My first water change

[Mako_]

Well my water is starting to get cloudy so I think I should clean the water since this is the 2nd week I had the tank set-up and I heard water changes should occur at least once every week. Is there anything I should know? I heard that I should remove 20-25% of the water and replace it with new water. I have a bottle of StressCoat Conditionar which removes chemicals in tap water so that fish can survive in it. Do I use that with bala sharks? If so, do I put the conditionar while the shark is in the tank? I don't have to remove the shark while I am changing the water, do I? Another thing is that I don't have a gravle vaccume yet so how do I get the left-over food off of the gravle and the droppings of the fish?

 

[Lowryder]

It most likely a bacteria bloom, thats a good thing. I wouldnt change your water unless your test levels are high. Invest in a gravel vac asap, its your best friend. When you do change the water, put in the dechlor. and add the water. There is no reason to remove the fish when doing a pwc, just try not to dump the dechlor on the fish.

 

[Lowryder]

Here. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/i-just-learned-about-cycling-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now-116287.html#post983258

 

[mfdrookie516]

I hope your 'my tanks' info is incorrect and that you dont have bala sharks in a 3g tank!

 

[Mako_]

I only have 1 bala shark and it's the only fish I have in the tank. I didn't learn until later that Bala sharks are school fish and need to be in groups of 5 or more. I also didn't know the fish size 1" for each gallon. This is a bad start for my aquarium owning reputation but I am working on getting a new, bigger tank. Can you give me some advice on bala sharks also? I heard they can get to a foot or a little bit more? Is that true? Will a 50 gallon tank be good enough for them or do I need bigger? When I get the new tank and ready (After the Cycling process that I just learned about thanks to Lowryder), I am going to add more Balas.

 

[mfdrookie516]

you need to rehome the bala, they do get to be feet in length instead of inches. Try and return it to your lfs. Your tank is too small for anything except a betta imo, there's just not enough room in there for any fish and your bala, who is a very active swimmer and messy eater, is not happy in that tank at all

 

[Mako_]

Are Bettas the only fish that are reccomended for this tank? What about Guppies? How would they do?

 

[corrado33]

Guppies are active and like to have room to swim. I wouldn't recommend them for a 3 gallon. Honestly a betta is your only "alright" choice. If you wanted to get different fish, you're going to have to get a bigger tank if you want them to thrive.

 

[Mako_]

What size tank is reccomended for bala sharks? And can You Put silver tipped sharks with bala sharks?

 

[mfdrookie516]

What size tank is reccomended for bala sharks?

a pond preferably, a 200g+ tank might be ok though

 

[Lowryder]

A tank 72'' long would be the minimum, but like my sig says...

 

[Andrewz00]

+1 for returning the bala shark.... i would never house them in anything less then 150+ gallons... even that will be cruel at some point.

as far as a 3 gal.... ummm 1 beta? at best....