First tank, one tetra down

[Edstructicon]

Hey All,

Got my first tank, a 30 gal with a 160gal/hr filter, and 150w heater. I left my tank on and filled with water but no fish for about 1-2 weeks. I then added 5 neon tetra's and 6 gold tiger barbs, approximately 4 days later (today) I found one of my tetra's floating 8O

Due to lack of funds I was unable to buy a nitrite and ammonia test kit until today and did so as soon as I saw the casualty; both nitrites and amonnia are @ 0 (or very low).

Did I get a dud tetra? I saw no outward signs of stress, and the remaining fish seem to be quite happy, the barbs swimming around the tank and the tetra's swimming in the filter current.

Also any advice on what other fish to put in this tank and how many? I have been thinking about some loaches and maybe some gouramis?

Ok well thanks in advance,

Ed/

 

[Menagerie]

Did I get a dud tetra?

Possibly
[center:323d0d04b6] Welcome to AA, Edstructicon! [/center:323d0d04b6]
When you ran the tank without fish, did you add an ammonia source to allow bacteria to establish in the filter?

 

[Edstructicon]

Menagerie : no, unfortunately it was before I located this site, and was under the mistaken assumption it would happen by itself

But now the fish are in and creating waste this should happen right? How quickly do nitrates and ammonia build up? the fish have been in 4 days so far.

I also saw my barbs doing what appeared to be a courting dance...spiraling around each other, or is that just normal?

So many questions sorry!

 

[Menagerie]

So many questions sorry!

That's why we're here Everyone makes mistakes, let's try to make the cycling easy as can be on you and your fish.
To double check, you have a 30 gal with 10 relatively small fish, correct?

How quickly do nitrates and ammonia build up?

With 10 smallish fish, I would give it a week and you should see something and then it will go rapidly.

I also saw my barbs doing what appeared to be a courting dance...spiraling around each other, or is that just normal?

I dont' keep barbs, so my educated guess would be courting or being territorial. Keep an eye on the little buggers. If one gets hurt, be prepared to isolate it.

 

[Edstructicon]

thanks Menagerie, ok so I'm going to be watching the nitrite and ammonia levels for the next 5 days and expecting an increase? how long should i then wait for the levels to drop before getting worried?

 

[newaridiar]

Also any advice on what other fish to put in this tank and how many? I have been thinking about some loaches and maybe some gouramis?

Gouramis are labyrinth fish, so they can be territorial about their own kind. They really are beautiful fish, just keep a watchful eye if you do get them.

I'd suggest getting a few more neon tetras for a bigger school, I've had neons, cardinal and glowlight tetras all school together before, so you might consider them as well if you want to have different colors.

Here's a page that has profiles on some different bottom-feeders, including loaches that might help you pick one out, it has the potential size listed so you don't wind up with a giant fish in your tank
http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/fw/category.asp?id=Catfish and Bottom Feeders

I've always though hatchet fish are cool, but you might want to get bigger fish since you have the room for them

 

[chasgood]

Neons have a high death rate the first week or so. So dont worry just yet. But wait till the tank has cycled before adding more fish.

My 37gal is in its 5th week. still cycling but almost done. Time varys from tank to tank. You will see ammonia go up first. Just after it has peaked and on the way down nitrites will go way up. this stage will take a bit longer and drop slower after the peak. Keep testing the water every day or 2(ammonia and nitrite). If there is a spike that goes to dangerous levels you will catch it and can do a partial water change.

Good luck

 

[Edstructicon]

Thanks eveyone for your advice, just going to sit and wait for a few weeks... testing... but will give me more time to decide on the next additions. I've decided to give the tetra's to a friend and try and fill this tank with fish from the same region(Asia).

 

[Endgame319]

An asain biotope would be nice, what I would do is get one of each color morph of the blue gourami. Theres the regular blue, a gold one, and a striped one (opaline at petsmart). But if your planning on heavily stocking your tank, I suggest a filter upgrade or an additional filter. Right now you have 160gph on a 30g tank, thats about a 5x turnover rate. Thats fine for an understocked tank but if you want more fish than that you'll need to double that. Try an Aquaclear 150, or something similar.

 

[Edstructicon]

Endgame: yeah, i actually bought that 160gph as as starting up cheapo filter and am looking at getting an external power filter such as the eheim 2128 or a fluval 404. What is the best external power filter to get? I think i would go for the biggest filter i can get and run two tanks off each filter(possibly even 3).

 

[chasgood]

eheim is top dog in canister filters. top dollar too.