new to the aqurium hobby, help please

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ostrichkiller

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Sep 11, 2003
Messages
103
Location
Lockport NY
i have been scouring the web looking for any help that is out there and i would like to thank the person/people that help make this sight good. it has been more help then you could ever imagine, and i'm sure my fish appriciate it too. i ahve actually wire my laptop computer in the same room as my tank for help. but i just have a few questions.

i just purchased with my roommate a 55 gallon tank and we are working on makeing an impressive freshwater tank. we got it pretty much how we want it (plants, fake and real, stone and under gravel filter) we have 9 fish from the tank that we ahd for about 8 months now and all i want to know is how long should we let the new tank sit running before it is safe to put fish in it. i am going to take a water sample to my local pet store, they told me as long as i am getting my fish from them they will do tests for free. i am willing to take any advice i can get thank you very much

-Jim

PS- are there any fish out there that are relitivly cheap (out of funding from the tank and setup) that are still a nice addition to a large tank with mostly small fish
 
Throw some BioSpira in the water and put the fish in there at the same time.

Just make sure you have the water decholorinated.
 
Go with platies. Really hardy, colourful, plus they breed rather quickly and you can fill up a tank in no time. Or else swordtails. Plus they do well with just a variety of flake food, no special requirements pH wise. Keep the temp in the mid 70's F.

Word of advice, buy another filter when you get the chance. UGF 's are pretty much going the way of dinosaurs in popularity. They work well for awhile but if you have live plants the roots will grow in and clog the thing badly. Then it means ripping the tank apart and cleaning everything out. A canister filter is the best option for a tank your size.
 
It will be fine for now but when the opportunity arises (moneywise that is) keep your eyes open for a easier to service filter. Then it is a matter of just stopping the pump on the UGF and leaving it in the tank. Of course if you do get a new filter try running both at the same time so that a good bacteria bed builds up in the new filter and you won't end up with an ammonia spike and needing to cycle the tank a new.
 
If you want something active to watch danios are spunky and dont take up alot of room but I guess I like my pristella tetra the best.They are spunky too and have just a bit of yellow and black on their fins and their body is pretty clear. They too are schooling fish and are fun to watch and really fun to watch feed. Both kinds are pretty inexpensive.
 
Hiya ostrichkiller and welcome :)

What fish do you have now? I ask for a number of reason:

One, because some fish are hardy enough to cycle a tank (I'm speaking of the nitrogen cycle here) and some aren't. Although, if your lfs carries Bio-Spira as William mentioned, you can use that to cycle a tank immediately (note none of the other products that make that same claim work anywhere NEAR as well as they don't have the correct bacteria). If you aren't clear yet as to what the nitrogen cycle is, take a peek here: http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

Also, you need to consider the type of fish you already have, and what sort of fish will compatible with em. For example, you generally don't want neons and angels in the same tank, as neons are natural prey for angelfish. But angelfish and loaches work nicely together.

Best to start there, and plan accordingly; let us know what you already have and we can help :)
 
i presently have 2 painted glass (neons i think), 2 tiger barbs, 2 fresh water sharks, 3 goldfish, and 1 allege sucker.


Jim
 
Try to avoid future painted glass fish. They are actually dye injected fish that tend to have a shorter life span. Plus it is rather cruel to inject dye to make a fish "prettier".

Also goldfish tend to be coldwater fish. They need the temp ideally in the high 60's F. The fish you have may seem small now but most will and can get huge. the sharks will probably reach a minimum size of 5" (depending on type), the algae sucker could potentially grow 2 feet in size, the gold fish can reach a foot or more. If you wanted to add fish to this tank I would suggest getting more tiger barbs as they do best in groups of 5 or more and can get really aggressive to other fish if not kept in larger groups.

Put in lots of hiding spots on the bottom and this will hopefully also keep the aggression down between the sharks. When young they tend to be fine but as they age they get really mean to others of thier own species.
 
The undergravel filter is fine, provided you are using a big powerhead (400gph or more) to run it. While I'm not a fan of undergravel filters for marine, they are much better suited for fresh water. Cannister filters for fresh water, IHMO, are *usually* a solution in search of a problem. Back filters are a ripoff because their disposable filter cartridges don't have enough capacity.

