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[janice12180]

HI EVERYONE! NEWBIE HERE. I JUST SET UP A 10 GAL. TANK AND ADDED FISH AFTER 24 HRS. I PUT IN 7 FISH AND 1 FROG. LOOKS PRETTY GOOD IF I SAY SO MYSELF. LOL. I HAVE ALL COMMUNITY FISH. I WAS WONDERING IF I CAN PUT IN A WATER LILY.

[(RC)]

Did you cycle the tank ? If not your going to have problem with very soon with that many fish in a new 10G tank. Do you have a test kit for ammonia so you can monitor it ?


RC

[janice12180]

I SET IT UP AND HAD IT RUNNING WITH HEATER AND FILTER FOR A DAY. ASKED PETSTORE IF IT WAS ALRIGHT TO ADD THE FISH. THEY SAID YES BUT NOT MORE THAN THE 7 FISH I PICKED OUT YESTERDAY BECAUSE IT WAS A NEWLY SET UP TANK. I STILL NEED TO GET SOME THINGS FOR IT THOUGH LIKE EXTRA FILTERS(USING WHISPER FILTER). THERES THIS OTHER STUFF I READ ABOUT TODAY THAT YOU PUT IN TO HELP KEEP YOUR TANK CLEAN LONGER? CAN'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF IT RIGHT NOW BUT WILL LOOK INTO IT. ALSO, I WANT TO GET A BUBBLE STONE. TANK RIGHT NOW LOOKS PRETTY CLEAR AND FISH SEEM TO BE ADAPTING PRETTY GOOD. THERE STILL SWIMMING AROUND AND EATING GOOD. HEARD YOU HAD TO TAKE IT EASY WITH THE FOOD AT FIRST AND I'D LIKE TO KNOW HOW MANY X'S A DAY RIGHT NOW SHOULD I FEED THEM. USING TETRA FLAKES HIGH NUTRITION. THANKS.

[(RC)]

I hate to say, but you got bad advice from your petstore. 7 fish in a 10G could be to many under the best conditions, but for a new tank it is WAY to many. The bacteria has to build up to handle the waste products by the fish. With that many fish the ammonia is going to become lethal very quickly and your fish are going to have a very hard time surviving. Here are a few links that might help

http://www.bestfish.com/breakin.html
http://fish.orbust.net/cycling.html


RC

[osteoporoosi]

sounds like your'e going to have some troubles...
Frogwaste is toxic to fish. It irritates their gills and skin.
In a small, uncycled tank like yours the fish and frog can die when your ammonia level rises (and it prbaply will).
I advice you to do daily waterchanges for first aid.

[janice12180]

OMG, =( Feeling really sad now. I guess i won't have so much faith in the petstore people anymore. They had the little frogs in the tanks and my daughter really wanted to get one and I asked the girl if they were safe to add with the fish and she said yes. Now my daughter is attached to it and if I take it out now she'll hate me. Ugh. Thanks sooo much for the links on cycling. Right now I'm going to start replacing 20% of the water, feeding minimally and watching them all the time. I'll get a testing kit and look for that stuff you put into the tank that helps w/nitrate and amonnia. Lots to learn. I hope i don't have to learn the hard way.=( Do you know if adding a bubble stone now will help in any way?

[(RC)]

A bubble stone not going to help much, but it's not really going to hurt either.

RC

[turtlehead]

you be using your net pretty soon.

[(RC)]

Originally Posted by turtlehead @ Sun Feb 13, 2005 3:15 pm

you be using your net pretty soon.

Turtlehead,

That's a very helpful post


RC

[madmatrixz3000]

What kind of fish are you adding? I had my 10 gallon cycling with my brothers water for about a month and the fish specialist said that I should get one fish at a time, but if I got a real plant then I could get two.

[Lexus]

madmatrix- how does that make any sense?

[Bort]

See if you can return any of the fish. That way they have a better chance of survival. I always go slow with new tanks. Maybe 1 fish a week. Adding chemicals that reduce ammonia and nitrites aren't going to help either, so don't let the salesperson talk you into that. Cycling just needs to happen naturally.

What kind of fish were they? Some have a better chance in the beginning than others. I've always been told to start with danios or white clouds to help cycle a tank, though people have done it with others.

