newbie issues.. :S

[dark_rain]

So long story short(er), a month or so ago, my landlord/roomate and I set up one of his 25 gallon aquariums. Everything went well, so I decided to purchase a 55 gallon of my own. The same day we brought it home we got everything set up and transferred the fish over. Unfortunately, all of the fish died however my two blue lobsters did not. The fish did well (it seemed) for close to an hour..hour and a half.. then they started behaving rather oddly (swimming up near the surface and then falling to the bottom, etc.) It seemed like a long slow death for them..and I'm not sure why. It's certainly not a mistake I wish to repeat. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated. Here are some other details.

Before I put them in the new tank, I placed each into a bucket with water (half from old tank/half from new tank) for 15-20 minutes.

The next day, the water looked super cloudy and I wound up doing a 90% water change. The water since has not gotten near as cloudy.

I tested PH level and it was 7.7ish, tested for amonia, there was virtually none.

From doing more research it seems I should have allowed the water at least 48 hours time before adding the fish.. but would this be the probable reason for them all dying!? Like I said, I feel really bad and do not want this to happen again.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

[fischkopp]

Did you use dechlorinator?

[dark_rain]

No, I didn't...but when we started the 25 gallon we didn't use it either, and the fish were all just fine (although, we did allow 48 hours standing time before adding the fish that time).

[Nerine]

I recommend you use Prime when doing water changes or adding new water...

city water contains chlorines and chloramines which is dangerous to fish. Some are quite resistant at times, even letting it sit 48 hours will not dissipate the chemicals!

They sound like they died of shock, a combination of that much new water and the tank probably started to cycle!

I'm sorry for your losses but when we're new we make mistakes!! Always use Prime when you're doing water changes, a little goes a long way, just follow directions on the bottle

[dark_rain]

thank you

[androo303]

You'll be fine, you may have to cycle the tank too. Should put some harty fish in the tank to get the cycling going. I use primarily Platties in my tank and they are quite happy, and they also reproduce like rabbits so I always have lots of fry!

I have been running a 25 gallon for about 6 months now and the water is perfect using Prime! I do a simple 1/4 to 1/2 tank water change and then add about 1/2 a cap full of Prime.

[dark_rain]

alright! What would be considered more hardy fish?

[Toss]

your blue lobster, just try not to over feed until the cycle can catch up with the amount of food/lobster waste.

[washefuzzy]

hardy fish
zebra danois
guppies

[dark_rain]

@Toss - What do you mean by "until the cycle can catch up with the amount of food/lobster waste." ? I don't really understand this 'cycling' stuff... any explanation would be most helpful.

@Washefuzzy - Thanks. I'll most likely purchase some zebras when I buy the Prime.

[Darth]

cycling is just a period of when your tank builds up beneficial bacteria
there is a pretty good article http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/CycleAquarium.php#HowCycleWorks

makes for a good read

[dark_rain]

excellent! I'll check that out now . Thnx

[sas]

There are also several articles on this site as well.
Check the left side of the screen under Articles/Info.

[Darth]

also too, living in ottawa the water is treated with chloramine, you need to use a water conditioner to remove it (read the lables not all do this) prime is a good one and the cloudiness is just a cylce it new tank syndrome it will clear in a few days by itself

[dark_rain]

@Sas - I'll check those articles out as well! Thanks.

@Darth - I thought that about the cloudiness, but when I filled up the original 25 gallon, it never got cloudy (straight from the tap). I didn't cycle it either and all the fish survived. *shrugs* Luck I guess...this time it ran out.

[Darth]

either way good luck on your next try, worse thing about this hobby no 2 expiriences are the same

[Fishnut]

There have been some great responses here so far.  I hope you're learning a lot.

One thing I wanted to add is that Ottawa doesn't have chlorine.  It has chloramine.  Chloramine is ammonia and chlorine bonded together.  Chlorine will evaporate out of water if left sitting but when it's bonded with ammonia, it won't.  It stays in the water and is incredibly dangerous to fish.  In the spring and when there has been a lot of rain, the city adds even more chloramine to the water to be on the safe side.  You might find many threads in here that complain of spring run off and fish dieing for mysterious reasons.  With all the extra water coming into the environment and into our water sources, they just want to make sure we humans aren't getting any nasty bacteria or other contaminates. I've even had fish die because I added the same amount of water conditioner as usual but there was extra chloramine so my fish died.  This could explain why you got away with it last time.  Perhaps it was one of those moments where the chloramine levels were a bit lower.

Crayfish are lucky.  Their shells protect them from a lot of the harsh water conditions, until they shed.  When they shed, it's important to have pristine water chemistry because any toxins will be absorbed into them through their super soft shell.

[dark_rain]

@Fishnut - Thank you! I am learning quite a bit.

[dan2x38]

Another note you mentioned was only trace ammonia. Any ammonia is not a good thing. It burns the fish's gills and hampers their breathing the damage is permanent. You should test for the other nitrogen compounds related to the cycle like nitrite (NO2) and nitrate (NO3). If you have no NO3 present the cycle is in early stages. NO3 is present with zero ammonia (NH3) & NO2 is a complete cycle. You get rid of the NO3 build up by weekly water changes. NO2 appears after a week or so then a week or so longer NO3 appears. The NO2 part of the cycle is the longest. It is important to add fish slowly so the beneficial bacteria can populate enough to handle the new bio-load of the additional fish.

If you can rehouse the crays in the 25g then you could do a fishless cycle which involves using pure ammonia. Like mentioned if the crays molt NH3, NO2 or high NO3 would wipe them out too. There are several articles here and online for fishless cycling. This is a more humane way to cycle a tank. Also you could acquire some used filter media from another hobbyist it is a great way to seed your filters and speed up your cycle. Many members will swap sponges or filter floss to help out you can always post in the Looking For forum. I use to do this but I ran many f/w tanks but now just doing s/w sorry can't help ya.

Sorry for the losses good luck your getting lots of help and great advice.