Just Got Some Fish And A Few Questions

[cegha]

I use to have zebra danios (10 of them), this was a couple years back.

Well i decided ok, i guess i will get some more fish again, and went out and bought a filter and found my heater. Cleaned out the tank, got everything setup and running. Let it sit for 5 days.

So i have had my tank setup and just running for 5 days now, and figured it was time to add fish.

Went to petsmart today, and got 4 tiger barbs. Done reading on various sites and stuff and read there relativly easy to keep.

They seem to be content in the tank, i'm not sure if they realized that food appears at the top of the tank. I think they wait for it to float under where the filter dumps water into the tank and push it down.

Will the filter dumping water put enough oxygen in the tank for them, or do they need a like bubbler thing that puts oxygen in there?

I know that tiger barbs are known for there nipping at the fins of other fish. Are there any other fish that are compatible with them, that they won't bite/attack/nip/kill?

There are currently 4 in a 10 gallon tank, i was thinking that some time next week i would get mabye 3 more for a total of 7, would that be too many, or should i get like 3-4 of some other type of fish that is compatible with them that would look nice?

It says that the temperature for them is suppose to be 68-79F, i have one of those like sticker thermomertors on the outside of the tank that is black, and it's ~81F. Is 81F too high for them? I can't seem to lower it at all. I have a fan in my room that's on low but it doesnt seem to help the temperature any. The lights on the tank don't seem to affect the temperature any.

I've noticed that if i don't turn the lights on the hood on, and come home (like today before i had the fish), i came home with them and looked at the hood and there was like condensation ALL over the bottom of it, what causes that?

I think that's all my questions for now.

 

[TammyLiz]

Hello! Welcome to the forum! Hopefully I can be of some help without overwhelming you. So, to answer some of your questions--

An airstone is not necessary, your filter will move the surface of the water enough for adequate oxygen exchange, so no worry there.

Condensation on the bottom of the hood is completely normal. Evaporation naturally occurs and collects on the bottom of the hood. This always happens in every tank and is nothing to worry about. As long as the light bulbs are not directly exposed to the water and getting condensation on them, you have nothing to worry about. I'm assuming it is on the glass/plastic that the condensation is gathering--am I right?

Those stick-on-the-side thermometers are notoriously inaccurate. I wouldn't trust it. Buy a floating thermometer that actually goes inside the tank if you want to know the actual temperature. If it turns out the temperature is actually over 80deg F, then do lower the heater setting.

As far as other fish, don't get anymore for a good long while. You'll have plenty of time to decide what else you want. In my opinion, tiger barbs are a little too large for a 10 gallon tank and will most likely be aggressive in there, likely towards each other as well. But the reason you shouldn't get anything else now is because of the water quality. Have you ever heard of cycling? Here is one account of how it works: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099
If you do a search on google and/or on this forum you'll find a lot of information on how it works. Its a lot for me to just sit here and explain in this post, but basically in a new tank, there are no good bacteria in your filter, so the fish's waste poisons them. In an established tank, the bacteria that end up growing in the filter break the waste down into less toxic forms. Your fish may or may not survive the amount of time it takes for those bacteria to establish themselves. Ammonia builds up in an uncycled tank, which poisons and stresses the fish so they are likely to get sick and die. A horror story, and I don't mean to scare you, but its the awful truth. It is unfortunate that you didn't learn about this before you got fish. You could have taken steps to prevent it, such as fishless cycling. Four tiger barbs in a 10 gallon tank is a lot of waste and you'll likely end up with a lot of ammonia. For now, feed as little as possible, maybe just once every two days (yes, they will be OK), which will reduce the amount of waste, and if you can, get some mature filter media from someone who has an established tank, to jump start your own filter. Keep it warm and wet while you transport it and get it into your tank as soon as possible to prevent the bacteria from dying before they even get into your tank. Don't change filter pads, and if it looks like you absolutely must (clogged filter), then only change part of it. Do a lot of water changes to keep the ammonia down, and by all means, don't compound your problem by purchasing any more fish until your ammonia and nitrite levels are down to 0. It'll take a long while. Another option would be to return the fish and do a fishless cycle and then buy fish once that's done.

