Hi And Help

[westside]

We set the tank up with plastic plants and fake rock formation.
Used dechlorinator/stress coat and some kind of aquarium salt to the water before putting it in the tank.
Let it run for 4 days to get to temperature.
Put in real polants, let it run another 3 days i think.

Now here's where they let me down and i am mad at myself because i didnt go to the interent before doing someting and I always go to the internet before doing something....

I bought 2 neon and 2 fancy guppies.
They seemed all right, 1 guppy hid a lot for 2 days and then finally ventured out
I was very afraid of overfeeding so I was pretty spare with the food, how can i tell if i am underfeeding them?
Most the food was gone in less than three minutes, but the filter would kick the food around after it was in there for half minute or so.

We were going to wait a month before introducing any more fish, the firt guppy passed, why do they call them floaters, he was wedged in at the base of one of the plastics?
I know he was dead because I didnt have a net of all things so he was there for the night because the store was closed.

Went and exchanged the poor dead fish since petsmart does 14 days.
of course no guppies at all, next shipment 2 days away.
So my daughter wanted the dalmation fish.

Now three days later i put some feed in and the guppy doesnt show up to eat, I hunt around with my flashlight and see the guppy in the same spot his partner dies in.
Oh crabapples...
Well I doe some other stuff and This guy was underneath the plant stuck in the cup so I figured i would pull the plant up or else i would make a big mess of the fish with the net.
Well i touch the plant and boing the fish flies out like a dart.

I think we gave each other heart attacks.

It doesn't look right to me though, i cant put my finger on what is different though.
He was very pale, little yellow in the tailfin when we bought, hence why his name is marshmallow.

Could he just have been sleeping?
I mean, I thought fish slept swimming/floating, you know like horses can sleep standing.

So I guess after all that I have a few questions:
Do fish sleep on the ground?
If I test my water and it is not ammonia, what else would have caused an apparently healthy guppy to die, here is where i am worried about underfeeding, did it starve?
Should I have Dalamations in a community tank? THe danged this is chasing the neons, or is he just playing because i only got the one, I felt bad and didnt want to kill two more fish if there is something wrong with the tank.


Thanks for any guidance, I dont know who to trust anymore... My brother gives me advice, every clerk has a different opinion, I figured i might as well get a few more opinions, hopefully for a more diverse and experienced group...

Oh yeah, Do I need a bubbly thingy, we bought one, but you couldnt see anything else in the tank when it was running.
The lfs lady told me to put a reguator on it, I was like, wouldnt it be easier to buy a smaller pump, 10 gal instead of 30...
Do I need one? The filter creates quite a current, I have to be careful where i put the food, my banana plant makes laps around the bottom of the tank.

I also forgot to mention it is a 30 gal hexagon

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Ill just tell you first off that you should return any fish you still have, slow down, and read about fish keeping. It is a lot more than throwing some fish in the water with a filter and a heater. You may have dug yourself into a deep hole that you arent committed to, and need to be to keep fish alive.

It doesnt sound like you cycled the tank and stress coat is worthless, just use regular dechlorinator like Start Right. If you dont know what cycling is, then read up on it. And if you still have fish, take them back, and cycle the tank. It takes patience, and fishkeeping in general takes LOTS of reading.

Neon tetras are shoaling fish. 2 is a bad number, they will feel insecure. When the tank is cycled, try 5 or more. Staying under 1 inch of fish per gallon. So you could have [in the end of GRADUALLY adding the fish,] the equivalent of about 20 neons, as they get up to 1.5 inches. You have to add the fish like 2-3 at a time because if you add tons at once, then there would be too much ammonia for the good bacteria in your tank [established from cycling] to get rid of. And ammonia is toxic to fish, and should be at 0 all the time, no exceptions.

Fish dont need to get full at every meal. Just as long as they have something to keep them going, thats all they care for. No need to stress about that.

Im still not sure if fish sleep, persay, but I know that if they were touched, or even approached and were healthy, they would do something. When I did freshwater, I kept guppies and they were on the bottom every morning either on their stomachs or backs, and within a few minutes of the lights being on, they were swimming around.

Fish get pale in color when stressed.

Did you test the water? Do you have a complete test kit, including pH ammonia nitrite and nitrate? Nitrite could have killed the fish, that looked healthy, but just because they look right doesnt mean there isnt some disease inside them. There are many fish diseases out there. And I wouldnt go to PetSmart again, they dont have the best water quality, or the best fish. Find a little local fish store that will give you good info.

Unless the fish didnt eat for over a week, it didnt starve.

Im not sure about the dalmatian fish you are referring to, but if it is bigger than the tetras, it will chase them. Its just a fish thing. Its how they show authority.

What is the correct name of this bubbly thing? An airstone?

Please message me about further info on any of this, especially the cycling. It is essential for the lives of the fish because it gives you the bacteria you need to get rid of the toxicity that the fish's waste produces. I can tell you anything you need to know about setting up a tank, as I have set up 6 in the last few months, and have experienced as many mistakes and fish deaths [when I didnt know about cycling] as anyone.

 

[Durbkat]

Also not sure if royal said this or not but if you read the writing under the title of this section it says not to ask fish questions rather go to the other sections to ask questions. I'd recommend going to the begginer section and asking these questions.

 

[rdd1952]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

It doesnt sound like you cycled the tank and stress coat is worthless, just use regular dechlorinator like Start Right. If you dont know what cycling is, then read up on it. And if you still have fish, take them back, and cycle the tank. It takes patience, and fishkeeping in general takes LOTS of reading.

And I wouldnt go to PetSmart again, they dont have the best water quality, or the best fish.

Im not sure about the dalmatian fish you are referring to

First, Stress Coat is a dechlorinator and one of the most widely used. I've used it ever since I started with no problems. Stress Zyme is the cycling product from API and yes it is worthless. I do agree 100% about returning the fish and doing a fishless cycle. You can click the link in my signature for a couple of methods.

As for Petsmart, it really depends on the store. One in my area is probably the cleanest LFS near me. I have bought several fish from them with no problems at all. It seems that I have read that they breed their own fish but I'm definitely not certain about that. Couldn't find it on a Google search.

The dalmation fish is most likely a Dalmation Molly.

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

It doesnt sound like you cycled the tank and stress coat is worthless, just use regular dechlorinator like Start Right. If you dont know what cycling is, then read up on it. And if you still have fish, take them back, and cycle the tank. It takes patience, and fishkeeping in general takes LOTS of reading.

And I wouldnt go to PetSmart again, they dont have the best water quality, or the best fish.

Im not sure about the dalmatian fish you are referring to

First, Stress Coat is a dechlorinator and one of the most widely used. I've used it ever since I started with no problems. Stress Zyme is the cycling product from API and yes it is worthless. I do agree 100% about returning the fish and doing a fishless cycle. You can click the link in my signature for a couple of methods.

As for Petsmart, it really depends on the store. One in my area is probably the cleanest LFS near me. I have bought several fish from them with no problems at all. It seems that I have read that they breed their own fish but I'm definitely not certain about that. Couldn't find it on a Google search.

The dalmation fish is most likely a Dalmation Molly.

The reason I say that stress coat is worthless is because it adds that "slime coat" which IMO isnt necessary, they will build it back up [if lost] in no time. But that stuff just coats the whole body including the gills, and an overdose might cause a little difficulty breathing in more delicate fish. But with stress zyme, I always try to drive ppl away from that and tell them to try to locate some Bio Spira.