Hi all,
We got a 10 gal. tank for our son. It has a Whisper bio filter and a heater set at 72F (my son's room gets pretty cold, he's on an upper corner of the house). We have fairly hard water, so I filtered it through the Brita and added Aquasafe per the directions. It cycled fish free for six weeks with only gravel and fake plants. This past Saturday, we took a water sample to our lfs and they said it checked out great. We got five jumbo neons (that are actually quite tiny-less than 1 inch each), two bubble-eye goldfish (about 2 inches each), and a little pleco (about 1.5 to 2 inches). The store guy said it'd be fine to add them all together and that it would be a good mix for the tank. I floated the bags, added bits of water after 15 minutes a few times for about a 45 minute adjustment total, then put the fish in. All seemed great! The next day (yesterday), one neon was dead. I removed the body and bagged it, got a water sample, and planned to return it today. This morning, two more were dead, so I bagged them too, dumped the water sample and got a new one, and went to the store. They checked the water, said it tested great, and gave me three new neons. When I got home, another one of the remaining two was dead. I removed that body, floated the new ones for water adjustment, then added them. So far, it looks okay. The bubble-eyes seem to be doing great. The pleco is mellow and seems happy enough. The neons never looked sick or acted odd in any way, they did lose color after death, but were not chewed up or anything. The only odd thing I could think of is that the bubble-eyes don't see well at all and miss some food. Maybe the neons are eating more than they should? I've only fed a small amount of flake am and pm since Saturday to try to get a feel for how much they'll eat. The neons catch some, the bubble-eyes eat what they can get, but some invariably ends up in the gravel. The bubble-eyes do seem to be very good at zooming the bottom for food bits, but are the neons overeating since they see better? Or are they just a sensitive fish that dies easily? If these new guys don't make it, would it be better to find a hardier fish that's maybe just a bit bigger? The bubble-eyes are quite active, maybe they stress the neons?
Sorry, I didn't ask the store what the exact outcome of the water test was and don't have a test kit yet, so I don't have any of that info. The temp stays around 74-76F. I know that's kind of warm for the goldfish, but they seem fine. I'm actually surprised it's staying that warm. I have the heater set at 72F to keep it from dipping too low at night. Would it be better to go ahead and set it with the current temp to keep it where it is? I just checked the tank, it's been about two hours and they all look fine.
We used to have two ACFs (one albino/one green) in a 20 long, but they were a breeze. They lived for about four years and got quite large. We used to give them occasional feeder fish. We also have two Bettas in their own little spaces and they do great, we've had them for about a year or so. That's the extent of our aquatic experience. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
We got a 10 gal. tank for our son. It has a Whisper bio filter and a heater set at 72F (my son's room gets pretty cold, he's on an upper corner of the house). We have fairly hard water, so I filtered it through the Brita and added Aquasafe per the directions. It cycled fish free for six weeks with only gravel and fake plants. This past Saturday, we took a water sample to our lfs and they said it checked out great. We got five jumbo neons (that are actually quite tiny-less than 1 inch each), two bubble-eye goldfish (about 2 inches each), and a little pleco (about 1.5 to 2 inches). The store guy said it'd be fine to add them all together and that it would be a good mix for the tank. I floated the bags, added bits of water after 15 minutes a few times for about a 45 minute adjustment total, then put the fish in. All seemed great! The next day (yesterday), one neon was dead. I removed the body and bagged it, got a water sample, and planned to return it today. This morning, two more were dead, so I bagged them too, dumped the water sample and got a new one, and went to the store. They checked the water, said it tested great, and gave me three new neons. When I got home, another one of the remaining two was dead. I removed that body, floated the new ones for water adjustment, then added them. So far, it looks okay. The bubble-eyes seem to be doing great. The pleco is mellow and seems happy enough. The neons never looked sick or acted odd in any way, they did lose color after death, but were not chewed up or anything. The only odd thing I could think of is that the bubble-eyes don't see well at all and miss some food. Maybe the neons are eating more than they should? I've only fed a small amount of flake am and pm since Saturday to try to get a feel for how much they'll eat. The neons catch some, the bubble-eyes eat what they can get, but some invariably ends up in the gravel. The bubble-eyes do seem to be very good at zooming the bottom for food bits, but are the neons overeating since they see better? Or are they just a sensitive fish that dies easily? If these new guys don't make it, would it be better to find a hardier fish that's maybe just a bit bigger? The bubble-eyes are quite active, maybe they stress the neons?
Sorry, I didn't ask the store what the exact outcome of the water test was and don't have a test kit yet, so I don't have any of that info. The temp stays around 74-76F. I know that's kind of warm for the goldfish, but they seem fine. I'm actually surprised it's staying that warm. I have the heater set at 72F to keep it from dipping too low at night. Would it be better to go ahead and set it with the current temp to keep it where it is? I just checked the tank, it's been about two hours and they all look fine.
We used to have two ACFs (one albino/one green) in a 20 long, but they were a breeze. They lived for about four years and got quite large. We used to give them occasional feeder fish. We also have two Bettas in their own little spaces and they do great, we've had them for about a year or so. That's the extent of our aquatic experience. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!