New To Keeping Fish

[maisy12345]

Hi,I`ve just bought a 28 litre tank .,and so far have introduced four glowlight tetra,two corydoras,and have been told that i could also introduce two shrimp,and three guppies in stages.I`m new to keeping fish though,so what does everyone think,are these too many?
Also have only had tank for over a week,so far have done one 20 percent water change ,but the water is still slightly cloudly,the tank has already gone through a bacterial bloom,so how do i get it clear ,have read that i don`t clean the filter out for a month ,to allow for the bacteria to grow ,so where`s the cloudiness coming from,could it be the gravel,needs cleaning?

 

[brian2708]

Hi,I`ve just bought a 28 litre tank .,and so far have introduced four glowlight tetra,two corydoras,and have been told that i could also introduce two shrimp,and three guppies in stages.I`m new to keeping fish though,so what does everyone think,are these too many?
Also have only had tank for over a week,so far have done one 20 percent water change ,but the water is still slightly cloudly,the tank has already gone through a bacterial bloom,so how do i get it clear ,have read that i don`t clean the filter out for a month ,to allow for the bacteria to grow ,so where`s the cloudiness coming from,could it be the gravel,needs cleaning?

You need to read the "fish-in" cycling section of the forum and stick to it to make sure you don't kill your fish. Sounds like you've chucked them into an un-cycled tank.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Hi,I`ve just bought a 28 litre tank .,and so far have introduced four glowlight tetra,two corydoras,and have been told that i could also introduce two shrimp,and three guppies in stages.I`m new to keeping fish though,so what does everyone think,are these too many?
Also have only had tank for over a week,so far have done one 20 percent water change ,but the water is still slightly cloudly,the tank has already gone through a bacterial bloom,so how do i get it clear ,have read that i don`t clean the filter out for a month ,to allow for the bacteria to grow ,so where`s the cloudiness coming from,could it be the gravel,needs cleaning?

Good morning, welcome to the forum...

looks like i'm the first person to mention 'fishless cycling' to you, with it looking like you haven't done one.
The fish that are in your tank now are swimming around in their own pee and poo. This, in turn, will kill them within days if you do not do daily water tests and water changes. A fishless cycle is a method of adding household ammonia into your tank, which will feed the 'benefictial bacteria' needed to grow inside your filter, which in turn will eat and process any waste that your fish give off (pee and poo!).

So, i suggest you do 3 things....
1/ Buy an API master test kit off Ebay (no more than £20)
2/ Carry out daily water tests (Ammonia, NitrIte and maybe PH)
3/Carry out all necessary water changes so your ammonia NEVER gets above 0.25ppm.

You are now in a 'fish-in' cycle, which, theoretically, could take weeks and weeks to get your water right.
Please visit the fishless cycle threads on other parts of this forum for further advice.

Best of luck, i know what situation you are in, believe me!

regards,
Terry.

 

[Tizer]

Do you know the model/make of the tank? Where did you buy it from? What shop?

Sounds like you are on the road to killing most of the fish, so a good job you dropped by.

Have a good read of the filter cycling threads on here and i highly suggest you go drain off 50% of the water in your tank and put fresh water in there. However, you need to remove the chlorine from the fresh water before doing this, so pop down your local fish shop and buy some dechlorinator. If you dont do this your filter will not be able to colonise any bacteria, because chlorine kills them.

 

[coldcazzie]

Hi Maisy, if you go to the beginners section of the forum (your new freshwater tank it's called) you will get loads of really good advice in there.

Basically though, the fish shop was wrong when they said you can just buy the tank and throw some fish in. When fish poop and breathe they excrete ammonia, which is toxic (you ever smelled cat pee or rabbit pee up close? that's ammonia!) so we have to grow a colony of bacteria in the filter to convert the ammonia into nitrite and then another colony to convert nitrite into nitrate (as nitrite is also toxic). Most of the members on here like to do this by adding some household ammonia to the fish tank while it is empty of fish, and waiting for the colonies to mulitply. That way we can be sure of no damage to the fish when we eventually add them. If you add the fish too early the colony of bacteria is not big enough to remove all the ammonia and nitrite from the watetr and these can poison your fish.

You need to do 4 things:

1. read the beginners section on cycling and decide whether you want to do a fish-in or fishless cycle.

2. buy a test kit. API master test kits are the ones recommended by most people here, while arguably not the top of the range ones they are good for beginners and you can buy them on ebay for about £20.

3. either return to the shop with you fish and do a fishless cycle, or start doing large daily water changes to make sure your fish are not poisoned by the ammonia in the water.

4. don't feel bad. almsot all of us have been there you were acting on bad advice, not out of maliciousness. you're in the right place now to get help so listen to all the advice of the forum members and you'll do well for your fish!

