New to site...

[Jam4lyf]

and very much looking forward to sharing "fish" stories and information with you all. I've been at it for about a year and a half...and my beginning situation is truly a horror story. Long story short, I bought a used 75 gallon tank from someone and it came with a 16" Pacu, 6" Raphael Cat, 4" Blue Loach and a footlong Ropefish. I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into and the guy I bought it from did me NO favors! Suffice to say, I now have a tank I love and enjoy and my husband is finally able to appreciate it and admits it was worth the hassle I love when the kids have friends over and they are very excited and proud to show off our aquarium in the living room!

Looking forward to the lessons I will learn, and the helpful advice I know you all will give

[redsea]

Welcome to Aquarium Advice!

[Cichildlife]

Welcome to AA!!!!!!!!!!!!

[alLexX]

welcome to AA whats in the tank now??

[Gboy66]

Welcome welcome weeeellllccoommeee

[Jam4lyf]

Glad to be here, and OMG, have I got A LOT to learn!

Have read through a few postings now, and completely realize the problem I'm having with my 10 gallon (only 1 Oranda in it) is that it has never been cycled! Geez, I had no idea!!! I guess it's my fault because I went to a local pet store "chain", but they don't tell you ANYTHING about getting started and what you need to do...big bummer!! I have been doing 50-75% water changes every few days because his water gets so cloudy...and for sure a couple months ago he had ammonia poisoning and a rush trip to the chain store provided a bottle of something and a frequent water change reccommendation. He's grown so much and our family absolutely LOVES this fish...now I'm wondering what to do with him and how to get his tank healthy...help!! I will for sure start a new post for this as I absolutely want "Stashi's" tank to be healthy for him.

alLexX...my 75 gallon now has 2 Blood Red Parrots, 2 Turquise Severums, a big ol' Raphael Cat (only fish from the original owner left), 5 Tiger Barbs and 6 Albino Barbs. It has been constant now minus the loss of 1 Tiger Barb since the beginning of the year and I'm guessing I lucked out on the whole bacteria thing and the tank cycling. I have only used the "strip" test method and am learning now that if I really want to know what's going on with my tank, I will have to look into a different testing method. It just seemed so confusing and overwhelming when I was dealing with the original tank problems when I got it set up. I spent a small fortune and shed many tears getting it to where it is, however, cruising around articles on here makes me realize I have so very much to learn!!

[Gboy66]

Get master test kit! Gives you exact water perimeters