NEWBIE Help!!!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Maximus

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Aug 21, 2010
Messages
7
Location
Louisiana
Ok, so I purchased a 14 Gal. Aquairium for my RES hatchling yesterday. He had been sitting in an old 10 gal tank and the filter had stopped working so I had to get a new one quick because the water was getting quite stagnant. So while I was getting my stuff I decided to take a chance and get some fish to keep him company. And the only thing I saw that didnt exactly look like a meal was the Pictus Catfish. I got 2 of them. And my turtle isn't but about the size of a Silver Dollar, if that. I've been feeding him small green pellets and dried krill and shrimp. So, I'm thinking as long as I have an adequate hiding place for my Pictus, they should be allright?? If not then.. there goes 10$ worth of Pictus. :(
 
Yea, I've read into that. This tank is simply temporary until I can find a bigger space for a larger tank. I'm really excited though. I'm hoping they can survive with my little guy until I can get a larger Tank for them. My room is very small. I'm going to get off work today and Put the new Aquarium together I might post pics up later.

I've never really gotten into Aquariums and what knot, but I do have to say im pretty excited.
 
UNfortunately.... both my Pictus died before I could get the aquarium ready... =\
 
Yea, I'm gonna have to invest in one of those with my next paycheck. I don't believe it was the water. Idk about what happen. I took them out of the Wal-Mart Baggy they were in because when I bought them I got home late and wasnt able to finish fixing the aquarium with my turtle. So I put them in a bowl with a little bit of water and they were fine. Perfectly fine, ONce i started putting the aquarium together i put a little more water into the bowl and one of them jumped out, So i put another larger plastic bowl ontop just until I could finish the gravel and stuff for the aquarium. And when I took the bowl off to put the water in... they were belly up... :( First thing I thought of was Oxygen. So i tookit to the sink and started running luke-warm water into the bowl and letting it drip over the sides, after about 10 minutes of this they started to come around and were very slowly , but very lumberingly, swimming around the bowl and all looked good, but the next 15 minutes they went from swimming and a bit responsive to sideways wiggling and eventually dying.. :(

So, I'm almost positive but not 100% that I suffocated them, because like I said absolutely NOTHING was wrong with them until I put that ****ed plastic bowl on there...
 
Yeah Maximus, I don't mean to bag on you but a LOT went wrong.

Firstly, no fish should be in an unheated bowl, period. If you take tank water to fill the bowl, then an hour is okay but after that the water will lose temperature.

Secondly, you cannot give water to your fish straight out of the tap. You either need to add a dechlorinator to the water before you put it in, or add dechlorinator to the tank before putting the water in. The chlorine in the water will kill your fish.

Really, the moral of this story is to have your aquarium ready before you have the fish. Since you have the aquarium ready you will avoid this in the future, I'm sure. A second moral is to always dechlorinate your water, because if they weren't dead before the chlorinated tap water hit them, that definitely could have killed them.

Lastly, you are not cycling your tank before adding the fish. Although you don't have to (it is possible to cycle with fish in the tank, but it hurts the fish and is a lot more work for you), you should do what's called a "fishless cycle" where you establish the "cleaning" bacteria that will keep your aquarium healthy. Look up the nitrogen cycle, and fishless cycling. Maxima provided a link that is very helpful.

Once you get the basics down you can keep nearly any kind of fish without problems :) It's a lot to learn but you will soon be able to keep fish that you KNOW are happy and healthy, with no guess work, if you follow our advice. Good luck!
 
Well I don't really agree with the heat part, I don't even have one in my tank I guess it just depends on where you live. But you should definitely monitor the temp in the bowl
 
Yeah Maximus, I don't mean to bag on you but a LOT went wrong.

Firstly, no fish should be in an unheated bowl, period. If you take tank water to fill the bowl, then an hour is okay but after that the water will lose temperature.

Secondly, you cannot give water to your fish straight out of the tap. You either need to add a dechlorinator to the water before you put it in, or add dechlorinator to the tank before putting the water in. The chlorine in the water will kill your fish.

Really, the moral of this story is to have your aquarium ready before you have the fish. Since you have the aquarium ready you will avoid this in the future, I'm sure. A second moral is to always dechlorinate your water, because if they weren't dead before the chlorinated tap water hit them, that definitely could have killed them.

Lastly, you are not cycling your tank before adding the fish. Although you don't have to (it is possible to cycle with fish in the tank, but it hurts the fish and is a lot more work for you), you should do what's called a "fishless cycle" where you establish the "cleaning" bacteria that will keep your aquarium healthy. Look up the nitrogen cycle, and fishless cycling. Maxima provided a link that is very helpful.

Once you get the basics down you can keep nearly any kind of fish without problems :) It's a lot to learn but you will soon be able to keep fish that you KNOW are happy and healthy, with no guess work, if you follow our advice. Good luck!

+1 (y)

Dont get discouraged, its a wonderful hobby.

There is tons of research that you need to do when you first start. This is a good time to cycle your tank. First read this http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/24/1/Nitrogen-Cycle-/Page1.html

Once you have an understanding of the Nitrogen cycle http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...ks-for-your-fastest-fishless-cycle/Page1.html

Once you start your cycle, use this time to start research on your fish. You need to know how big they will get, water conditions they live in, if they are aggressive, diet, do they need to be in groups. Basically, learn everything there is to know about how to keep that fish happily and healthy.
 
After your tank is cycled, be very careful about what, if any fish you keep with RES. Even with top-of-the-line filtration and diligent water changes, terrapins are filthy and most fish need clean water to thrive. The RES are also known to snack on fish. I keep one of those orange colored Chinese Algae Eaters that got big and mean with mine and there have been no problems.
 
Back
Top Bottom