About Starting My Tank

[roseykat5]

hi there ive just gotten a tank and didnt get to do it right as we didnt know .. just said 24hours and it be fine to put fishes in it
and pet store wasnt any help as i went in late just b4 closing .. thats a biggest mistake .. ok i learnt it from it
i already lost 2golden platy and a common pleco (were gettin a 90 gallon in the spring) no worries but dead now
what i have now is 5 neon tetras and one golden sucker thing swims like crazy and looks retarded but nice to look at hopefully i wont lose him ive seen him shaking when it swims like crazy dont know if that s normal or not and gave the goldfish away i had in there as the fish place said its a no no and will kill my other fishes so thats done and it was cloudy the tank within 2 days the tank cleared it up so i dont know if it means its cleaning it self out ... will check next week as i dont have anything to test it with and it still smells strong as the guy a few days ago said it was a little high on te side so the cloudiness is clearing up so im assuming is clearing up slowly and its been a week now
and as for slime what does it mean its on my decorative thingy in the tank

thats my question for the day any helpfull suggestions would be greatly appreciated thank you

 

[dwarfgourami]

Did you mention your tank size? As there seems to be definite cycling water quality related problems, I imagine it is a smallish tank. You need to buy yourself a test kit as soon as possible so you can test for ammonia and nitrites. In the meantime, assume that there are toxins in the water and do 50% water changes (using dechlorinated water) every day until you can get tested. The golden sucker could be a Chinese Algae Eater, an albino bristlenose plec or some sort of albino common plec- try googling.

 

[Breeze7050]

I agree 100% with what dwarf says. WE do need to know the tank size as well as all occupants. How long have the fish been in the tank? Your tank will not "clean itself out" as you say. Ideally, your best idea is to return all the fish and go with a fishless cycle. Your neons will more than likely all die It is not a very strong fish and will not do well "cycling" a tank.
Some people do choose to do a fish cycle, but they use much hardier fish thank neons. Take a look at all the "stickies" on this page and read through those. We can help you out with more specific questions after that. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. As for now, daily water changes and get a test kit!

EDIT - are these the same neons that you think have ich??? If so, we are heading to a whole new ball game....

 

[roseykat5]

I agree 100% with what dwarf says. WE do need to know the tank size as well as all occupants. How long have the fish been in the tank? Your tank will not "clean itself out" as you say. Ideally, your best idea is to return all the fish and go with a fishless cycle. Your neons will more than likely all die It is not a very strong fish and will not do well "cycling" a tank.
Some people do choose to do a fish cycle, but they use much hardier fish thank neons. Take a look at all the "stickies" on this page and read through those. We can help you out with more specific questions after that. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. As for now, daily water changes and get a test kit!

EDIT - are these the same neons that you think have ich??? If so, we are heading to a whole new ball game....

its the 10 gallon im soo sorry for not mentioning and yes it is the same tank and fishes and i did call the store im just pissed as i did tell the girl that i just bought the 10 gallon and stuff and wanted to put fish in she could have at least explained teh cycle stuff ...
so what i did as suggested was to do a fifty percent water change and i did that so far so good and temp is at 80 turned up for now to try kill off the ich so til next week to get meds for it or its adios for neons the sucker thing seems to be fine at the moment and i looked right up at the tank and can see really good and don see any spots on it and now its hiding under the rocks
what else can i do to help italong besides to do a 50 percentwater changes every few days

 

[dwarfgourami]

what else can i do to help italong besides to do a 50 percentwater changes every few days

Breezer and I both said every day.

 

[Breeze7050]

Sadly most people at the LFS just tell you to run it for 24 hrs and stick the fish in. That's why the forums is set up to help you out with any questions you have! Upping the water temp was a good idea for the ich and again keep up with your water changes. Ideally these should be done each day. A test kit is an absolute!! You will need to test your water daily. You need your ammonia to be at 0!!
On a side note, and check either the stickies in the emergency section or post on the emergency board, I believe adding salt to your tank may minimize the ich. I AM NOT POSITIVE so please check with the experts if you can't get to your LFS in the next day or so and get an ich medication.
Best of luck.