I made a mistake first go around with my aquarium, don't want to make it again

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mikeyost12

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Nov 1, 2017
Messages
39
So as a lot may know, I had goldfish for 4 years or so and recently had switched over to warm water fish (freshwater). I didn't know exactly what I was doing and with me being impatient, I bought fish and put them in the aquarium. I was dumb and didn't read up on fish keeping first, not really thinking their would be so many fine details to keeping healthy fish. I was not testing my water, I was doing weekly water changes of 50 plus percent, I was cleaning my aquarium decoration under hot running well water, I was cleaning out my filter under hot running well water. Thanks to everyone here, I now know about Beneficial bacteria and how to go about keeping it in the tank, cleaning decorations once a month with fish tank water, not over feeding the fish, cleaning food off the substrate at the bottom of the tank, weekly water testing for Ammonia, Nitrites, NItrates, and PH Level, small water changes weekly, not cleaning media and so on.
Now to the bad news, because I was dumb about it the first time, I was adding a bunch of fish once a week, getting up to 20+ fish in the tank. I had a crazy amount of Nitrates which caused a major Ich disease in my tank. I tried to treat it but lost all of my fish but 4 Danios and 6 Albino Cats. The Ich is cleared up now.

so here are my questions:

1. I switched over to a Fluval 406 Canister and did water testing last night, PH was 7.8, Ammonia was .25 (I added Prime to the water), Nitrites 0, Nitrates 20. The filter has only been running in the tank for 2 days now so should I continue to do water testing daily to check parameters of the water and do WC when Nitrates start to increase?

2. So I don't make the same mistake again, when is it safe to start adding fish?

3. How many fish should I add at one time to be extra safe and how long should I wait between adding fish?

4. What is a safe amount of fish to have in a 55G Aquarium?

5. With the current fish I have, can I add Cichlids to the tank? (I wish I would have had a Cichlid tank right off the bat. I ask because the Danios swim at the top of the tank and are super fast, would I be able to put mid level cichlids in the tank?)

6. And last but not least, I get my fish from the LFS (Petco), what should I be looking for when getting my fish as far as trying to get healthy fish?
 
So as a lot may know, I had goldfish for 4 years or so and recently had switched over to warm water fish (freshwater). I didn't know exactly what I was doing and with me being impatient, I bought fish and put them in the aquarium. I was dumb and didn't read up on fish keeping first, not really thinking their would be so many fine details to keeping healthy fish. I was not testing my water, I was doing weekly water changes of 50 plus percent, I was cleaning my aquarium decoration under hot running well water, I was cleaning out my filter under hot running well water. Thanks to everyone here, I now know about Beneficial bacteria and how to go about keeping it in the tank, cleaning decorations once a month with fish tank water, not over feeding the fish, cleaning food off the substrate at the bottom of the tank, weekly water testing for Ammonia, Nitrites, NItrates, and PH Level, small water changes weekly, not cleaning media and so on.
Now to the bad news, because I was dumb about it the first time, I was adding a bunch of fish once a week, getting up to 20+ fish in the tank. I had a crazy amount of Nitrates which caused a major Ich disease in my tank. I tried to treat it but lost all of my fish but 4 Danios and 6 Albino Cats. The Ich is cleared up now.

so here are my questions:

1. I switched over to a Fluval 406 Canister and did water testing last night, PH was 7.8, Ammonia was .25 (I added Prime to the water), Nitrites 0, Nitrates 20. The filter has only been running in the tank for 2 days now so should I continue to do water testing daily to check parameters of the water and do WC when Nitrates start to increase?

When you added the new filter are you still running the old one as well? If not, did you use the old media in the new filter? Or just new filter with new media and old filter is gone? It's important to keep the old filter running or transfer all the media to the new filter to keep your cycle running.

2. So I don't make the same mistake again, when is it safe to start adding fish?

Assuming your tank is still cycled and your doing water changes and maintaining a low level of nitrates in the aquarium you can become to think about new stock anytime. BUT, do yourself and your fish a favorite and quarantine all new fish to ensure you don't get new or old.fish sick. Read about about fish quarantine.

