# What will happen to my tank and what can I do to save my fish?



## Vqualiana86 (Apr 29, 2013)

First and foremost, I will come out and say I was irresponsible and didn't do enough research before I started. And I am sorry; please do not rip into me for it.

Also, I apologize if there has already been a thread related to this topic, I am new here and didn't look quite extensively.

I have had a betta for about 2 years, in a 2 gallon bowl. 2 weeks ago I put him in a 10 gallon tank and decided I wanted to start a little community. 3 days ago I started to notice that the water was slightly cloudy, (Even though I had told him not to) my boyfriend did about a 75% water change when I told him to only do about a 20%. 2 days ago I added a 2" pleco (I plan to have a bigger tank by the time he's bigger) and yesterday I added 2 bumble bee platys, 2 sunset fire platys, and 1 emerald cory... in SLIGHTLY cloudy water. After doing a little research I have realized that I apparently have not let my tank cycle, and that would be why my tank is cloudy. I was everything before I put it in my tank and I only have artificial plants. My tank is no where near a window and not in the area of an A/C vent.

So since I have not let my tank cycle completely just yet, is this going to harm my fish? Are they hardy enough to withstand the entire cycling process? Am I assuming correctly that its cloudy because of the cycling? Will it ever clear up or is there something I need to do? Is there something I can do to save my fish from the ammonia until my tank has cycled? I'm so sorry for all the questions.

Please help me. Tell me everything that I may need to know before I lose any of my fish.


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## hotwingz (Mar 3, 2013)

You are correct on the fact that your tank is cycling. It's hard to say if your fish will make it or not. I also agree that the 75% is too much for this point. The 20% would be more appropriate. There really isn't much you can do at this point. There are things you can do to speed up the cycling process, but not with fish in it. I would keep up with 10% per day WC and keep an eye out. Without having a bacteria colony built up to clean the toxins out of the water you will want to keep changing water, but not too much. Once your water clears up you can up the WC again.


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

Your cycling your tank at the moment. I would go and buy a water test kit, so that you can monitor your waste levels(to help with knowing when to do a WC, and how much water to take out) your fish's life spans will be reduced due to the stress of cycling the tank. I would advise against daily feedings, do once every other day or so. The only way to save them from the Ammonia is by doing frequent water changes. When your tank is done cycling, your cloudiness(bacterial bloom) will dissipate.


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## zwanged (Nov 4, 2012)

What type of filtration does your 10 gallon have? Does your tank have a heater to keep the temperature stable? What is it set at?

If you don't have one already, get a freshwater test kit. The liquid kits (instead of the strips) work the best. I recommend the "API Master Freshwater Test Kit". This includes tests for pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

As long as your boyfriend did the 75% water change *properly* (adding dechlorinator, e.g., "Prime") for entire tank volume then adding water to tank, or alternatively treating the water being added with dechlorinator prior to adding it to the tank) then the 75% water change was probably *ok* as long as the temperature was roughly the same. But as others have pointed out it may have slowed down the cycling process a bit.

I ran your 10gal stocking through AqAdvisor.com and it seems your current stocking level is *OK* (98% stocked). The only thing that jumps out at me is that you are keeping a cory singly. They are social fish and should be kept in groups of 3-4 minimum. That said, if you add 2 or 3 more emerald cories, then you will definitely be overstocking the 10 gallon (like 129% once all fish reach full size). This means the tank will need more frequent maintenance and it will be harder to keep the water quality sufficiently good. But this shouldn't be the immediate priority. 

AqAdvisor - 10gal

The main priority is figuring out what your water quality is at, and as you surmised, where you are at in the cycling process.

Test the water to figure out where you are at. Test pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate daily. 

Keep us posted on what your water parameters are and we'll give advice accordingly.

If your fish are hardy (and I believe the fish you mentioned generally are) and reasonably healthy, then they probably will survive the fish-in cycling process, although they will not be happy during the cycling process. Ammonia and nitrite are toxic and damage their gills, among other things. During cycling you will have to walk the fine line between the need for the tank to cycle (establishment of bacteria that convert ammonia => nitrite and bacteria that convert nitrite => nitrate) with the health of your fish.

Good luck!

-Zeke




Vqualiana86 said:


> First and foremost, I will come out and say I was irresponsible and didn't do enough research before I started. And I am sorry; please do not rip into me for it.
> 
> Also, I apologize if there has already been a thread related to this topic, I am new here and didn't look quite extensively.
> 
> ...


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

The health of fish depends on having a liquid test kit.You need to test daily at least to know your true levels and know how much water to change.If your ammonia was 4ppm,then you would absolutely need to do a 75% wc.The amount of water changed is the amount the nutrient will be reduced.Back to 4ppm ammonia and 75% wc that would still leave you with 1ppm ammonia(still a dangerous level.)
Without an accurate(why Zwanged and I{along with most on this site} recommend liquid test kit ) testing you will never know whether you have lethal levels of any of the nutrients.Get a liquid test kit,test and post results(real #'s not just OK) and be prepared to change water when your ammonia or nitrIte get to 1ppm.Cycling with fish in doesn't have to kill them(it easily can),but generally does harm the fish and lead to future issues of being disease prone and/or shorter life spans,if not done with absolute attention to water quality.
It is very important that you monitor your water quality and change water when necessary for your fish to do the best they can.


