First Time Fish Keeper - Help Me For My 5 Year Olds Sake!

[dleeh]

I have just bought a new tank as a first fish keeping experience for my 5 year old son. We have only bought him a small starter square glass tank for his bedroom. Its just 15 litres and came with a small filter and light. We bought gravel (well rinsed) and a shark ornament - which has a bubble option if we buy a pump. (again washed) and plastic plant. I cleaned everything on tap water and set it up. The tank is positioned in his room which is well out of direct sunlight and we have set the tank light to come on for just a couple of hours to help him go to sleep as he likes a light on to settle.

* We have not bought any fish yet...we are planning to buy a couple of goldfish (possibly 2 x Black Moors as they are nice and funny to look at?? or should we stick to something else??
* After two days cycling the tank...the water is cloudy. We have not added any chemicals at this stage...should we?? a declhlorinator perhaps or amonia? I havn't got a test kit yet either..I am planning to take a sample to the fish store until we get a kit? Should I leave the tank water or empty it at this stage and start again? Im pretty sure I washed the items well but now its cloudy Im not certain?
* We live in Shropshire and typically the water can be quite hard...this probably has something to do with metals or sulphates or something??
* Should we put real plants in rather than plastic?
* I have set the arm on the filter just above the water so the water oxygenates....is this best?
* My little boy was promised fish after a week...its not looking good !!

Im beginning to think I should have bought him a rodent! When I was a kid we just plonked a couple of fish from a bag in a bowl and off we went. Now I'm obsessed with the whole thing wanting to get ot right...my wife thinks Im mad!!

Any help to the points above would be appreciated

Dleeh

 

[dayzofspeed]

well did you use dechlorinator when you added the water?
dont know about the cloudiness but i suspect that will settle down
go for plastic plants as goldfish will eat real ones
the filter outlet position is good
it will take more than a week in my opinion
rodents smell and bite !!!!

 

[dleeh]

well did you use dechlorinator when you added the water?
dont know about the cloudiness but i suspect that will settle down
go for plastic plants as goldfish will eat real ones
the filter outlet position is good
it will take more than a week in my opinion
rodents smell and bite !!!!

I didnt use a dechlorinator as was not advised I needed one by the shop. Is it ok to do this now (still before putting in fish??)

 

[electropunk06]

Hi
15 liters is very small for any type of gold fish. Fancy goldfish need 10 gallons each.
I would buy a heater and look at tropical fish as there are some who would be happy in a 15L such as a betta. also in my opinion tropicals are easier to look after than cold water fish.

If you haven't added any chemicals to the tank its not cycling. you have two choices fish in or fishless cycle. a fishless cycle is much preferred due to not putting fish in harms way. this is done by adding ammonia to 5ppm and wait for it to reduce to zero in 24 hours (you will need a test kit). Fish in cycles will involve daily testing and water changes if you want your fish to be healthy. both of these processes can take a while but will be much quicker if you could add some mature filter media.

If you buy hardy fish the PH isnt too much of a problem.

as long as the waters surface is moving it will be oxygenating the water

Fish keeping is a very rewarding and addictive hobby

i sugest doing lots of research before you buy any fish also be wary of information from fish shops its not often true.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi dleeh

Welcome to the forum!

There's a bit more involved with starting a tank than just adding water and fish. Fortunately, you've come to the right place to learn about the process which we call "cycling." I will move your thread to the "Your New Freshwater Tank" section where you will get the most help.

Good luck with your endeavors. Fishkeeping is a wonderful hobby that the entire family can enjoy together.

 

[dleeh]

Thanks...I already feel Ive made a mistake with the tank size now....my wife is in hysterics !!

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi dleeh; welcome to the forum!

I hate to tell you this (I have three kids myself!), but nearly everything you've done/thought so far is wrong...I'm not blaming you for one instant; fishkeeping is one of those hobbies where everyone's brother's husbnad thinks they know it all!

Please, please do not buy any kind of goldfish for your tank. All goldfish have the potential to grow very large (5 or 6 inches + even for the fancies like black moors) and they are very messy and need big tanks with big filters.

In all honesty a 15l tank is too small for any fish in my opinion; you could keep snails or freshwater shrimp, but you would need a heater.