Like I said, hopefully that was helpful without being overwhelming. Take some time to do some reading, look around the forum, and ask any questions you can think of, and you'll figure it all out in no time. I hope your fish make it through the cycle.

Tammy

 

[cegha]

Condensation on the bottom of the hood is completely normal. Evaporation naturally occurs and collects on the bottom of the hood. This always happens in every tank and is nothing to worry about. As long as the light bulbs are not directly exposed to the water and getting condensation on them, you have nothing to worry about. I'm assuming it is on the glass/plastic that the condensation is gathering--am I right?I did an ammonia test like an hour ago, and it showed zero.

yes, its on the plastic of the hood.

I will test daily for ammonia, and do water changes if it goes up.

I fed them once today, i only put about 7 small flakes worth of food in there, just incase they weren't hungrey.

Like one or two of them ate all the flakes, so there is not excess food randomly floating around in there.

Ok the four can stay in there, and just be happy, i have literally spent 5 hours looking at them today.

I have been laying on my bed, playing a game, and just watching them most of the day. I wanted to make sure they were fine, and not flipping out, and/or attacking each other. I saw no nipping or anything going on.

All 4 seem to stay together and just swim to random areas, like go check out a plant, then goto the top and look around then go back to another plant and swim around.

 

[TammyLiz]

Yes, I love to watch my fish. Glad you're enjoying yours.

The ammonia will go up. I'm not just making things up there. It won't be as bad if your barbs are really small. Are they still really little? Tiger barbs grow to be 2.5 inches but usually aren't fully grown when you buy them.

Glad to hear you have a test kit for the ammonia. It will take some of the guesswork out of things for you. Do you have a nitrite test kit, too? After the ammonia spikes and starts to go back down, the nitrite will spike. Not quite as toxic as ammonia, but still very hard on the fish, especially after they've just been through the ammonia spike.

 

[cegha]

mine are nowhere near 2.5". Holding a tape measure near the tank and eyeballing there mabye 1".

This morning when i woke up, i was looking at them, and they started doing that thing where they put there lips together and start spinning around in circles.

Just got home, and now, looking at them there seems to be one of them, that occasionally chases the others around.

I will see him like chase after them for like 5 seconds, then he will just go swim wherever. Then in a little while go chase another one, this is normal right?

Do i need to get a pH tester kit? I had one from my last fish expedition, but i don't know where it went, and was wondering if i need to get another.

I can get a nitrite one, if need be. The ammonia test kit i got is made by Aquarium Pharmaceticuals inc. I remember reading they were a good brand. Should i get the same brand nitrite test kit too?

I will also pick up a real thermometor to put in the tank, since you said the black one stuck on the tank is inaccurate.

BTW, thnx for all the help so far.

 

[cegha]

Well, if you didn't hit the spot, just got up and did an ammonia test, and it jumped to about 1ppm or so.

About to get out the bucket and do a water change right this second.

 

[cegha]

just did a water change and redid the ammonia test, and it's still showing up as about 1ppm.

Do i need to wait until later tonight or tomorrow to do an ammonia test?

I did about a 33% water change.

Another question, i have all fake plants in my tank and this little castle sorta thing, well my one fish is acting kinda weird.

He goes over to this one particular plants angles himeself kind of like "/" but a little less slanted so hes parallel to the like stem of the plant and floats in the same spot like hes in a trance. Then like after a couple of minutes he will go and join the other 3 and swim around.

I will take a picture later and post it, so you can see what im talking about.

