Nearly Quit The Hobby

[Carp4U]

Hi, i'm 13. I'm not really a 'newbie' but i only set up my first tank a few months ago. This is going to be a long story so anyone who bears with it, thankyou so much!

Firstly, i got my tank. Juwel Rekord 70 15 gallon. I set up, cycled it, put plants in and ornaments etc. Great. Put in Harlequins and they were fantastic. After, I added some cories, dwarf gouramis, an algae eaters, aires tetras (not all at once!) during a few months. My dwarf gourami's kept dying. I added in 2 pairs. I got 2 crosby gouramis after the dwarf's or before ( i can't remember) but they chased each other so they went back to the shop. I later got 2 kribensis and a plec. The kribensis were fighting so i removed one successfully to my dads tank. I also gave away the aires tetras who i suspected had been nipping the harlequins which i think had killed one of them. I made a stocking mistake. I have all live plants in there, and i realised they were being eaten badly, it was plec. My beautifully scaped tank ended up lookin a mess all the time. My Remaining krib killed some cardinal tetras i put in, so i separated him to save them. I tried letting him out but he attacked them. I added two more to the shoal and 1 died, but he left the others alone. Before that, i lost 3 of my 4 cories. They died of suspected swimbladder problems or being attacked. Both were my fault for overfeeding or making bad stocking choices. I had a smaller 9 gallon tank which i had set up for goldfish, who had both died within 2 months of swimbladder problems which was most likely my fault from overfeeding. Plus, my plec kept eating plants every time i tried to make the tank look nice. The tank was always bare.
The problem here was i made bad stocking choices!! I didn't do miuch research, i just bought them on the spot. If i had come home and asked you guys most of the troublemakers wouldn't have gone in in the first place and so many fish wouldn't have died! Non-fish problems were a suspected leak in the tank, confusion with maintenance and generally bad maintenance.

I put in a heater when the goldfish died and turned it into a tropical, in about a week i put the krib and algae eater in. After 3-4 days i bought new ornaments and gravel. I was so stupid. I left them in there while i removed the current plants and ornaments, replaced half of the gravel with the new gravel and replaced some of the ornaments and plants (some were new). I took some water out and put more in etc. The krib and algae eater started to get ill, and unstable. They stayed at the bottom. They died the following morning.

I can't believe what i did. I didn't think at all. I just rushed into it. I don't have any patience. I actually cried when they died because i knew it was all my fault. It doesn 't help that i moved them out of the first tank. They would have survived otherwise. I have a tendency to move fish or take action right away. If i got my stocking choices right in the first place then they wouldn't have died!! The 9 gallon is now fishless.

I was told by my mum it was the only way to learn. But, i can't forgive myself. I thought about selling my tanks, to protect other innocent fish, and stop me doing this to my surviving tank. My rekord 70 is actually problem-free now apart from plec eating my plants.
I thought that i can't care for my fish, and that it would benefit them if i sold them. However, i changed my mind.

I could really do with somebody who has gone through something like this in the past to give me some guidance and advice to avoid me doing this again in the future so that i can enjoy fishkeeping and my fish can be healthy and happy.
My current stocking list in a post below.

Thanks Again To any of you who help

 

[OldMan47]

First things first Carp4u. If I am reading your post correctly, you have a 15 gallon tank and a 9 gallon tank. I can't tell from your story how many fish you have left in those tanks but a gourami is a fairly large fish for a tank the size of the 15 gallon. It sounds like it is time to sit down with a piece of paper and list all of your fish. When you have done that, decide which ones can be kept together and which cannot. You may find that you have 2 groups of surviving fish that can be kept as groups rather than all together in one tank. When you think you have it all sorted out, try coming back here and listing what the 2 tank stockings would look like. It will let us help you avoid some of the typical issues that people encounter. You say that you have only been keeping fish for a few months so to me you seem like a newbie, although I am sure you have mastered some of the fundamentals. There are folks here with many years of experience trying one or another fish grouping that will be able to help you sort things out and avoid further mistakes. If that seems like a good idea, it is time for you to get busy making your lists.

 

[drobbyb]

I'm kinda on your mom's side. Often times it takes a catastrophe for us to learn some valuable lessons. If I read your post right, it sounds that you already learned some valuable lessons. You said it yourself when you said "research." Without trying to sound too cliche, knowledge is power.

I suggest that you try again, but with more planning and research. I have faith in you!

 

[Carp4U]

First things first Carp4u. If I am reading your post correctly, you have a 15 gallon tank and a 9 gallon tank. I can't tell from your story how many fish you have left in those tanks but a gourami is a fairly large fish for a tank the size of the 15 gallon. It sounds like it is time to sit down with a piece of paper and list all of your fish. When you have done that, decide which ones can be kept together and which cannot. You may find that you have 2 groups of surviving fish that can be kept as groups rather than all together in one tank. When you think you have it all sorted out, try coming back here and listing what the 2 tank stockings would look like. It will let us help you avoid some of the typical issues that people encounter. You say that you have only been keeping fish for a few months so to me you seem like a newbie, although I am sure you have mastered some of the fundamentals. There are folks here with many years of experience trying one or another fish grouping that will be able to help you sort things out and avoid further mistakes. If that seems like a good idea, it is time for you to get busy making your lists.

I didn't want to to go into too much detail so the post wasn't too long and you were having to read a novel. My current fish list is now:
15 Gal Rekord 70:
1 male swordtail
6 harlequin rasboras
1 corydoras sterbai
2 bronze corydoras
1 corydoras leopardus
1 gibbiceps pleco

 

[hollanda88]

That gibby is going to get massive quickly i would deffinately take it back that will give you more room.

 

[waterdrop]

Everyone makes mistakes or has aspects of a tank or stocking they wish they'd done differently. I always have plenty of those wishes in my own efforts.

Additionally, its very uncommon, in my opinion, for someone your age to have acquired the more methodical habits that perhaps an older person might have. Its still the age to be acquiring them! To me you seem to be coming along very well and I'd say not to be so hard on yourself, just keep refining and making each attempt better if possible and resist temptations to give up, as each little failure makes you stronger and gives you greater wisdom.

Attack your stocking issues just as OM47 says and things are bound to feel better eventually. I'm not especially good at stocking issues myself, so I'll defer to our other experienced people who are already helping.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lyotim88]

for 3 or so months into the hobby your really not doing terrible, so hang in there, the fun hasn't even begun yet! Now, when you say you cycled your tank first, can you explain exactly how you went about doing that. I could be wrong, but i have a feeling you didn't cycle properly.

 

[OldMan47]

Let's try this then. The single swordtail will not be a problem for any of its tankmates. The rasboras are some of my favorites because they can go with anything and seem to do well. I don't see a gourami in your stocking any more so that is a blessing. The cories are often better kept in larger groups that are all alike but you don't have room to expand their numbers that much. I am going to agree with Hollanda that almost any plec is too big for a 15 gallon or a 9 gallon. It seems to me that you could keep all of the fish except the pleco together and do fine in the 70 litre. When you have a truly ready 9 gallon to add the fish to, you could choose some of your cories to move over and add in a few small peaceful fish. If there is something wrong with the 9 gallon right now, I couldn't tell from your original post, it is the opportunity to get it straightened out and properly cycled before you move on to fill that tank with fish. Right now I would say that the 70 litre is full if all of your fish were put into that one. I hope this helps a little.