What do I do now?

[CfishGo]

Was gone most of the day yesterday running errands and came home to an unwanted surprise. Anyone who thinks it's a great idea to gift fish and put said fish in someone else's aquarium when they are not around deserves 50 lashes with at the least a wet noodle! I'm not ready for fish! Yes, my plants are growing and yes through testing I watched my tank cycle but in no way is my biological filtration big enough or ready to handle 11 Congo Tetras! Omg! I was also gifted a fluval2 canister filter and it was hooked up. My hands can't turn the screws so with the help here I was able to "pimp" my tidal wave 110.
Now, I need advice quicker than I can do the research.
Here's what I've done immediately after the gifter left.

Grabbed my hubby to help me disconnect the canister filter. Inserted some biomedia from my TD110 into the canister and got it running again.

Turned off all lights to help reduce stress.

Checked the water parameters.
Ammonia 0
Nitrites - 0.25
Nitrates 5.0 ppm

2 days ago my parameters were
Ammonia 0
Nitites 0
Nitrates 5.0 ppm

What else can I do? I haven't fed the fish, they are actively schooling back and forth. Except for 1 nerite snail there are no other livestock.

I'm flabbergasted at the nerve of my DIL. Can't believe she did this because she has an aquarium and should know better even tho I realize she was trying to be kind.

How often should I test now? How long do I leave the lights off? How many days do I wait to feed? Haven't even had time to research these fish but she did tell me where she got them and I'm waiting on a call back from the supplier. TIA!

 

[Aiken Drum]

So is this the 75g aquarium? I think Congo tetras are a pretty good choice for the aquarium. Your daughter in law must have thought you needed a push to get some fish.

From reading your posts you have set up a 10g quarantine tank, so you've skipped the QT phase. Id consider the main tank a QT and not add anything else until the tetras have gone through the QT period. Maybe start quarantining some other fish so you can add them to the display tank as soon as their quarantines are over.

It doesn't appear you have been actively cycling the aquarium, but it is dirted from memory, so that will have added some ammonia and started your cycle.

Looks like you are doing a fish in cycle now. Feed your fish a little and see how the parameters go. 10 Congo tetras isn't so much to start off a fish in cycle in 75g. Should be manageable.

 

[CfishGo]

Yes it is the 75g one. My intent was to wait until spring or summer before adding anything. It was always going to be a species only tank but I hadn't decided on the species yet and Congos never even crossed my mind! I followed the directions for cycling a tank with plants and used dead shrimp for the ammonia source bringing it up to 1ppm and tested 24 hours later and ammonia and nitrites were back at zero. My nitrates have never gone over 5.0ppm. 11 fish! 11..I thought I'd start with 3 or 5 at most to give my bacteria time to adjust to the new bio load. I've just been enjoying the hobby again after being away from it for so long. I was really looking forward to picking the species I wanted and was leaning toward Rainbows. So testing, once a day enough? Should I feed them every day? I do have the quarantine tank up and running but like you say my display turned into a quarantine tank. Was not the plan I had in mind. She's agreed to come do the canister filter for me as she visits once a month and knows I can't do it. So there is that. Thanks Aiken, sorry to have bothered you. I think I know what to do but was kinda panicking and wasn't prepared for this.

 

[Aiken Drum]

You really want to be starting a fish in cycle with 1 small fish/ 10 gallons. 11 fish isn't all that much over the top. And it looks like you have been doing something to cycle the aquarium, so you arent starting from scratch.

You might be a little ahead of your planned schedule, but I wouldn't panic about it. I'm sure you could get the fish rehomed if you really wanted, and wasn't too bothered about upsetting family members. Might get a bit of store credit, it not like they are guppies that nobody wants. You'd probably £30 back here in the UK for 11 Congo tetras.

I'd live with them a bit before deciding what to do with them. You have capacity to add some different fish of your choice, and if they really aren't what you want you can always exchange them. They are helping your cycle establish.

Id feed as normal, test daily, and see how it goes. If your parameters are getting too high between one day and the next consider testing more frequently and cutting back on the feeding, but you have a large aquarium so I don't think it will be an issue. And you might be sufficiently cycled anyway. Only way to know is to live with the fish and see how it goes.

 

[Andy Sager]

As the saying goes, " The road to hell is paved with good intentions. " You are correct, the worst thing to give a fish keeper is live fish they didn't ask for. If people want to give you a gift, let them give you a gift certificate to YOUR favorite pet store. ( You may want to pass that along to anyone who asks you about your fish tank. )

 

[CfishGo]

I found out they are tank bred and raised. I think that's a good thing and I also found out the water ph, kh, and gh they were raised in is very close to mine. My nitrites went back down to 0. The nitrates are holding at 5.0. Eating good, swimming good and growing. I can't believe how fast they seem to grow but it is noticeable in only a few days. I'm going to continue with daily water test and continue to do water changes as per my schedule which is on Friday but if parameters change I will adjust. I've never had Tetras only Mollies and Bettas. They've already taught me to feed them in the water column instead of float feeding. Thanks for the support!

 

[CfishGo]

Almost a month and I find the Congos are growing on me. They are entertaining, growing fast and coloring up beautifully. I haven't lost any thank goodness. Strangely enough my water parameters have only varied from .25 back to zero within a day twice. My nitrates have held steady at 5ppm. My plants are really growing but still having a bit of brown algea. I found some tank raised Oto's, bought 6 and put them in quarantine. They took to wafers and zucchini immediately. Had them for a week so far with no issues but we'll see. Looks like I'll end up with 3 male Congos and 8 females. I'm not positive but I'm thinking the Congos and Otos will max out my capacity, Any advice or tips are always welcome.