New here...

[fishiefish]

Hi!

I'm new to fish forums, and decided to join after reading a lot of your posts. I was originally looking for ick suggestions because that's my current problem, but my relatively new setup has not been easy. Two local petstores gave me conflicting advice and I ended up with many casualties. First of all, I had read about cycling but didn't understand how long it would take, so when my ammonia levels spiked and I asked Petco how long I should let it go, they said "Change the water." They stuck with that advice even when I told them it was a new tank (I ran the filter three weeks before adding fish, and then two weeks before I changed the water, like a dork!). Anyway, I finally found a source that told me about how long cycling would take and that I needed biological media in the filter. I quit shooting myself in the foot and actually let the water cycle it's full cycle. So, feeling guilty but better educated, I lost two fiddler crabs and a molly in the populating of my tank. Then I had overheating issues and lost another molly and two neon tetras, and as if that wasn't bad enough, I bought 5 sick red eye tetras that all started swimming furious circles and croaked in a matter of days, but not before infecting my remaining fish.
Anyway, now I've got an Icky tank, I'm starting on round two of treatment and hoping they'll all pull through, especially my black molly... that fish is so pretty, but very stressed right now. When the ick finally clears, I'll be asking stocking questions, because I know I want a few more fish in this set up!
I'm glad I found you, and now you know a little about my tank. About me personally, well, I'm married with an 18 month old son, live in California, and get to stay home with my son ( YAY!) instead of teaching (which is what I did before I was a mom).

[fish_doc]

Welcome, and glad you found us. One thing you will learn is alot of petstore employees dont even have fish. Its just a job they got because they thought it would be a cool place to work.

The best place to get info is places like this from people that have had tanks for years. Once you are done treating the tank we will be glad to help you out, and even during the treatment when you have questions.

[fishfreaks]

Welcome to fish forums! We hope that you'll stick around and learn some new things! And don't worry, most of us here made mistakes too in the beginning. Just remember were all here to help!

[euRasian32]

welcome and good luck. this is a great forum, period. you will get numerous hits on suggestions from willing enthusiasts that want to help.

C

[fishiefish]

Thank you all for the welcome! I am already learning that petstore employees don't always know much! That's why I'm glad you're here.

[fishfreaks]

Originally Posted by fishiefish

Thank you all for the welcome! I am already learning that petstore employees don't always know much! That's why I'm glad you're here.

Yep, your right on that one

[Fishfirst]

What you need to do is find someone at one of these pet stores who knows quite a bit and then always ask for them if you need to purchase fish/ask questions. A person who knows something will ask you at least these three questions when you go to them to buy fish.
1. How long has the tank been set up with fish in it?
2. How large is the tank?
3. What else do you have in the tank?

I work at petsmart (which has quickly exceeded petco's sales and traffic since I started working there) and I generally ask these three questions no matter how busy we are, and usually it comes in conversation before I get anything for the customer.
Hope you have better luck with your fish. Don't worry, you'll get a lot better at this stuff if you keep reading the forums.