250L aquarium tank from a local pet shop. As part of the set-up I added the prime, stability and some clarity and waited a week before adding any fish as per the guidance I received from the pet shop.

After adding my fish: 2 x silver dollars, 1 x golden pleco, and 1 x angel fish - all fairly medium sized i.e the angel fish was approx 8cm, one silver dollar is approx 14cm, the other silver dollar approx 10cm and the pleco approx 6cm. I waited another week before adding any new fish. I added the following new fish: 3 x silver dollars all approx 8cm, 2 x angelfish approx 8cm, a bottom feeder of approx 10cm, 2 x green terror cichlids of approx 11cm and another golden pleco of approx 10cm, and 5 x parrots (2 x 7cm & 3 x 4cm) The measurements are in respect of the bodies only and excludes measurement of fins.

All seemed to go well until about a week and a half ago. My angels stopped eating and one the parrots (blood parrots) got black spots all over its body. Despite the black spots, the parrot's behaviour did not change, he's eating fine and his active. My one angel fish (black angel) swam vertically with its face down and I went back to the pet shop who advised me that its probably swim bladder disease - after my research on google this also seemed to fit the behaviour. They then gave me 'Rid All General Aid' medicine and advised that I also need to add coarse salt to the water with the medicine - which I did. My black angel did not show any signs of improvement then I added some (very little) epson salt to the tank and gave the angel an epson salt bath which I googled helped many others experiencing the same problem.

Unfortunately my black angel did not survive. A few days later the other two angels expressed similar behaviour - sometimes swimming vertically and other times turning their bodies horizontally as if they want to die. So I gave them epson salt baths also and they actually seemed to have improved. They started swimming around normally and also started eating again. Ironically the one angel fish (golden angel fish) who seemed fine yesterday is dead today. The other angel fish (zebra striped silver angel fish) is not swimming around at all and just stays in one corner by the filter. It looks as if she too is going to die.

The water temperature is fairly constant ranging between 28 and 29 degrees Celsius. The heater is set at 26 degrees Celsius.

All the other fish in the tank seem fine and lively, especially the green terrors and parrots. The silver dollars are active although not such aggressive eaters as I've read on the internet. I feed the fish once a day.

They only thing I have not done is purchased a water test kit - which I was advised was not necessary provided I prep the water with the prime, and stability etc. Perhaps this is something I should have done? I've done two water changes since (a 1/3 each) for which I added the prime and let the new water stand for 3 days before doing the water change, and also adding the salt and medicine with the last water change. The black spots on the blood parrot are also starting to disappear.

Whenever I put my hands the tank I first wash it thoroughly.

The problem is my angel fish. Advice would be greatly appreciated. What did I do wrong, is it because I did not test the water? Why are only my angel fish expressing problems?

 

I would start with a compatibility chart.

https://www.google.co.za/search?q=freshwater+aquarium+fish+compatibility+chart

Decide what type of tank community you want. Then look at what environment they need and what fish can work in the same tank.

Later Ferdie

 

Hi, and welcome to TASA.

The petshop gave you good advice on cycling the tank, and sold you the right stuff to get the tank going.
Unfortunately they didn't advice you well enough on stocking levels, and which fish are compatible with each other.

An issue I have picked up, is that the tank is heavily overstocked.
Silver Dollars get quite large, and the same is true for the Angels, Parrots and Green Terrors.
Add to that the messy habits of the Pleco's, and you have a disaster waiting to happen.

The fish are also not really compatible with each other.
Angels are peaceful fish, with long flowing fins.
The Silver Dollars, Parrots and Green Terrors are all aggressive fish, and will tend to dominate the Angels.
Even though Parrots look like oversized goldfish, they are cichlids, and aggressive.
Green Terrors didn't get their name for being gentle and peaceful fish.
Silver Dollars are loosely related to Piranha.
Add the peaceful Angels, and you will soon be having ex Angels.

Use http://www.aqadvisor.com/ as a general guideline to determine what your tank can safely carry, as well as which fish will be compatible with each other.

Good luck.

 

hey @Zanda i completely agree with @f-fish and @Pezulu i know Terrors and Parrots well, the terrors can be way hectic in the aggro dept. and the parrots hold their on in the same department, that angel stood little chance against any 'argy bargy' dont be discouraged as i did a very similar thing when starting out! you need to 'pick a lane' with respect to what typa tank you want to keep. the links provided in this thread by pezulu and f-fish should have you on your way. there is some wiggle room in this so long as you do your research on the subject and imho this is the best place to do this research.

 

Not nice to loose big fish like that, these days it costs an arm and a leg to stock a tank, its really important to do proper research and think long term as most big fish are sold very small at LFSs.

What filtration are you running on the tank? U have very messy fish and overstocked as well. Overstocking to a certain extent is acceptable provided you do proper maintenance and have good filtration.

 

Thank you all for your responses.

