Please help explain

[Kmtermini]

Hi. I am new to this forum and hope that ive chosen a good place to get some advice and share my experiences

So, i got a small tank for my bday a month ago. A 1.5 gallon w three aquatic frogs. Well that didnt go too well. 2 of the frogs died cuz we didnt put the filter blocker on. We bought 2 more and quickly discovered they needed a bigger tank.

Long story short i now have a 10 gallon tank. 4 fish and 1 aquatic frog

Heres my sad story though
I had 3 fish up to 2 days ago. We had gone to the pet store to purchase a better filter bc we were getting very cloudy water. The girl advised us it would b fine to get a 50 gallon filter for our 10 gallon tank


Well apparently the filter was too much. One of our frogs got stuck onto it and was gone before i got to him. Another ones arm had been stuck as well and we saved him and thought he was doing fine but he wound up dying 2 days later...can anyone help me understand how this happened? His "hand" had red tips and he couldnt swim as hard but he had been doing better or so i thought

Im just confused i guess. Their names were tom and jerry. Im just sad they r gone.

 

[tiger terror]

Is suggest a aquclear 30,it has an adjustable flow rate...the 50g filter way toooo much...

 

[Kmtermini]

Thanks for the advice....any idea why/how he died like 3 days later? I mean. Im trying to understand their injury/healing process

 

[marsh]

Probably a combination of things. I'm sorry you lost your pets.

My first Betta story is very similar, lots of misinformation from pet stores and you end up spending more to fix the mistakes than buying proper equipment in the first place. I lost a fish named Harris because I was told no heater in a 1 gallon would be good for him for his lifetime. He lasted a week. Now my second Betta lives in a 29gallon tank with live plants, heat, filtration and a bacteria cycle I check weekly.

So don't feel too bad you are a very good pet owner and you came to the right place, or perhaps a good starting point. I don't have frogs but somebody here might. Good luck!

 

[Kribensis_2004]

I believe the death three days later was because of the water quality and that many animals that are healthy even if they lose a limb die. The fifty gallon rated filter was a little big for that aquarium, if you want that much movement in the aquarium i would get two smaller filters rather then just one huge one, that way if you need to change out the pads you don't lose all the bacteria.

 

[Mrc8858]

Welcome to AA and glad you found us here have you learned about the nitrogen cycle yet? It sounds to me like you are adding fish to an uncycled tank leading to ammo/nitrite poisoning. From now on don't listen to a word your lfs/lps tells you since they profit from your loss. Bring your questions here and they will be answered the best we can.

 

[Nyghtfire]

I resent that. I work at a Lfs and I always try to teach people how to do a fishless cycle. Not all of us are bad ... Just the majority.

 

[tamtam]

It could be a combination of things that lead to your frogs death.

It does sound like your tank is not cycled which would cause toxins to spike and this whole situation is bad. It not only causes stress on your fish/frogs but if you have any injured creatures than it ups the risk of infection. Also while extra filtration is almost always a good thing frogs shouldn't have too much movement in their water and too much vibration also stresses them out. Over filtering on a frog tank is usually not a great idea. I would get a smaller filter as I think with the frog even if you modified the outflow it still may not be proper for the frog.

What are the 4 other fish you have in there? I don't want to burst your bubble but I would recommend that you do a bit of research on them to be sure they are suitable for your tank. Sadly far too many fish are sold to people who are not properly set up to house them.

 

[tamtam]

I resent that. I work at a Lfs and I always try to teach people how to do a fishless cycle. Not all of us are bad ... Just the majority.

lol, yea. It's too bad there aren't more out there that understand the concept of cycling a tank.

I over heard the guy at the fish store the other day telling someone that he should never top up his tank water when it evaporates because although the water will leave the tank the minerals in it stay there and adding more water adds more minerals and then you will hurt your fish. He also told the guy to do water changes every 6 months.

 

[librarygirl]

Sorry about your frogs. The injury could have caused an infection which killed the frogs. It'll also depend on whether the tank is cycled and what your water parameters are (ammonia, etc). What fish are left? If you can tell us what kind of fish you have now we can see if they are suitable and if you can fit anything else in there. Here is a guide to get you started and it explains the nitrogen cycle: Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

 

[Kmtermini]

I have a "sucker" fish but the girl at the store said it was an algae eater. Hes long n skinny and FAST. Lol. We also have a balloon molly. Hes a fast little sucker who tries to eat EVERYTHING and bullies our other molly (a black one that kinda looks like a betta). Then theres our angel fish. He keeps to him self. And of course our one lone albino aquatic frog. Hes also a fatty.
We feed them flakes and pellets. And once a week frozen brine shrimp

We def didnt do any cycling. They seem to be good now though. The fish store had set us up w: quick start; ph 7; aquarium salt; and a water conditioner

At this point we r doing 30-50 percent water changes once a week. We have about an inch and a half of gravel and lots of decorations. One real plant still in bulb form waiting for it to grow. We put the reg 10gallon filter that came w the tank back in and have an 18 bubble bar. And a heater that we keep at about 78. Anything we r missing?

