Im Giving It A Last Shot

[qwertylol52]

when i was young..i always envied people with aquariums and are facinated by them...then 4 yrs ago, my dad finally decided to get an aquarium for me...but then i was young( 10 yrs old) and did not know how to take care of my fishes, resulting in them all dieing due to either bad water conditions or disease. So i had no choice but to give up on raring fishes...but now, after reading up on the net, do some reaserching and even borrowing books on aquariums, i decided to give it another shot...so i have a cycled 15 gall tank with 8 live plants, soil pellets, 1 driftwood, 1 small base filter, 1 internal filter and 1 HOB filter. As for my stockings, they are 4 platys, 1 rhino pleco and 1 striped cory...ammonia:0, nitrite:0 nitrate: 10...i do not have a gh and ph test as of yet but im gonna buy one soon...as for chemicals..i have dechlorinator, fungus,fin&mouth rot,damaged fins and ich meds...i do not have a quarrentine or hospital tank as my parents would not allow me to have one...

so now u have a lil bit of background info of my fish keeping story...here are a few questions:

1) how do i keep diseases and fish deaths to the minimum?

2) how often do i need to do water changes?

3) mus i suck up all the fish poo that gets trap between the soil pellets and gravel or can i jus leave it there for the plants to use as fertilisers?

4) can i put salt into my aquarium? if so, how much and how often? can my fishes go with salt?

5) if i managed to convince my parents to get me another tank..how big mus it be? i heard that 2-3 gallons would be sufficient...is it true?


thank you everyone who helped...appreciate it alot

 

[Deus Machina]

1) Good water conditions and a couple basic medications.

2) Depends on the size. For a 10 gallon and larger, about once a week, as conditions require. Smaller, probably more often.

3) It all needs cleaned up--eventually. It will break down to an extent, but if you use a siphon cleaner to 'vacuum' the gravel, it will only take a few more seconds during a water change.

4) Do research on your specific fish. My goldfish and bettas like around 1/4 tsp per gallon. Marine fish obviously need more, some fish are too sensative to add any.

5) For what? That would be about the right size for a single betta or a few little guppies. The smallest most people would actually recommend for more than one fish would be a ten-gallon. Or, if it were me, a 5 to 8 gallon with three or four female bettas, or small shoal of guppies.

Also remember you'll have to cycle the tank before you can trust the water conditions. Find the tacked thread for 'fishless cycling'. Until then, read around.

The more experienced people will be by to give more specific notes soon.

 

[rhostog]

Your cory would be happier with some friends, at least one and preferably more. Stressed fish are more likely to get sick, so this kind of relates to your first question about keeping your fish healthy. I'm not sure how big your pleco will get and whether you have space for more fish, but if you can manage more corys, that will help the one you've got. Preferably get the same type - sometimes different species will swim together and sometimes not. As well as keeping your cory happier and less stressed, you should find it becomes more active and fun to watch when it's got company.

Good luck with the tank!

 

[Davo86]

hi qwertylol52

1) how do i keep diseases and fish deaths to the minimum?
clean water and making sure fish you buy are as healthy as possible, as you don't have a quarantine tank, if any fish in the LFS look sick, don't take a chance on them.

2) how often do i need to do water changes?
I would look at doing a 15% water change each week

3) mus i suck up all the fish poo that gets trap between the soil pellets and gravel or can i jus leave it there for the plants to use as fertilisers?
try and get yourself a gravel cleaning syphon, these make life easier

4) can i put salt into my aquarium? if so, how much and how often? can my fishes go with salt?
Your current fish are all fine without salt, I would however say that your pleco will need a much larger tank as it grows, sorry

5) if i managed to convince my parents to get me another tank..how big mus it be? i heard that 2-3 gallons would be sufficient...is it true?
as these are tropcial fish your quarantine tank needs to really be big enough for a heater and possibly a small filter or air pump

 

[Miss Wiggle]

1) how do i keep diseases and fish deaths to the minimum? - good maintenance, good water quality, good balanced diet, sensible stocking. Basically if you put in the work doing your research before hand (as you are doing) and make sure you are diligent with following advice given, then you stand the best possible chance of not getting any diseases.

2) how often do i need to do water changes? - depends on your tank a bit, usually we recommend 30% once a week, best way to tell is to monitor your nitrate, test whatever level it is straight after a water change, then monitor it every day from that point, when it has risen by 20ppm then you are ready for another change, few weeks of monitoring and you'll find a sensible routine.

3) mus i suck up all the fish poo that gets trap between the soil pellets and gravel or can i jus leave it there for the plants to use as fertilisers? - yes and no!! In an average tank with just a few plants you'll need to remove it with a gravel vac, in a very heavily planted tank you can leave it as fertiliser. Unless you have something like 70% of the substrate covered with plants then you'll need to remove it.

4) can i put salt into my aquarium? if so, how much and how often? can my fishes go with salt? - no, you'll most likley kill the cory and the plec, and the other fish don't need it.

5) if i managed to convince my parents to get me another tank..how big mus it be? i heard that 2-3 gallons would be sufficient...is it true? - for what purpose? as a second tank or as a hospital/quarantine tank?