# White Cloud HELP!?



## dudewheresmyfish (Jul 17, 2010)

Hey, so I bought 5 white cloud minnows today, to cycle and keep in my 7 gallon tank. In the tank I have a rock an anubius on driftwood a bed of mini sword grass, java moss and pelia. 

I dechlorinated the water three days ago and used the recommended dosage of 'çycle''made by nutrafin and left the undergravel filter running.

So a few hours ago I put the five white clouds in which seemed happy schooling together. After researching I 'think' I have 4 females and 1 male.

Well, one white cloud is sitting on the gravel first wedging itself under a rock (which i then moved) it continued to swim with the school for another 30 mins and has now wedged itself under my driftwood.


Is this normal? could it be tired? Is this an egg laying kind of thing?. Or simply is it going to die? 

And what should I do?. The lights are off and I thought it best I give it the night. If she dies, do I take her out or is it good to leave for the cycle and my plants?.


Thanks a lot if you can help at all.











update. Decided to come out from sitting under the driftwood and swim with the schoal. Never seen this type of behaviour before...


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

first things first in that a new tank?? ( u said the word "to cycle") so i'm thinking it is. no 1 the gravel is new i presume and it makes the water cloudy no2 although you let the water set for 3 days your tank itself isn't cycled enough to contain any living fish. always leave the tank fishless and let it cycle for a week the least.makes sure the readings are ok and the waters cleared up.if it's still cloudy do a 50% water change and let it set a few more days.you could also use an external filter to clear up any left over debris floating inside the water. move in the fish only after this.
the best is to get a holding tank with overnight water and keep the fish there while the tanks cycled.

if the tanks a matured tank maybe your fish are being stressed out from the transit.look for signs of ich if it does not do well for a few more days cause thats always the case.


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

what is your temp? white clouds like cooler temps.


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## dudewheresmyfish (Jul 17, 2010)

Thanks for the replies. The water was never cloudy, I'm using aqua soil as substrate. The tank was left for three days using çycle which allows the fish to be added to the aquarium instantly, however I waited 3 days. 

The temperature is at a stable 23 degrees. Anyway, next morning and no dead fish, they are all swimming happily. 

Cheers


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

Sometimes it is how fish are acclimated to our tanks that decides how fish wil do in new surroundings.
I normally drip acclimate fishes ,or after floating the bag the fish came in for twenty to thirty minutes, I begin adding a quarter cup of aquarium water to the bag every five or six minutes until the bag is near full. 
Then I dump half the water from the bag holding the fish into a bucket and begin adding quarter cup full of aquarium water once again every five or six minutes , until the bag holding fish is once again near full.
Then I net the fish from the bag or pour the bag of fish into a net over a bucket (not the sink) and release the fish from the net into the tank. I then throw away the water from the bucket or bag.
For this tank, I would keep an eye on ammonia levels with my test kit and feed the fish sparingly ONCE each day ,a tiny amount.(tiny)
Some folks place more faith in bacteria in a bottle products that promise to cycle the tank overnight and I believe it not uncommon for these products to have quite different results than what may be expected. In any event,it is wise to test the water a couple times a week for newly set up tanks to ensure toxins such as ammonia and nitrites are at near zero levels.
If you don't have a test kit,, I would perhaps change half the water once each week perhaps twice ,while taking care to use a dechlorinator such as PRIME or AMQUEL+ that detoxify ammonia and nitrites.
Would take care not to clean the filter material until the tank has cycled. If you are not overfeeding ,then the filter material should not need cleaning and it provides a home for the beneficial bacteria to develop. This beneficial bacteria can be destroyed by removing the filter material and or cleaning it with tapwater that may contain chlorine or chloramines. Always best to clean the filter material in old tank water you take out during water changes ,or in a bucket of dechlorinated water.
Once the tank has matured,or (cycled) then you can replace filter material without much harm but most don't replace this material Pads,cartridges,sponges ,etc until it begins to fall apart.
Hope some of this helps.


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## OscarLoverJim (Jul 20, 2010)

dudewheresmyfish said:


> The tank was left for three days using çycle which allows the fish to be added to the aquarium instantly, however I waited 3 days.
> 
> The temperature is at a stable 23 degrees. Anyway, next morning and no dead fish, they are all swimming happily.


 
There's absolutely no product in existence that will allow for a cycled tank in 3 days, that's impossible. Your fish may wind up surviving a 'fish-in' cycling but most likely they'll suffer ammonia spikes (then nitrite spikes as the biological bed begins to grow).

I'd get a good ammonia and nitrite tester and be prepared to do around 50% water changes in the event of high toxin levels.


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

what oscarlover said is true i had to do a 50% to 75 %water change for my 104 gallon every day after letting it set with only plants for a week and up till now i still do a 25% water change every other day and my tanks is already into it's 2nd week of cycling.


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## dudewheresmyfish (Jul 17, 2010)

Thanks a lot, maybe I didn't acclimate them as good as I could have but luckily they all seem great now.

Cheers, very helpful


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## OscarLoverJim (Jul 20, 2010)

dudewheresmyfish said:


> Thanks a lot, maybe I didn't acclimate them as good as I could have but luckily they all seem great now.
> 
> Cheers, very helpful


 
"acclimate"???

Your tank will cycle, your fish won't be able to acclimate to high ammonia and nitrites. They may survive as they are smaller fish but then again a 7 gallon tank isn't very big, not much room for error.


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## dudewheresmyfish (Jul 17, 2010)

I am keeping up with water changes, ammonia is decreasing. the cycle seems perfectly normal to me. 

I meant I probably should have taken a bit more time putting them into the tank.

I am frequently testing all parameters and I am guessing ammonia will be to 0 soon. 

Cheers


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## jclee (Jan 5, 2010)

What are the parameter readings at this stage? And what % of the water are you changing out? Maybe we can help you make sure you don't lose any more fish.


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## dudewheresmyfish (Jul 17, 2010)

Didn't lose one fish. Have 5 white clouds and cherry shrimp living happily. Ammonia at 0 PH 6.5.

Thanks for your help.


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