3. How many fish should I add at one time to be extra safe and how long should I wait between adding fish?

This all depends on size of the fish and type of fish. I would strongly.advise that you do all your research on the type of fish you really want to keep. Then update this thread with your ideas and we can help.determine a good number of fish and help with how many to add ect.

4. What is a safe amount of fish to have in a 55G Aquarium?

Again this is a very broad question with no one answer. 1 single 10" cichlid would be full. Or it could be 40 small fish. Or 12 medium fish ect. Going back to my previous answer, pick out the fish you wish to keep and read up on their needs. We can help you with choices but you need to give us an idea of what your thinking. Angels? Gouramis? Big cichlids? Dwarf nano type fish? Catfish or oddballs. Ect.

5. With the current fish I have, can I add Cichlids to the tank? (I wish I would have had a Cichlid tank right off the bat. I ask because the Danios swim at the top of the tank and are super fast, would I be able to put mid level cichlids in the tank?)

Read above, there are some.cichlids that could work forsure.

6. And last but not least, I get my fish from the LFS (Petco), what should I be looking for when getting my fish as far as trying to get healthy fish?


I will answer this after.
 
1: Keep testing daily and do a 50% water change if the ammonia or nitrite level is 0.5ppm or higher. Did you happen to keep the filter media from the last tank? in the future when changing the filter either put the old media in the new filter or run them both for a few weeks.

2: Once you stop seeing excess ammonia and nitrites.

3: Add slowly. Assuming they are small fish (guppy or cory cat size) it's safe to add 3 - 4 at a time. Larger fish add singly.

4: Check out AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor It's not perfect but it gives a good ballpark. Ignore the filtration capacity calculator. Otherwise post plans here and we can help give further advise.

5: Depends on the type of cichlid and what you have in stock. If you want a community tank cichlids such as angels or GBRs would work well. If you want african cichlids then you will really only be able to keep african cichlids. There are TONS in the hobby and they all have their own needs and requirements. We need to know what your plans are before being able to guide you more directly with cichlid selection.

6: Petco filters their tanks en mass typically 2 tanks wide and all the tanks from ground up are connected. Check all the tanks to make sure there aren't any sick fish in the stack. Otherwise, look at their poop if it's white and stringy it likely indicates intestinal parasites. Make sure to not get any fish with a sunken belly. Other infections are pretty easy to spot.
 
1: Keep testing daily and do a 50% water change if the ammonia or nitrite level is 0.5ppm or higher. Did you happen to keep the filter media from the last tank? in the future when changing the filter either put the old media in the new filter or run them both for a few weeks.

2: Once you stop seeing excess ammonia and nitrites.

3: Add slowly. Assuming they are small fish (guppy or cory cat size) it's safe to add 3 - 4 at a time. Larger fish add singly.

4: Check out AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor It's not perfect but it gives a good ballpark. Ignore the filtration capacity calculator. Otherwise post plans here and we can help give further advise.

5: Depends on the type of cichlid and what you have in stock. If you want a community tank cichlids such as angels or GBRs would work well. If you want african cichlids then you will really only be able to keep african cichlids. There are TONS in the hobby and they all have their own needs and requirements. We need to know what your plans are before being able to guide you more directly with cichlid selection.

6: Petco filters their tanks en mass typically 2 tanks wide and all the tanks from ground up are connected. Check all the tanks to make sure there aren't any sick fish in the stack. Otherwise, look at their poop if it's white and stringy it likely indicates intestinal parasites. Make sure to not get any fish with a sunken belly. Other infections are pretty easy to spot.

I really appreciate all of the valuable information in your reply. With me being new to the fish keeping, I did not transfer the old media, so I am going through a cycle right now and testing water every night. So far Ammonia is between 0 and .25, no Nitrites, and a little spike in Nitrates but did a 30% water change when I saw this yesterday and they are back in track.
I did decide I am going to add 3 Angel Fish to the tank to complete my stock of fish. I am currently waiting on all water Parameters to be completely in line. Can I add all 3 angel fish at the same time?
 
It would probably be advisable to add all 3 angels at a time to manage aggression. Other people might chime in with other advise because angels are not something I have had much success with.

I wouldn't add them in until the tank has very stable parameters because angels are sensitive to ammonia and nitrite.
 
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