Help needed! I'm very new to fish care.

[Torrean]

I'm not trying to tell you to ignore your father I'm just warning you that we may have differing opinions and you will have to tell the difference between who is right and wrong.

Yes you can take the fish back tommorow. You may want to call and ask first because if you get turned away then your fish will not appreciate sitting in a bag for that long. But I would think you are more likely to get what you want if you go in with fish in hand. Like I said the decision is up to you.

Your LFS (local fish store) may or may not tell you about cycling. See it's very complicated but LFS have this method of making money. But we won't get into that tonight. PM me some time and I'll rant to you for a while.

They may or may not have Bio Spira. If they try to shove something else on you then look for an expiration date. If there is no expiration date or they do not keep it refrigerated then pass on it. It's not much good.

Yes buy test kits as soon as possible. Get the liquid kind, the test strips are from what i've heard hard to read and hard to interpret.

I am more than happy to help you with anything that I can. But remember I have only been at this for 3 months so my information is limited. EDIT: although I am amazed at the amount of info I have learned in that time. If I don't know an answer then I will try to find one of my friends on here who can help you.

Do you know how to PM through TFF?

edit: if you do move your fish then you may want to put them in a plastic bag inside of a brown paper bag. This should help keep the sun off of them and help moderate the temp in the bag.

 

[Amphitrite]

Yes I know how to message through TFF.

Should I message you now? or later? because I've got a couple other questions.

 

[Torrean]

later. let's keep this conversation open to the public because I have been wrong before and it will happen again. hopefully when that happens someone (like you) will be there to correct me.

shoot.

edit: btw you should go to your first post in this thread and click on edit, then where you typed in the name of the thread you should type something like, HELP I AM REALLY NEW or something like that. It may catch eyes better than what you have there now.

 

[Amphitrite]

Alright. Once I get the fish out of my tank, get the test kits, I do what? Do I just let it sit, water in it and all? Or do I go get a more sturdy, cheap fish to help raise the ammonia or..?

Sorry for so many questions.. I wasn't expecting such complexity to fish.

And you're right, I'll change the title.

 

[Torrean]

ahh now comes the hard part. You can get a hardier fish if you want and it will probably survive the cycle but ... it will still be suffering and it's life span will be greatly shortened. This is the easy way. If you can find BIO Spira it is also the best way. But if you can find bio spira then I would not get rid of your fish in the first place, Bio spira will instantly cycle your tank.

Or if you really care about your fish and you don't want to get stuck with rather boring (but hardy) fish then you can do something that is known as a fishless cycle. I believe it is discussed in the avoiding new tank syndrome thread I gave you earlier. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. If you would like a more detailed explanation then feel free to ask.

I'll edit this to add a bit more detail in a minute. it's 2:00Am and I need to smoke but i'll be back. I'd normally go to bed right about now but I can see that you need some clarification. So ask any questions that you have and i'll be back in just a minute.

 

[tttnjfttt]

I was getting ready to jump in and answer, but Toran said everything I was going to. Here is teh link to doing a fishless cycle HERE

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

It depends on how many fish you are rehoming- personally i'd rehome all the neons as a couple on their own won't do well and the shoal itself is unlikely to survive the cycle- do you just have the 2 guppys other than the neons?

 

[Amphitrite]

BIO Spira.. okay I'll look around the LPS' for it.

I probably wouldn't care that much if the hardy fish died, as long as it didn't cost alot of money.

I'll read the given link in a few minutes.. I'm doing so many things at once right now.

As for my current fish, I have four neons and two male guppies.

 

[Torrean]

I had a look at tttnjfttt's link and I can't really elaborate much more than that on fishless cycling. do you have any more questions. Can anyone think of anything that we need to cover?

edit: TOkis is right BTW the neons should really be in an established tank. This is a tank that has been cycled for four to six months. So save some room if you want them.


edit edit: Tommorrow you need to go to the lfs to take back your fish. While there ask for BIO Spira, If they have it then select 10-12" of adult fish that you would like to have in your tank for a long time. then buy a test kit. If they do not have BIO Spira then go get some ammonia and read up on fishless cycling. personally I would buy a larger tank as well.


edit edit edit: ok so you want to go the fishy cycle route. Then you will need to purchase a couple hardy fish (not a full stock), sorry I can't suggest any off the top of my head that would do well in a ten, you'll need to ask some other people about that one. You may get some nasty responses though because most on here like fishless cycling. Also you should look into AMMO LOCK and umm Nitrite lock (I think) this stuff will help your fish cope with the poison without hurting your cycle. Then you need to do 1 gallon water changes every day. I personally think fishless cycling might be faster and easier. It involves no water changes.

 

[Torrean]

sorry I said that if they have Bio spira you should select 10-12" of Adult fish that you would like to keep for a long time. This is wrong. What you should do if they have Bio spira is go into the lfs and walk through writing down the names of every fish you like. Then research your favorites when you get home. Then buy 10-12" of adult fish that are compatible with one another. Sorry about that.


White cloud mountain minnows are fairly hardy and inexpensive fish. danios really need more than a ten gallon so don't get them.