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## Vqualiana86 (Apr 29, 2013)

Thank you much everyone. I have been keeping up with the 10% WC everyday. I will post my water test results a little later today.

Also, the filter that I am running is an Aqua-Tech 5-15 power filter with bio-fiber biological filtration and I also have a Tetra submersible heater for 10 to 30 gal. that keeps my water temp at a constant 78 degress. Am I running all of this correct stuff for my tank?


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## rayray74 (Mar 19, 2013)

Vqualiana86 said:


> I have had a betta for about 2 years, in a 2 gallon bowl. 2 weeks ago I put him in a 10 gallon tank and decided I wanted to start a little community.


Uh... I was under a very strong assumption that bettas weren't community fish.
something about them being Siamese fighting fish.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Rayray, it depends on the betta. Some will get along fine with other fish(aside from bettas) and others will not tolerate anyone else. 

That being said the platys may pose an issue for him, as they can nip fins(they graze plant like things and the tail of a betta is alot like a wafting leaf) and they can be so colorful the betta thinks they are rivals.


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## rayray74 (Mar 19, 2013)

Wow, tell me more!
Is it a specific breed/type or is it just a per fish personality kind of thing?


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Basically its per fish. I have had males so docile I have kept them with about any kind of fish you can think. And females so aggressive they would kill males when I would try to spawn them. 

Alot of this has to do with us breeding more for show than fighting now. While they still have the instincts to fight, some of the colorations we have now are crosses between some of the wild types in the same complex(imbellis, mahachaiensis, ect) which although territorial they are not out for blood. While this does give a more docile fish, it does not, however make them sociable enough to be kept in groups like their wild bretheren. It does allow us a little more leeway with some of them being able to be with other less colorful or less nippy fish though.


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## Vqualiana86 (Apr 29, 2013)

Alright, so I went out and bought the API Freshwater Master test kit and did a test on all of the following with the results:

pH: 7.6
Ammonia: .25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm

I followed all of the instructions to the T and that is what came from the tests. Does this seem right to you? Cause I'm not so sure so...(maybe its just my novice-ness, lol.) Now I'm just assuming that my tank still hasn't or rather just barely started through the cycling process? Should I also be expecting these results to change?

Oh my, I apologize for the many questions! The more I learn the better!

Also, my betta seems to be doing pretty well with the other fish, even with the platys. He just kind of looks at them when they swim near him, then he gives them this look of "Hey buddy, your in my space!" and then they swim away. So far, so good. I'll continue to keep my eye on him though just in case one day he decides he doesn't wanna share the same dig as them.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

it seems like your on the right track.good luck


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

You are in the begining phase of cycling(only showing ammonia).This may climb higher in short time, so daily testing is necessary.Also daily testing of nitrItes should be done as they will be next and wanted as they will be the transformation of the ammonia to nitrItes.Keep both under 1 or at least not much over.Once you start to see lower ammonia and higher (or steady) nitrItes that is when you can start testing for nitrAtes(you don't need to now or until a week or so after nitrItes show).The whole process could take a month.


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## Vqualiana86 (Apr 29, 2013)

Ok, great! Thank you all so much for the information! I will keep on top of it everyday.

I think I have one more problem...

I'm almost 100% sure that 1 of my bumblebee platys is pregnant. Yikes! This is definitely not the time to have a pregnant fishy. Soo... What shall I do in this situation? Since this is a vert new hobby for me and i obviously have no clue how to handle a pregnant live bearing fish... these are the the only options I could come up with. Please advise if any of these are what I should do or if you know of something otherwise.

1.) Quarantine this platy in my old betta bowl until she gives birth, then put her back in the new community tank and try my best to raise the fry?

2.) Get one of those net breeders or plastic boxes and put that in my tank that way she's still in the same (un-cycled, un-healthy) water that my tank is currently undergoing, and let her have them in there?

Or
3.) Just say screw it and let her have her fry in the tank and let her and my betta and the rest of the fish eat the fry? ( I am so sorry if that comes off as mean, it's not intentional)

Aye, aye. I got more than I bargained for with this fish I guess lol
I took pictures of her and I can post them if need be.

Thanks for everyone's patience with me, it's very much appreciated.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

The bowl wouldn't be cycled either,and is too small and water quality would get warse fast.
Try some to float some plants(fake or live{anacharis,or hornwort).They will provide cover for the fry and the live ones will provide some food for fry andpossibly help your water quality a little.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

If she is pregnant she will be again, I can assure you that. Right now your focus should be keeping an eye on the cycle. If she births then the fry will most likely become a healthy snack(sorry but its true) or will find a place to hide. I would let nature take its course, get some floating plants as suggested earlier and just wait things out.


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