As for that chemical you saw that keeps your tank cleaner longer, you may be thinking of the AquaBalance New formula from Tetra. I have not tried it myself, but I know someone who has been using it for 2 months now and his nitrates are still fine, and he hasn't done a water change. I'm a little more skeptical and don't really want to try it. It also won't help against ammonia and nitrites, which are the main reason for needing to cycle your tank.

-Bort

[janice12180]

I hope i won't be using the net anytime soon. I have 2 dalmation mollies, 2 powder blue(not sure of the name) and 3 small schooling fish(look like tiny sunfish) Its embarassing for me to admit that i don't know the kind of fish they are. Like i said i'm new at fishkeeping. i have to get a book or look online to identify them. sorry=( I've been changing 20% of the water everyday since monday now. it sounds like it may not help any but i have to try. i read that someone said it might help alittle. i'm feeding them once a day right now. they look at me like i'm starving them.

[Fishfirst]

sounds like your'e going to have some troubles...
Frogwaste is toxic to fish. It irritates their gills and skin.
In a small, uncycled tank like yours the fish and frog can die when your ammonia level rises (and it prbaply will).
I advice you to do daily waterchanges for first aid.

Your frog will be fine with fish, frog waste is the same as fish waste, as soon as your tank is cycled your fish will be fine, and your frog will survive. However if you can take back some fish, that would be the best solution. For future reference you can cycle your tank without fish, add a piece of cocktail shrimp and let it sit in your tank, this will start the cycle and as soon as ammonia and nitrites go to 0 you should be ready for fish and whatever else you decide to put in there.

[garfieldnfish]

The powder blues you have sounds like gouramis. Even if this tank would be cycled there are too many fish in this tank for it's size. You will run into problems soon. The frog I do not see as a problem with the fish except that the gouramis may try to take a bite out of him. The other fish will be fine with it. Also if you have 2 male gouramis, they may fight. Power blues are less aggressive then the three spots but they are still gouramis and semi aggressive, also neither the gouramis no the frog are something I would cycle a tank with, odds are they will not survive. And your sunfish are they neon tetras ? I am guessing there. If so another poor choice for a cycling tank. If I were you I would buy what is call bio spira. It essentially a bag of biobugs and instantly cycles your tank. Your Petstore may not carry it. It has a limited shelf life and has to be regfrigerated but a decent petstore (not a chain store like petsmart because they do not do special orders) can order it for you or you can order it on line. For a 10 gal tank it should not cost too much. This way you may be able to have your fish survive. If this is not a option I would strongly recommend what everyone else also suggested, return most of your fish. Keeping water change to keep the water safe will prolong the cycling phase and the ammonio and toxin removers take away the food that the biobugs need to increase in numbers to accommodate your fish load. Another option is if you know someone that has an established aquarium. Ask them for some of their filter gunk or a bag of used tank gravel. Both the filter pad and the gravel contain the majority of the biobugs. This would give your tank an enormous headstart.

[janice12180]

Thanks for the additional info. I will look for the bio spiro. I do know someone with an established tank that i could get some gravel from. Thanks again. Perhaps he will take on some of my fish for awhile. Keeping my fins crossed.

[Jason_S]

Originally Posted by janice12180 @ Thu Feb 17, 2005 7:08 pm

Thanks for the additional info. I will look for the bio spiro. I do know someone with an established tank that i could get some gravel from. Thanks again. Perhaps he will take on some of my fish for awhile. Keeping my fins crossed.

that may just save your fish. ask your friend for a filter cartridge that has been in his/her running tank for at least 10 days. if you have to, somehow cut this cartridge to fit inside your filter. as for the gravel, cut off the foot of a pair of pantyhose and fill with gravel. tie the end of the pantyhose and bury this in the gravel in your tank. if you can't get both gravel and a filter cartridge from your friend, then I'd try to get a smaller thing of pantyhose-filled gravel for the filter and then as another as large as possible to bury in the gravel.

if you can, try to get another small filter (I think you might have mentioned this earlier anyway). this way, as the filter cartridges clog up you can change them 1 at a time. I'd change one and then wait 10 days and change the other and so on. This way there's always a filter with established media running on your tank.