Tanks need to be 'cycled' before any fish are added; that means growing a good colony of bacteria in the filter; the bacteria process the poisonous ammonia from the fishes wastes into less toxic nitrite and nitrate.
You can short cut this process by using mature filter media from an established tank, but you would still be limited on what fish you could have; possibly two or three male Endler's, but that would be your lot...

Have a read of the articles in our beginner's resource centre (the link is in my sig) and get back to us when you've had a think about what you'd like to do.

I am sorry, but I know from experience that making kids wait (especially if you can involve them in the cycling proccess, "the test is green so it's not safe for fish yet") is far better than upsetting them by having fish die

 

[BigbruiserAl]

* We have not bought any fish yet...we are planning to buy a couple of goldfish (possibly 2 x Black Moors as they are nice and funny to look at?? or should we stick to something else? Something else too small for goldfish
Add declhlorinator then read the fish less cycle info http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/113861-fishless-cycling/
* Should we put real plants in rather than plastic?
plastic
* I have set the arm on the filter just above the water so the water oxygenates....is this best?
Spot on
* My little boy was promised fish after a week...its not looking good !!
Brib him with something else for now, adding fish this week will prob kill it due to being a un cycled tank

 

[dleeh]

I feel I should go to the naughty boys rooms for buying such a small tank now!! There should be a law to stop selling the things if they arnt suitable for keeping fish! Ok so me thinks now we will wait and get the water sorted by cycling properly and adding the right stuff. Then we will go for a couple of more appropriate fish....but should we go tropical as one post suggests..

What x 2 fish should I get for him??

 

[eaglesaquarium]

No big deal... there are some lovely fish/animals that you could keep in that size...


Betta - awesome appearance, plenty of color options as well - very hardy.

African Dwarf Frogs - they need about 1 U.S. gallon per frog, very hardy.

Shrimp - some very nice options here as well, but not nearly as hardy.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

dleeh, you could buy an ADF now and do a "fish"-in cycle with it.

I too have a 5 year old for whom I am cycling a tank. I find that if you explain to them that you need what is necessary to keep the fish healthy, they are more than happy to comply. My son has been waiting months since I first told him we would be getting fish. We talked about it with him from time to time before we even bought the tank, just to reassure him that we were serious, and hadn't forgotten - also to gauge his interest level. Then, we started to buy some odds and ends. Then we moved on to the cycling process. Then, finally, we got the big tank. He's been more patient through all of this than I have been. We still don't have fish yet, but he's still interested and hasn't been pestering us.

One thing that helps, occasionally, I let him help with the tests. (He does pH tests, not the others.) He loves to "make the different colors" with me.



You'll get there.

 

[fluttermoth]

As the erstwhile owner (it's really my 14 year old style-conscious son's) of a Fluval Edge (I know, I know, you're all going to come on and cackle at me now!) I will admit, you can keep fish in a tank that small; a betta, two or three male Endlers, a trio of sparkling gourami or splashing tetra will go in there.

Surely the point is, 'how easy is it?', and the answer is, 'not easy at all. It's all very well for us to go on about the fish/inverts you can keep when you know what you're doing not to mention having all the relevant test kits/dechlor/mature media.

I wouldn't want any noob to try keeping a 15l tank with anything in it; the potentail for disaster (ammonia/nitrite spikes, pH crashes etc) is just too much IMO.

Better get a nice two foot/60l/80l tank and make things that little bit easier...

 

[BigbruiserAl]

To add to flutters post, get the biggest you can fit/afford for 2 reasons.

1. Addiction will take over its a matter of time before you upgrade, In 6 months i have gone from 50L>70L>400L and eyeing up a 850L now
2. The bigger the tank the more simple your life is regarding water stats and what you can keep. My 60L water has to be checked weekly as a fart in the same room can chnage the stats, my 400L never changes much due to the volume of water make my life easy

 

[eaglesaquarium]

My brother was a newbie who kept ADFs without any experience (or filter) in a 3 gallon tank. He's been highly successful, and has just recently gotten a filter. He did 100% water changes every week and the frogs are thriving. So, to say that you wouldn't want anything in a tank that size for a newbie might be a bit of an exaggeration.

 

[fluttermoth]

On the other hand, I got two ADFs (in an 80l) for my son last year, and despite everything I did we lost them both within a month....

There's always someone who manages to do everything wrong and gets away with it; but that doesn't mean we should start recommending it!