New Freshwater Tank

[jonny1982]

Hi. I just got a 29 gallon freshwater aquarium. I let it run for 48 hours with the filter and temperature at 78 before adding fish. I then added a Raphael Catfish, a Red Wag Platy, and a Guppy. I then waited 10 days and just added 2 Glowfish, a Bala Shark, a Cobra Guppy, and an African Frog. They all seem to be doing fine, but was just wondering if this configuration sounds good and was looking for any advice about what might be some good additions in the future! Also, does anyone think the frog needs a place to come out of the water if he wants to?

Thanks

 

[sydneypaige690]

Aqadvisor.com is an amazing site for your questions


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[jonny1982]

ehhhhh.....I kind of joined this forum for answers.........but ok, I'll check it out.

Thanks

 

[hennaartist]

Hi. I just got a 29 gallon freshwater aquarium. I let it run for 48 hours with the filter and temperature at 78 before adding fish. I then added a Raphael Catfish, a Red Wag Platy, and a Guppy. I then waited 10 days and just added 2 Glowfish, a Bala Shark, a Cobra Guppy, and an African Frog. They all seem to be doing fine,

Have you checked your water parameters? I believe your tank may still be cycling. I encourage you to check out the posts about "fish-in cycling".

If your tank hasn't cycled, then you could end up loosing all your fish.

 

[Brookster123]

ehhhhh.....I kind of joined this forum for answers.........but ok, I'll check it out.

Thanks

Ehhhhh....You're doing it all wrong, research a ton, check aqa advisor. You'd be best to return all.but the guppies. Here's a clue.. google Bala shark minimum tank requirements.

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[Pseudomugil]

Raphael catfish grow to 9 inches long and need a 40 gallon tank. Glofish are schooling fish and you should have at least 6 of them. Bala sharks grow to 14 inches long and need a 70 gallon tank. Rehome the shark and catfish and get more glofish.

Also, you didn't even cycle your tank. It's more than just letting it sit for 2 days. You need to go get an api master test kit and get the correct levels of temperature, ph, kh, ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite that will be safe for your fish. It sounds like you got lucky and the tank cycled itself with all the fish you put in there and I'm surprised none died.

For fish, a more appropriate stocking choice would be:

8 glofish
2 platies
4 guppies
1 African dwarf frog
After a few months 6 otocinclus

 

[jonny1982]

Ok, could you tell me what I'm doing wrong other than the bala shark?

 

[hennaartist]

Ok, could you tell me what I'm doing wrong other than the bala shark?

A tank needs to "cycle". It has to build up beneficial bacteria in order to process the ammonia and nitrites the fish and uneaten food. Otherwise the ammonia and nitrites will build up and kill your fish.

 

[jonny1982]

Ok, thanks. I followed what Petco told me to do as far as when to put fish in the tank.

 

[jonny1982]

Ok, thanks

 

[hennaartist]

Ok, thanks. I followed what Petco told me to do as far as when to put fish in the tank.

Petco makes money off of selling you things, including more fish once yours die. It's sad really. Some employees know better, but some are uneducated and don't.

 

[hennaartist]

You need to test your water ASAP. As it could be reaching unsafe ammonia and nitrite levels. A new tank should be tested daily for quite a while, or at least until ammonia and nitrites stay in the safe zone for a couple weeks. At that point weekly 25-50% water changes and gravel vacuuming will maintain the levels.

 

[jonny1982]

ok, any recomendations on test kits?

 

[Coyne]

I'll tackle the frog question. ?
Those frogs are 100% aquatic, so you don't need to make a "dry land" area for them.
They'll mainly just lay on the bottom of the tank and occasionally swim up to the surface for a gulp of air.
They have notoriously bad eyesight and sense of smell. You'll likely need to spot feed it... That is to say, place food directly in front of it. Otherwise the fish in the tank may eat it all before the frog gets any.


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[hennaartist]

ok, any recomendations on test kits?

API master test kit, they run between $20-$30... And you can do over a hundred tests with it.