Brand New To The Fish World

[smilemadeofsun]

Hello, my name is Robert Ryan, I am a freelance artist, and I recently got hired at a local pet store as well. I went in with experience with different mammals but no experience with birds, reptiles or fish. I have learned insane amounts of information over the past month of working there, but I know full well that I've only barely scratched the surface of what I need to get into to make sure I am a knowledgable enough staff member at a place where we actually care about pets. Part of that was me being sent home with a 10 gallon tank set up from my work to learn. I have already cycled for 48 hours and introduced 3 Serpae Tetras into my tank after checking to make sure my levels are ok. I've waited to see how well these 3 were doing for about two weeks before thinking about adding more, but they seem to be doing well, and I have maintained my levels at a place where I think it's safe to introduce more in soon. I have heard that tetras like to be in a school of at least 6 but I've also heard that tetras tend to favor odd numbers, so do you think that 7 would be an ok number for a 10 gallon tank or is that pushing it too far? I appreciate any advice anyone has on Serpae Tetra care as I do some research myself to become a better fish owner. I have plans to buy a bigger tank once I get a hang of being a fish owner and getting a nice community tank going eventually! I look forward to chatting with you all and learning more about fish care here

-Robert

 

[emerald76]

Welcome! 48hrs is no true cycle. You need to do a full nitrogen cycle for your fish. No worries, I didn't know either. Just look up fish in or fish less cycling here on the forum.
Edit- serape tetras are not appropriate for a 10 gal tank; not much is. A nice Betta or some male guppies would do much better


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[smilemadeofsun]

The ultimate goal is to buy a bigger tank (I'm looking at 30-50 gallons to start) once I've gotten a handle on this 10 gallon. My work purposely is making me do this "the hard way" so I know what to do (and not to do) when a customer asks. I have my levels to a nice range but I believe my tank is doing a bacterial bloom right now since I didn't use something like Quick Start and my work made me use tap water (which I know is usually a HUGE no no) so that I had to fight with my levels. The levels are fine but the water is just slightly cloudy (I'm assuming this is a bacterial bloom because I'm not overfeeding?) so I am doing a 25% water change today and will continue to do water changes every 3 days or so to see if that helps. My tetras seem to be happy (no clamped fins, no hanging out in corners of the tank for abnormal periods of time, a good red coloring, and obviously no signs of ich) but I don't want to introduce more fish until I can make sure everything is settled and stable.I know that the Serpae Tetras need a bigger tank eventually and have plans to do so within a month, but do you think that they would be happier in a group of 5 in the meantime?

 

[emerald76]

I'd leave them as three. They need a school but water quality is more important right now. Have you checked out the cycling articles? I know you're doing this the hard way but you're going to need to be able to explain how to cycle a tank.


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[smilemadeofsun]

Yes, I am checking them out and definitely learning a lot. Learning animal care is an extremely steep learning curve but I am definitely up to the task!

 

[emerald76]

That's the most important thing, being willing to learn. I commend you for that. Many come here and insist their way is the only way, that dumping a hodgepodge of fish in 1 gallon of water is perfectly fine and we are all wrong. It's refreshing to hear from someone who is willing to make the effort!


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[smilemadeofsun]

Oh totally! I am learning a lot but like I said before I am well aware that I've barely even scratched the surface. I love this store and the mentality they have towards pets there. I just want to clarify that I am not giving customers any fish/reptile/bird advice until I'm properly trained. Basically all I am doing until I have more thorough training is ringing up customers, stocking shelves, carrying bags of food for customers, grabbing fish for people who are ready to take a fish home, and basic stuff like that. I would hate to be giving anyone bad advice or sell an unnecessary product to a patron, so I have no problem telling customers, "I don't know the answer to that yet, but let me go grab someone that does!" which almost everyone seems to appreciate. I also don't want to look like a schmuck for telling a customer incorrect information lol!

 

[smilemadeofsun]

I just talked to my fiance and we are buying a 20 gallon setup for the tetras before we get a community tank. Once I get this 10g tank through the rest of it's initial cycle and the levels are stable I am going to take the stuff from this tank and add it to my 20 gallon to set it up for a nice little serpae school (I'm thinking 9 would be ok in a 20 gallon tank, or should I play it safe with 7?)

Back to my 10 Gallon
I have my ph staying right around 7.0 finally, the other levels are remaining stable and my fish seem happy so I hope I am doing this cycling process right. I have been reading the many, many articles on here and that is helping a lot.
One thing I was unsure of: I have read some people recommending a 25% water change and some people recommending 50%, at least twice a week. I was wondering what people's opinions were on that. Is 50% too extreme unless I'm trying to take care of something spiking? I have been doing 25% up until this point and it seems to be working, but would 50% changes speed the process along? Thanks in advance for any and all help you might have