Adopted a tank, and I don't know what I'm doing.

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Su is clueless

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Sep 6, 2020
Messages
2
Hey guys, new to the community, my name is Su, and unlike most people I didn't expect to keep fish. My cousin is going through some stuff, and wanted to "get rid of the tank" he said if I chose not to take it, he would just flush them and put the tank at the curb. So, here I am, made A LOT of mistakes from what I read so far. I feel horrible because all I wanted to do was save these poor fish. So here it goes.
I've had them for almost 2 weeks. It's a 10 gallon tank, and there is a betta, a corydora, 2 zebrafish and 3 neon tetras. He gave me water conditioner and a quick start up mixture. The first thing I did was clean the tank, because it was green and looked really oily along the top. Yup, took everything out, and scrubbed it all down using Dawn...I know I'm sorry, I didn't think about it, however I did rinse thoroughly. The tank cleaned up really nice..until two days later. It started getting cloudy. I thought maybe I was feeding them too much or something, and got a new filter, because the filter they had was dirty....I KNOW!! Then the water got worse a couple of days later...so you guessed it..I cleaned out the tank again adding the chemicals before the fish. These poor fish!! After another couple of days, instead of going off of what I thought was logical, I googled cloudy water in fish tank. I literally hate myself right now. So now, not only do I sit in self loathing for what I did, thinking I was helping these fish, but now I have to wait a week or so for this to clear up knowing that these fish are suffering?! Every time I pass the tank, I hate myself a little more...Anyway, back to my questions. There are a lot, so, I'm sorry.
1) Is there any way I can make this process easier on my new friends who probably dream of stabbing me in my eyes?
2)Is this tank overstocked?
3)I'm paranoid about ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels, and have been performing 15% water changes every 2 days since...is that ok/recommendable?

I used to be one of those people who were like "yeah, throw them in a tank and done." idk, I never thought about it, never kept fish before, and now my cousin won't pick up the phone for help or advice, so I kind of feel like I'm in the dark with these poor fish. I did do some research, but there's a lot to learn and I have so many mistakes, I feel it would bring me a little more clarity going on a forum explaining my case. The nearest pet store is about 30 mins away, I had bought a heater and a filter and gravel vacuum and food and brine shrimp and blood worms, and that stuff added up quick! I regret not getting the water test kit. But besides that, is there anything else I need? To do or to know?

4)Also I want to know if I get substrate to plant live plants, how do I do that with these fish with out putting them through this horror again? (they have gravel now, which I read isn't too good for the corydora..)
5)is this a hopeless cause?
6)are they all going to die on me?
7)should I re-home them seperately, or to someone who knows what they're doing?

Thanks for reading my freak out rant!! And thanks in advance for your response(s).

-Su:hide
 
I praise you for the effort of saving the fish from being flushed down the toilet. Honestly if you really want to keep fish you first need to understand the process of cycling a aquarium. Even though the aquarium was looking dirty when you cleaned every thing all of the beneficial bacteria was killed so now you have to start the cycling process over. This is going to be more stress for those fish to go through and fish will be lost. It is unfortunate that your cousin didn't brief you on how he cared for them. A test kit is absolutely critical to have especially for someone new to the fish keeping hobby. Do you know anyone else who has a aquarium? If so you could ask them for a small bit of bio media or even some gravel from their aquarium to jump start the Nitrifying Cycle. If you feel this is too much I suggest taking the fish to a Petco and donate them to them.
 
I do not know anyone with an aquarium. Oh man, that's so sad. I don't want any of them to die. I'm so mad I didnt research sooner! I will make the trip tomorrow to pet warehouse with a sample of water, and buy a test kit while I'm there. Thank you for your response!
 
I’d second the test kit as well. Once the tank gets established and settles down after a month or so then it’s pretty much just enjoying them (interactive tv! :) ).

Back when I was a student I knew no better either. Twice a year the tank / substrate was scrubbed clean, filter wool and carbon replaced, check air pump still worked and all back in. Surprisingly a lot survived.
 
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