Help Me Please!!

[krazykrystal16]

I am new at this fish thing.......... and i have a few hundred questions (hee hee). We bought a fish tank 3 weeks ago, got the levels all good and bough a few fish last week-end!
So..... this is what we 1st got- 10 neon tetras and 2 angel fish, they did so well that we went a few days later and got a silver dollar, 2 red parots and a sucker! The parots seem to be very aggressive, we have had 5 neon's go missing and the other fish seem so sad....... we have taken 1 of the parots out and placed it in a tank on its own. BUT what do u guys think should i get rid of the parots... because we LOVE the angel and neons.
I live in a very small town.... and it seems like the pet store we went to dosent know anything about it, i keep calling and asking them BUT they alwayz say they dont know or try and guess.
Im juust going to make a list of the things i would like to know hopefully someone can HELP me!
- how often do i feed and how much?
- when do i turn lights on and off?
- what is the best temp. to keep it at?
-the water is a little cloudy, but levels are all good what do i do?
-How often should i change water (and how much) ?
-should i have real plant life in the tank?
I really hope someone can help me!!! Thank-you for taking the time to read this!

 

[mom2reds]

First what size tank do you have? Then have you cycled your tank, it does not sound as if you have. What are the parameters on your tank PH, nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia. You will want to get a liquid test kit such as API freshwater master test kit. That sould get you started so that we can get a better understanding of what is going on in your tank.
The red parots are very aggersive fish and will eat or kill the other fish in your tank, neons are the natrual prey of angle fish so the angles could also be eating you neons.
I would also suggest that you read all of the stickies at the top of each of the forums they are very informative.

Oh and welcome to AA you have found a great place for all the help you will need.

 

[krazykrystal16]

My tank size is 30 gallon! we have done a cycle like 4 times now.... well we have taken like 20% water out and added more with chemicals (if thats what a cycle is)
my levels are as follows-
nitrate-0
nitrite-0
ppm total hardness-between 50 and 20
total alkalinity- between 80 and 120
ph- between 7.6 and 8.0
The tank tep. is at 76
I cant belive that the angel fish could be eating them....... the fish store sold them to us togother (you would think they wouldnt have done that if they ate them)
Im sorry you guys probley think i am a horrible person for having these fish without knowing anything...... BUT can u please help!

 

[mom2reds]

no cycling is not PWC (partial water changes) go to the top of the mian page on forums and click on articles and then on freshwater and look at the article on nitrogen cycle, this article will help you understand cycling your tank.
Never never listen to your LFS ( local fishstore) they just want to make a sell always study anything that is going into your tank before buying it you will save lotsof money this way.
Nobody on this site will think you are a horrible person, I promis we have all been where you are at. The first tank I bought was a 1.5 gallon tank along with 6 neon tetras and two male guppies took it home and put them all in at the same time.

You can also look under the getting started forum and you will find a lot of topics about cycling, this is one very important step inthe health of you fish.

 

[pitt420dude]

- how often do i feed and how much?
- when do i turn lights on and off?
- what is the best temp. to keep it at?
-the water is a little cloudy, but levels are all good what do i do?
-How often should i change water (and how much) ?
-should i have real plant life in the tank?
I really hope someone can help me!!! Thank-you for taking the time to read this!

1) Feed them as much as they will eat in a few minutes. Once or twice a day is fine.

2) Turn the lights off and on whenever you want. IME it doesn't affect the fish that much. You only really need to worry about leaving your lights on alot if you have live plants.

3) 76 is perfect. Anywhere b/w 75 and 80 is where i keep mine.

4) Coudy water? Just wait it out. You might have a bacteria bloom (which is bad news b/c it means your tank is not cycled). Read the sticky for about cycling in the getting started forum. Actually, read every sticky on this site...twice. I did. It's fun!

5) How much/often of PWCs kind of depend on some things, but 20% once a week is generally a good idea.

6) You can get some live plants if you want. Be careful though, doing it properly can be a money pit. There are some simple low light plants like anubias and java that you could probably grow without spending much more money on much more complicated stuff.

Welcome to AA, keep those questions coming.

