Common Newbie Pitfalls

[mgamer20o0]

with live plants the help speed up the cycle. the sooner they are in there the better.

python is different then a garden hose. lets you start the siphon and has a gravel vac. the hose isnt treated with anything. just a silicon hose.

as far as the garden hose many are treated with anti mildew or other coating. if its a old hose you have less to worry about then a new one.

the way i do it is use the python to suck the water our and then i have a hose to fill the tanks. dont think i ever seen anyone link any fish deaths to a new hose but doesnt mean its not possible. one of those safe then sorry things.

the hard part is learning the start up and stocking. trust me once you start doing it i think it becomes a lot easier and less stressful.

 

[Squareheads]

okay i have 4 swordtails, one bushynose pleco, and 2 flower tail shrimp

how many more fish can i fit in my 20 gallon?

im planning to get angel fish and gourami?

 

[HN1]

A 20 is not appropriate for angels or gourami (other than honey or dwarf). You are just about fully stocked IMO.

 

[Squareheads]

how would u clean the gravel of a tank that has alot of plants like ALOT of plants?

 

[severum mama]

Gravel vac around the plants.

 

[mgamer20o0]

and also go over the top moving the gravel vac around kicking up the dirt and sucking it out

 

[Squareheads]

A 20 is not appropriate for angels or gourami (other than honey or dwarf). You are just about fully stocked IMO.

yeh im planning to get a dwarf gourami... ><

if im over stocked im just gonna have to buy another tank LOL...

when i ment as in ALOT of plants, like its almost impossible to see the sand from a bird's eye view

I bought plants that came with like a plastic base kinda like a pot... and then the roots are stuck to a sponge like material in em... wondering if i should take these out?

also my really big plant, the super long one i believe its called a Val and i doo believe that they gave me a wrong plant... i got a plant thats like a grass and i was told it would grow really tall i unno something like that, it was inexpensive so i bought it... i researched that Anubias prefer low light
so i decided to put it under the really tall one to make kinda like a shade.. but my reall question is that

my really big plant is slowly dying... like it's leaves are rotting.... and the leaves are facing downward and their pale... urgen help needed... i was told i should get UV light bulbs... wats your input guys?>

 

[runninwoof]

if you would like angels u may want to look into the taller tanks like 29g and 55g so they're "hangies" dont drag on the ground.

i believe that the uv light is for killing bacteria and is not needed for a fw system.

we need a picture of your big plant to see what kind it is. it may need some ferts, also what is your lighting?

PS yes remove all floss and cotton and anything not part of the plant when planting.

pps: upgrading the size of your tank is always FUN!! goodluck!

 

[mgamer20o0]

I bought plants that came with like a plastic base kinda like a pot... and then the roots are stuck to a sponge like material in em... wondering if i should take these out?

yes they should be removed from the pot and all the extra material that came with them.

uv bulb wont help with the plants. i would take a pic and make a thread to get a id of the plant. i have two guesses on the plant. one that its not aquatic and rots when under water which is common. the other its a higher light plant and needs more light. with out knowing what it is for sure i can only guess.

 

[Squareheads]

I can't get any pictures @ the moment

but im pretty sure the plant is for under water... i saw it being taken out under water in my LFS.

All i can tell you is that, parts of the plants are rotting and leaves are loosing their green colour aswell as falling off...

But I have another question... How come I have to take off the plastic pot and the excess sponge thingy at it's base... if it can live with it when it was at the fish store?

 

[happygirl65]

I bought a pond plant at the lfs right out of the tank with the aquatic plants they were not marked or sperated, and it started to die by the next day in my tank....it was not supposed to be completely submerged.

You don't HAVE to remove the stuff, it's just better if you do, eventually as the plant grows it will restrict it, easier to do it now than to uproot the whole thing and cut it away in peices later on.

 

[BeavisMom62]

Or fish that will become too large for the tank without having any plans to get a bigger tank down the road.

Hi, newbie here, just surfing around and commenting here and there. Your post and a couple of the others taken together were something I learned early. I was looking to stock a new tank and went to a local big box store (I guess we can't name names). I had a 13 gal tank and absolutely fell in love with black finned sharks. Asked the clerk if and how many I could put in my tank. They told me six. Well, to be on the safe side, since they also told me I could put four goldies in a 13 gal tank, hubby and I opted for four sharks instead of six. Brought them home and only THEN did I decide to do research. Glad I did. Found out they need 70 gals or more! Although I would love to have a large tank in the future, I had no immediate plans for one. Would be cruel to keep such large fish in a little tank with the hopes that maybe, someday I'd have a larger tank. Thankfully we were able to return them. But not without a lot of heartache. I really fell in love with them and wanted to keep them. It was also heart breaking to realize that someone else would come along after me, be given the same wrong information, buy the sharks, maybe not do the research and keep them in such cramped quarters only to die a horrible or at least an early death.

