New Tank, Need Help

[boberga]

Hi everyone I'm new to the forums and I have some questions/concerns. Just to start off I've had pet fish when I was much younger but my dad always maintained the tank but he didn't know much about fish then at that lasted about a year but now that I'm older I started to like fish more and more to the point that my dad and mom noticed it that my dad bought a 20 gallon fish tank at the end of last month (may 31) with3 juvenile angelfish. The next week my mom and my sister bought 3 guppies 2 molly 1 red wag plates and a tiger barb. Now this is where I need help, I don't know if if this is too much fish in the tank or its alright and what I need to do for the tank and such. I did a 15% water change the first week and yesterday I did a 30% water change when gravel vacuuming and changed the carbon active filter because it started to smell and now it smells fine. The tank is a20 gallon high tank with about 25 pounds of natural looking gravel 4 fake plants (top fin medium pack) whisper pf20 filter, heater set to 80F and a LED hood. I still need to buy a air pump. Everything seems fine but I my 2 molly and platy are always hiding near the back of the tank either in the plants(mostly at the base) or at the heater. Is this normal? And also my tiger barb has been hyper active since I got him. Always swimming up and down against the glass. The 3 angelfish where bought on May 31st. 2 guppies bought on June 7th and the rest where bought on June 8th. Tank water is slightly cloudy

 

[fishmanphil]

See if you can return the fish to where they were bought from, then have a read about cycling your tank. http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/you'll benefit long term

 

[TheOscarman1981]

Your first problem is the tank is not cycled as fishmanphil said.

Your second problem is the tank is not big enough to keep 3 angels in.

Your third problem tiger barbs need to be in shoals of at least 6 and are notorious for nipping fins.

The live bearers would be ok if you had cycled your tank first.

Sorry for the bad news but you did a good thing coming on to this forum for advise, get your tank cycled and come back and I'm sure people will point you in the right direction good look.

 

[fluttermoth]

Your problem is that your tank isn't 'cycled'. That means it doesn't have a colony of good bacteria living in the filter. The bacteria eat the ammonia produced by the fish and turn it into less toxic substances; first nitrite, which is also toxic, and then nitrate, which is only toxic at very high levels, and which we keep low with water changes, in a cycled tank.

Try and change at least 95% of the water right now; leave just enough water for the fish to swim upright (don't forget to switch your heater/filter off first!) before refiling with warmed, dechlorinated water. Then do 50 or 60% every day until you can either arrange to get some test kits and do a fish-in cycle, or rehome/return the fish and properly cycle the tank.

The angelfish and the tiger barb are your biggest problem fish. Three angels is a really bad number to have. As they grow the two biggest ones will pick on the smaller; often until thy kill it, I'm afraid. Then the last two might get along and pair up, or they might start fighting themselves. Tiger barbs need to be in large shoals, and only with other quite bold, fast swimming fish; don't try and keep anything slow swimming or with long fins with them.

If you have a look in the 'Cycle your Tank' sub forum, you'll find some guides in there that will help you through the process.

 

[Hairy_Trev]

I too was in the same situation, returning to a hobby which I'd previously done when I was at school. As my good friend in the local aquatic shop said to me... "The hobby is so different today than it was 20 years ago". Back in those early days, you bought a tank, put in gravel, planted it out, filled it with water, added 20 or so fish and then let it look pretty! We used to top up water lost through evaporation every couple of weeks, but aside from that, it was given a complete clean out once a year... it's different now!
 
As I said before, I returned to this hobby at the beginning of march, buying my brother's old 70 litre tank complete with filter and heater. I read up online from several websites and information pages similar to this site and learned about cycling, and setting up a tank from scratch and followed the advice as close as I could. 
 
I took great care in creating my own custom rock wall background, but also knew that it was going to need thoroughly flushing to wash out any minerals which would effect the water.
 
As I wanted the most natural environment I had to go with real plants in the tank and not plastic, I made my selection based on the height of plants, how easy to grow, lighting requirements etc and planned exactly where I wanted the vegetation.
 
Cycling the tank is critical and I did regular water tests until I knew the nitrite levels were right down. You can buy packs of test strips (I bought a tin of 50 strips for about £10 / $15). Dip it in your water for a few seconds and then read off the colours against the chart. It shows acidity, water hardness, nitrite, nitrate and chlorine levels. Only when you have the levels down can you cautiously begin to add fish. Choose breeds which are hardy.. I went with Cherry Barbs, but Gold Barbs, danios and neons are good alternatives.
 
The filtration is a balancing act. The bacteria in the filter will multiply according to the amount of fish waste. The first few fish will produce enough waste to allow the bacteria to multiply, making more efficient filtering, allowing you to add more fish... more mulitplying, better cleaning... add more fish.. etc.. If the bacteria level suddenly drops, the water will not support the larger number of fish... if the fish stocks drop, the bacteria will have less waste to feed on and they will decline.
 
It took me about 5 weeks from when I first collected my tank, to make the rock wall, plant out the tank and fully cycle it before I addd my first 6 cherry barbs. A week later, I added my 3 corydoras, another week passed before I added 3 ottos and 2 swordtails, and yet another week before neons were added. Take your time and you will enjoy the pleasure of each step over a longer period of time.
 
Final comment about your fish choices... I would have thought that on the whole, the number of fish is suitable, as long as you get the air pump running or some live plants in there. However, angelfish can be quite large and aggressive sometimes. They are going to also suffer in the same way that your guppies will... their long fins and beautiful are going to hammered by the tiger. These fish are notorius for nipping at long fins and will tear them to shreds. It's a shame because I really like tigers, but I chose not to put them in the tank for this very reason. There is a 5 banded barb, which looks similar and is more friendly although the markings are less sharp. Gold Barbs are probably a better option but it is all down to your personal tastes.
 
Summary... take your time... make sure the tank is fully cycled, stablised, planted out and then add fish a few every week. Start with something very hardy... the waste they produce will increase the bacteria, allowing you to add further fish the following week, more waste, more bacteria, more fish... more waste, more bacte....... you get the idea?!!! Good luck and stick with it!