slimey situation...

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1

1better

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 8, 2009
57
0
6
Minnesota
ok, new to having a tank and keeping fish in them, saw a free 10 gallon tank with heater, aquaclear filter, and pump. all the gear is rated for 10-30 gallon tanks. i thought hey what the heck and took it. the gear was in pretty good condition, brought them home and just cleaned em and all seemed well.

put in some new gravel, rinsed em 3 or 4 times before i used them. had test strips testing ph, nitrates, ammonia, and hardness i think, and all seemed to be in good condition for tropical fish. i also put a piece of driftwood i bought in the tank for some cover as well.

few days later i had 2 pictus cats, 2 albino tiger barbs, and 2 regular tiger barbs. the piece of wood i had was covered in some cloudy white slime, so i thought it may have been bad and removed it. changed about 3/4 of the water and then all seemed ok again. the fish all seemed fine for about 4 to 5 days, they ate well and were very active.

then yesterday i come home from school and one of the pictus is dead with his tail jammed into the intake tube for the filter, and the other pictus is supper sluggish and not eating. all the barbs seemed fine. come home today and all the barbs look sluggish, havent tried feeding them.

what is this slime and is it responsible for my fish dying? or did i make a mistake somewhere along the way? bad filter?
 
Your tank is not cycled thats why your fish are dying. The slime on the wood is normal and did not cause the death. Google "nitrogen cycle" to learn what a cycled tank means.
 
Yep. It's the most basic information about fishkeeping, but it's the most important, if you want to keep fish alive. Ammonia is produced by fish, and is toxic. That ammonia is converted to nitrite, which is also toxic, by friendly beneficial bacteria. More bacteria take that nitrite and convert it to nitrate, which is, on the whole, non-toxic, but can be harmful if over 20. You remove nitrate through water changes and gravel vac'ing. These bacteria need time to grow. You can 'cycle' a tank various ways, including with fish, as some people do, but not if you want the fish to survive. Before buying any more fish, go ahead and research this cycle, and decide which way you'd like to proceed. During the cycle, you'll see ammonia spike, then return to zero. Simultaneously, your nitrite will spike, and the return to zero. You should then have 0 amm., 0 nitrite, and detectable nitrate. This process takes about a month. After these levels are as stated above, and have been for at least a week, you're ready to add fish.
 
sweet. that sounds like a plan. got a little to excited to put the little guys in.

but the slime is fine then?
 
:) Slime is a part of fishkeeping. Be one with the slime.
 
Ask whatever questions you need to ask... we're here to help. And always, always, always research before stocking!
 
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