New tank problems

[Tibi]

Hi guys, I need some advice about my new tank.
its a 46 gal, I had it filled up with clean rain water, and run the filter for 3 days before I introduced 9 fish: guppies, swordtails, Molly, platy. I used to have fish back in the days and I remembered they were the hardiest.
Problem is that the swordtails started to look like they don't feel well,staying hidden and close to the bottom, with the fins stuck to their bodies; and sometimes the platies too. Temp is 24C/74F
I didn't get any kit to check the water quality as I thought the water will be good enough for these fish.

what is your advice, guys? What should I do first?

[Deleted]

I think most of us would agree on this one being STEP #1: Ensure you cycle your tank. An un-cycled tank can lead to all sorts of problems. What type of filter are you using? Perhaps you could seed a spare filter on one of the forum users tanks in an effort to kick start your tank cycle, etc. The second potential issue may be to know the condition of the rain water. I've only been in these parts for a few years and have no idea what sort of contaminants you may find in the local rain water. This area being heavy on industry I'm sure that rain water may not be as clean as one may suspect.

[Tibi]

This is actually a great idea given the circumstances: I had a chance to buy all the equipment from an old aquarist, a friend of a friend, and I got 3 tanks with all the setup each, and all with the same type of filter:

Would anyone be interested in helping me and run a couple of my filters in their tanks? I live close to Lauzon and Tecumseh.
That would be a huge help!

[Andre]

All you need to do is get someone to ring out their filter into a plastic Tupperware bowl for you.
Take that bowl home and pour it into your tank and you'll have your instant cycle.
Depending in the size of your tank will depend on how much bacteria you will need but this will give you a huge head start, just monitor your water for a couple days and you'll be good

[gabor129]

Tibi I live in the area! If you are interested I have cycled sponge filters you could use! Drop me a pm!


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[Tibi]

You were right guys, it was the water! As the tank cycled a few more days, the fish started to feel better, and now they are all active and hungry.
Thank you gabor129 for your filter "juice" it helped me cycle the other 2 tanks, even though I don't have any fish in them yet.
Here are a couple of pics of my first tank:

[Deleted]

The other two tanks will need to maintain their cycle so ensure that you keep that cycle going by introducing some livestock. Glad to hear gabor129 could help.

[jred]

The aquarium looks great! Another suggestion to get the tank to cycle quicker would be to purchase some inexpensive fish (i.e. minnows) to just throw in the aquarium and help the filter build up some bacteria. Glad to see members helping out in the best ways possible.