I really appreciate all the support and advice...

 

[marsh]

One real plant still in bulb form waiting for it to grow.

FYI- I had a big pack of assorted bulbs and they all rotted except the water onions, those still look great.
Horrible stench when I figure it out and pulled them up! Super nasty.

Another thing I tried for a stressed betta was to wrap a clean cotton headband over the intake grate of my filter a few times to slow the flow. I have a Tetra whisper10i which is an in tank style filter. Lots of people make "baffles" to control the flow, on either intake or output I believe. Look up do it yourself tips for your style of filter perhaps?

In my opinion the best purchase for any fishtank is the API master test kit! Online as cheap as $17.99!! I paid $42.00 at lfs

I keep seeing more stuff to comment on: you bought PH7?? To alter your ph level? I've heard many people lament these products. Are you sure you need to do any PH adjustments?

 

[marsh]

Are you testing your water? Some fish stores test water for free, then you can be sure the cycle is in effect.

Last comment, that may be too many fish and I heard that "algae eaters" have huge bioload (poop a lot) so they are the worst fish to keep a tank clean. It may have bullied the frog too, who knows. You could bring it back if it is being aggressive. If you can take photos of the tank/fish it would help with giving tips. I think the cloudiness was a bacteria bloom, but I don't know much about those.

 

[tamtam]

I have a "sucker" fish but the girl at the store said it was an algae eater. Hes long n skinny and FAST. Lol. We also have a balloon molly. Hes a fast little sucker who tries to eat EVERYTHING and bullies our other molly (a black one that kinda looks like a betta). Then theres our angel fish. He keeps to him self. And of course our one lone albino aquatic frog. Hes also a fatty.
We feed them flakes and pellets. And once a week frozen brine shrimp

We def didnt do any cycling. They seem to be good now though. The fish store had set us up w: quick start; ph 7; aquarium salt; and a water conditioner

At this point we r doing 30-50 percent water changes once a week. We have about an inch and a half of gravel and lots of decorations. One real plant still in bulb form waiting for it to grow. We put the reg 10gallon filter that came w the tank back in and have an 18 bubble bar. And a heater that we keep at about 78. Anything we r missing?

I really appreciate all the support and advice...

So you have 2 mollies, and angel, and algae eater and the frog?

I'm really sorry to say but our tank isn't big enough for those fish.

Depending on what type of algae eater it is it could grow to be a foot. There are so many different types of "sucker fish". If you have a pic we could help ID to see exactly what it is and what size tank it needs. The only bottom dweller I know of that is ok in a 10 gallon are otos.

A single angel needs at least 30 gallons. They grow to be 6 inches and can be a bit aggressive sometimes as they mature.

Mollies also need about 30 gallons. They grow to be about 4 inches and have a really large bioload. You aren't going to be able to maintain a healthy water quality with all of these fish in this tank.

The only thing that is suitable is the frog.

Are you testing your water? Your tank hasn't cycled yet and while your fish may seem ok they may not be. They don't have much of a way to let us know they are stressed until it's almost too late. At this point with a tank that over stocked you should be doing large daily water changes to keep levels in control. If you do not have a liquid test kit I highly suggest you get one. 30-50% on a 10 gallon once a week is no going to be enough during a cycle or with this stock. You will need to rehome the fish or get a larger tank as soon as possible.

 

[tamtam]

The plant won't grow if you don't have enough lighting. Most stock lights that come with tanks aren't enough.

 

[librarygirl]

+1 to TamTam. Your tank is massively overstocked and probably not cycled. Mollys are very messy and need a larger tank. Angels grow fairly large and need a lot of "height" in a tank; if fish are kept in tanks too small for them as they grow they go through something called stunting which is painful for the fish. You need to either get a much larger tank ASAP or start rehoming fish. Also I'd do 50% water changes every day or two until you can get your own liquid test kit.

 

[Kmtermini]

super helpful

Thank u all so much. Everycomment i read makes me more excited to buy more fish we are going to get a 55 gallon tank in the next few weeks. My friend is getting rid of his. In the mean time I want to become more educated. I posted some pix in an album on my profile so u can al see what kind of fish we have and help advice.us on their care. Thanx again. I anticipate ur input

 

[Kmtermini]

What do u guys think about this bulb? The one leaf looks dead? Or is it still too new

 

[Kmtermini]

Where did everybody go? I need your advice.

 

[Mrc8858]

Not to sure about planted tanks sorry : l