Hello. I am a new member~

[Jerene]

Hello, my name is Jerene. I am new to this forum. I am a fairly new aquarium hobbyist. I have a 10 gallon tank. I first set up a brand new tank in May with a filter and heater and assorted fish. It was beautiful. Fish were healthy and seemed happy. Just before Christmas, we noticed that the bottom of the tank sprung a leak and we lost over 2 gallons water. Not good. The fish were donated to a responsible and experienced hobbyist who works for a large pet supply chain. My family surprised me with another new 10 gal tank at Christmas. (I wish it was a 20 gal but you can't look a gift horse in the mouth, right?)
I currently have 6 neon tetras, 2 Dalmatian mollies, 2 Tequila Sunrise guppies, 3 glofish and two golden apple snails. I know I have probably exceeded my limit~ They all seem to be doing very well and cohabitating nicely EXCEPT the pink glofish, which now seems to be noticeably smaller than his two counterparts, and is spending a lot of time swimming near the bottom. Seems to be lacking energy. I am a little concerned. Don't know if he (she?) is sick and should be removed. Looking for some good advice. Thanks very much!

 

[Brookster123]

Welcome to the forum! I'd say it's time to euthanize the little guy, I'm guessing he's a but crooked too??

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[darkhymn]

Some thoughts regarding your fish.
You're pretty heavily overstocked, and unless you were conscious of gender choices, you are likely in for babies and/or fights. Guppies and mollies both need a minimum of a 1:2 male to female ratio in order to thrive, and they are both livebearers, which generally produce a lot of babies. Males will be aggressive toward one another and will likely mercilessly pursue females (to the point of stressing single females to death). Glo Fish are a genetically 'enhanced' zebra danio, which is an extremely active fish and needs a minimum of a 20g long (30" horizontal) to truly thrive. What's more, they should be in a school of 6 or more. I'd strongly recommend a bigger tank, and if your livebearers aren't all female (bad petstores often sell breeding pairs), you may be in for some trouble there.

 

[Coursair]

Mollies are recommended for 30g or larger tanks. I would rehome them ASAP.

I would also take out GloFish and wait till you can get at least a 20 Long. And only 1 Snail, they get big and poop a lot. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=154199#/forumsite/20495/topics/154199

For immediate future, I would test your water as soon as possible. But if you don't have a test kit at least do a large partial water change, at least 50%. Make sure temp is matched and use Prime or other dechlorinator

The Neons could stay. Not ideal, but they can survive. Guppies, only a male or 2. No females, you have no room for fry.

Please research fish before you buy.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+1101+2089&pcatid=2089

AqAdvisor can also be a good basic tool. http://aqadvisor.com

My 10g
Stocked with RCS and Otos at that point.


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[Jerene]

Thank you, Coursair and darkhymn so very much for your great information. I am glad I inquired. I will heed your good advice. The links, also, are helpful. I have used two large chain pet supply stores to purchase fish and supplies. After reading your posts, I now know that it is important to only visit the one who is passionate and knowledgeable about fish ownership. The other, I believe, was just interested in making a sale. Too bad~ We have other pets, as well. I will not be going there again.
Again, thanks a million~
P.S. Wanted to let you know that I change out between 30-50% of the water weekly. We are very cognizant of the temperature, as well. Best regards.

 

[Jerene]

Okay- a little update~ I have discussed with my husband- I told him that I really didn't want to part with my fish but that our ten gal tank is too small to accommodate what we currently have. He has agreed to a larger tank- probably 20 gal (or is it 29?). Can you tell me if that size will be appropriate for my fish and how exactly do I make the transition?
Thanks in advance for your help.


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[darkhymn]

While the 29 or even the 20 will certainly alleviate your overstocking issues, you're still going to need a few more danios (glo fish) to fill out your school, and the guppies and mollies may still have aggression and stress issues, not to mention the potential for fry if they're breeding pairs. Still, more space certainly will not hurt.

 

[Coursair]

A 29g if you can swing it would be best. Look online so you can sex your Livebearers. Easy to tell.

If you keep only male Mollies and Guppies, you won't need to deal with constant babies.

You can reset your 10g and pick appropriate fish or just keep Guppies or Neons in it.

FYI, do not swap out filter pads. Just rinse them in used tank water or dechlorinated tapwater. They have valuable BB on them. If you decide to tear down the 10 and switch all the fish to the 29 you can put your 10 gallon filter on the 29 with the new filter or if you want to run both tanks you can take filter material out of the 10 and squeeze it into the filter for the 29.

Tank water has little to no BB in it. So just reusing water won't help cycle the larger tank.

Read up on cycling with and without fish.


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[Jerene]

Thank you, again!! Please do tell, what is "BB"?

 

[Coursair]

Sorry Beneficial Bacteria

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/faq.php?faq=acronyms

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ou-get-started-with-your-aquarium-154837.html


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