New, Help Any Suggestions?

[awesome_loser]

Ok so i am a newbie, me and my gf decided this past weekend to get fish and we have made probably every mistake there is to make since then.

First we started by going to walmart at 10 at nite when there was nobody at all there to get stuff had a guy from sporting come help us. We ended up getting a 2.5 gal tank colored gravel rock home and aritficial plant 3 platies and a mollie. Guy said oh yea tank should be big enough. Asked bout water because the water at our apartment isnt the greatest wasnt sure about using it he said we can use spring water.

So we get home set everything up and put fish in, which i now know after reading on here everything we have done so far been mistake. The next day after reading up more on the fish we decide to return tank and get bigger one. Girlfriend goes to local pet store and gets 10 gal tank gravel filter aquarium kit all for as much as we paid at walmart. Lady there said get rid of everything we had before so we took it all back. She set up the 10gal let it filter for awhile before puttin fish in and returning other stuff. She used the startup kit from local pet store to start the 10gal tank, kit includes... water safe plus (conditioner)... ammonia clean... correct ph... ph test strips. Used all those n got more test stips to check other levels then added fish, probably too soon though. Also forgot to add rocks before putting water in.

So now what we have is empty tank just the 4 fish and filter. Plan on goin to get gravel vac and doin partial water change to clean out some of left over food and crap on bottom of tank. Was also going to add gravel, would you suggest taking fish out to do this or would it be ok to add with fish in there? I am figuring after all the stress these fish been through they probably wont make it anyway, but we are going to try and keep them. The mollie i think is already sick, seems to be doing the "shimmies" so we got aquarium salt and added some seemed to help her a bit.

I guess what i would like is some suggestions of what to do now. My plan was to get gravel vac and clean tank add gravel and some toys, possibly plants heard mollies need some plant, and just keep an eye on levels n try to keep the fish alive. Also is a hood absolutly needed? We didnt get one with tank wondered if we should. If anyone could help give me some suggestions that would be great. Also we got some 'crystal clear' that is suppose to help with the cloudyness from the new tank syndrome, is it ok to be using?

 

[dc3]

Hi
Welcome to the fun filled and highly addictive hobby of fish-keeping Before you do anything else - read up on cycling a tank... It's best to do a fishless cycle - but you've kinda already got fish in there, so you're gonna have to get them thru the ammonia spike and the nitrite spike and hope they survive... Don't add any of those additives as most only treat the symptoms and don't fix your problem - the best thing to do is see if you can get some old filter media from a friend with a healthy tank - otherwise the fish are in for a rough couple of weeks. Sorry if that sounds omnious - but it does get better and more fun once u r set up and running...

 

[Tyshow]

I dont think adding the gravel with the fish already in there should be a problem just make sure you rinse the gravel with water b4 putting it in. That way all the dust and stuff is rinsed away and not put in your tank. I am glad they got a big tank. i have never seen a smaller tank then a 5 gallon though. Anyway i hope they make it through the cycling process. goodluck

 

[dthoffsett]

Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear about the bad advice you were given. Here's a link that should answer some of your question.
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=175355

 

[gilaesther]

I dont think adding the gravel with the fish already in there should be a problem just make sure you rinse the gravel with water b4 putting it in. That way all the dust and stuff is rinsed away and not put in your tank. I am glad they got a big tank. i have never seen a smaller tank then a 5 gallon though. Anyway i hope they make it through the cycling process. goodluck

Yeah, I've seen the 2.5 gal, they're mostly advertised for bettas. Depending on the brand, they may come with a divider so you can keep two without them tearing each other apart - bad idea, I've heard of some that wiggle over the divider, rip off fin through the divider holes... and the filter is internal, so one betta gets less room than the other.

 

[awesome_loser]

Yea i am hoping the fish can make it through all this but know its going to be tough on them. I saw that it said some test strips are crap, i got Quick Dip 5 in 1 tests by jungle labs corp. think they should be good? Also should i hold off on using the crystal clear stuff for the cloudyness? The 2.5 gal was a kit with whisper filter n everything, lady at local pet store said they are crap.