 

[TammyLiz]

Hi again Cegha!
Good job on the water change for the ammonia. You don't have to wait to test, you can test whenever you want. Keep in mind that if you have 1ppm of ammonia and you do a 33% water change you can pretty much guess that you'll have about 33% less ammonia after the water change, so .66 ppm. If you read the the information about cycling with fish you'll already know that number is going to keep going up. You can do water changes once or twice a day to try to keep it down, but this will last for weeks, maybe a couple of months. If your fish are acting weird and do get sick I wouldn't be surprised...you may lose one or all of them in the process of cycling. Between the chance of losing them and all the work to try to prevent their deaths, that's why I suggested that you may want to take them back and start with a fishless cycle. Of course, whatever you do is up to you. If your fish do get sick, let me warn you ahead of time that any medication is going to slow down the cycle because most meds inhibit bacteria. Don't get discouraged with fishkeeping altogether, though. It is the beginning that is toughest.

--Tammy

 

[cegha]

Is there a minimum ppm i should keep it under? I know ammonia in any amount isn't good for them.

What about doing 3 33% water changes throughout the day, to get rid of ammonia, and get it back to near zero. Is that ok to do, or would that mess up the bacteria that are beginning to grow and stuff?

 

[TammyLiz]

Thats a lot of work...its up to you. I wouldn't do it three times a day personally. You don't want to burn yourself out. I'd just do once or twice a day. Bacteria may not be beginning to grow yet if you have not added any mature media...you're basically waiting for them to appear out of thin air. The most productive thing you can do at this point is try to get something from a mature healthy tank to give it a kick start. Where did you get your fish from? Did everything look healthy there? You could see if they'd give you a handfull of gravel to place in your tank, or better yet, a piece of filter media to put in your filter. Have them put it in a bag of water to keep it warm and wet on the way home, as if it's a fish. That would really help.

I admire your excitement. Sounds like you're going to love the hobby. Its nice to talk to someone new who isn't saying something along the lines of "Oh no! You mean these fish actually need me to take care of them!?! "

 

[cegha]

The next time i goto petsmart i will ask them that.

Right now, im about to crap my pants. I have had that ammonia test kit for a LONG time. Probably around a year or more. I have done 3 ammonia tests today and 2 water changes, and it's still reading the same, at about 1-2ppm, probably closer to 1.

Could it be that the 2 little bottles of formula i add to the water have went bad or something?

I just don't believe there can be that much ammonia in the water after doing 2 water changes, which is probably about 66% of the water.

Is there anyway that mabye chlorine from the tap water is showing up as ammonia?

I put the de-chlorineifer stuff into the water before it was going into the tank, but now that i think about it, that solution stuff is very old. Back from like when i had my FIRST fish, that was a betta and lived in a vase. Were talking like 2 years probably.

Could that stuff have went bad, and be making the ammonia test act all funny?

Please tell me why im getting such high ammonia test results.

 

[TammyLiz]

Did you test your tap water? I actually had the same thing happen to me and it was in my tap. Some water treatment plants actually add a small amount to the tap water. I have the same test kit, and it shows about 1ppm out of my tap. When the tank is cycled, it reads 0 in the tank unless its right after a water change.

Some dechlorinators can interfere with certain ammonia test kits. However, the brand of ammonia test you are using is not one of the ones that can be affected by it. The reading is most like accurate or nearly so.

I have heard that those test kits can "go bad" but I have no knowledge of how to tell.

Two years is probably not long enough for dechlorinator to go bad, but thats just my guess. Back when I only had one ten gallon tank I probably had the same bottle for two years and never had a problem with it. BTW, is yours also good for chloramines?

 

[cegha]

it's made by bio-safe and eliminates toxic chlorine, chloramine, and ammonia in tap water.

At this point i guess its irrevalent since i just shook the bottle and probably got enough for another water change or 2, and will have to go get some anyways.

I guess mabye tomorrow or something i will pick up a nitrite test kit, and some more chlorine killer stuff.

Test again tomorrow, and see if it's still high.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Have you checked out that pinned topic about members who are willing to donate mature media? There might be somebody close to you who would be happy to help; this would speed up the cycle and lessen the stress on the fish.

 

[TammyLiz]

Have you checked out that pinned topic about members who are willing to donate mature media? There might be somebody close to you who would be happy to help; this would speed up the cycle and lessen the stress on the fish.

Thats a great idea--I hadn't even thought of that.