New to aquarium..need advice.

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sohini

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Apr 13, 2014
Messages
12
Location
Dubai.UAE
Hi,

Yesterday i brought a fish tank(fresh water) approx 9 gallon... i have set it up with filter, oxygen and a heater. And fishes that are there are:
-Gold Fish.
-Congo Tetra.
-Guppies
-Albino Shark.

Now my question is do i have to keep oxygen pump on 24*7?? And from last night am noticing albino shark is trying to jump out of the tank...is it normal for them to do so??

Kindly advice..

Regards,
Sohini
 
The air stone is the least of your worries as that tank is severely overstocked. The guppies would be the only thing currently sutable for that tank.

Also ,no sharks are not supposed to jump like that. The water quality us so bad it's trying to find better water. You are cycling the tank as it is a new tank


In regards to the question, yes keep the air stone on
 
Thanks alot...just did the 50%water change... And will returning some of the fishes.
 
Return all fishes pal. Cycle your tank or there just going to suffer and die. Or give them to a pal for a few weeks

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The tank was cycled for 24hrs with water conditioner then the fishes were kept. Do i need to cycle the water again for 24hrs?
 
Alot more than 24 hours . Few weeks it takes

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Cycling is where you build up beneficial baterica in the tank to break down waste in the tank. Adding water is not cycling
 
Can we please offer a little more constructive advice rather than "They will all die you must return them"

Return all fishes pal. Cycle your tank or there just going to suffer and die. Or give them to a pal for a few weeks

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Hardly. If done following the directions of the link I provided the fish can and will live full happy lives. This requires a test kit (commonly API master) and regular testing / water changes. Many many many many people have successfully cycled a tank with fish in it. Myself included as I am currently cycling a tank with a $50 fish in it. If it couldn't be done safely there's no way I would do that. This is however more work than a fishless cycle with more chance for error.


The tank was cycled for 24hrs with water conditioner then the fishes were kept. Do i need to cycle the water again for 24hrs?


Cycling a tank involves a buildup of bacteria like was stated earlier. Fish food and waste break down into ammonia which is a highly toxic compound that accumulates in the water. There is a bacteria that will feed off of the ammonia and convert it into nitrites. Nitrites are another highly toxic compound. Finally, there is another type of bacteria that will consume the nitrites and convert it into nitrates. Nitrates are the least toxic of the three. This entire process can take anywhere from 1 month - 2 months on average. Expect to do 50% water changes every few days to keep the tank safe for inhabitants.

For a tank to be cycled it needs to convert the ammonia directly into nitrates without any detectable levels of either ammonia or nitrites.

For parameter levels you want to see:
Ammonia - Less than 0.5ppm
Nitrite - Less than 0.5ppm
Nitrate - Less than 40ppm

Anytime you get a reading in your tank that's higher than the suggested levels you need to do a 50% water change (unless there are problems with the source water) to rectify the situation.

For a test kit I recommend:
Amazon.com : API Freshwater Master Test Kit : Aquarium Test Kits : Pet Supplies
 
Thank you!! Would try this process and will purchase the kit.

Just remember, the majority of the fish still need to be returned. Also, the more fish in the tank the harder it is to keep the parameters at safe levels.
 
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