Need A Reliable Lfs In Brooklyn/new York

[Jacob Da Jew]

I went to 2 different stores in my neighborhood and they completely have no clue whats flying.

First, they sold me Chiclids for a 10 gallon tank and now I bought danios and apparently my tank is too small for them and my tetras need some more company. Oy.

Maybe someone here can recommend a LFS (whatever that means) in Brooklyn or around that area.

Alternatives are acceptable too.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Jake

I think you need more than a store (lfs=local fish store). Petland Discounts is not the greatest place to get started in the hobby, but they do have the best prices going on 55 gallon tanks with stands, and they do sell live blackworms. File those two facts away for future reference because once you really get going with this, you may find them useful.

I've looked through your posts and your blog, and am not sure you know how the bacteria thing works. In short, you have to cultivate what we call "beneficial bacteria" to convert the ammonia in your fish's waste products to the more safe nitrAte. If the tank is done right, there will be a balance between the fish in the tank and the amount of beneficial bacteria in the filter and on the other surfaces. Let me explain how this works.

There are some bacteria in a "cycled" tank that consumes Ammonia, which is poison. When they do this, they convert it to NitrIte, which is also poison. That's not as bad as it sounds though, because here is another kind of beneficial bacteria that eats NitrIte and converts it into NitrAte, which is not harmful in small amounts. The NitrAte can then be removed when you do your weekly water changes.

When you do your water changes and tank cleanings, you must add dechlorinator to the water to remove the chlorine that the water dept. adds to kill bacteria. If you don't, or if you rinse your filter media in tap water, it will kill the beneficial bacteria you've been trying to cultivate. If you've done that, and the tank is just a few weeks old, I suspect your tank isn't cycled. If this is the case you have a major problem here and will need to do something fast to prevent your fish from dying horrible deaths.

The quickest way to get a cycled tank is to add filter media from another tank that is cycled. If you have a friend who has some, and will share it, you could just add it to your filter. Or, there's Bio Spira, which is the only live bacteria product you can buy. A good lfs will keep it under refrigeration. Don't let them sell you anything else; it won't work

OK, the catfish you have there is a cory cat of some species, but I can't make out which one. They are peaceful fish, but they live in schools. You could keep 6 or maybe even 7 of them in a 10 gallon tank, provided there were no other fish in there too. In my opinion, cory cats are the best thing going!

 

[Jacob Da Jew]

Inchworm:

I appreciate you taking the time to write this reply.

Rest assured though, I have done everything you mentioned here already.

I use "Stress Coat" to decolirinate the water. My ammonia level is 0. My Ph level is 7.2.

My LFS, even though they aren't that friendly, they know the basics of maintaining a tank. They sold me "Bio Spira" which I introduced 2 weeks ago and today.

Cory's are cool but I need somethin that would catch my my little 2 year old daughter's eye.

Can you take a look at my other post...Can I add some more Tetras to the tank so the other 2 tetras will be happier?

Where do you go to get your stuff as I see you live in New york?

Thanks again

Jake

Hi Jake

I think you need more than a store (lfs=local fish store). Petland Discounts is not the greatest place to get started in the hobby, but they do have the best prices going on 55 gallon tanks with stands, and they do sell live blackworms. File those two facts away for future reference because once you really get going with this, you may find them useful.

I've looked through your posts and your blog, and am not sure you know how the bacteria thing works. In short, you have to cultivate what we call "beneficial bacteria" to convert the ammonia in your fish's waste products to the more safe nitrAte. If the tank is done right, there will be a balance between the fish in the tank and the amount of beneficial bacteria in the filter and on the other surfaces. Let me explain how this works.

There are some bacteria in a "cycled" tank that consumes Ammonia, which is poison. When they do this, they convert it to NitrIte, which is also poison. That's not as bad as it sounds though, because here is another kind of beneficial bacteria that eats NitrIte and converts it into NitrAte, which is not harmful in small amounts. The NitrAte can then be removed when you do your weekly water changes.

When you do your water changes and tank cleanings, you must add dechlorinator to the water to remove the chlorine that the water dept. adds to kill bacteria. If you don't, or if you rinse your filter media in tap water, it will kill the beneficial bacteria you've been trying to cultivate. If you've done that, and the tank is just a few weeks old, I suspect your tank isn't cycled. If this is the case you have a major problem here and will need to do something fast to prevent your fish from dying horrible deaths.

The quickest way to get a cycled tank is to add filter media from another tank that is cycled. If you have a friend who has some, and will share it, you could just add it to your filter. Or, there's Bio Spira, which is the only live bacteria product you can buy. A good lfs will keep it under refrigeration. Don't let them sell you anything else; it won't work

OK, the catfish you have there is a cory cat of some species, but I can't make out which one. They are peaceful fish, but they live in schools. You could keep 6 or maybe even 7 of them in a 10 gallon tank, provided there were no other fish in there too. In my opinion, cory cats are the best thing going!