What The Heck Am I Gonna Do?

[dixiedawn]

Ok before i went to bed last night at oh say about 2 am Fred the Fantail was doing fine. This morning and i found him dead poor thing, i really should have taken the advice and taken him back to the lps i feel horrible. Absolutely like poo.
To top things off..Nan..bless her soul..knew that Sprout loved fish and the aquariums i take her to...so she went out and bought ANOTHER TANK!!!! It's only little, 3 gallons about 13 litres i think...pump..heater, plants (artificial) and gravel.

I met up with her shortly after leaving Petsathome myeself..picking up a master kit along with a few other goodies.

The 10 gallon one is soaking in a very strong salt bath at the moment along with the plants and ornaments and gravel.

I've never dealt with a tank smaller than 10 gallons so im not sure as to what fish would be happy in it.

I know i have a few weeks to think about which fish would be happy in both..but any suggestions would be nice!
Thanks

 

[Genie]

3 gallons? a betta maybes? from what i gather itll be the only fish comfortable in a tank that size. pretty fish too check out some people's photos in the 'betta' section

 

[chishnfips]

a group of cories would be nice in that tank, and maybe a betta as well,.

 

[Lynda B]

I'm sorry you lost Fred..... but I think you know it was a big possibility. It was definitely a learning experience and now, you're here, gathering more information to help your next try be successful.

For a 3 gallon, I'd go for a male betta. They're gorgeous, fun to interact with and relatively easy keepers.

For the 10, you've got so many options..... depends on what your likes/dislikes are.

 

[rdd1952]

A 3 gallon tank with a good many live plants and a betta looks great. I had a 5 gallon for a while with no fish in it, only plants. It looked great just like that. Basically an underwater terrarium. The betta will just add to the beauty.

Sorry that you lost the last fish.

 

[dixiedawn]

Thanks for all ya posts

This tank is clearly for a child...she bought the heater n stuff to go inside it as addition. It's weird looking...it has a concave front to it and like a \_/ shaped back to it...the lid only clips on and there's no space for a light to aid with the plants..and as someone mentioned to me before in another post..ther's the whole co2 thing...which im not quite sure im ready to deal with that while im getting my head around just checking the tank for all these different levels and cycling. Back to the lighting issue...i wouldn't knwo what to look for or what sort of lighs would fit this particular aquarium. Any ideas..i'll try to find a link to the actual sort of tank it is and post it in here, maybe ya'll can help

 

[dixiedawn]

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Brand-New-Hagen-Elit...1QQcmdZViewItem

best photo i could find im afraid

 

[dominicbeha]

sorry to hear your loss- we all loose fish at some point- i lost all 5 of mine in the space of 6 days- turns out i was feeding them and so was the mrs- now we have a sticker chart- add a sticker to the book when u feed!

nice of the old generation to care and buy you a prezzie- prezzies are are always cool

Maybe use it as an isolation tank or a fry tank??

 

[mcdanielnc89]

First off- Sorry for your loss

Secondly- For the 3 gal. I would put a betta in it. As A betta would more than likey be the only thing happy in a tank that small as stated above..

Thirdly- For the ten gal. Lots of choices.. Put what you like in it... Just don't get too overstocked.. Remember the rule of thumb.. 1" per gal...

 

[dixiedawn]

Thanks everyone

I had a betta once..but I thought him being in such a teeny tiny bowl was cruel...so i gave him to my mom. She said he was lazy..but knowing now that they like warm water and more space i can't say that i blame him for being depressed....I certainly do like the look of them, but how sensitive are they?

 

[dixiedawn]

ok my readings are as follows....

ph 7.6
H ph 7.4
ammonia >0.25
Nitrate 0 ppm
Nitrate2 0ppm


now what do i do lmao!

oh i used the filter pad from the 10 gallon for this as well...forgot to mention that!

 

[rdd1952]

What is your nitrite reading? I'm also not certain what the 2 nitrate readings are. It is very odd to have no nitrates at all.

 

[dixiedawn]

Ok i bought the API master testing kit thingy...was following the directions that were in the book

There's 3 things to test for nitrate..one is just a single pot to mix like i think it was 5 drops with..the other was to combine the test water (not the same water but a fresh vial) with a combo of two. One of the lables says nitrate tester..and on the other two one says nitrate testing solution #1 and on the other pot says nitrate testing solution #2...in the booklet it says to mix these two that i just mentioned #1 and #2 to get the second nitrate reading

am i doing something wrong

 

[mcdanielnc89]

Ok i bought the API master testing kit thingy...was following the directions that were in the book

There's 3 things to test for nitrate..one is just a single pot to mix like i think it was 5 drops with..the other was to combine the test water (not the same water but a fresh vial) with a combo of two. One of the lables says nitrate tester..and on the other two one says nitrate testing solution #1 and on the other pot says nitrate testing solution #2...in the booklet it says to mix these two that i just mentioned #1 and #2 to get the second nitrate reading

am i doing something wrong

it is prolly meaning you use both bottles and add the drops of each bottle to get the nitrate...(just like my ammonia)

 

[gilaesther]

I vote for a betta and maybe a ghost shrimp, to help keep things clean and add variety.