Help! Overwhelmed New to Fish Tanks

[Robyn]

So here is my placement in the 50 gallon. I placed the powerhead, which had one of those hoses for outside air, toward the top. Per your suggestion I took the hose out because you were right, LOTS of bubbles! I put two of the hoses on their own connector spots with the little stones. I actually ended up shoving the stones inside a small decorative rock thing because that was the best/fastest way to weight them down (I am nervous of having my arm in there for so long). Eventually I will get some suction cups to hold the hoses in place and make it look a little neater (but I refuse UNLESS necessary to make another trip to the store this week). I do not have any sort of tool to manipulate things inside the tank. I also put a background on the back of the tank. And I placed the new heater by the powerhead and bubbler. For now I have the air pump on top of the tank.

I am still waiting on the test kit from amazon and I really hope it comes tonight or tomorrow. Tonight I am doing another water exchange in the 10 gallon. Also I checked the temp on the 10 GALLON (an hour ago) and even though the heater is set to 86, the tank is WAY up to 90 according to my separate thermometer. So yeah, now I am trying to cook poor Po. Enter a bunch of explentives here, because I was shocked, horrified, and angry. So I turned it way down (thought about taking the heater out for it bit) and will be monitoring the temp. I also took the lights off ((they are on in the picture so that I had some light for the pic)). I have had them off the tank for a couple days and for whatever reason my husband put them back on this morning before going to work. This might be why the water is so hot, otherwise maybe the heater is just really off. Something had to have gone wrong since I did have it set to 86 and it was 86 this morning before lights were placed on. And I forgot to mention before I noticed the Ick spots, I HAD purchased that morning two females for companionship for him. And had already released them into the tank with him. Hopefully my extreme temp in the tank doesn't boil them all alive or make them sick. Immediately regretted that purchase and decision after I noticed the ick. So I feel awful about bringing those poor fish into this.


I now realize why people with money just hire people to set up tanks, it is a bit of work and a lot to learn for a beginner. Its all doable, its just wow..... we should have done a LOT of reading/learning/saving before jumping in the deep end. I am also happy we didn't run out and purchase expensive hard to care for fish. AND I am SO grateful for this community and all the help everyone has been giving. I just wish went I went to the store I didn't get lots of other suggestions. It is hard for me to make a decision sometimes on what my next move will be, and if I had more money things would be a lot easier as well. Maybe some time from now I would really like to upgrade our filter to something WAY better, I want live plants, better lights, and probably sooner than later I would like sand. According to the lady at Petco who talked me into the powerhead, with that I wouldn't need a filter that was meant for 2 to 3 times bigger of a tank(as suggested) to do sand. Is this true?
-Robyn

 

[monaro_gto]

Im still new to all this as well and learning as I go so I feel your pain. When you said the heater was set to 86 what type of heater is it? Mine just has a + - and need to adjust according. I also started with gravel but will be moving to sand very soon.

 

[Robyn]

It is a Submersible aquarium heater by Aqueon. 50 watt (so up to 20 gallons) It was set to 86 and like I said it was fine this morning. and Then at like 2 I noticed the temp was at 90. But I had left the lights on. The tank itself was from a kit my mother in law purchased at walmart. All three fish(Po and the two ladies yet to be named but now I am afraid to name them) seem okay right now. Actually he has really been quite perky other than having white dots (Ich) on him. And now I know two of the other three boys that are now in the 50 have white dots. So for sure both tanks have ich.

Things are not going very smoothly for me at all.

I also am not a fan of the powerhead, that thing has one HECK of a current, my fish look like they really have to struggle to swim to that end of the tank.

-Robyn

 

[Mebbid]

It is a Submersible aquarium heater by Aqueon. 50 watt (so up to 20 gallons) It was set to 86 and like I said it was fine this morning. and Then at like 2 I noticed the temp was at 90. But I had left the lights on. The tank itself was from a kit my mother in law purchased at walmart. All three fish(Po and the two ladies yet to be named but now I am afraid to name them) seem okay right now. Actually he has really been quite perky other than having white dots (Ich) on him. And now I know two of the other three boys that are now in the 50 have white dots. So for sure both tanks have ich.

