Just started and need help

[tidders1980]

Hi All

Well i decided to take the plunge and to start my own little freshwater aquarium and to introduce my Daughter on looking after them and how to respect looking after them i am completely new to this so dont really know much.

Im fro the UK we bought a 26L starter tank which came with a filter treatment chemicals for tap water we also brought some coloured stones, two small plastic plants and a little fish statue with its mouth open so the fish could hide.

We filled the tank with water and added the treatment to the water we left the tank running with the filter for a few weeks and on the advice of World of water where we bought the tank from we went back with a sample of the water.

The girl tested the water it was a very very light blue colour and she said we could have fish so we went to have a look at what we could have we already looked up about having mollies or guppies as we where told there a good starter fish to we went for 3 mollies.

We got home with them and introduced them in to the tank by placing the fish still in the bag in to the tank so they could acclimatize we also added some water from the tank to the bag as well we left the fish like this for 30mins then we added them to the tank after.

Now this is where my dilemma starts the day after the fish where added one of the mollies died im not sure if it was because of shock or being bullied by one of the other fish as we noticed one of the other mollies attacking him after we added them to the tank.

So we are off to World of water tonight as they said bring the fish back and another water sample and they will give us another mollie or our money back.

The questions i have is

1. is it best to ad a separate air filter to the tank???

2. I have a bar attached to the filter is that best for this type of fish

3. What signs to look out for when you first ad the fish to spot if there in trouble?

4. How often should they be fed ive been feeding them once every other day is this correct??

Sorry if the questions seem daft but want to do my best to look after the fish.

 

[librarygirl]

Greetings and welcome! It seems that you also fell prey to listening to the advice of the fish stores which is often misleading.

First, you should buy your own test kit, most of us use the API Master Liquid test kit which is more accurate than strips. Bringing your water to the fish store and having them test is usually inaccurate and their definition of "good" water is unfortunately often wrong.

If you left your tank just "running" it isn't cycled, which is probably why the fish are dying. Take a look at this article, it'll be your best friend for a while. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/124/2/-I-just-learned-about-cycling-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html You're in for daily water tests and many water changes. If you could return the remaining fish to the store and cycle without fish, that would be the best and safest route for the fish (and the easier route for you). Good luck.

 

[andresdeo]

+1 libraygirl. Cycling your new tank is very important, this means stablishing the nitrogen cycle. How old is you daughter ? Read the article explain it to her in simple words and if you can return the fish. If not follow the article on fish in cycling. Good luck, we're here to answer anymore questions.

 

[tidders1980]

Thank you Guys really appreciate it sounds like something alot of people get caught out on were off to the pet shop tonight with the dead fish we will ask them if they will take the other fish back sounds like what your all saying is that we need to let the tank mature a bit more with cycling it.

My daughter is just coming up to 3 and a bright button she's loved fish since she was born she just loves watching them. we haven't let her feed them or shown her how to as we felt if we do shell keep feeding them so we hid the food and feed them in the morning when she's not awake.

If the fish shop let us take them back we will explain to her that they have had to go on Holiday and will be back once mummy and daddy have cleaned the tank to be nice a comfy for them.

I will let you know how we get on.

Our you able to answer the below Questions just so im i know

1. is it best to ad a separate air filter to the tank???

2. I have a bar attached to the filter is that best for this type of fish

3. What signs to look out for when you first ad the fish to spot if there in trouble?

4. How often should they be fed ive been feeding them once every other day is this correct??

Thank you

 

[Homedog98]

Thank you Guys really appreciate it sounds like something alot of people get caught out on were off to the pet shop tonight with the dead fish we will ask them if they will take the other fish back sounds like what your all saying is that we need to let the tank mature a bit more with cycling it.

My daughter is just coming up to 3 and a bright button she's loved fish since she was born she just loves watching them. we haven't let her feed them or shown her how to as we felt if we do shell keep feeding them so we hid the food and feed them in the morning when she's not awake.

If the fish shop let us take them back we will explain to her that they have had to go on Holiday and will be back once mummy and daddy have cleaned the tank to be nice a comfy for them.

I will let you know how we get on.

Our you able to answer the below Questions just so im i know

1. is it best to ad a separate air filter to the tank???

2. I have a bar attached to the filter is that best for this type of fish

3. What signs to look out for when you first ad the fish to spot if there in trouble?

4. How often should they be fed ive been feeding them once every other day is this correct??

Thank you

I'm too technologically challenged to answer one and two, but 3 and 4 I can do!

3. When adding fish, look for rapid gill movement, laying motionless on the bottom and not exploring the new diggs. Also, gasping at the top of the tank, and well floating belly up is obviously not a good thing lol. Watch to make sure the fish isn't getting bullied in the tank, in the bag, or at the store, and if so don't select it. This can be the sign of a sick fish.

4. I feed my fish once a day as much as they can eat in 3 minutes. I either fast, or feed blanched, shelled, and chopped up peas on Sunday.

Welcome to AA! You'll soon figure out just how truly addicting this hobby is!

 

[tidders1980]

Thank you so much for the advice. so if we get to the shop and they don't take them back what immediate steps can I take to help the fish as there not very active more shy and hiding im worried there not happy could this be because there is only two of them??.

Im going to get the Api Kit tonight think im going to get a air stone too to put more air in and think ill leave the bar on the filter as i have read on here all is ok on that.

Will start doing 25% water changes asap and soldier on from there looking forward to getting it right hope the two left will survive there only in to day 3 with us so im hoping they will hold one and be strong if not we wont replace them until the tank has is cycled.

Any other advice you can spare is much appreciated what else do i need to get i haven't mentioned but i do have a heater as well but its not on as the water temp is already at 25 so it wont turn on until it drops.

Thank you all so much for the help so far.