The biggest pain you'll find in taking care of your tank is doing scheduled water changes. Every two weeks plan on dumping and replacing 10 gallons of water in that tank. If you do this regularly, you'll have a happy tank for a long time and won't get the dreaded PH drops that cause green water and algae growth and hence makes freshwater tanks look like trash.

I'd look for another home for the goldfish. Not a good combination with typical fresh water species for many reasons.

Some of my favorite fresh water community fish for a 55gallon tank:

A couple of Bala sharks - they'll grow big, but usually remain docile if purchased small, and are much better community suited than tinfoil barbs. I personally think Bala's are among the best looking and behaved of all fresh water species and should be kept in schools of 2-3.

A school of half a dozen tiger barbs looks awesome. If kept with bigger, more docile species like Bala's, or milder chiclids like Severums, the tiger barbs will tend to stay in a school. Extremely cool looking in a big tank.

If you have lots of rocks, get a Kribensi or two. Great little chiclid with gorgeous colors, lots of personality, and is typically laid back. Kribensis are among the few African chiclids that can be mixed in a standard community tank.

A single blue/gold gourami isn't a bad idea for a community tank.
 
Actually, I don't completely agree with the HOB filters being a rip off; least not in the same sense wseaton does LOL

My issue is more the fact those filter cartridges are usually propriatory; if you don't think out of the box you're stuck spending a lot of unneccessary money. Between rinsing the filter media out to reuse them a few times, to replacing the filter media with a reuseable type (for example filter sponge) which lasts for long periods, there is no reason to spend the money many people spend on filter media.

As for the fish you have, they are really not hardy enough to cycle a tank with. Some fish handle low levels of ammonia and nitrites better then others (although no fish handles high levels), but your guys wouldn't do well; if you can get Bio-Spira that would be your best bet. Second choice IMHO would be to do a fishless cycle (I'll get you some info on that if you're interested).

I too suggest finding a new home for the goldfish. While they can handle higher temps (74f is actually the recommended temp for goldies) they are not happy n healthy in the temps required for tropicals. Also they are HUGE waste producers (not just poo waste, but respiratory waste) and really add to a bio-load. You want around 10g per goldfish because of that, reducing your space for other fish. I'd leave the goldies in the 33g. Its a great size for 3 of em, and that leaves you lots more space in the 55g to plan.

And I have to ask. Please explain your nick! LOL
 
ich???

after going to the pet store yesterday and looking into what the fish actually are they aren't goldfish i found out. my roommate purchased them and they are actually albino tiger barbs. i have found them recently schooling with the tiger barbs too.

the nick is a long store from high school. i told a friend once that i wanted to get a large warehouse with a concrete floor, fill it with ostriches and then run in and scare them so they put their heads in the ground. real stupid, but ostrichkiller as a sn is never taken no matter where i go :)

another question. after i went home yesterday and was just sitting staring into my tank for a little while. i noticed that the one larger fresh water shark had a bunch of white spots on him. he wasn't acting abnormally at all so i decided to look closer at the other fish with him. a few of the tiger barbs started to act irregularly and kinda float vertically instead of swim horizontally. i hadn't looked into it yet i was watiing until i could get to work and look through posts on here but i found this morning that one of the tiger barbs was dead. does anyone know what this could be and the easyest way to fix it for the sake of my fish?

thanks
-jim


*edited*

after doing some of my own damn homework, i found out that it is ich that is killing my fish. (someone let me know if i am wrong) i found a great websight from another post on this sight. i don't have the perosn that posted it but i would like to thank them. the link to the sight has all the info on the life cycle and lots on info on how to fight it. http://www.caloriesperhour.com/fish/notes_ich.html

thanks for all the help from everyone though
i hope that eventually i will be able to help some other people out as much i have been helped
 
Sounds like your tank has a case of ich. Those white spots kinda look like salt right? And it can be deadly to fish.

You need to start treatment immediately. Theres a number of different treatments; take a look here: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/fish/notes_ich.html . It explains what ich is, as well as the ways you can deal with it.

Btw, too funny on the nick LOL
 
Hmm... sounds like ich?

I'm too new at this to give you any recommendations on treating it (I'll leave that to those more experienced) but don't move those fish to your new tank until you're certain you've got that completely under control.
 
*high fives Madame_X*

If I took one more min we'd have had a simulpost ;)
 
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