So, yes the moral of the story is: Don't believe what the clerks tell you, do your research FIRST and as you said, don't buy fish that will grow large without a plan to have a larger tank down the road.

 

[lado078]

Been a newbie myself my experience isnt much but
1=gather infomation and study up on fish you have seen
2=be patience
3=add slowly and carefully.

 

[wolffish]

newbie problems

Ugg tell me about this is my first time haveing a tank and i feel like a complete failer. Some of the challanges im faceing are:
-Not cycleing the water long enough and then looking the next morning just to find half your fish dead.
-Over feeding fish and killing them.
-Not haveing a reliable store to get all your fish from. Unfortinetly i do not have one of theis reliable stores and i have major problems with buying sick fish and haveing to constantly bring them back to the store.
I probobly have a lot more to list but i cant think of any more right now.

 

[Jason7894561230]

I have just started and my advice is to not start big, Build your way up with little adds here and there. Like my tank a small tank with 3 fish 2 Zebra fish and a beautiful tan tail

 

[Jason7894561230]

Been a newbie myself my experience isnt much but
1=gather infomation and study up on fish you have seen
2=be patience
3=add slowly and carefully.

That is excellent advice and im doing the same

 

[confucious]

I did a TON of research before buying my new FWT. I cycled completely before adding new fish, then I only added a few each week. I checked compatibility of each fish first, I didn't overfeed, I even tested the water every other day almost.

I did 15% partial water changes every week.

For three months everything was going great, Then since I live in NYC where barely anyone has central AC/Heating, my 100W heater couldn't keep up with the cold NYC winter. Nearly all the fish died over the course of 4 days, as the the temperature fluctuated from 72-28 daily. I kept testing the water, and neglected to realize it was the temp swings stressing the fish. Even though I bought a great name brand heater (visi-therm) for some reason it wouldn't stay on when the temperature was below 79. I bought a second heater (this time I went with a Jager Eheim) and the temperature hasn't budged a degree since. BUY TWO HEATERS... for $10 or so you could be saving a lot of money in lost fish.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

Don't believe the guy at the shop who says that the 5.5 gallon tank he's trying to sell you will be big enough for 3 (yes, three) fancy goldfish.

 

[BeavisMom62]

Oh, goodness. Why is it always the goldfish? Well, goldies and bettas both always seem to get mistreated because the clerks are too busy trying to make a sale than to care about the lives of the creatures.

"Why yes, Mr Smith, of course you can keep a betta in a shoe! They breathe air don't ya know".

 

[VelcroDuck]

Still a newbie myself, but I'll share what's helped me the most so far...

1. Learn the early detection signs of unhealthy, unhappy fish. For the brand spankin new, by time you realize something is wrong, it's probably too late, making that desperate trip to PetWhatever all the more futile (and maybe expensive). If you watch them (and isn't that the reason you got them?) you can learn their behavior. Look close and often enough that you would notice something like clamped fins, white fuzz or "pimples." Learn to look for behavior changes that are easily misinterpreted, such as "flashing" (swimming fast against objects), or what someone earlier referred to as "playing on the gravel." These are signs of discomfort, not excitement. Do your reading, ask around on here, don't listen to pet store employees who may or may not have been picking their nose before you walked up. If they say "that's what's worked in my tank for the past 20 years," still take it with a box of salt. Chemicals are a last resort. (*except water conditioner) Not trying to make anyone a fish hypochondriac or ultra paranoid, but it'll happen to you and they are all out to get you.

2. Learn how to prevent such things.

3. Cannot agree more with those who have said BUY THE API MASTER TEST KIT. I once was lost. But now I'm found.

4. Use it!

5. When you ask a question here, remember that the replies you receive are likely from people who are passionate about the hobby. If you are a newbie, you can guarantee their love for fish far exceeds yours. Understand that someone with such love and passion for something might be horrified at another's casual attitude toward the wellbeing of the same.

6. This is a hobby. Like all hobbies, it is comprised of the following:
1 part sweat/tears
1 part equipment that's a little more than you were expecting
2 parts fun
If ratio is off, adjust with diluted solution of API FunUp+, not by lowering levels of the other two.