 

[The Taffy Apple]

...and maybe have a little read of this thread---> http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/175355-arrrggghhhh-whats-cycling-new-tank-and-ive-already-got-fish/

 

[maisy12345]

Hi everyone ,well talk about blinded by science ,thank you for all your advice,feel really bad now,the tank was bought from pets at home it`s a Aquastart aquaone 320 Tizer,just off to read all the advice,thanks again,was really happy to get new fish was told by staff to leave tank for three days ,but did cheat and added liquid bacteria on advice of staff from other aquarium shop, that told us we could add fish straight away if this was added.
But our water was tested before we bought first fish and week later when we bought the second lot

Hi ,was also advised that tropical fish were easier to keep than coldwater ..,obviously not

 

[maisy12345]

Hi all is this the kit i need for my tropical tank?

 

[Tizer]

thats the one, shouldnt pay more than £18 including postage

Its not a bad little tank once the filter is up and going, you really cant put much in it though, so be careful.

Bottled bacteria has proven to work in some cases and i do believe it somehow helps to get things going but unfortunately it does take time. Dont worry though, a fish in cycle isnt too hard, but you do have to do daily water changes and if you can fit that into your life in a few weeks time your filter will be able to take over and you can enjoy the fish you have.

PS, i wouldnt put any goldfish in a tank that size (they grow too big) so tropical fish is really your only option anyway

 

[coldcazzie]

You'd have to cycle the tank even if you had goldfish in it. Goldfish are still fish and still produce waste, and therefore ammonia. In fact, goldfish would be worse for you because 1, they grow too big for a tank like that (think about it, a fish that grows a foot long in a tank that is a foot long = silly idea) and 2, they poop LOADS so produce more ammonia than a few tetras.

The difference between tropical and coldwater is tropical require a heater, you have more variety and you have smaller fish so therefore can have smaller tanks. (personally, I think you've made the right choice, but I'm biased because I think goldfish are boring! )

 

[maisy12345]

Hi ,thanks again ,have got cut out the daily water changes?

 

[maisy12345]

Thanks Coldcazzie for your reply,i was worried i`d decided on too many fish for my 28l tank ,4 tetra,2 catfish,3 guppies and 2 shrimps.

 

[coldcazzie]

Honestly, nothing will do the job of the water changes. The only way to remove the ammonia is literally to remove it by removing the water, and replacing it with fresh water. It would certainly be less stressful for you to do a fishless cycle - you add the ammonia and then you wait, no water changing and no worrying about fish health, but it depends on whether you can take them back, and whether you want to sit with an empty fish tank for 2 months. It's swings and roundabouts. Would you rather have no fish for 2 months or spend 2 months doing daily water changes? I know what I'd rather do (and believe me, it don't involve water changing every day ) but everyone is different, and of course the whole point of a fishtank is to have fish in it.

 

[maisy12345]

Hi,Coldcazzie,
well on reading everyones advice,I`m going to buy a testing kit and do a 20 percent water change every day ,am a bit annoyed though because when i bought my corydoras yesterday the lady at pets at home checked my water and said it was fine ,and she also knew my tank was a week old.
Thanks for all your advice,how long will i have to do water changes for ,until the water becomes clear?

 

[coldcazzie]

Think of it this way: if you were sat in a sealed room, and you had to live in it all the time, eventually it would start to smell (sweat, farts, urine etc - you get the idea). Would you rather someone lit a scented candle or opened the window?

It's kind of the same with fish. In the wild they are in such huge quantities of water that the small amounts of ammonia they produce is immediately diluted to safe levels and simultaneously washed away by new water moving in (flowing rivers, tidal currants etc), whereas in a tank there is usually a (relatively) large number of fish and a small space and very little fresh water (what is a weekly water change compared to 24/7 turnover?). It's only fair to give them fresh water, rather than leaving them swimming around in their own excrement!

Another option open to you is you could go back to pets at home and ask them if they will give you some media from their filter system? That would contain some bacteria already which you could put in your filter and will give your cycle a kick start. Then, with your tests you can still keep a track of the ammonia/nitrite levels and do water changes when necessary but they might (notice, I said MIGHT) not be so big and probably wouldn't be for as long. Then once your ammonia and nitrite are reading 0 for a week solid you can think about adding more fish. Certainly don't add any more until your cycle is done. More fish = more ammonia = cycle takes longer because you have to grow a larger amount of bacteria.

It would be worth ringing the shop and asking them if they would be willing, even if you have to pay them a little bit to get the media. Or there are local members on here who are willing to donate media for cycling tanks. If you're local to me I don't mind, but the chances of that are slim!