Greetings ! ...Help :)

Hello ALL

Im a newbie, and hoping to gain a wealth of knowledge from this forum.
My current tank setup is small 20l tank ..with Under Gravel Filter and air pump, heater and thermostat, housing 4 platy's.

Ive had a bad luck with my siamese fighter fish recently that died after one measly week, despite all my water parameters being ok ...im baffled. Similarly bad luck i had with goldfish that died under a month ..despite water being ok according to the petshops. ( and i just had 2 small fantails)

MY questoin to you .. do i need a water testing kit ? if so what brand is advisable and accurate in results.
What other stuff do i require to keep my fish in prime condition. Ive cycled through the nitrogen cycles etc and according to my API test strips( not sure if they good) all water parameters are in check.
Nitrites are zero as is ammonia and Nitrates well under 0,.25ppm.

Yet im baffled and seeing my one or 2 of my platy fish sitting on the gravel ?

Few questions Is there any stress relievers etc ... makes the fish more comfy. Do ornaments promote bacteria ?
Also when doing partial water changes do i need to switch the heater off ?

Thanks..

Look forward to your response .

Regards

 

Welcome to the forums. I have to admit I am not sure 20L will be enough space for the platties. How did you start the tank up? Did it go through the cycle to build up some bacteria?

It is also a lot harder to keep the cycle going properly in such a small tank, I had loads of issues in the begining with swinging ph levels, and the amonia and nitrite levels.

What do you use to treat the water with when you do water changes?

 

Hi there and welcome...

Test Kits - Any brand like sera, tetra, etc will do. Test strips are known for being inaccurate, so the best type to get is the drop (liquid) testers. Most important ones to get are Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, kH and gH.

Water Changes - How often and how much do you do? A general guide is 20-30% weekly. It is very important to treat your water with anti-chlorine before you add it to you main tank. Also, it is best to try and match you WC to your tank parameters (temperature, pH, and kH). Also, it is best to leave you heater and filters on during WC, as long as the water level doesn't drop too low (especially when the heaters are on)...I've once dropped the water too low and my heater glass cracked.

Ornaments - Aquarium safe ornaments will have no effect on the water or bacteria, etc. It is a bit risky to use ornaments that are not made for aquariums as they can contain lethal chemical etc.

Hope that helps a bit. As for the reason your fish are dying or lying on the bottom...You'll have to give us some more info like water temperature, feeding schedules, etc.

 

Hi ALL

Thanks for the welcome .. I used stability by Seachem, running a fishless cycle for 2 week before adding fish. I feed fish only once in the evening ,small amounts (pinch), alternating between flakes , pellets and peas. I do use a dechlorinator (blue in colour AquaChlor or something) that i use for water changes. Water which i prepare in advance in a seperate clean bucket only reserved for the tank.

Current temp for platy's is 26 degress. Also i have an air pump that has a tube extending to the surface of the water ...where it blows bubbles ..if i remove that tube so that it blows bubbles from the gravel ..will that assist in dissolving more O2 in the water ? prevent fish from going to the surface ?

So i need to get more water testkits .. hmmm

Thanks for yr help ! ..just concerned about those strips now

 

Hello, and welcome to TASA.

We will do our best to help you. You should try and answer as many of the questions as you can, because we need to see the big picture in order to figure out why you're having problems.

Are you sure your tank is 20 liters? Can you give us its dimesions so that we can check - I can tell you that 20 liters is way too small for 3 goldfish. I can also tell you that undergravel filters are fairly old fashioned, though some still use them, there are more sophisticated filter systems available. Is your aquarium one of those beginner starter kits?

 

Hi Tracy

Yes its one of those beginner tanks that game with under gravel filer and air pimp ...Ive attached a pic of the tank (or see my avatar though its small) , not sure if is visible. Dont have gold fish any more used to have 2. Now i have just four tiny platy's.

 

Ok, well, your pic didn't attach - give us the dimensions and we can check on your literage for you. I've never used a ugf - but as I understand it, the airpump is what "drives" the ugf via that tube and the bubbles - the bubbles cause the water to circulate via that lift, so no, please dont remove that tube. You would be effectively turning the filter off.

