Just Got 4 Tropical Fish - Please Read

[lamonsas]

hey guys i have a 10 gallon tank , i had a black telescope goldfish in it for 4 months, in the begining i was changing water like every 3 days but lately i was just changing it once a week, like 20% , the tank is cycled, anyway i guess from the many water changes, my black goldifsh got white spots on his tail, i treated him, it went away but it came back like after a few weeks, anyway i kept him for like another month or so, now i returned him to the store and they will treat him because i dont want to exchange the rocks in the filter again etc etc in other words i dont want to repeat the medicine procedure so i just retruned him , i changed like 40-50% of the water today with fresh water, treated the water with stress coat as usual, i installed an aqualife heater, i set it to 78 degress as recommanded by my friend in the petstore, and yea i bought like 2 mollys and 2 sword fish, i think it was called amazon sword or something, they are beautiful and they all get along well, they are very fast too which i like, the old goldfish was soo like lazy lol, annyway forget about the goldfish, i have a few questions, since now i have 4 fish instead of just 1 goldfish, i bought Tropical Fish flakes btw. how many times a day should i feed them? is in the morning only ok just like i was feeding my goldfish?(i was feeding him once every morning), my other question is, how many flakes should i put? i dont want to put too much because the flakes sink and add ammonia u know.. and my last question, how much % water should i change every week? is 10% ok? i use a syphon vacum to get like the dirt from the gravel, it works great.

Thanks alot, great forum.

 

[arvlyn]

So much to say to this post but so little time right now so I'll just ask...

Your goldfish had "whitespot"...aka Ich...and you didn't treat it, you just gave him back to the pet store and bought more fish to put in that same tank?? Do you realize those fish will get ich now too?

 

[lamonsas]

u feel like flaming me or something? or u trying to make me feel bad for something on purpose? i am a new user, i treated that goldfish once, he got sick again , i gave him to my FRIEND who owns a petstore, he knows how to treat it, and i cleaned the tank 50% like he suggested so they wont get ich too, can u please just answer my questions that i asked? dont comment on anything else please.

 

[TylerFerretLord]

u feel like flaming me or something? or u trying to make me feel bad for something on purpose? i am a new user, i treated that goldfish once, he got sick again , i gave him to my FRIEND who owns a petstore, he knows how to treat it, and i cleaned the tank 50% like he suggested so they wont get ich too, can u please just answer my questions that i asked? dont comment on anything else please.

She wasn't flaming, she was giving advice. People won't want to help if you're rude.

Anyway, I feed twice daily, just as much as they will eat.

I would do 20% weekly.

 

[lamonsas]

thanks mate, how do i know how much they will eat tho? i mean im not gonna stand there wait for them to finish, what if i feed them once a day btw?

 

[lamonsas]

btw everytime i change the water i need to disconnect my heater before i start yea?

 

[Tolak]

A fish's eyeball is generally about the size of its stomach. Count eyeballs, guesstimate size, and feed that much. They should be able to consume that amount of food in 3 minutes. Feeding that amount once daily is plenty, it's better to underfeed than to overfeed.

When folks on this forum notice a potential problem, as arvlyn did, they are going to speak up. Since you didn't mention the medication used, or the treatment proticol followed there is a chance that the ick could return.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

I agree, that was a little rude. What she was saying is true, she was giving you good information, just relax, and take the advise.


Feed the fish 2-3 times daily, with a small pinch of tropical flake. Make sure they can eat all of it, and if they eat it really quickly (in a matter of seconds) then you can add some more. Never over feed. You may also want to get some other fish foods, like brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, and some pellets.


You really need to identify the illness your goldfish had suffered from. Was it Ich? http/eric.petfish.net/bettaich.jpg did it look anything like those spots?

 

[lamonsas]

it was just a big chunk of white dots on his tail, it was caused by constant changing of the water which i was doing in the begining, everyday 3 days that is, my friend is taking care of him so no worries like i said, its all good, and i cleaned 50% of my tank and added stress coat so my tank isnt infected or anything, its clean. btw, when i do a water change, does the fresh water im adding need to be hot/cold or medium?oh and if i just feed them once in the morning, is that ok too instead of feeding them several times a day?

 

[arvlyn]

u feel like flaming me or something? or u trying to make me feel bad for something on purpose? i am a new user, i treated that goldfish once, he got sick again , i gave him to my FRIEND who owns a petstore, he knows how to treat it, and i cleaned the tank 50% like he suggested so they wont get ich too, can u please just answer my questions that i asked? dont comment on anything else please.

WOW!!!

There are no words..........

 

[lamonsas]

sorry if i sounded rude, just dont make me feed bad or anything, i returend him because i cant take care of him. he was too big of a fish in my opinion, so yea.

 

[arvlyn]

sorry if i sounded rude, just dont make me feed bad or anything, i returend him because i cant take care of him. he was too big of a fish in my opinion, so yea.

I hope he's getting the care you think he's getting but somehow I doubt it...especially given the fact that this same friend of yours said a 50% water change would get rid of the ich. It won't, it's not that easy, I really wish it was.

We're all (hopefully) here on this forum for the same reason - our love of fish - and that includes taking care of them to the best of our abilities. We all ask for advice when we need it and give advice when we can. You asked a lot of questions, I was on my way out the door, so I only quickly asked for clarification of one part of what you posted - and then I got blasted by you. Like someone else said in this thread, no one's going to want to help you if you're rude - or if you don't take the advice given to you.

 

[madgap]

thanks mate, how do i know how much they will eat tho? i mean im not gonna stand there wait for them to finish, what if i feed them once a day btw?

Part of the pleasure of owning the fish is feeding them. I watch mine as often as is possible. It is a good time also to see if they have anything wrong with them. Because they will all be out and about.

 

[starrynightxxi]

its all good, and i cleaned 50% of my tank and added stress coat so my tank isnt infected or anything, its clean. btw, when i do a water change, does the fresh water im adding need to be hot/cold or medium?

unfortunately, that will not get rid of ich. You need to medicate the tank, run the tank empty of fish (no host, no parasite) for two weeks or so (i think), or empty the tank and let it dry out and stand for a while (no water, no host, no parasite). Otherwise chance are that there is still ich in your tank and your fish, being newly added and under stress (especially the mollies who fare better in brackish water than fresh), are more susceptible to it than they might be otherwise.

When doing water changes, right now I'm adding cold water straight from the tap, but it's still quite warm and the cold water is in the 70s or so. in winter i usually go with lukewarm water. I wouldn't add straight hot water unless you want boiled fish.

do you have a filter on the tank?

 

[dwarfgourami]

The first thing you need to establish is what that white spot disease was.
Ich shows itself as small spots, usually described as grains of salt. It is infectious and goes through a free-swimming stage, so even if you moved the infected fish the infection may still be in the water (despite 50% water change and a clean-looking tank). You would need to treat the tank itself, not just the fish. In the future, I would try to avoid giving infected fish to somebody else for fear of starting an epidemic.
If it was a larger white spot, particularly if near the edge of tail and maybe slightly grey or smudgy, it may have been finrot, in which case you should be in the clear by now, and there is little risk of further spread of infection.

You have already had advice on feeding the fish. I'd say about 3 tropical flakes per day for a swordtail or molly is fine. DpoeGive them a boiled pea or some other vegetable now and again too for a change.

You may find that you get aggression problems with swordtails in such a small tank, since they are very fast swimmers, as you've noticed. Hopefully they are not both males?