Every time I bought a new fish I did ask the relevant pet shop about compatibility. I have noticed ironically that my most domineering fish in the tank was the angels, they chased all the other fish most likely because they are very territorial. The most 'relaxing' fish in my tank are the silver dollars, they do not chase any of the other fish, only each other every now and then. The two green terrors only chase each other around but I suspect one's a male and the other a female (so it seems by considering the different traits) and perhaps they want to breed - not sure. The parrots are also only chasing each other around. So everyone is pretty much getting along fine for now. Nonetheless, I will surely have a look at those links sent - thanks for that.

Concerning the filtration, I have a Boyu tank which came with a filter/pump (its also a Boyu Filter PGB 1000) but I also have a DoPhin F2000 Internal Filter. I do clean the filters once a week with a water change.

One thing I am also not sure about, and this might sound like a silly question, but how do you know if you have overstocked with ornaments/objects? For example I have those ocean like reef rocks in my tank which I stacked in the middle but evenly distributed in the tank and positioned it in such a way that my fish have little tunnels to go the back and front sections of the tank with some plastic plants. I'm not sure if this is too many objects in the tank. Attached is a picture below of the tank (fish are hiding in the back )

 

As long as they have enough swim space it shoukd be fine. Have u done an acid test on those rocks? Apparently some rocks arw not fish friendly and they alter the water ph. Im no expert just what i have been told here. Maybe read up on testing aquarium rocks. U can use vinegar on the rock to see if it bubbles or not. If it does u shouldnt use it.

 

Ok thanks. I purchased the rocks from the pet shop and the only advice they gave was to rinse it thoroughly before placing into the tank which I did do.

 

Hi @Zanda and welcome to the forum!

Sorry about your angels and the problems you have had, dont give up... do some homework on those links and afterwards ask here whatever you dont feel comfortable with

Its sad that the LFS allowed you to buy the mix of fish that you did and so many at the same time
Ironically, if they had given better advise on the fish you can comfortably house in that tank and are compatible with each othe, you would have probably spent the same amount of money, they would have still benefited from the sale and you would have less worries and drama

I agree with all the advice given so far except... sorry.. this is my personal opinion only.... i dont agree with the way the tank was cycled.
I am a firm believer in Prime and Stability and its all I use but the way it was done is not right in my mind for following reasons
Prime is a water conditioner which is fine, you will always need it for water changes
Clarity is a total waste of money and shouldnt be used in a tank which is being cycled
Clarity is supposed to be a quick fix for murky water and to me, quick fixes are a disaster waiting to happen, fix the problem, check filtration and your water will clear in the right way
Clarity might clear it but the cause iis not being addressed

Cycling a tank, the bacteria needs to establish itself in your filters but for bacteria to grow and establish itself, it needs food

Stability is bacteria in a bottle which allows us to cycle a tank in less time than the usual 4 week average that it takes for a fish less cycle.
As I said, which ever way you do it, the bacteria needs food to live.... if you add stability and no food or fish your bacteria does not survive or multiply as it should to cycle the tank
Therefore, on the second day of dosing, 3 or 4 hardy fish should be added to the tank so that you are feeding the fish.. they producing bioload and the bacteria have something to start feeding on.
After about 2 to 3 weeks, you can then start stocking your tank by adding (depending on tank size) one or two fish at a time over a period of a few weeks
This allows the bacteria to multiply at a rate to cope with the number of fish
If you add 8 or 9 fish all at the same time you throw your bacteria into shock because it cant adjust overnight to so much extra work and your tank crashes..
If i understood correctly, on your second shopping trip or within a week, you added 13 fish... no tank can handle that kind of swing let alone a tank that has only been running for 2 or 3 weeks..........as I said, this is my personal opinion...

If my guess is correct... your tank is 1.2m?
The silver dollars get huge and fast, so do the parrots as well as the plecos.. the tank is nowhere near big enough for all these fish....
The green terrors and angels get to a fair size too
As for the aggression, it is usually ok for starters while they are small and still settling in but, it will soon start.
There are many smaller fish that are stunning which will be suitable for your size tank

If going through lists offish is tedious.. take a drive around a few LFS's and see what catches your fancy, take the names down and then go home and look up those fish... check sizes, requirements, tank mates and you will find many stunning ones that can be mixed together and suitable for your size tank

As for all the decor, it looks great but be careful... so much rocks traps dirt and uneaten food which will spoil your water
Make sure there is enough circulation for dirt not to get trapped under and between the rocks.
Do gravel vacs when you do water changes to make sure you pick up all the dirt
Good luck.. hope things improve

 

Thanks a lot Maria, the set-up I did was different from the one you proposed. I added the stability to the new tank, followed the instructions by adding it to the tank every day for 7 days. So I waited 7 days before adding fish. I first added 3 fish and then more fish a week later.

Your suggestion to add the fish incrementally in order to feed them and so too also 'feeding' the bacteria makes sense - thanks.

Unfortunately I lost all three my angelfish. I have since purchased 4 juveniles and keep them in their own separate tank - so far so good.