# I am in over my head... Any help appreciated



## imbaddakota (Mar 8, 2012)

Hello everyone, I promise to update my profile once i post this!

I have been reading this forum for awhile now, and have gotten so much useful info from it, so thank you all.

I am having an emergency that i do not have the experience to know how to fix and i am sure i have contributed to the problem by trying to oversolve it...

I have a 30 gallon freshwater tank, high alkalide/high Ph (but this has always been the case) with the following fish:

(1) 2.5 inch betta male
(3) 2-3 inch synodontis catfish
(3) 1 inch butterfly gobys
(2) 1.5 inch platys
(3) 1.5 inch mollies
(4) ghost shrimp
(3) mystery snails

So apprx 21 inches of fish in a 30 gallon tank. I had this tank for 12 weeks, so all was well and all tested well when i took water samples to the store, then i purchased some guppies and the ich soon followed...

tried everything/too much lost both my beautiful synodontis. meds did not work, what worked was raised temps and some salt for 1.5 weeks past the last sign of white spots, taking out all decos and plants and letting everything dry out, changing filter, frequent water changes, etc. but i believe that all the treating of the tank has crashed it. I have spent the last few days treating it like a new tank, added the biospira to boost bacteria, small daily water changes, frequent testing, but this is only 6-7 days ago I started, so i know the cycle end is far off, but my fish are hurting and I dont know what to do or not do. I cannot keep just one or two fish in the tank to do it slowly, I have a full tank and no spare mature tank to use.

Yesterday one of my synos basically ran himself to death, I found him this morning but i knew i would, he was racing all over the tank in crazy circles endlessly all day and night. And now i have a molly that is doing the wiggling in place thing.

i need to add some aquarium salt if I am not mistaken, but I am unsure if the catfish can take it, I know the betta cant, but i can take him out for awhile.

The salt aside, I think I am seeing ammonia poisoning here but I do not know if I should use the chemical neutralizer. Are there other ways to allieviate whatever is stressing my fish?

I have too many issues and not enough experience.

ANY input would be greaty appreciated, I have read alot on these forums but dont know what applies to my tank and what doesnt in this case because i have so much going on.

Thanks,
dakota


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Sorry you lost the cat and are having problems.

Try adding some fast growing plants like anacharis to consume any ammonia and the carbon dioxide from the fish while returning oxygen.

I presume the plants you removed were plastic decorations. If they were live plants I notice some of this happened after removing the plants.

You also might want to review the methods in the link in my signature.

But that's just my .02


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Actually just do 50% water changes every other day till the tank finishes cycling.

You may not think this but your tank is overstocked Always figure fish at their adult sizes not what you have that are basically babies. Most synos will get 6 inches.

When you clean your filter just rinse in old tank water never replace media unless its falling apart and only then you change only part of them. What you remove and replace you are loosing benefical bacteria.

Add a bunch of fast growing plants like anacharis or hornwort, they will help consume ammonia and nitrites. Just toss them in and let them float.


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## imbaddakota (Mar 8, 2012)

susankat said:


> You may not think this but your tank is overstocked Always figure fish at their adult sizes not what you have that are basically babies. Most synos will get 6 inches.


I figured that the synos would get to be 5-6 inches each which is why I stopped at 21 inches of fish for a 30 gallon tank, did I figure it wrong? how many fish over am I?

Thanks!!!


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

The synos need a bigger tank, closer to a 55, and once your mollys and platys start having babies your really gonna be overstocked.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

susankat said:


> Actually just do 50% water changes every other day till the tank finishes cycling.
> 
> You may not think this but your tank is overstocked Always figure fish at their adult sizes not what you have that are basically babies. Most synos will get 6 inches.
> 
> ...


+1
Do a 50% water change right away! Personally I'd do a 50% water change every day for at least the first 3 days, seeing as it seems like ammonia is already high enough to kill fish, then go to every other day. Probably a good idea to stop feeding for a couple of days too.

If you can get a liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates it would make the situation easier to regulate. That way you know exactly what your levels are and can do water changes accordingly. 

I'd guess that it was the meds that killed the good bacteria and restarted the cycle. Often established tanks that crash go through the cycle quicker than new tanks because they are not necessarily starting from scratch, so I hope it's true for you.


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