Things are not going very smoothly for me at all.

I also am not a fan of the powerhead, that thing has one HECK of a current, my fish look like they really have to struggle to swim to that end of the tank.

-Robyn

Trust me, the fish have absolutely no problem swimming against that current. The only way it would create problems is if you bought an outrageously oversized one. If the flow still bothers you that much you can aim it at the aquarium glass and it will slow the flow down a lot. Also, it should have came with a wider piece that fits over the outlet that will let you direct the water up and down. One last thing about the power head, there should be an adjustment dial on the bottom near the intake.

I really don't understand what she was saying about the water flow and the sand. Was she saying that having the powerhead would make it so you didn't need extra filtration? Or was she saying that you needed more water flow to do sand? The filter's in my experience can't handle a fully stocked tank for what it's advertised for. I.E. a filter marked for a 60 gallon tank isn't really strong enough to filter a fully stocked 60 gallon tank. I suggest at least 1 size bigger filter than the tank you are running. Or you can do like me and use a second filter. In my 55 community I have a 60 gallon filter and a 150 gallon sponge filter (The 150 might be a bit overkill but I don't mind, its completely hidden from view) On my 55g cichlid tank I have approximately 120 gallons of HOB filtration. I do this mainly because I like to hang right on the edge of being majorly overstocked. Needing extra water flow simply because you have sand is a moot point. You only need as much water flow as you want when powerheads are concerned.

You only need enough filtration for the live stock you have in your tank, but more is generally better to a point.

A 90 degree temperature on a tank isn't a good thing, but isn't necessarily deadly to fish. They will need a prolonged exposure to suffer ill effects from high temperature. In the future, be sure to change the temperature in small increments, usually 1 - 2 degrees an hour. Any faster than that and it will needlessly stress the fish from the temperature fluctuation.

I forgot to add in my last post about suitable types of sand:

I mainly use 2 different types in my tanks. For my fish that tend to either play, dig, or sift the sand I use a white silica sand called "Handy Sand" I buy it for about $5 for a 50lb bag. It will cause diatom algae growth for a while but it will eventually go away.

For my other fish I use Black Diamond Blasting Sand from Tractor Supply Co. It is a little rough for fish that mess around in the sand so I use it for my other tanks. This is about $8 for a 50 lb bag.

Other sand that people use is pool filter sand. I don't personally like the brown color of sand so I stay away from it myself.


Lastly,
Does anyone live in the pineapple under the sea yet?

 

[Robyn]

Oh oh oh I KNOW this one....... because I hear it repeated over and over again about 100 times a day! And sometimes I get the pleasure of hearing the name with a xylophone being played (he is trying to sing the song but only knows the name part so he just is on repeat for five minutes).

Sponge Bob Square Pants. The funny thing is the kids have never watched the show, we have just listened to the theme song a billion times because they like it. It all started when I was getting fruit at a store one day and my 3 year old pointed at a pineapple and asked "that?" and I said "That is a pineapple, do you know who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" And he didn't know the answer. So I educated him. IT was a HUGE hit. And now the kids are obsessed with it. lol

But seriously, I find that the orange female platy (she is a bit small) likes to hang out inside the pineapple every so often. My husband wants a blue cray fish thing and possibly that could live in there while it is small. I think the orange female (yet to be named) is probably in there because I have a 1:1 ratio of boys and girls. Hiding from the boys. Because I have confirmed 2 of my ladies are gold dust mollies. I would take them back but now that they have been exposed to ich I feel responsible for them and do not want to expose any of the fish at the store. i think they are pretty but I am really really ticked that the guy told me they were platies and sent me home with them. And I was dumb/not paying attention enough to question it. I didn't want mollies. If I am adding a different fish other than platies it is going to be something that looks entirely different. But now I have mollies. And we will probably name them before long and then I will get attached. So they are here to stay.