So far fish seem to be ok but hasnt even been a week, gunna ask around see if i can get used media. Till i can can get one though cleaning tank adding cleaned gravel and checking water specs often is my best bet though right?

 

[fishlette]

Yea i am hoping the fish can make it through all this but know its going to be tough on them. I saw that it said some test strips are crap, i got Quick Dip 5 in 1 tests by jungle labs corp. think they should be good? Also should i hold off on using the crystal clear stuff for the cloudyness? The 2.5 gal was a kit with whisper filter n everything, lady at local pet store said they are crap.

So far fish seem to be ok but hasnt even been a week, gunna ask around see if i can get used media. Till i can can get one though cleaning tank adding cleaned gravel and checking water specs often is my best bet though right?

oh you poor thing. im from australia so i have only heard of walmart but i buried my head in my hands when i read that you went to walmart...at 10pm!!! lol anyhoo, this is what i would do in this situation. add some plants and decorations to the tank and leave it bare bottomed for a week or so and allow your fish to settle in.

after a week take them out while you do the tank. i dont like to advise taking fish out of the tank often but in my experience if you try to add the gravel while the fish are in there it will freak them out more than being taken out and put in a safe, quiet holding area.

add everything to the tank and then put the fish back in. seeing as the tank is new, do a water change daily for a while.

you dont need to hold off on the crystal clear as i believe this works in an interesting way to remove the cloudiness from your water. i have been told at a couple of places that the crystal clear attracts and traps bad particles in the water and then they get filtered through the filter. you can use it but you can also just wait for a while and once your tank starts to get healthy by water changing etc the cloudiness will go away anyway. if you have a bacterial bloom that is causing the cloudiness it will only come back within a day of using the crystal clear so its kinda like wasting your money in a way.

keep your tank clean, your water changes regular and dont overfeed and you should be ok. btw how much salt did you add for the molly? the recommended dosage is 1tbsp per 5 gallons but for it to be effective for mollies the ratio must be much higher and it must be marine salt not aquarium salt. mollies need pristine water or the right salt to be healthy

 

[awesome_loser]

as for the plants, should i get real ones? i saw some bulbs that grow, figured i should have gravel in for that though, or should i just get some of the fake ones? whats the differance in the salt, we got aquarium salt n when we added some last nite when the mollie shimmied it seemed to help she got more lively.

 

[vinylman]

Yes, get live plants; quick growers like Hygrophila Polysperma, Elodea Densa etc. See if you can get a couple of floating plants, too - they'll help with Nitrates. If you haven't put the gravel in yet, get a small tub of Tetra Complete Substrate, then cover it with around 1-2 inches of gravel. That'll help the plants no end.

 

[fishlette]

as for the plants, should i get real ones? i saw some bulbs that grow, figured i should have gravel in for that though, or should i just get some of the fake ones? whats the differance in the salt, we got aquarium salt n when we added some last nite when the mollie shimmied it seemed to help she got more lively.

well as a newbie i used to use aquarium salt to and i was told on here that it was useless and i would need to use marine salt as it has the properties more commonly found in proper salt water.

i would start with fake and work your way up to real when your tank has settled and matured. tis all up to you though. check out the plants sectin and ask some questions in there

 

[awesome_loser]

Also a question about filters. From what i gathered reading posts on here it seems like i shouldnt change the sponge 'media' like i says to do every 2-4 weeks because that will get rid of good bacteria right? I should just be cleaning it off occasionaly in the old tank water during a water change right?

 

[fishlette]

Also a question about filters. From what i gathered reading posts on here it seems like i shouldnt change the sponge 'media' like i says to do every 2-4 weeks because that will get rid of good bacteria right? I should just be cleaning it off occasionaly in the old tank water during a water change right?

there is no need to change the filter media that regularly. this is the companys way of getting you to buy things you dont need. if you change your filter media completely your tank will start to cycle again. i do mine once a month. i just rinse the sponge or ceramic noodles etc in the tank water along with the inside bits of the filter.