Help choosing a type of fish

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kinobe

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jan 27, 2004
Messages
4
Location
Nottingham UK
Hello. This is my first post here, and it comes on a sad day, as my first ever fish died today :cry: . I have a 9 gallon tank, and I tried to keep a small goldfish in it, but I had problems with the cycling process, and (as seem unfortunately common, from the forums I looked at) I didn't really do enough research before diving in with my first fish. He succumbed to what I believe was ammonia poisoning. To make sure that he didn't die entirely in vain, this time I am going to try and do everything possible to make the tank successful. The research I have done has lead me to think that a nine gallon tank isn't really suitable for any goldfish, so I need to find a new type of fish (or, preferably, several small fish, as I would like to be able to see interaction between them - something I expected to be able to do with goldfish before I realised how much room they need) more suited to this small environment. The fish needs to be suitable for cold, fresh water, which I believe has fairly high alkalinity (I will get a testing kit soon, but the state of kettles, and the scum left in the bath makes me think it must be pretty high - defiantely above 7). Any ideas?
Thanks :)
 
To avoid cycling problems in the future, you can get some Bio Spira and not have to worry about it. Spending $10 on some Bio Spira can save you all the trouble of cycling :)
 
Hi and welcome to AA.

If you really want to go for coldwater fishes, then my suggestions is to go for white cloud minnows. They prefer warmer water but are very tolerant to colder (within reasonable range) water. Furthermore, they are resistant to newbies' mistakes, and need to be kept in schools (5-10).

I suggest to take between 5 and 8 of these. They are also easy breeders, so you may have fry sooner than you think.

With minnows, you "could" do a normal cycle since they should resist the cycling part. But on the safe side, consider the fishless cycle.

There are more alternative as soon as you go to the tropical freshwater
fishes. All you need is a heater.
 
Hiya kinobe and welcome to Aquariumadvice :)

Sorry about your goldfish :( Its likely it did succumb to ammonia poisoning as you surmised as you didn't initially have a handle on the nitrogen cycle. I strongly suggest you take a moment and check out this site; it gives a great explanation of the cycle and even uses words lke pee n poo *grin*: http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

Am I correct in guessing you don't have a heater? If not, I suggest investing in one. Even if you go with cool water fish, having a heater means keeping the water temps stable. Without, the water is subject to ambient temperature changes, and temp changes can be bad for fish of any sort.

If you do get the heater, it will give you the opportunity to have a larger choice of fish. My recommendation for a 9g tank (we use US gallons here in this forum; your tank is equal to a 11g tank). Do test your water before starting to chose; you may think you have high alkalinity, but do you have hard water? I'd suggest the following tests: ammonia, nitrite, nitrates (for when you have fish in the tank), pH, kH and gH (for now so we can figure out what sort of water you have). Once we know exactly what you're dealing with we can make some suggestions :)
 
Hi
Thanks everyone for replying. I noticed this was probably an America-based site, so cunningly put the tank size in US gallons, so it is quite small. I will get the testing things tomorrow, and I think a heater might be a good idea, as you say, because the weather isn't exactly balmy here at the best of times, and right now it's about to go subzero. Much as I like fish, it does seem a bit much to keep the entire central heating system on constantly just for them, so a heater seems like a good compromise. I have decided that I definitely want to give fishless cycling a chance, as I don't really want to have to watch any more fish get ill when there is a better option available. I'll come back and get some opinions when I have fully tested the state of the tapwater. Is it best to test the after using a dechlorinator, or boiling and leaving standing overnight, or just straight from the tap? I only mention the boiling as I read somewhere that it gets rid of chloramine, whereas standing for 24 hours only removes chlorine. Is this correct?
 
As far as I understand... using a dechlorinator does not mess with water parameters (pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrates). It's supposed to dechlorinate only, so testing could be done either before or after adding it. Also, if you're going to use the dechlorinator, I don't think there's any need in boiling water or letting it stand for 24 hours.

I'm sure one of our resident chemists will come in and correct me if I've goofed up!

Also, there are quite a few posts from people looking for suggestions for their 10 gallon tanks in these forums, so that could be some more reading for you.

Good luck!
 
You're absolutely correct Platy*grin* if one uses a dechlorinating water treatment, no need to let the water stand. There can be occasions, if the water has a high CO2 content, letting it outgas the CO2 can cause changes in the pH levels. Some folks will do this to their water to be sure it is at a similar pH level to the tank when its added.

Letting the water sit, or boiling it, does nothing to chloramine; the only thing that removes it is a dechlorinator that specifically says it removes it.
 
i suggest zebra danios even tho they are a tropical fish.. i dont have a heater in my tank but it stays a constant temp anyway so there isnt a need for one (i do HAVE one i just dont use it)

anyways danios are really hardy fish and extremely fun to watch---i havent seen white cloud minnows but i believe they are closely related to them. they are really active, not really colorful which almost detered me from getting them but once i got them i loved them.

about dechlorinating--make sure it says it removes chlorine AND chloramine, and you wont have to do anything but add that to the water.

well good luck with your tank and thanks for coming here!! hope you stay :D
 
Thanks again for all the info. I will be getting a heater soon, and I am going to attempt to start the fishless cycling next week (I'm away this weekend, else I would be starting it today). There's enough information about that around, so hopefully it will all go swimmingly, and I'll be able to come back and give some detailed info on the state of the water so that I can get the most suitable fish.
Thanks :)
 
Im true goldfish fan, try some fantails they are pretty hardy. Otherwise Id pick a little school of cherry barbs. Like 3 or 4 females and 2 or 3 males, they keep me entertained as the males are always lookin for some "action" and chase the females around.
 
Hello again. I've gone and got some testing kits for Ph and Gh, but couldn't see the one for Kh, so I will try and find that tomorrow. The results for my common or garden untreated tapwater are as follows (drumroll):
Ph 7.7
Gh 12 degrees
Is that good or bad, or neither?
:?
 
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