 

Ive updated ..pic is now visible ... which fish would be perfect for a tank this size ? Ive read 1 betta would be perfect ..i always see the poor little things in tiny little vases or bowls ..why is that.

 

Right, I think my suspicion is correct on that being less than 20 L - please grab a tape measure or ruler and give us length, width and height from the top of your gravel to the surface of the water.

Once we've confirmed that, then we will be able to take it further.

You will find that most of us are vehemently opposed to the practice of keeping bettas in those tiny containers. I have a beautiful betta who lives in his own kingdom of 16 liters, I've had him for over a year now and he is a great pet!

 

Great will get you those dimensions by tonight ..thanks for your help. Well i started with a bowl and then heard its not good for goldfish i went for a small tank thinking its better for a bowl .. now it seems this is not enough ..but dont have space for anything bigger being a in a townhouse ..hmmm but let me get those dimensions

 

A pleasure!

Another tip which I'm sure you've figured out by now - don't trust what the lps (local petshop) says - as many of us like you found out the hard way so don't feel alone!

Although there ARE petshops out there who give ethical advice, the sad truth is that most often, they are pretty clueless when it comes to responsible and successful fishkeeping. Listen by all means, but verify what they've told you with someone on the forum before you accept their advice!

 

Spot on .. i have very little faith in them ...hence i came to this forum, and so glad theres members like you to guide us newbies

 

welcome

 

Hi and welcome @Vicari0

First of all the problem here is that Girls dont rule! SO you need to take that sighn out please :laugh: haha

More seriously, as @tracyp have mentioned dont remove that pipe, as it is your only saurce of filtration, not a good source, but @ least its something, I ould rather replace it with a small corner filter either a sponge or the plain old corner plastic ones with some activated charcoal and filter media.

I ould also run the tank for longer then 2 weeks, @ least 3-4 weeks, or speed things up by getting some mature water from your petshop or friend that have a stable tank! I have a feeling when you clean your tank, you remove everything out your tank? If so, please stop doing that, and only remove partial water and add clean mature water, never empty your entire tank. Just wipe the sides and siphon your gravel.

About the betta thing, the reason why lps keep their Bettas in small containers, is for space issues, fighting issues, and because Bettas can live in water with almost no oxygen in because of their Laberynth, and breath in normal oxygen.

I am not clued up with Platies, but I will also recomend droping your temp to about 24 deg for them, Bettas will be 26-28 deg. Gold fish will not tollerate 26 deg C as this is to warm for them, they need cold water. P

H will be the most important to test, and ensure it stays in the 7 area, this should be fine for platies and Bettas (1 male Betta only) testing once a week will be perfect, and if you do a once a week water change, your PH should be fine, check your tap water PH as well.

 

Thanks Hennie ... the girls rule is bec of my two little girls they got that as a gift with a bowl ...i was like ahem ;-) hence the small tank. Well at the moment theres no fish apart from 4 small platies. When testing ph it was 7ish ....but i thin i need a water test kit. Only when doing a 50% change i take out the ornaments etc ..easier to siphon the gravel as the tank is small ...so u saying i should just leave it in there ?

Also when using the gravel filter and doing WC, should i remove the fish or do it with them in the tank ? So far ive never emptied the tank completely ...for the reason that ill have to recycle again. So week water tetskits for ammonia Nitrites Nitrates , PH ...

 

Thanks !

 

Hi.

Welcome to the forum!

I used a UGF for many years and they were easy to use, except when doing a full clean which is a mission... but that is a long way away!

How deep is your gravel? With the UGF, you will need just a shallow covering over it, so the fish waste, debris etc can be sucked down through it.

Hope that helps and that your tank comes right :bigsmile:

 

Hi Tracy

Dimensions are L=30cm W=22.5 H=19.5 ( from edge of gravel to water filled up) full height is 25cm hope this helps

 

Hi thanks my UGF is about 4cm from the base , so prob above 2cm above the filter

 

About what I guessed - in fact you have around 14 litres, not 20.

That's a really small amount of water, and as indicated, its far more difficult to maintain water conditions in such a tiny tank as a beginner.

I'm sorry to say this, but that's just not enough space for anyfish but a betta.