So far everyone is still alive and actually Po looks like he has less white dots on him this morning. I do not see any on his body any more (he had about 5 dots at one point) and there are less on his fins.

the powerhead:
Well that all started with this: while I was there getting other equipment, I wanted to look at filters. I know our filter is weak, cheap, and has bad reviews (one that hangs on the back Aquatech Power Filter 30-60 Gallon) so I just want to get an idea of the cost and WHAT we want to get in the first place for the future. I really know very little but I know enough that your filter is by far one of the most important things in your tank. An upgrade would probably be beneficial even without doing sand. From what I was reading If I want to switch to sand we really need something stronger (or like your suggestion another filter). I flagged her down, just really to have her explain to me what was good, different types, different options. She asked what I had for a tank and filter and anything else. I told her what was going on, what I wanted for the future. She said that I really need to have a powerhead in the tank because the filter is down to one side and I probably have dead spots. (whatever those are) Then she said "With the power head you really wouldn't need stronger filter to have sand." This is ALL contrary to what little I have been able to read and what you have said. I trust your knowledge, and I like the idea of being SAFE with extra filter power. AT the time where she was telling me to get the powerhead, the words dead spot scared me and well..... if someone says I NEED something for the tank I don't want to be without and cause DEADSPOTS. poop.


This week I have really felt like a walking noob, to be taken advantage of where ever I go lol. :-/ I believe what anyone at a store is telling me because I trust that they wouldn't lead me wrong. The positive is the kids are WAY into going and visiting the store so they are entertained while mommy is getting swindled (the mollies are bugging me). hahaha I don't even need it painted on my forehead, I SCREAM iknownothing as soon as I open my mouth. And maybe the employees are really not as knowledgeable as I like to believe they would be.

And all I want to do is keep everything alive, get the tank to where we like it (easy to manage with happy fish), and something that my family can enjoy.

-Robyn

 

[Robyn]

So I was going to do our water change last night, but I fell asleep while reading to my son and crawled into my own bed at 11;00. So I just did it now and this was by first time using a siphon and I am not sure I did it correctly(sucking up the rocks), there is a lot of floating stuff that I kicked up into the water but now I have the water level at 50%. What am I doing wrong? The water is gross now.

 

[Mebbid]

So I was going to do our water change last night, but I fell asleep while reading to my son and crawled into my own bed at 11;00. So I just did it now and this was by first time using a siphon and I am not sure I did it correctly(sucking up the rocks), there is a lot of floating stuff that I kicked up into the water but now I have the water level at 50%. What am I doing wrong? The water is gross now.

It happens. Its usually a cloud of grime whenever I deeply clean my substrate. What I do when I clean the gravel is stick the running siphon tube down to the bottom of the gravel and lift it up while the siphon is still pulling water. Let the gravel fall back to the bottom and then do the next portion of gravel. Just let it sit and everything will settle back down.

 

[Fishperson]

The siphon is fairly simple. If you kick stuff up into the water, (like fish poop, excess food, etc., it is called detritus) then the siphon is fine, but you are probably overfeeding, although it could just be because you have platys. How often/how much do you feed them?

If you are sucking up rocks then, well, I don't know what to tell you. I think the siphon must be too powerful. Do they go all the way up the tube, or just partially and then fall back down?

And lastly, the water level should be back up to normal. I use a gravel vacuum like a water change, just fill up the tank afterwards. Remember to turn off the filter and heater during water changes.

 

[Fishperson]

It happens. Its usually a cloud of grime whenever I deeply clean my substrate. What I do when I clean the gravel is stick the running siphon tube down to the bottom of the gravel and lift it up while the siphon is still pulling water. Let the gravel fall back to the bottom and then do the next portion of gravel. Just let it sit and everything will settle back down.

I thought you switched all of your tanks to sand? Or was that someone else?...

 

[Mebbid]

I thought you switched all of your tanks to sand? Or was that someone else?...

I did, I just didn't feel the need to make the distinction