[snakelover]

2 of my trio gouramis have died anddont now why? can any one suggest why, soory about lack of imfo, but ill awser any questions.

 

[mask-of-sanity]

have you tested your water, you tank is overcrowded so the chances are you have amonia and nitrite in the water, how often you doing a water change and how much are you changing, what filter do you have and how often are you cleaning it and how are you cleaning it these are all things i would ask if you came into the shop

 

[snakelover]

have you tested your water, you tank is overcrowded so the chances are you have amonia and nitrite in the water, how often you doing a water change and how much are you changing, what filter do you have and how often are you cleaning it and how are you cleaning it these are all things i would ask if you came into the shop

i change the water every 2 weeks that means change the Filter Wool,And Carbon Filter stuff, we have a fluval 3, we take half the tank out and top it up again. weres 'the shop'

 

[mike515]

Right heres my list of theories.

-The seriously overstocked tank
-The p**s poor filter
-The fact you are changing the entire filter every 2 weeks
-The fact youare doing 50% water changes every 2 weeks.

And heres my list of solutions
-Lose some of the fish before they die
-Buy a new filter, preferably an Eheim or Rena, and external if youcan afford it
-Change one sponge per month. Change the other one next month
-Do 10-15% water changes once a week.

Go to a decent fish shop. not the one where youbought your fish. They don't seem like the most reliable of places (what with the fact they sold you a pangasius)

try http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/. Click onshops on the top menu. Then fish shop finder.

Under NO circumstances, add any more fish into the tank until you have it sorted. And I don't mean until you stop losing fish. I mean once you either have a bigger tank, or get rid of some of the bigger fish

 

[mask-of-sanity]

yes but how do you clean main foam pads in filter, never change more than 25% of the water every two weeks carbon pads will last 4 weeks you do have to many fish ,have you tested the water? go and get yourself a fluval 4plus and run 2 filters on your tank and re home your larger growing fish

 

[intravenous]

Where about is your list of fish? People are saying its overcrowded but where are they seeing your stock info from?

Are you able to give us readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

How long has the tank been set up?
When did you add the gouramis?

When you change the water do you add in water conditioner?

You don't need to change the filter pads, this is where the bacteria that keeps your tank healthy live. Instead of changing the filter pads, clean them: get a bucket of old tank water, put the filter pads in, give them a good squeeze and then put them back in the tank.

 

[snakelover]

this tank has been set up about 4-5 months. but before i had my gouramis dollars and sharks in one tank smaller than now. i have had the gold gourami about 2 years, and the blue 1 year but bougt at about 3years old the gouramis.

 

[snakelover]

my tank isnt even overloaded. if you see a pic it isnt overloaded.

 

[intravenous]

Keeping fish without having an ammonia/nitrite/nitrate test kit is like keeping snakes without a thermometer/hygromter. It is cruel to keep fish unless you can provide them with the right environment.

There are also two basic rules you should follow with fish keeping:

• There should be 1 US gallon of water for every 1 inch of fish, which translates to about 1.5 litres per 1 cm of fish you have.

So for example 3 guppies, at about 3cm each require around 13.5 litres of water

• 
  And your tank should be as long as 4 x the length of the largest fish, and as tall and wide as 2 x the length of the largest fish

So does your tank add up? If not then you need to get rid of fish so it does.

I don't blame you for not knowing this, I think its terrible how fish shops give so little education on the proper care of fish.[/list]

 

[intravenous]

Also:

What temperature is the tank? And how often/ how much do you feed them?

Please read this:

You don't need to change the filter pads, this is where the bacteria that keeps your tank healthy live. Instead of changing the filter pads, clean them: get a bucket of old tank water, put the filter pads in, give them a good squeeze and then put them back in the tank.

I think it will help your fish if you start doing this instead of replacing the filter pads.

 

[snakelover]

Keeping fish without having an ammonia/nitrite/nitrate test kit is like keeping snakes without a thermometer/hygromter. It is cruel to keep fish unless you can provide them with the right environment.

There are also two basic rules you should follow with fish keeping:

• There should be 1 US gallon of water for every 1 inch of fish, which translates to about 1.5 litres per 1 cm of fish you have.

So for example 3 guppies, at about 3cm each require around 13.5 litres of water

• 
  And your tank should be as long as 4 x the length of the largest fish, and as tall and wide as 2 x the length of the largest fish

So does your tank add up? If not then you need to get rid of fish so it does.

I don't blame you for not knowing this, I think its terrible how fish shops give so little education on the proper care of fish.[/list]

lol if you put ALL my fish lined up it would probably just be a bit bigger than the length of the tank. the hieght and depth is about 4 of my largest fufh or more. And you said 1.5 is 1cm of fish that means 3 gupys about 3cms that wouldnt be 13.5ltrs it would be 4.5ltrs.
the temp is 26c which is in the safety zone. i used to feed them twica a day but now i feed them once a day.there is a layer of green iver the tuffa rock so this is good so they can pick at it whivh they do sometimes, and tanks can be too clean, so a bit of green is ok, not too much thow.

 

[intravenous]

And you said 1.5 is 1cm of fish that means 3 gupys about 3cms that wouldnt be 13.5ltrs it would be 4.5ltrs.

No, guppys are bigger than a cm each, I estimated 3cm. So three guppys at 3cm each is 9cm, 9cm x 1.5 is 13.5litres.

the temp is 26c which is in the safety zone. i used to feed them twica a day but now i feed them once a day.there is a layer of green iver the tuffa rock so this is good so they can pick at it whivh they do sometimes, and tanks can be too clean, so a bit of green is ok, not too much thow.

That all sounds fine to me.

I think your biggest problem is just the way you clean the filter...don't
! You'll kill all the helpful bacteria.

And you really should invest in an ammonia/nitrite/nitrate kit, it will make it much easier to spot when things go wrong.

 

[mike515]

your tank is overcrowded.

For gods sake, you have a 3ft tank with a pangasius plus silver sharks, silver dollars, severums. It doesn't matter if it looks alrite, i think your forgeting that fish produce waste. Look at it like this, fish in an overstocked tank is like you in a giant vat of your own shite.

a 3ft tank is ok for tetras, (most) barbs, small catfish, DWARF cichlids (if you have other fish), or a pair of medium cichlids.

Silver sharks and dollars both need 4ft tanks.
A pangasius, needs at least 6/7 foot depending on species.
Severums would be ok without the other fish.

Your tank doesn't have to look crowded for it to be be overstocked.

Jesus, learn about the fish you keep. I'm not having a go, but ive said this to you before. You wouldn't buy a snake without knowing how to care for it, so why would you with any other animal?

and again your choice of fish is rediculus. Severums (no matter how small) should NOT be kept with guppies or anything the same size. All cichlids grow quick and one day your guppies will be gone. Same with the pangasius. But im not even gonna get started on that again. I said you needed to rehome him now before he starts to suffer. But your response was when he gets too big ill take him back. Take him back BEFORE he gets too big.

 

[mask-of-sanity]

go to a reputable aquatic shop (not the one you got your fish from ) buy a good book, a liquid test kit (more accurate than tabs), test for amonia and nitrite, get a gravel cleaner, and most importantly ask questions, be honest tell them your set up and the fish you have in the tank any good shop will be more than willing to spend the time to put you back on track with your tank, i have 6 tanks and have worked for an aquatic centre for 3 years having been in the hobby for ten years and i am still learning, please listen to the advice you are be given from everyone as you still have a lot to learn about fishkeeping and please do not attempt to add any more fish to your tank as you will just be risking there lives, i am sorry for being so blunt but it makes me mad when you ask something but then wont listen to others