redsea
Aquarium Advice Addict
Welcome to Aquarium Advice!
New Aquarium Owner
- Thread starter ccross
- Start date
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.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
mr.waffles1842
Aquarium Advice FINatic
First off, welcome to AA!!!!!!!!!!! Now then. I much prefer petstores or, preferably, all fishstores to walmart. people in good fish stores know what they're doing, people at walmart, they dont focus on fish so, in this case, they dont know as much as people at The Fishman, or in my case, Petco. If you have to drive far to get to a good store, try craigslist, or look for a small store. It may be smaller, but the guy running it will probably know some really good tips. Why you ask? if its home run, the person will have known enough to start a store. if you really cant get to experts, try asking around more here in AA. You can find some quality secondhand testkits around. well around my area at least... thats more my view of things. try to find people whom you have a similar opinion of. Good luck!
bruinsbro1997
Aquarium Advice Addict
Also, if there is a local fish club around you, people would be more than happy to help you from there 
Thanks for the advice mr. waffles, I think I might try craigslist!
bruinsbro, never realized there were actually fish clubs out there, I'll give that a look as well.
I have a feeling I'm going to get in deep with this, lol. Its been quite enjoyable so far and I can do it with my kids which is always a plus!
bruinsbro, never realized there were actually fish clubs out there, I'll give that a look as well.
I have a feeling I'm going to get in deep with this, lol. Its been quite enjoyable so far and I can do it with my kids which is always a plus!
mr.waffles1842
Aquarium Advice FINatic
the best part of an aquarium, IMO, is the challenge.
I love a good challenge!
I posted on freecycle.org an hour ago that I needed a new tank and may have found a 40G already, and its free, I just need to check it put and pick it up
mr.waffles1842
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Thats great! Cant wait to here more news! I have a god feeling about this! Your luck is about to change!
I hope so! I'll do a fishless cycle on the new tank if its worth getting and then just move them over when it is set!
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
ccross said:
You'll have a better chance getting them through the cycling process in a larger tank. A fish-in cycle with goldfish is challenge enough...but at least having them in a larger tank will take a bit longer for the toxins to build up between water changes.
mr.waffles1842
Aquarium Advice FINatic
sounds good! i was stupid enough to add them right to my new tank, so i lost many fish that day. now i stick to fishless!
I gotta drive out and check the tank out. I hope its in good shape. Then i gotta build a stand for it. So its gonna be a while before I can set it up. Maybe a month tops. I have the stuff to build the stand, just need to find the time
Just got back from checking out the 40G tank. It was cracked near the top and the owner said "it wouldnt matter any when filled". I didnt trust it so I passed on it
I guess the search is back on.
Also had to move the CAE out of the tank because he was attacking my goldfish. So now he is in a .5 gallon beta tank with a bubbler until I can find a new home for him.
I guess the search is back on.
Also had to move the CAE out of the tank because he was attacking my goldfish. So now he is in a .5 gallon beta tank with a bubbler until I can find a new home for him.
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
ccross said:
You'll need to do 1-2x per day water changes with conditioned water. Obviously it's a very short term solution. I'd start by posting an ad on this site in the classifieds section or on Craig's List to give him away for free. Also call around to the pet stores in your area and see if they'll take him. Otherwise, sadly, you may have to consider other options.
severum mama
Aquarium Advice Addict
Just got back from checking out the 40G tank. It was cracked near the top and the owner said "it wouldnt matter any when filled". I didnt trust it so I passed on it
I guess the search is back on.
Also had to move the CAE out of the tank because he was attacking my goldfish. So now he is in a .5 gallon beta tank with a bubbler until I can find a new home for him.
You were absolutely right to pass that one up. A cracked tank can't be trusted.
If you could look into an even bigger tank, that would be ideal IMO. The shubunkin goldfish has the potential to grow to over a foot long. The fancy golds you have will stay smaller and are better suited to a 30-40 gallon. The CAE also grows to about a foot long and gets more aggressive with age. That's a fish that shouldn't be nearly as prevalent in the hobby as it actually is, IMO.
librarygirl
Look It Up
It's great you're open to our advice and trying to do the best for the fish. Nice job!
While you're searching for other tank sizes, just focus on cycling the 20 gal with the fish. Follow that guide I linked before. Until you get your test kit you could just do at least a 50% water change every day with dechlorinator. Prime is best but until you can get some any dechlorinator will do. As for the CAE, he would benefit from water changes in his tank too until you can rehome him.
While you're searching for other tank sizes, just focus on cycling the 20 gal with the fish. Follow that guide I linked before. Until you get your test kit you could just do at least a 50% water change every day with dechlorinator. Prime is best but until you can get some any dechlorinator will do. As for the CAE, he would benefit from water changes in his tank too until you can rehome him.
The CAE is gonna go on craigs list tonight and hopefully somone local will take him. If not, I'll give him to Pet Depo.
I bought some bacterial starter stuff when I was out. Its 1 capful per 10 gallons to help accelerate the good bacteria growth. Is this stuff any good? I figured it couldnt hurt.
I bought some bacterial starter stuff when I was out. Its 1 capful per 10 gallons to help accelerate the good bacteria growth. Is this stuff any good? I figured it couldnt hurt.
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
ccross said:
What kind? Unless it's Tetra SafeStrt I vote against it. Here's a couple articles that deal with cycling products. There can and have been negative consequences of using certain brands which do not have true autotrophic nitrifying bacteria.
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html#products
http://www.bioconlabs.com/autoheterobac.html
http://www.bioconlabs.com/nitribactfacts.html
* Note- In one of those articles, the do a great job explaining why certain bacteria products are bad news...then for some reason they promote Seachem Stability which contains exactly what they recommend against. Just ignore that part, lol.
Its made by Jungle and called Start Zyme. There was another person buying fish while I was there and he told me he uses it all his tanks and never had any issues. It was $4 so I figured it couldnt hurt to try.
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
Thing is...sometimes it can hurt to try. Not always, but there's plenty of members who can tell you about crashed bio-filters traced back to "instant cycling" products which contain the wrong type of bacteria.
The articles will explain it...but briefly, the wrong type of bacteria can perform nitrification and make a tank appear cycled, but the substitute bacteria is very short lived and needs to be re-added constantly. Problem is that it can outcompete the real bacteria you want in there so it may never fully develop like you want. Then, if the other bacteria were to die off...you're left with a tank which doesn't have an efficient bio-filter because the true beneficial bacteria never had a chance to colonize because it was outcompeted with the substitute stuff. There's plenty of people who can tell you about their tank appearing cycled, just to test one day and have massive toxin spikes come out of nowhere for that very reason.
The articles will explain it...but briefly, the wrong type of bacteria can perform nitrification and make a tank appear cycled, but the substitute bacteria is very short lived and needs to be re-added constantly. Problem is that it can outcompete the real bacteria you want in there so it may never fully develop like you want. Then, if the other bacteria were to die off...you're left with a tank which doesn't have an efficient bio-filter because the true beneficial bacteria never had a chance to colonize because it was outcompeted with the substitute stuff. There's plenty of people who can tell you about their tank appearing cycled, just to test one day and have massive toxin spikes come out of nowhere for that very reason.
I've only use it once in my 20G. Maybe I'll return it. Would rather be safe than sorry.
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