Oh and BTW, nobody here will think you're a horrible person. Your fish might, but jumping in with both feet before you know your stuff is all too common in this hobby. It's okay! Now you just need to read alot and you'll be a pro in no time.

 

[krazykrystal16]

Thank-you so much for all of your coments!
I am busy going through the "stickys", BUT i have a question? we are going back to the pet store and i love the angel fish, i was wondering what fish u guys think would best be suited to go with angel fish?
Or do you think we should go into a diffrent direction of fish, for being a begginer?

 

[mom2reds]

I would suggest taking all of the fish back if you can untill you get your tank cycled. Then you can stock it as you want. To answer your question, you can put anyother kins of tetras in there, one of my favorite is the rummy nose terta, you may also want a cleaner crew like cory cats. there are lots of fish you can add.
Good luck on your cycle, just remeber that all good things come in time.

 

[krazykrystal16]

I did'nt really relize what a cycle was...... BUT after doing some reading i actully relized i did do that we have had the tank for 3 weeks and just got the fish this week-end the only thing we didnt do was add someone elses plants or castles. So hopefully that is not the problem? I do not think the fish store would take back All the fish. i think we are going to try and take back the red parots though.... they seem to be the bully's and we have not had any missing neon tetras sence taking the reds out so i dont think the angel fish are eating them. Thank again for the help! Anything u can suggest would be a great help!

 

[Purrbox]

I still don't think you quite understand what cycling an aquarium means. Leaving an aquarium empty for three weeks with no ammonia source will not cycle an aquarium, it will just ensure that all of your equipment is running properly. You didn't post your Ammonia results, which are the most important test at this point. With both your Nitrites and Nitrates at 0 your Ammonia levels are probably starting to climb at this point. As someone else has mentioned, the cloudiness is probably the start of a bacterial bloom (a sudden increase in the beneficial bacteria levels).

Another problem is that you've pretty much completely stocked your aquarium all at once. While the Angels and Silver Dollar are probably small at the moment they will get rather large before long. The more you stock your aquarium to start, the harder it is to keep all the fish alive through the cycle process. If you can't take some back, be prepared to be doing lots of water changes to help them survive through the next few weeks.

 

[chipchop]

Krazykrystal -

Joy is right on the money. Unfortunately I went through a very similar situation with poor advice from the LFS. Joy and others kept me sane but also gave me great advice. I had a 30 gallon with about 10 fish in it to start. About half died. I started doing 50% water changes daily and even went up to 80 as the nitrites spiked.

My suggestion is that you keep checking your levels and get a good test kit (dont use the strips - they are good once things are fine but are really unreliable when you are getting cycled. )

I am happy to say that its worth it. I love my tank and I recently bought a second.

 

[pitt420dude]

Doesn't it stink that the hardest part of this hobby is the first few weeks, at least as far as keeping fish healthy are concerned. It really is quite a negative phenomenon.

The only way around it is to learn a lot and read and research before you ever get started. Well, that and patience, and the hardest time to have it is when you need it most (firt few weeks). It's equivalent to learning to snowboard on a double black diamond slope.

If you can't/don't want to return the fish, make sure you're Jonny-on-the-spot with those hefty PWCs.

 

[Karegg]

As they've said, be sure to do lots of water changes. As you cycle your tank (this means allowing beneficial bacteria to build up that will eliminate poisonous waste products that your fish produce), you are essentially poisoning your fish until the cycle completes, which can take anywhere from 2 - 8 weeks.

Generally it's recommend to cycle your tank before you get any fish, but if you can't take your fish back, they're just going to have to ride it out. Definitely help them out by providing them with fresh water consistently. When you do change the water, make sure that you've removed any chlorine or chloramine in the tap water you're using (this can be done by adding products you can get at your local fish store). These are also poisonous to your fish. Also avoid adding water that isn't right around the same temperature as the water already in there.

And, again, the most important thing you can do in this hobby is to research anything and everything before making a purchase. You may find a fish that looks amazing, but make sure it's compatible with your setup, fish, and other animals and plants you have in your tank. Always do your homework!

Good luck to you, and especially to your fish!