Newbie 30g tank

[dana4987]

Hi everyone!! I'm a newbie here to this forum. I have been reading on these posts for a few weeks now and decided I may as well go ahead and join in. I have always loved aquariums and my father always had when I was growing up. He just made me a beautiful stand and gifted it to me for a 30gallon tank.

It's been set up for about 3 weeks now. We just added a few fish last weekend. So far we have 3 giant danios and 1 rainbow shark. They are all doing just fine. But....my danios are so shy!! I thought they were supposed to be all over the place. If I come to tank they scurry to the corner and hide. When the lights on they hide. The only time they will come out from hiding is when the lights are off on the tank. I'm scared they are going to starve since they won't even eat when I come to the tank to feed them. They are boring me lol.

Me being new to this, I think I did everything the way I was supposed to but then again who knows? I can guarantee I will have a gazillion questions and apologize in advance for them. I already have a few, my water seems a tad bit cloudy but my tests show that all my levels are fine. I have been using the API master test kit. This should clear up on its own correct?

Also, could could someone please advise me on what type of fish and how many I should be able to keep in my tank? I love love love the blood parrots, would one be suitable? And I'm wondering if I have enough filtration? The other half of the water at the top of my tank doesn't seem to be circulating. When I drop food over there it just sits in the same spot.

Told ya, I would have a bunch of questions Sorry for dropping the load!
But I'm happy to be here and looking forward to gaining some knowledge so I can keep my fish friends happy!

 

[LyndaB]

Welcome to the forum!

How lovely of your dad to make you that stand, that's very special.

Did he also teach you about cycling this tank? The cycling process can take 4-6 weeks so I'm concerned for the fish that you already have in there. You mention you have a great kit, what exactly are your readings?

The rainbow shark is not appropriate for this size tank, unfortunately. He really requires about a 75 gallon tank. The danios could very well be fearful of the rainbow. My rainbow ate my entire school of danios.

Blood parrots would not be suitable for this tank. They can reach the size of dinner plates.

 

[dana4987]

Yes it was very special. He worked very hard on the stand and it turned out so lovely. I let the tank sit almost the full 3 weeks before adding fish. I added water conditioner and had to add some ph stabilizer because my ph was super high. My ph readings are very neutral at 7 and haven't been bouncing around at all. There is no ammonia present either.
All the fish seem healthy, except for the danios being shy. I don't think the little danios are scared the little shark because they swim together at the bottom alot of the time. My rainbow shark is super active and always exploring the tank and his surroundings. We have a spongebob pineapple and squidwards house and he loves them both. He seems so sweet.

I did pretty much what my dad told me to do with the tank. I was calling him a few times a day when my ph was out of wack, I was about to give up and pull my hair out. So like I said..not sure if I did everything correctly lol.

 

[LyndaB]

Nope, you haven't cycled the tank, so please read this: I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

When you just fill a tank and let it sit there, there's no source of ammonia, so you won't see the numbers do anything. The article will explain what's going on and your dad can probably help you with other pieces of the puzzle.

 

[dana4987]

This is the largest tank I have had so far. I have only before had 5 and 10 gallons. I never did a cycle process as I knew nothing about it and was never told to do it by anyone. I always added water, conditioner and let it run for atleast a week, then added fish.
Out of the previous aquariums I have had I never had problems with my fish dieing on me?