 

[Homedog98]

If the LFS won't take the fish, you'll need to at least one 50% water change every day.

 

[librarygirl]

Also, I may be wrong on this, but a 26 liter tank is under 7 us gallons (about 6.8 gallons if the conversion is right) which may be too small for Mollies? What type do you have? Someone more experienced may know for sure but I think they need a larger tank.

The thing to do today would be at least a 50% water change; it's hard to tell how much water to remove without having accurate ammonia readings but 50% would be good to start. Make sure the tap water is dechlorinated before you put it in the tank and try to match the water temperature to the tank's water as close as you can. If you just bought the fish most of the stores have return policies so they should accept the remaining fish. If not, buy the API Test kit tonight and test the water and find out what your levels are of everything in the test kit and post them here (actually even if they do take the fish back, buy the test kit, you'll need it whether you are cycling with fish or not). Good luck.

 

[Homedog98]

Also, I may be wrong on this, but a 26 liter tank is under 7 us gallons (about 6.8 gallons if the conversion is right) which may be too small for Mollies? What type do you have? Someone more experienced may know for sure but I think they need a larger tank.

The thing to do today would be at least a 50% water change; it's hard to tell how much water to remove without having accurate ammonia readings but 50% would be good to start. Make sure the tap water is dechlorinated before you put it in the tank and try to match the water temperature to the tank's water as close as you can. If you just bought the fish most of the stores have return policies so they should accept the remaining fish. If not, buy the API Test kit tonight and test the water and find out what your levels are of everything in the test kit and post them here (actually even if they do take the fish back, buy the test kit, you'll need it whether you are cycling with fish or not). Good luck.

Your absolutely right on the mollies, they need a 30 gallon minimum. Talk to your daughter and see if she'd like a betta instead.

 

[andresdeo]

Lets back up a little, are you getting into the hobby for your daughter, yourself or both? I ask because unfortunately you chose a very very small tank, which is actually not recommended for beginners. A bigger tank, if the space at home allows it, allows not only for the fish you have, but will permit a more ample space for error (which is inherent to getting started at anything lol). If it were me and if you can go for it, try to exchange the tank for a 20 gal or in that range. If not lets go forward all is not lost, but it will make you life a little easier (weekly vs daily water changes).

Get back to us on that, and on previous questions, the spray bar is ok and by air filter do you mean pump? If its a pump which blows air in it promotes gas exchange and looks nice, but its not a must have.

 

[andresdeo]

One other thing I forgot, hehe. If the lfs is trust worthy (not always the case though) or if you have a friend with a healthy stablished tank you can get some seeding material from them, by this I mean items which have been inside the tank and are covered with benefitial bacteria. (stones, gravel, filter media). This usually accelerates the cycling process a bit.

 

[tidders1980]

Hi thank you I'm getting to the hobby for me and my daughter I have always liked watching fish and so does my daughter so thought it would be something we can fyi together as adhere grows up. We bought that size tank because of the space we have in our flat which isn't much so this was as big as we could go believe me if we could have bigger we would where hoping to get a house next year which would warren a big tank the other half is at the pet shop now so will hopefully up date you on if they will take the fish back or not

 

[tidders1980]

Sorry for the spelling mistakes above I'm typing on my phone

 

[Shark_Bait]

They are right about the tank being too small for mollies. I'd like to say that i have raised balloon belly mollies which are smaller and do not get that big. I love em. Pretty Hardy fish too. I would recommend them to you. Good job on finding this site. These people on here are the bee's knees. They can help you with anything. Great to have you as a part of the team!!!

 

[andresdeo]

Ok then, maybe you would be better off with a betta and maybe if you like them 1-2 small shrimp (amano maybe) dont know much about them, but they sure are fun to watch, someone correct me if this setup is too small for them. What they do need is an stablished tank so that recommendation is for after a cycled tank either fish in or out. Keep us updated, take care.

 

[tidders1980]

Hi All

Right thought i would give a update. We went to the store last night and they gave us a credit not for our dead fish but didn't take the others back. I have been another pet store which has come highly recommended. They where very helpful and i picked up all the stuff i need to start cycling API testing kit and all the stuff for cleaning.

The two other fish are still Alive and seem to be swimming around a bit more.
So we decided not to replace the dead fish until we got the tank sorted then well go and have a look at some betta and maybe the shrimp.

Tonight i will do a water change the girl in the shop recommended me doing a 30% change instead of 50% and then test the water every day for 3 days then do another water change at 20% and keep testing and continue on this route until the levels improve she did recommended me putting a live plant in the tank for the two mollies that are in there???

I will let you know how i get on tonight

Thank you all for your advice so far appreciate it

P.S little one took the missing Mollie OK we told her he was missing his friends and went home so avoided tears there

 

[jetajockey]

You did the right thing by not stocking anymore fish. I would avoid adding any more fish for at least 6-8 weeks till the tank gets better established. Live plants are good, pick something simple like java fern that doesn't require much in the way of light/ferts.

As far as the water changes go, I say stick with the 50% ones. The frequent water changes are helping keep the water clean and the toxin levels low in the tank, to keep the fish safe. The beneficial bacteria colony resides in the biofilm in the tank, so changing the water out is not going to make a significant impact on it.


And to address the previous posts, I suggest against getting any kind of balloon fish, since they are bred for deformity.

And a minimum of 30g for mollies? Really? A conservative minimum for mollies IMO is more like around 15-20g. When it comes to tank sizes, the bigger the better, but lets be realistic here.

 

[andresdeo]

Great idea on the plants, you can go to plantgeek.com and look for some in te easy and low light setting that you like.

The point of getting the test kit is to use the results as a guide as to when and how big a water change you habe to undergo. So lets start by that, lets have your numbers. Ammo, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Good luck.