Beginning hobbiest here

[HopefulHobbiest]

Hi, how goes it?

I'm just starting out again after having a small tank years ago (roughly age 11-13)... Needless to say I'm here for advice/help and I need all I can get...

Previously had a 20G and today upgraded to a 55G to hold my fish cause like an idiot I over populated my tank...

What I'm currently working with right now:

55G freshwater tank came as a starter kit (setup today so restarting the water cycle)
Top fin air pump 4000?

And as previously stated I currently have fish in it.

3 bala sharks, 2 angel fish, 2 green sail fin Molly, 2 Chinese algae eaters, 1 high fin pleco, 1 eclipse catfish, 4 platys, and a balloon belly Molly...

I'm probably still over populated considering the 1" per G rule.

I read all the manuals that came with the tank but aside from this it's very fair to say I know next to nothing..

Thank you

Matt

--------Edit

I've taken some time and read the information on several websites regarding water/nitrogen cycles and I'm still learning

 

[Mrc8858]

Let me start off with welcome to AA and glad to have you here . That being said don't take this the wrong way but your stock list is all wrong lol. The sharks need a school and become BIG. They'll become territorial also and eat/kill most if not all the rest of your fish. I think you should go on liveaquaria.com and research some fish and figure out which one is the absolute must as long as its a 55 gallon minimum fish (liveaquaria provides great info) once you find that fish come back on here and post it. Trust me you'll get a lot of help from very knowledgeable people some with 30+ years or experience. As for the 1"/gallon rule throw that out the window its useless lol. Please don't let this steer you away from fish keeping because this is how most of us started but once you make the right corrections and your fish begin to thrive ill admit there's not much else hobby wise that I've found to be so satisfying

 

[Mrc8858]

Also how long has this tank been running? Have you cycled? And do you own a liquid test kit? It's a must but if you decide to change your stock most stores will give you store credit for the fish back that you can use towards new fish or equipment.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

I'm pretty sure I could've made much better decisions as far as fish go... I love my catfish, algae eaters and pleco though...

Ok so onto your questions...

Tank was setup today, it's probably been running for around 12 hours so far. It's been treated with starting bacteria and water conditioner, everything was rinsed and scrubbed before it was put into the tank(soap-less of course).

Tank has not been officially cycled, much less cycled at all... I have two more test strips left and a drip bottle ammonia test kit... Need to pick up more test strips for the other chem I need to monitor.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

I feel horrible for what I've put my fish through and I'm struggling to make this work... I've lost a few fish so far and feel worse about a living creature suffering due to my ignorance but I don't want to give up... I want to make this work, i want to have a thriving tank with great fish.

 

[Mrc8858]

It's ok don't let it overwhelm you. What is your favorite must have fish. The angels can be done in a 55. They can become a great display for a 55. Live bearers are fun too with breeding but you'll have to watch you don't get overpopulated lol

 

[Mrc8858]

Also how long was the 20 running? If long enough to cycle did you move the filter media or entire filter over to the 55 cause that can really jumpstart a cycle

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Well I can understand where you're coming from on the sharks as they get about 14+"... I'd love to keep the angels, the pleco, Chinese algae eaters and my catfish. Oh I also failed to mentioned the albino Cory and peppered Cory which I'd like to keep as well... Though I won't be adding anything until I get my tank stabilized but one fish Id love to have is the BGK, I've heard so much about them and they sound amazing... But I need serious help if I intend to get my tank stable

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

The 20G ran for about a month but due to over population of that tank the water was brown and horribly dirty even after several water changes and when i pulled out the filter media it was caked with brown gunk, almost like a nasty nasty sludge...

 

[Mrc8858]

How bout this trade the sharks in and the catfish (they can become pretty aggressive and big) after that your in for a fish in cycle unless your willing to return them all until your ready for them. For a stock list you could do a handful of angels and everything else you want but the corys need to be kept in schools to stay happy

 

[Mrc8858]

The 20G ran for about a month but due to over population of that tank the water was brown and horribly dirty even after several water changes and when i pulled out the filter media it was caked with brown gunk, almost like a nasty nasty sludge...

If you still got the media rinse it off in tank water and throw it on the 55 it'll have BB which will help the cycle

 

[Mrc8858]

If it dried out though the BB is dead : /

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

I like the idea of having a large catfish but if you don't think it's a wise idea I guess I could find something else... I can trade the sharks in though, I'm good with that... I have two angels at the moment, how many Corys are actually required for a school?

 

[Mrc8858]

5-6 would be a minimum but if you wanna get into large cats your best bet is a 180gallon (6'x2'x2') catfish get BIG and have mouths to match. You could look into some of the synodontis cats which stay fairly small

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

I threw out the filter since I though something like that would do more harm then good... When I say caked in nasty brown crap I mean that thing was disturbingly dirty...

I just ran the test that I could and here's what I got...

Temp is around 76... I'm afraid to turn the heater up too far... Plus the stupid plastic clips broke already, buyin new ones tomorrow after work.

Ammonia reading is between .5-1.0

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

5-6 would be a minimum but if you wanna get into large cats your best bet is a 180gallon (6'x2'x2') catfish get BIG and have mouths to match. You could look into some of the synodontis cats which stay fairly small

I could pick up a few more corys no problem. And i'll definitely look into the synodontis cats

 

[Mrc8858]

Ammo readings that high will be doing damage to the fish. You'll need to do back to back water changes. Just so you know a fish in cycle if you wanna save all the fish will require daily water changes possibly multiples. You would honestly be better off returning them all and either throwing in a couple cubes of mysis or brine shrimp or a bottle of pure ammonia to dose with

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

I was hoping to avoid returning the fish it may be better to stabilize the tank then buy fish... I really went about this the wrong way...:/

 

[Mrc8858]

I was hoping to avoid returning the fish it may be better to stabilize the tank then buy fish... I really went about this the wrong way...:/

Don't stress it this seriously is how like 90% of fish hobbyists started out but the fact that your willing to look for and except advice means your in for a healthy fun tank. You'll soon find out this site can provide you all the experienced members you need for an educated decision.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

The fish less cycle seems pretty easy though... I heard it still takes weeks though which is kind of a bummer but it's probably the best thing to do hopefully my LFS will except fish purchased from another store lol