Kinda New Tank Help

[fishrmann]

Hello,

First off, I'd like to thank all of you for the great site and information. I have learned so much just browsing.

Ok, my aquarium fetish all started when my girlfriend and I went fishing and we found a small turtle. She wanted it as a pet, I agreed. We had the turtle for awhile and I felt bad because all we had it in was a 10 gallon. So for my birthday, my girlfriend bought me a 75 gallon. I was very excited and decided to use it for a fish tank instead. I ended up getting a 30 gallon tank for the turtle and then added a few friends for it.

Now when I was planning my fish tank. I decided I wanted it like a freshwater lake. With crayfish, snails, bass, walleye, and catfish. Well I started buying equipment. I have a fluval 404 for filtration. I have a heater which I was told is big enough for my tank and a bubble stick thing. Along with all the other basic stuff.

I put in the well rinsed gravel and let it cycle for a few days and then started buying some fish. I started with the catfish, and lm bass, snails, prawn, crayfish and an ugly albino frog. Everything has done really well since I put them in. Now I wasn't able to find any other freashwater game fish that I wanted so I wanted to pick up some Peacock Bass. I got two that were the same size as my lm bass so that they wouldn't get eaten. They were doing well for a few days and they got ick. I have treated the tank and in the process of, one of the peacocks died. The otherone made it, but does not seem to eat as much as it did when I first got it.

I change the water every week (30%). I change the filter media once a month. What am I doing wrong? I did a ph balance the first time I filled the tank. I have taken readings every now and then and it seems fine. Do I need to do that every time I change the water?

Any info will help. I am ready to give up on exotics and just stick with my main game plan.

Thanks,
Nick

[PBirdsong]

Where did the Bass come from?

[greenmaji]

the native type tank is possible but some of the species you picked out are just too big for your 75 gallon tank.. peacock bass need alot and I mean alot of room to roam I would suggest maybe a 500 gallon tank for that fish.. If you would like to keep snails, prawn, crayfish, and say sunfish that would be fezable..
is the other bass heathy? whats wrong with it other then appitite? I would try to get it back to health and return it.. HTH

[fishrmann]

I got the peacock from a very reputable aquatics store here in milwaukee. I am only keeping the peacock until it gets around 6-7 inches then I am giving it to my dad for his outdoor heated pond. I don't know the exact size, but it is pretty big.

The largemouth seems to be great. It eats a lot. The peacock also seems to be swimming a lot. I read up on the internet that they like to sit more stationary and it did that before it got the ick. It also seems to be hanging closer to the top of the tank.

[Jchillin]

I change the filter media once a month. What am I doing wrong?

Are you saying you completely remove all the media and replace it with new? If yes, that is a part of the problem.

I agree with the overstocking problem. Those fish are just to big for the size tank you have.

[Konrade]

My dad when he was younger, probably my age(13), had a 20 gallon tank. They would'nt even buy fish, they would just put in whatever they seined in the creek, like crawdads, minnows, red horse minnows, frogs and crayfish. They put about a 12" bass in there and had it for years just feeding it crawdads and minnows and worms. The best part though was that none of it cost anything.

[Jchillin]

Are you still interested in the advice you asked for? You haven't clarified the media question, which is important.

Native caught fish is great to have in an aquarium but care should taken with them as well as any other fish taken from it's environment and brought into the home. The hobby has come a long way over the years in helping to keep livestock alive, comfortable and healthy.

A 12" bass in a 20 gal tank can live but it isn't really living up to it's full potential.

[fishrmann]

So far I have justed changed the carbon twice and the other media I rinced in tank water. I was told that the other media only has to be changed when the brown stuff doesn't come off.
All the fish I have were bought as fry. The biggest fish that I have in the tank is the lm bass and he is only about 3". I don't plan to keep all these fish in here forever. I have a place to put them when they get too large. For a whlie they will be fine in my tank.

[fearlessfisch]

"I put in the well rinsed gravel and let it cycle for a few days..."

It doesn't sound like you did a real cycle, which involves adding ammonia and refraining from adding too many fish until you have grown a bacteria colony sufficient to handle the ammonia and nitrite their waste will produce. You probably want to read the articles on cycling on this site....It sounds like you might have added too many fish before your cycle was complete, which can cause great stress and disease. And if you are changing ALL the filter media, you are essentially preventing the cycle from happening, since the media is where the good bacteria propagate.

I would also pay attention to what others are saying about the capacity of your tank for these types of fish. The combination of not cycling and having too much fish for your tank is likely causing the problems you are describing.

[greenmaji]

Originally Posted by Jchillin

A 12" bass in a 20 gal tank can live but it isn't really living up to it's full potential.

And there is a 101% chance this fish died early unnessarily..