Hello Everyone!

[pniedzwiecki]

We have fish!!

Yesterday I purchased 12 (4” – 6”) feed trained yellow perch fingerlings.

I am going to hold them in a 10 gallon aquarium for a couple of days before I put them into the large tank. If everything goes well, I will go back and get 15 – 20 more in a week or two.

The system still has not cycled even with elevated ammonia levels. I was able to get the ammonia level down considerably by doing a 75% (or more) water change. I am still not sure where the ammonia came from, but until the system cycles, I will resort to water changes to control it.

Before the major water change the ammonia levels were very high (8 plus). After the water change, it appears to be holding at about 1. I have been testing with both the liquid and test strips and both are giving the same results.

I brought the fish home in large oxygen bags (provided by the seller) inside of two 5 gallon buckets that I brought with me (6 fish in each bucket). Since the fish are cold water fish, and the outdoor temps are warmer, no heat was necessary. Also, since the drive home was only 20 minutes, and the fish were in oxygen bags, I did not provide any aeration.

The seller provided me with a small (one month supply) of premium fish food (I already forgot the brand name). For the most part they seem to like it, however, some of the fish are quite small and the fish food swells up to a size they cannot swallow. They suck it into their mouths and then spit it out again, sometimes repeatedly. I am going to try to break it up some and see how they handle it.

I am thinking about trying to raise minnows to feed to the perch. Maybe some worms as well. One step at a time though.

The lettuce that I planted a week ago is doing alright so far. It appears that the different varieties that I have grow at different rates. The all green variety is growing much faster than the mixed variety. The larger plants appear to have some yellowing in the older leaves and the overall plants seem to be a bit pale. Hopefully they will hold on long enough for the tank to cycle. I will post some updated lettuce pics as soon as I get a chance to take some photos.

In the meantime, here are some pics and a video of the fish:





[video:28nrnlsh]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsPErbIXspg[/video:28nrnlsh]

[davidstcldfl]

It's always exciting to get that first batch of fish....

[pniedzwiecki]

Another video showing a quick overview of the system as it currently exists.

[video:55peimlj]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tswSCpJpt30[/video:55peimlj]

[pniedzwiecki]

We lost 6 fish today. I am pretty sure it is because I started with too many fish in an un cycled system. I wish I would have waited. I am going to have to keep my patience in check from here on out. Definitely not going to add any more fish until the system has cycled. Not sure why, but the filter gunk I got from a coworker who has an established aquarium seemed to have no effect. I think I will try to find another, better source to try to help the process along.

Of the 12 original fish, only 8 would eat. I fed them crushed up dry fish food and chopped up earth worms (starting the second day after I brought them home) and they went after each seemingly the same way. If the pieces weren’t too big, they would eat them with no problem. It seemed like the other 4 didn’t even try to eat. Maybe they were just too stressed out.

Of the remaining 6 fish, two are in isolation in the 10 gallon tank and not looking too good. At the moment the best I can do for them is to change the water out in the morning and again in the evening to keep the ammonia levels down. Prior to today I was only changing the water once a day. I moved the other 4 fish into the 100 gallon tank. They seem to be much calmer now than when they were in the 10 gallon tank. Of the 4 in the bigger tank, one has two fairly large white spots on one side. Other than that they seem OK. Time will tell. Hopefully they will hold on long enough for the system to cycle. I will give them a day or two to adjust to the new surroundings before I start feeding them again.

Adding that many fish into a 10 gallon system that was not yet cycled was a mistake. I probably should not have added any fish at all.

Not knowing that Yellow Perch do not take well to dry foods was another mistake. I swear I read somewhere that they would eat it. The guy at the fish farm definitely told me it should not be a problem.

Needless to say, I am very disappointed in myself right now.

This is tougher than I thought it would be. Although I do realize that once the system is in balance it will be a lot easier to manage. Just have to see it through.

I do have some photos of the dead fish if anybody is interested in trying to identify what may have been the cause of death. They do have some discoloration and sores on them. Anyway, just let me know if you want to have a look at them.

Thanks.

[wolfracer]

I ran into a few disappointments myself getting started. Move in small steps, if you read thru my thread you can see where I was having issues with losing fish and cycling the system. it just takes time. Keep at it you'll get there.

[badflash]

Where did you get the water from and how was it contitioned before you added the fish. The fish died too quickly for this to be an ammonia spike from non-cycling. You'd need a lot more bio-mass to kill them that quickly. Sounds to me like something in the water.

[pniedzwiecki]

I ran into a few disappointments myself getting started. Move in small steps, if you read thru my thread you can see where I was having issues with losing fish and cycling the system. it just takes time. Keep at it you'll get there.

Thanks for the encouragement sir.

Where did you get the water from and how was it contitioned before you added the fish. The fish died too quickly for this to be an ammonia spike from non-cycling. You'd need a lot more bio-mass to kill them that quickly. Sounds to me like something in the water.

You may be right.

The water source is well water through an inline ice maker type of sealed canister filter. I don't know why but I thought the filter was a form of reverse osmosis (RO) but maybe not.

Actually there was the water from the fish farm pond that the fish came in. That water is what I started with when I added them all to the 10 gallon tank. Also the filter gunk mentioned in a previous post turned out to be from a tank with goldfish. Maybe some diseasses were in the water.

I'm not sure what to do at this point. I'll maybe have to see about getting a good water test, maybe at a local university biology lab or something. I'll have to do some checking on that.

I guess I will give it some more time and see how the remaining fish handle things. Otherwise maybe a complete drain and clean and refill is in order.

Thanks again.

[stucco]

When i had to use well water for my fish tank I used novaqua conditioner. It removes the metals in the well water. Not sure if food safe though. Good luck! I know the feeling.

[badflash]

Amquel+ or Seachem Prime are also good water conditioners. The filter you describe is just a particulate filter.

How many fish per gallon are you talking?

[pniedzwiecki]

When I brought the fish home, I placed all 12 YP in the 10 gallon aquarium with the water they came in. Also in the tank two 6" air stones and the Fluval 405 (I think) filter shown in prior posts. After that I was doing 75% water changes at first. For the first few days the ammonia actually wasn't that bad (maybe 1 or 2 at the most). One day it made it as high as 3 or so (I think yesterday) and so I started changing the water out until the ammonia came back down.

I was using the 10 gallon tank as a temporary holding place so that I could observe the fish easier for a few days. Ultimately though, I would like to have about 30 - 50 fish in the 100 gal tank once everything is cycled.

There were two of the larger fish that had sores all around their bottom jaw. I do recall seeing one of those fish acting very agressive whenever it came near the sides of the clear class aquarium. It would bump into the sides of the tank from time to time as if it were fighting with its reflection or shadow. And since the other fish had similar sores I am assuming they are caused by the same behavior. I think it may be possible that two of the dead fish may have had self induced injuries (from stress).

Anyway, maybe I should either get an RO system or buy good water for this first batch of fish and lettuce. I think it may be priced fairly reasonable if we have the water delivered in bulk via tanker.

Thanks for the info guys.