So I tried to change the water in my recently acquired fish tank, and obviously, I've never had a fish tank before. 2 goldfish and a molly are already dead, and the angelfish isn't far off. I have no way of checking PH, but the temperature is 76 and I put the tap-safe stuff in the water.

Right now the angel fish is laying on her side on the bottom, still breathing. Is it too late? Should I go throw her in the lake in an attempt at survival? She made it in the tank all night, but it seems like she's heading for a slow death.

Any suggestions?

8/11/2006 3:26:04 PM

Guess I should have posted in Chit Chat if I wanted anyone to actually read this.

8/11/2006 3:55:24 PM

call up fishworld or someplace and ask.
heck, even a vet.

8/11/2006 3:56:30 PM

keep spraying that ph balance shit in there. are you sure u put in enough? same shit happ. to me once when i forgot to put it in. make sure ur tank is cycling too.

8/11/2006 3:56:50 PM

PM sent

8/11/2006 4:04:42 PM

when you first get your tank, you need to let it just run for a week

also, when you transfer your fish, make sure you let your bag sit for a while in the water.

When I got my first fish, i got four of them.. two bags, two in each bag. I put both bags in the water and after about five minutes, i was like fuck it.. i wanna see them swimming in the tank.
The fish that were in the first bag I opened died within a week, and the fish from the second bag that got to sit an 5-10 extra minutes are still healthy 4 months later.

I'm hoping you've been reading up on fish care before you got these fish, so just make sure you followed all that info and hope for the best.

8/11/2006 4:11:49 PM

For god sakes don't throw it in the lake!!!

Invasive species are the second biggest threat to biodiversity next to habitat destruction. All it takes is one fish to throw off the whole ecosystem of the lake.

8/11/2006 4:15:33 PM

8/11/2006 4:17:43 PM

^^Yeah, i'm not.

8/11/2006 4:20:00 PM

k thnx

8/11/2006 4:20:27 PM

aquarium salt helps
but its probably too late for the fish

i'd just start over.
new water, chemicals, etc. let the tank cycle for a few days to a week
then add fish slowly. i usually let the bags float longer like 20-30 minutes. gradually adding water from the tank into the bag after 10 mins.

my fish never die unless a bigger fish eats them.

just do some research or continue asking tdub

8/11/2006 4:20:34 PM

should make good bait for a real fish for your tank

8/11/2006 4:23:56 PM

Not really, they're all dead. I'm a horrible zookeeper.

[Edited on August 11, 2006 at 4:29 PM. Reason : s]

8/11/2006 4:29:12 PM

so the angel fish is dead?

8/11/2006 4:44:30 PM

you said the water was 76 degrees...okay was there a difference in that water temperature and the water temperature that you had them in before? also, did you change out ALL the water? not saying that killed the fish, but you are not supposed to change all the water at once...get one of those cool gravel sucking things that sucks out water and debris. where do you live? did your community recently have its water treated?...that could have also contributed.

8/11/2006 6:27:58 PM

goldfish are cold water fish

mollies and angelfish....they are tropical, right?? I'm not really sure about angels, I've always thought most people kept angels by themselves, something about the ph

8/11/2006 6:30:39 PM

nah, i keep angels with discus, and they're fine.

8/11/2006 6:32:02 PM

You can keep Angelfish and Discus together because they do have similar water requirements - such as pH and temp. But you really shouldn't mix goldfish, mollies and angelfish together. All three of those fish have different requirements!!

And you didn't say what size tank you had either, or how long you've had it set up. I highly doubt you allowed it to cycle enough to put those fish in there... let alone together. Do a water change and then go get some biozyme and some zebra danios... and keep them in there for about a month before you go out and get other fish - if your tank can handle more.

8/11/2006 6:49:21 PM

Update:

It's a 10 gallon tank.

I shouldn't have changed all the water at once.

I should have payed more attention to matching the water temps.

They weren't goldfish, goldfish can't live with Angelfish.

Mollies can live with angelfish.

Distilled water, bad. Drinking water, bad. Spring water, good.

Angelfish is in Spring water and still alive, but most likely in shock and will die.


Source: fish dude at PetSmart.

8/11/2006 8:51:53 PM

Quote :

"Invasive species are the second biggest threat to biodiversity next to habitat destruction. All it takes is one fish to throw off the whole ecosystem of the lake. "

That must be the Godzira of fish then!

8/11/2006 9:09:25 PM

lol, yea, I doubt a single fish will cause eco changes.

8/11/2006 9:27:49 PM

Yeah, when changing the water, only change about 1/4 of the water at a time. In your tank, there is good bacteria and bad bacteria. When you change all of the water, you're losing this good bacteria as well. That's what causes the fish to go into shock and die.

8/11/2006 9:53:35 PM

the loss of bacteria doesn't directly effect the fish and send them into shock. The "beneficial bacteria" are a part of the nitrogen cycle. One kind converts the ammonia into nitrites and the second kind converts the nitrites to nitrates. Nitrates are then used by plants, if you have any living ones. Otherwise, the only way to get rid of them is by changing the water.

It is all the sudden changes in the water that send the fish into shock. (ie. temperature, ph, alkalinity, possible chlorine or chloramine, ammonia, etc)

8/11/2006 11:43:51 PM

^you're right. I had forgotten that. ANS105 was a while back, lol.

8/12/2006 2:40:11 AM

^^ Nitrobacter and Nitrosomonas

8/12/2006 8:20:54 AM

Yeah, i forgot to answer that they're changing the piping in our complex as well so I'm sure the water might be out of whack chemically.

8/12/2006 2:16:34 PM

Fish died last night in the spring water. I gave it an aerial burial.

8/12/2006 3:49:43 PM

I dropped a whole container of fish flakes in my tank and all four of my african cichlids lived. They're pretty fat now. I turned the filter up and changed the cartridge and the water cleared right up. I can't believe they lived, that was a shit load of flakes

8/12/2006 4:55:32 PM