New Fish And Tank Setup

[Miamisportsfan45]

Aqua life has always been a major hobby for me; in fact, my whole life growing up, I wanted to be a Dolphin trainer, or a marine biologist. So obviously it was expected to follow me as I was growing up, and I enjoy having fish to take care of as a hobby because they're entertaining to watch, breed, and take care of and even make for great decoration in the household. Anyway, I'm not going to tell you my life story.

So, with this all being said, I was required to give away my tank for other purposes, and I just recently was given a new 55 gallon tank for free. However, I can't quite use this tank yet, because I'm moving from Pennsylvania to Florida, so I have to put the fish elsewhere until I can get settled into my new apartment. Now, the problem with this is that the person giving me the new tank for free, is giving me his fish with it. Not that I don't appreciate it, but I decided to turn to the experts for some tips, advice, and knowledge on these new species that I'll be required to take care of soon. So this tank came with a coy (looks like a goldfish?), 2 neons, 1 red tail shark, and a dragonfish (I think that's what it's called?) but I know little to nothing of these fish, so some help would be useful and greatly appreciated.Thanks in advance! I appreciate it.

~MSF

 

[waterdrop]

Don't know whether you could pull this off without hurting the person's feelings, but under the circumstances it might be really good to find new homes for these fish before you leave the state. The particular fish you mention would not be part of what we'd term a "good stocking plan." "Koi," I believe is the goldfish-like carp you are describing can be seen in pictures in google images, where you will also likely see the huge size these pond fish grow to. They are freshwater fish and don't belong with the other tropicals mentioned. Neons need to be in considerably larger shoals and red-tailed black sharks and dragonfish may also turn out to not be fish you'd particularly want in your community although a community in a 55 could include them. Re-homing the fish before your trip (to a store or elsewhere that would take them.. you'd have to work hard at it) would make your life much, much easier and would give you a chance for a full fresh start with much longer time periods to fully consider possible new equipment and certainly to learn more startup lessons. Anyway, its just a thought.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miamisportsfan45]

Don't know whether you could pull this off without hurting the person's feelings, but under the circumstances it might be really good to find new homes for these fish before you leave the state. The particular fish you mention would not be part of what we'd term a "good stocking plan." "Koi," I believe is the goldfish-like carp you are describing can be seen in pictures in google images, where you will also likely see the huge size these pond fish grow to. They are freshwater fish and don't belong with the other tropicals mentioned. Neons need to be in considerably larger shoals and red-tailed black sharks and dragonfish may also turn out to not be fish you'd particularly want in your community although a community in a 55 could include them. Re-homing the fish before your trip (to a store or elsewhere that would take them.. you'd have to work hard at it) would make your life much, much easier and would give you a chance for a full fresh start with much longer time periods to fully consider possible new equipment and certainly to learn more startup lessons. Anyway, its just a thought.

~~waterdrop~~

This isn't necessarily me starting up again; just more along the lines of restarting. I once had a tank setup before. However, just not particularly with these fish. I had a setup in a 55 gallon before for tetras and guppies. So it wasn't quite as technical, but I understand what you're getting at. The Koi is what threw me off completely for the exact reason you mentioned above. That's why I came to this site once again for advice as far as common temp levels among others, too. Things such as main diets, temps, pH levels, and etc.

 

[TimNorwich]

You won't have a hard time finding a home for the koi, since if they are as popular there as they are here people go mad for them, especially nice ones. But whatever happens the koi has to go, they can reach up to 30" inches easily. The other fish aren't as much as a problem, other than the problem they impose to you.