Newbie from Long Island

[TommyP]

Hey all, Newbie here

My names Tom. I'm 25 and live on Long Island. I began getting into fish when watching Tanked on TV. I currently work in telecommunications. My girlfriend won a goldfish at one of those fairs and that's where it all started.

I currently have three tanks set up. The first tank I have is a small 5G with two fan tailed goldfish ( poor fish we originally had died about 2 weeks ago.)

I had a 10G Fresh water tank that i bought shortly after and threw some freshwater fish in there. I have small fish at this point, but they are awesome and very fun to watch. I moved most fish (still alive and well) into a 30G i just bought. Threw a bubbler in there and nice silk plants. I have a Bala shark, Red-tail shark, two rainbow sharks, Green Glo Fish, pinapple swordtail, 2 chinese algae eaters, 2 african frogs, mickey mouse platy, two ( i think 1s preggo) red plattys, 4 black skirt tetras, 2 african ciclids ( 1 blue not sure of the name, and 1 yellow lab i belive its yellow with a black stripe on the top fin).

I emptied and cleaned my third tank, the 10 G which i made salt water. I purchased salt water w. all chemicals balanced from my LFS. I am also using live sand. After letting it run for a couple days and checking all the levels with a test kit I purchased I purchased 15lbs of live rock which also had a feather duster already attached to it. I have 2 small fake plans and 1 medium size green plant to attempt to hide the hose for my bubbler i have as well. I'm planning on getting 2-3 small fish for this nano aquarium. I am planning on getting two clown fish and anenome. any thoughts?

Besides that, im fish frenzy right now and very excited to get this 10g completed. my girlfriend thinks that im going to get tired of it and i wont care anymore. Even if that's the case down the line, I want to enjoy it now.

Thanks to Dragonfish71 for the warm welcome!

 

[Convict2161]

Welcome to the forum Tom

 

[Andrew McFadden]

to AA!

 

[jlk]

Hi Tommy and welcome!!! Just a bit of advice on your fantail goldfish. They need atleast a 30g tank for right now and possibly a bigger tank in the future. There are few fish that can survive in a 5g- goldfish are definitely not one of them. They are very messy, have a huge bioload (produce tons of ammonia) and have the potential to grow quite large when kept appropriately. Heres a link with some more goldfish info- please ask any questions you may have!!
http://www.myaquariumclub.com/goldfish-101-11174823.html

 

[Criptix]

Welcome to the group!
I trying to get a 10 gallon sw tank started as well.My hubby wants me to wait until we can afford a bigger tank but I am so anxious to apply all the knowledge I have learned and I don't want to waste the equipment that we bought.I learned the hard way that I don't want to use live fish to cycle my tank.I got a Domino Damsel that only lasted 3 days...
I learned that I want to do fishless cycling,always have water testing supplies for ammonia,Nitrite and Nitrate on hand(you know the tank has cycled when they all read zero),don't turn on lights immediately and add one fish at a time starting with the docile fish first and the rule of thumb is 1 to 2 inches(adult size and not including tail) per 10 gallons.The number one thing I learned is have a plan that revolves around the fish of choice.Never ever just go and buy the equipment and fish in one go and hope for the best!

 

[TommyP]

Thanks! I'm excited to get my 10g started. I think im going to do fishless cycling. If i remember correctly. Is it about 3 months without adding any fish? I am very impatient but if this is going to help the fish in the long run I am willing to wait. I have a turbo snail a black snail ( not sure of the name) and an emerald crab already in the tank. I keep the light on when im home so I can enjoy it ( about 9-10 hours) and turn it off when I go to work in the morning. Am i doing ok so far? lol thanks.

 

[Criptix]

In the articles I have read, here on this site and others,it takes about six weeks to cycle a tank.When I spoke about the lighting I was referring to acclimating a fish in the new tank.I like to look at them to but I think the biggest reason my fish died was due to stress(and impatience on my part) and according to what I have read keeping the lights off at first reduces that stress that can bring on New Tank Syndrome(very bad news for fish).Good luck!Here is a look at my tank:
Its not much to look at et but I hope it will be soon!

 

[TommyP]

Nice, I took some pictures last night, I am going to throw some up later when I get home. I'm at work now, cant help but check the forum

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

 

[Bettafanatic]

Welcome to AA! I'm actually from Long Island too. Sounds like some nice tanks you have. For some advice, only get two fish for your saltwater. I also have a 10g saltwater and two fish is the max. But you can get lots of cool invertebrates! And your goldfish's tank are way too small. For two goldfish you'd need a 30 gallon tank. Glad you found our forum, it certainly helped me a lot.

 

[Island_Emt]

Welcome to aa! Im also from long island.

 

[TommyP]

Here are some pics I took on my iPhone. I don't know how they will come out. Ill take update pics soon. Let me know what you think. There are 3 tanks. 1 10g SW, 1 gold fish, 1 fresh water 30g