# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Livebearers >  Bumblebee Goby, Guppies and Platies

## libra04ts

Hi,

I have a small bowl shape tank, have 2 bumblebee goby and 2 mickey mouse platies, and bought another 2 guppies.
The guppies died 2 days later. I did a 50% change of water before putting in the guppies. Then, 1 of the platies died also.

Really sad to see this, what can be wrong? Got a filter in the tank, and some sea shells. There are small pebbles also.

What can be wrong? is it due to the change of water? or the tank? or after waterchange, I need to put in salt again? Or should I use a bigger tank? What are the possible causes?

Really hope I can find the solution and get on the hobby  :Smile:  They are so cute fishes. 

Hope some experts can give me some advice and I can learn the skills.
Thanks.

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## Quixotic

You sound really new to fishkeeping, so I think you need to revisit the basics.

BTW, these fishes are not Characins, so this has been moved out from that section.

1. How long have you setup the tank before adding the fishes?
2. What kind of filter are you using for the setup? What are the biomedias in your filter?
3. What are the dimensions of the tank?
4. Am I correct to assume that it is not a planted tank?
5. Why was it that you added salt when you first setup the tank?
6. What is the pH of the water in your tank?

If you have a picture of your setup, could you post it up?

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## libra04ts

Yup, I'm new to fishkeeping. Hope to learn and go more into this.

Thanks for your help. Ok, details:

1. How long have you setup the tank before adding the fishes?
I set up the tank for 2 days, running the filters before adding the fishes.
Now coming to a month but did a 50&#37; change of water just last sat.

2. What kind of filter are you using for the setup? What are the biomedias in your filter?
I will need to check on this, will do after I get home tonight. Will get back.

3. What are the dimensions of the tank?
It's a bowl shaped tank, I will take a photo of the tank. I do not know what's the actual volume of the tank, I will see how I can measure the volume. Will get back.

4. Am I correct to assume that it is not a planted tank?
Yup, it's not a planted tank. Got some sea shells inside.

5. Why was it that you added salt when you first setup the tank?
I added *cause* was told by the LFS guy, he was saying to add a little salt. Was this wrong for the fishes?

6. What is the pH of the water in your tank?
I do not know the pH of the water. What instrument can I use to measure? Can I get it at LFS?

If you have a picture of your setup, could you post it up? 
I will get a picture, will get back.

Hope I can save my fishes, left with 3 now. Anyway I can make things better for them now?

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## libra04ts

Hi,

I was thinking if I should change to a bigger tank, now left with 2 bumblebee goby only.
Still trying to get the relevant info up on post.

In the meantime, was reading of fishless cycling @ http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/...cling/#more-17

Just to check, where to get the ammonia solution and de chlorinator?
And what are the test kits necessary?

Thanks ;p

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## illumnae

instead of ammonia solution, you could try dropping a bit of raw market prawn or even some fish food inside. as they decompose, ammonia is created and the cycle starts

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## Quixotic

There is a lot more towards fishkeeping, so there is some knowledge you need to gain first in order to be more successful. Give yourself some time to read up first.  :Smile: 

1. Adding fish after setting up the tank for 2 days can be risky.

Firstly, there are different types of filters but most of the filters we use belong to the mechanical and biological filtrration. _See_ Wikipedia, _Filter (aquarium)_, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filter_%28aquarium%29 (as of Jan. 11, 2008, 03:41 GMT).

What mechanical filter does is to remove particles from the water column. Now, how would you manage waste from the fish (e.g. urine) or decaying organic matter (e.g. uneaten food)? Biological filtration would help in this area, and is actually the work of beneficial baterias in your filter material. The process is called the nitrogen cycle. Although there is a filter running, it has not yet been established with enough bacterias for biological filtration.

Read these for more information on the nitrogen cycle,
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...94&postcount=2
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/aquaria/general-faq/beginner/ (section on Beginner FAQ: The Nitrogen Cycle, and "New Tank Syndrome")
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...article_id=113 ((Fishless cycling)

3. The larger your tank is, the easier it is for you to keep fish. Any minor changes to the water is actually equivalent to a large change in such a small enclosed environment. The water parameters are more stable in a larger tank. Not sure how large is your tank (sounds a tad too small), but you might want to consider going for a larger tank.

4 & 6. I am not sure about the seashells but if these are calciferous, then it will raise the pH of the water, making them unsuitable for fishes that require a lower pH. I think the guppies, platies and bumblebee gobies would be okay with slightly higher pH, give and take no higher than 8. So you need to watch out for the pH so that it is suitable for your fishes.

There are pH tests kits sold in the LFS, although not the most reliable, they should provide somewhat okay readings (my opinion is you don't really need to be exact, but they shouldn't give readings that are way off).

5. Depending on what you keep, salt may be required. I suspect that salt is recommended because it is something that is generally being used to rid of parasites. My own opinion is that it is not necessary at all. Do note that some fish don't tolerate salt at all, so it can be deterimental.

However, it is said that bumblebee gobies require brackish water (water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater). I think that largely depends on what species of bumblebee gobies you have got. I managed to rear them in total freshwater environment, one of which lived longest till about 2 years. That said, many aren't too successful in keeping them long with freshwater, so brackish water may indeed be required.

I would also suggest you get a good de-chlorinator that removes chlorine/chloramine (I use Seachem Prime) and pH/ammonia/nitrite test kits. They are available at most LFS.

P.S. What have you been feeding the bumblebee gobies? They are difficult to be trained to take dry commercial food, so they tend to waste away in the aquarium if not fed with frozen/live food.

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## libra04ts

Hi,

Thanks for both of you for the replies. Still reading through all the articles and trying to digest... hee.. really helps.
Thanks.

In the meantime, my 2 bumblebee gobies had gotten used to the current water condition in the tank. How can I do a water change?

For LFS, how do I know if I can trust them. E.g. when I want to get a test kits etc.Or is there some recommended LFS from you guys? 

Thanks.

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## TBoss

Hi. One particular reminder from me: Bumblebee gobies love to nip. I've seen them nipping at others' tails by sneaking up on them. So... did your guppies die with tattered tails?

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## Quixotic

Bumblebee gobies, as much as they love to nip, will only cause damages no more than torn fins. And they don't go around chasing after and stressing fishes, they are only nippy if fishes wander into their territory. You are giving too much credit to the bumblebee gobies.  :Smile: 

It is almost certain that the cause of the death of the fishes are due to new tank syndrome.

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## libra04ts

hi,

Ya, I believed that my fishes died due to new water change.
Currently my 2 gobies are doing good. But I wanted to change the water, how can I do it?

Keep tap water in a container for a few days?
Then change 25% of the water in the tank?

For the filter, do I need to take it out and wash or how should I maintain the filter?

I hope not to cause any harm to my last 2 gobies. ;p

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## Quixotic

You may age your water in the container first, but it all depends. For the novice hobbyist, this would be the ideal meathod, so I would suggest that you do this.

One thing for sure is to always use a good de-chlorinator that removes chlorine and chloramine. You can perform a routine weekly water change of about 20-30% water change.

I still am not sure what filter you are using, but it sounds like an internal filter, so these would be based on it. It needs to be cleaned but don't need to be weekly, depending on the bioload.

Your bioload should be okay, so I would think a monthly cleaning schedule for your internal filter would be fine. You should also do the cleaning if there is noticable clogging of the filter, i.e. performance is slowing. Always clean it by squeezing/washing the filter media in existing aquarium water.

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