jchown142

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jchown142

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 23, 2009
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cornwall
help!? I SET UP A 7.6 GALLON TANK LAST WEEK AND HAVE A PAIR OF FIREMOUTHS THEY HAVE LOST THEIR COLOUR TODAY AND LOOK WASHED OUT. IS THIS BECAUSE THE AMMONIA IS BUILDING UP? IF SO IS THERE ANYTHING i CAN DO TO HELP THEM?? WOULD B V GRATEFUL FOR ANY ADVICE
 
For a pair of FMs, you will need a MINIMUM of a 20 long or 29 gallon tank and that is really pushing it. I'd go with at least a 40 long to a 55 gallon for them.

so, #1: If you can, get a bigger tank. If you can't, return the fish to a fish store and start over with some fish better suited to your tank (there aren't many since it's so small)
#2: In the mean time, if you can't do either of those things right away, do a water change. If the fish have been in the tank a while, they have probably gotten use to the dirty water, so you should start off with small water changes of around 1 gallon and do those a couple times a day to slowly bring down the ammonia level. Also, don't feed them for a while until the ammonia is under control. That will only make the water worse
 
thank you am bit of a dumb blonde im afraid! lol! also have just set up a 80 gallon tank which is awaiting fish ,should i move them into this one?
 
An 80 gallon would be great for them. Be sure to acclimate them slowly so that they aren't shocked by suddenly being thrown into different water. It seems a little backwards, but if fish have gotten use to dirty water, suddenly giving them much cleaner water can actually be deadly. The changes have to be made slowly
 
yeah I understand the nitrogen cycle, but how do I acclimatise them slowly, is it by keeping them in a bag and putting some of the tank water into that? by the way thanks for your help
 
Can you see how high the ammonia is? If it's pretty high (over ~3 ppm), I'd do several small waterchanges on the small tank over a period of a couple hours until the ammonia is brought down below 1. From there you should be able to just float them in a bag in the new tank and add the new tank water to the bag like you would new fish
 
will do ammonia test tommorrow as yet dont have testing kit,shop tomoz! took firemouths on from desperate friend only have experience in gouramis and havent kept fish for a while grateful x
 
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