Arrrggghhhh What's Cycling, New Tank And I've Already Got Fish

[MeganA]

It is smooth gravel, I see it does look a little coarse but when I hold it in my hands it is smooth. The dirt sticks to the white rocks and no matter what I do I have not been able to keep it clean. I feed the tropical fish flakes, dried brine shrimp flakes and sinking shrimp pellets. I dont feed them fruits and veggies. I was reading about that yesterday but I wasn't able to come to any good decision on what kind of fruits and veggies. I did see a veggie clip at the fish store when I was there and I could start feeding them something more if needed I am just unsure what to feed them. Any suggestions?

How do you vacuum the bottom with sand?

Oh and he was a very small sucker when I got him he has grown about an inch since I got him. He actually got stuck in the intake the first night we had him and I had to pull him out.

Thats when I learn how to properly put together the filter.

 

[MeganA]

Now that I am thinking about the gravel maybe I should look into something else. I am not sure about sand but the cory in my 10 gallon I noticed today had some pinkish looking blotches on his underbelly. That tank has the same gravel just a different color. I am afraid I wouldn't know how to maintain sand but I think I might look into a gravel change. How will changing the gravel effect the fish?

 

[fluttermoth]

My plecs like; broccoli stalk (split and lightly cooked); lettuce (blanched); end slices of tomato (no seeds); melon rinds; slices of apple; peas (cooked and pushed out of their 'shells'); courgette/zucchini (some fish like it cooked, others will eat it raw).

You don't need to vacuum sand in the same way you do with gravel, as the dirt sits on top, rather than sinking through the gaps. You sort of 'swirl' the gravel cleaner an inch or so above the sand and the poo will be sucked up, but the sand stays behind (although you usually do suck up a little bit, but you just rinse it and put it back in the tank).

 

[MeganA]

Ok I will do that, thanks for all your help I really appreciate it. I think your the first one to give me any really good solid advice that I think I can trust. I kinda feel silly though, I thought I was doing pretty good and I was taking pride in my tanks I will fix it and hopefully my fish will be healthier. Thank you!

 

[fluttermoth]

We all had to start somewhere! Luckily plecs are quite slow growing, so you have a couple of months to decide what you're going to do with him

 

[cluelessbeginnergirl]

um,hi.i am new to this website and new to this hobby and am needing serious help.i know this is completely unrelated but i have been wanting to keep fishes since i was 10 and i am 14 now and finally getting my fish tank.the thing is my mom already picked out the fishes and got a bunch of stuff with out me knowing and i am really at a loss here cause i dont understand a single thing.i really want this to work out and i seriously want to show my mom that i am serious about my hobbie also i really love fishes and hate seeing them die.this site is my only hope.can anyone help me?

 

[fluttermoth]

um,hi.i am new to this website and new to this hobby and am needing serious help.i know this is completely unrelated but i have been wanting to keep fishes since i was 10 and i am 14 now and finally getting my fish tank.the thing is my mom already picked out the fishes and got a bunch of stuff with out me knowing and i am really at a loss here cause i dont understand a single thing.i really want this to work out and i seriously want to show my mom that i am serious about my hobbie also i really love fishes and hate seeing them die.this site is my only hope.can anyone help me?

Ok, don't panic.

The first, most important thing to remember is; fish need clean water. Every day, and any time your fish look 'odd', do a big water change. Drain most of the water out of the tank, leaving just enough for the fish to swim upright, and then refill with warm, dechlorinated water.

That should keep your fish safe while you learn all the other things you need to know. The next thing you need is a test kit; one that uses tablets or liquids and test tubes. You need kits for ammonia and nitrite at the moment, but if you can get one of the API or Nutrafin master test kits, that would be best.

How big is your tank, what kind of filter does it have and do you know the names of any of the fish?

