Unwell Fantail

Question
I have just set up my new 28-litre fish tank with an under gravel filter and air pump, after 7 days I added my fish; a pearlscale and a fantail. For 2 days they seemed really happy but last night the fantail swam behind the air pump at the bottom of the tank in the corner and is just sitting there, coming out only once or
twice for a minute or just floats. Is this just their behaviour or is something wrong? The pearlscale is fine making me think it is not a problem with the tank. I was
recommended to feed them each a couple of small pellets a day, I am not sure that my fantail has eaten today and I am really worried, I have just noticed there are some scales missing on one side. Thank you for your help.


Answer
Hi Niki;

Sounds like you were given some very bad advice on what kind of fish for your size tank, how many for a new tank and the filtration required for them. I'm sorry this has happened to you and your fish. Make a 50% water change to help the sick one feel better. He is suffering the effects of elevated waste toxins. The other one will soon become sick too if you don't get some of the waste toxins out immediately. Make another change of 25% tomorrow. Partial water changes daily will help avoid shock but still remove enough toxins to help them. Replacing too much water at once can be very hard on an already seriously stressed fish.

The tank really has too many fish to get it started safely. A new tank can only have one small fish, about 2 cm long for every 30 to 40 liters of water. Once the 6 to 8 week break-in period is over, you could add more fish but very slowly. They also have to be the right types of fish for the system you have. Your tank can accomodate cold water small fishes such as zebra danios, white cloud mountain minnows, guppies and sparkling gouramis if there is no aquarium heater. If you do have a heater, you can also have cory cats, small tetras, and platies. It's just too small for anything that gets more than about 2cm long. You could have a few of them but fish that get very large make very large waste. Crowded fish can become aggressive too, out of frustration.

It's actually too small for goldfish at all. Goldfish need about 40 liters just for one fish to do well. They are messy guys that get big, about 15cm. The undergravel filter is not adequate for the massive wastes that goldfish make too so they aren't recommended for use in goldfish tanks. Goldfish plug up undergravel filters and they end up causing long-term imbalances, toxin spikes and health problems. A power filter that hangs on the back is a good one for them. They provide a good current for exchange of gasses (carbon dioxide/oxygen) at the surface and they remove larger wastes.

If this happened to me, I would make a 25% water change every day to get the fish in good condition and either take them back to the store or get a much larger tank with a power filter. And while at the fish store, I would give them a piece of my mind if they were the ones who recommended goldfish for a new small tank. NOT good advice. They should have known better. If they won't take the fish back willingly, set them down on the counter and walk out and find another sotre. They don't deserve your business.

Here is a link to my own page about new tanks;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

Here are some web pages to help you know more about the care of goldfish and what to do next time for other fish;

http://www.firsttankguide.net/goldfish.php

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin.html

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/charts/good_bad.html

http://www.firsttankguide.net/capacity.php

I hope all goes well...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins