Tropical Fish

[driverdale1]

In my hastiness to get my fish tank up and running i put fish in without doing any water tests ( i know i know, dumb or what ) i am subsequently losing fish on a daily basis, seem great before bed...dead in morning.....no diseases as far as i can see.....what complete test kit should i buy? one that im not doing one test, only to find i need to buy another kit for another test, thanks in advance. p.s. please dont go on about how daft i was putting the fish in before testing...ive had enough from the wife !!

[Tuvok]

You should leave the tank running for about 2 weeks before adding fish.

There are also chemicals to put in the water when you change it (add to the water before adding the water to the tank)

You can get test kits that contain Nitrate, Nitrite, Amonia and PH tests.

Might be a daft question, but it is tropical fish into a heated tank, rather than coldwater or saltwater fish?

[driverdale1]

yes its tropical fish...i ran tank 10 days without fish, then put 7 in and let it go for another week, didn't do any water tests as its a huge tank and looked bare without fish, so jumped the gun a bit and paying the price now

[Tuvok]

Take some of your water to your fish shop or Pets at Home - they should test it for you.

Have you got real plants? They help the water. And the fish might eat them!

[driverdale1]

no real plants

[woofgang]

proper tropical fish shops will have dirty gravel which you will need to get the filter populated and up and running. Another alternative is stuff like this. Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation
Bit shocked that a shop would sell you fish without checking that you had a proper matured set up ready for them

[woofgang]

oh and its the poor fish who are paying the price :(

[Tuvok]

Get some real plants. Wash them under running water first, and check them for snails before you put them in.