 

[mancton]

Hi everyone noob here ha
Ive recently purchased my new tank (juwel 180 vision), Eheim ecco pro filter and all the other essentials. Im about to start a fishless cycle using jays cleen off ammonia. My sister is kindly donating some mature filter media so the main question is when do i introduce the mature media? Straight away or after ive added the ammonia.
Great forum by the way very helpful (theres a lot of differant and contradicting theories out there!!)
Thanks Paul

 

[Joeycich]

For me it's too late to take my fish back I have a oscar jack Dempsey and two plecos in a 55 gallon. Two oscars have died and also another cichlid. What should I do? Also the tank was infested with ich but now seems to be clearing up been using the kordon rid ich

 

[fluttermoth]

You need to be testing the water, every day, for ammonia and nitrite and doing as many water changes as necessary to keep both of them as near to zero as possible.

 

[rms]

For me it's too late to take my fish back I have a oscar jack Dempsey and two plecos in a 55 gallon. Two oscars have died and also another cichlid. What should I do? Also the tank was infested with ich but now seems to be clearing up been using the kordon rid ich

 
If you are unable to rehouse your fish until your tank is sorted then there's much work to be done to stop the others dying. Do a huge water change, as much as you can without your fish being above water. Then do another 50% if your fish are really big. Make sure you dechlorinate the water before putting it in and roughly match the temp of the tank water. If you don't have any dechlorinator then buy some quickly. Google for products, but Seachems Prime is a favourite or Tetra Aqua Safe.
 
Buy a test kit. API Master seems to be the preferred kit. I think it's around $15, maybe a bit more, but you really do need one. Don't buy test strips, they are ****..... You need to be able to test your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate so you know if your fish are being poisoned or not.
 
Read this..... http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/
 
Then re-read it. And then read it again. Look on the internet about the nitrogen cycle and keep reading about it until your brain feels like melting. Just kidding. But do a lot of research into this and you'll realise that nitrate is bad. Not as bad as nitrite or ammonia, but bad none the less.
 
You'll need to do lots of water changes over the next days to keep your ammonia and nitrite down. You should start to understand about all of this when you start reading about tank cycles. You can make it easier/quicker by adding Tetra SafeStart, which will basically speed up your tank cycle. Do not buy any other product for this as they don't work. One other does, but I can't remember the name. Just go for Tetra
 
This may all seem a little daunting, but if you genuinly want to save the other fish it sounds to me like the only option. You need to change the water as the current parameters are toxic. 
 
Read up on your fish. Make sure you're giving them at the very least their basic needs.
 
All the test kits etc have instructions. Post back on here as much as you need to and someone will offer up with help. 
 
Good luck with it and act fast.....

 

[Joeycich]

Thanks for thw info I have been doing a daily 25% water change do to the instruction on the kordon rid ich fish seem to be getting healthier. But I will definitely go buy a test kit. They tested my water at terrys aquarium in hammond Indiana and said it was good.

 

[Spinksy]

Hello, I recently got a tank given to me of a friend which had 9 platy, 1 pleco, a fighter fish and 3 black molly.
I changed the water today and ran into some issues. firstly it only had dirt as a substrate so when I put clean water in it kicked up a lot of unwanted dirt and left the tank black so I was forced to do a 100% water change and remove a lot of the dirt because it felt like there was to much. I was wondering if anyone could offer me advice on what substrate to use instead of dirt or a combination because I want to be able to add more plants and fish to my tank in the future. The tank had been cycled and most of the fish been in there for 2 years and I'm also wondering do I need to do a cycle again?
Thanks in advance

 

[Vorpal]

I was wondering if anyone could offer me advice on what substrate to use instead of dirt or a combination because I want to be able to add more plants and fish to my tank in the future. The tank had been cycled and most of the fish been in there for 2 years and I'm also wondering do I need to do a cycle again?
Thanks in advance

We use gravel from the local pet shop in our tank. You might be able to just put some in on top of the dirt? Plants will like having the dirt in there, even if you don't.
You shouldn't need to cycle agains as long you used the same filters, or some of the same filter material from before.

p.s. rinse the gravel before putting it in.