fish/aquarium maintenance/ect.....

Question
QUESTION: I acquired a 60 gallon tank. I'm just starting to piece everything together. I have 2 whisper power filters for a 60 gallon tank, 1 heater for a 60 gallon tank at 76 degrees, 5 black tetras, 5 Mollies, 5 glow tetras, 2 Algiers. Planted 5 live plants (waiting to grow), and some rock. I had 2 glow tetras die and I have a fishy smell from the water. How can I prevent the dieing of my fish and what other fish can I add? Also, what else can I add to my tank, light, air, ect.....

ANSWER: Dear Craig,
If there is any way you could test your water please do so. It's very important to know the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings so we can really evaluate the real problem here. Poor water quality is the first thing to suspect when your poor fish die. Maybe this tank is beginning to cycle, or maybe it's having to re-cycle. If you need more info on this, just let me know.

The "Fish smell" is a cause for concern. How is the smell? Is it close to being like rotten eggs? If so, then you have a really bad problem, it could be anerobic bacteria. These bacteria should not be confused with the 'good' bacteria which are aerobic and they are the ones who convert ammonia into less toxic compounds. (in case you don't know, Anerobic means "without oxygen" and aerobic means "With oxygen") But Anerobic bacteria are bad, they can turn your gravel black and they release harmful (to fish) gas which can make the tank smell a little like rotten eggs. If you think you have this problem. I would do repeated gravel vacuumings every single day. Vacuum the gravel extremely well while taking down almost 90% of the water. Repeat this as long as possible until the situation straightens out.
Preventing this problem is very easy as long as the gravel is vacuumed frequently on a regular maintenance basis.

If the smell isn't rotten 'eggish' then it could also be ammonia problems. This is worse than anerobic bacteria and it can cause fish to perish fast. Testing your water may be the only way to know if ammonia is the problem.

Either way, I HIGHLY recommend to try changing 50% of the aquarium water just as a precaution and if you can, try to test your water just before you change it. Or save a jar/glass of the old tank water while you drain the aquarium.
A few 30% water changes thereafter should make the smell go away. Unless this is a un-cycled tank where ammonia will be a continuous problem for a while until the good bacteria get established.

Water changes are the best thing you can do for your fish and the best solution to almost every water quality problem.

Your tank is very understocked for its size. I'm guessing that is was recently setup from scratch. So just be careful about your ammonia levels. And make sure to get your tank cycled before adding anymore fish.

The 60 gallon is a pretty nice setup already. If you're aiming for a peaceful community tank, I'd (making sure the tank is cycled first and the water safe) build up the schools of black skirt tetras and glow light tetras. These fish look so much better in larger groups. And your great tank size will permit at least a group of 12 glow-lights and 12 black skirt tetras. That would be very nice. You don't want to get too crazy with your mollies, unless you have all males or all females they can multiply rapidly and fill an aquarium full of mollies in just a few short months!

I could come up with all kinds of fish suggestions. I'm not sure what your preferences are in fish. But I love Rosy barbs with their deep red coloration and they contrast nicely with the drastically different Olive/green colored females. They should be in groups also. 8 would be a good number. Some Giant danios would be really neat as a group in there. But so would a school of Hatchet fish, with their top dwelling nature they give you something to look at on every level of the tank. Some bottom dwellers like a group of Corydoras catfish would be really good too. But you can also consider loaches as well.

You might want to think of a "centerpiece" fish for your tank. One or two fish that stand out from the rest. Angelfish, Gouramis, or even Discus or Parrot fish would work. But it's your choice.

Just remember stick to reasonably peaceful community fish. And don't forget to stock your tank slowly and gradually.

On what else to add to your tank. That is pretty much your decision. Feel free to add more decorations or plants. Driftwood and large round stones look really nice in any tank. Or you could add more plants. If you are going for live plants then consider how your lighting level is and how many watts per gallon. That way you can determine what kind of plants to get. Most plants have low-light, medium-light, and high-light requirements. It's generally recommend to stay at around or under 2.5 watts per gallon. More watts than this and you will have to consider adding supplemental Co2. Good low-light plants are Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias, you can also try Anacharis, Water sprite, or Aponogeton bulbs.

The basic needs for an aquarium is a good filter (you've already done that), a heater, cover and light as well as good hiding places for your fish. Air pumps are not needed usually unless you just want them. They are fine but your filter usually will do plenty of aeration alone.

I really hope this helps!
Karen~


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: yes, your answers are really helpfull. yes , i just started to set up my tank. the smell doesnt seem like an rotten egg smell. how do i test my water? i do have live plants. 6 of them. how much light do i need?

Answer
Hi Craig!!!
It's good that your tank doesn't smell like rotten eggs. But there is still a high possibility that your tank may be polluted with ammonia. It's very easy to test your water. All you need is some simple test kits from your petstore. You'll need one for ammonia, one for nitrite, and one for nitrate. The kind that uses the liquid drops is much more accurate than test strips. It's very simple to test your water and the test kits will include easy instructions. Petstores will often test your water for free also, it's really best to be able to test your tank water yourself at home but if you do bring some of your water to the petstore to be tested, make sure to get the exact readings of the water. Settling for the employees answer of "It's fine" doesn't help much. ;-)

I can't say for certain how much light you'll need because I don't know the species of plants that you have. But on average, generally aquatic plants will grow decently well with about 2 watts per gallon. Although many plants can do reasonably well at only 1-1 1/2 watts per gallon. You might want to look into low-light plants for now.

And again, for the tank smell. Please immediately do daily 50% water changes over the course of several days to get rid of the smell. It could cause more fish loss or be causing the poor fish to suffer.

I hope you can get things straightened out soon!!
hope this helps!
Karen~