Help - New to the tropical world

[halsallb]

Good Morning,

I am new to having fish so thought for my son and I we would start small with a view to go larger if all goes well, unfortunately the first week and things are going bad and I fear I am not getting the advice needed from my local aquatics store. I have recently purchased and set up the below:

Marina Iglo360 10L
Interpet Nano Stat Fixed Thermostat 10W for aquariums up to 12L

I am unsure of the solution (recommended from local aquatics store) but i put approx 1 ml of solution (as per instructions)

After 2 days of letting the tank run I was advised this will be sufficient for the fish, so purchased 2 black tetra, 4 neon tetra, 2 guppies and 1 (sorry not sure what it was but it was a little larger (sticks on the side and eats the algae). I initially put the bag in for 10 minutes and then put some of the tank water in the bag mixed for another 15 minutes then released.
I am told i should feed around 5 crushed flakes, once per day.

day 1 & 2 all seemed ok, day 3 the larger fish and a black tetra had died, day 4 x 3 neon, this morning (day 5) the last black tetra died.
Now i have 2 guppies and 1 neon remaining. I went to the aquatics store yesterday and he said it sometimes happens. Not much of a help in all honesty.

Temperature looks to be around 24-25C.

Appreciate any tips / advice as i don't want to replace for the same thing to happen.

Kind Regards,
Ben

 

[Guyb93]

Good Morning,

I am new to having fish so thought for my son and I we would start small with a view to go larger if all goes well, unfortunately the first week and things are going bad and I fear I am not getting the advice needed from my local aquatics store. I have recently purchased and set up the below:

Marina Iglo360 10L
Interpet Nano Stat Fixed Thermostat 10W for aquariums up to 12L

I am unsure of the solution (recommended from local aquatics store) but i put approx 1 ml of solution (as per instructions)

After 2 days of letting the tank run I was advised this will be sufficient for the fish, so purchased 2 black tetra, 4 neon tetra, 2 guppies and 1 (sorry not sure what it was but it was a little larger (sticks on the side and eats the algae). I initially put the bag in for 10 minutes and then put some of the tank water in the bag mixed for another 15 minutes then released.
I am told i should feed around 5 crushed flakes, once per day.

day 1 & 2 all seemed ok, day 3 the larger fish and a black tetra had died, day 4 x 3 neon, this morning (day 5) the last black tetra died.
Now i have 2 guppies and 1 neon remaining. I went to the aquatics store yesterday and he said it sometimes happens. Not much of a help in all honesty.

Temperature looks to be around 24-25C.

Appreciate any tips / advice as i don't want to replace for the same thing to happen.

Kind Regards,
Ben

Welcome to the forum, it seems like the fish store has gave you bottled bacteria to try and instantly cycle the tank, are you running a filter of any sort ?
I think the advice of feed little was because they knew the tank wasnt cycled and was trying to prevent your fish loss
Honestly a 10l tank is good for a shrimp you can’t really keep fish in a tank that small for any period of time , I’m assuming the larger , glass sucker algae eater was either a Chinese algae eater or worse a pleco of some sort
My advice would be take all the equipment back to the store and demand a refund for misleading sales , I honestly can’t believe they sold you these fish for a 10l tank

 

[halsallb]

Welcome to the forum, it seems like the fish store has gave you bottled bacteria to try and instantly cycle the tank, are you running a filter of any sort ?
I think the advice of feed little was because they knew the tank wasnt cycled and was trying to prevent your fish loss
Honestly a 10l tank is good for a shrimp you can’t really keep fish in a tank that small for any period of time , I’m assuming the larger , glass sucker algae eater was either a Chinese algae eater or worse a pleco of some sort
My advice would be take all the equipment back to the store and demand a refund for misleading sales , I honestly can’t believe they sold you these fish for a 10l tank

Many thanks for your response, unfortunately i purchased the tank online (it does have a filter and the thermostat sits inside it, the shop i purchased the fish from does sell the particular tank though so I was able to reference what tank and i sought their advice.

What worries me is they did say i could probably have 10-15 small fish ( neon tetras/guppies) etc and should introduce this in 2 batches (hence why i put 8 in originally) The fish that eats it i think may have been Otocinclus.

Unfortunately based on the above a refund is out of the question for tank so you think i should go down the shrimp route? To be honest this is more for my son but i worry if i cannot sort it how will he.

 

[Guyb93]

Many thanks for your response, unfortunately i purchased the tank online (it does have a filter and the thermostat sits inside it, the shop i purchased the fish from does sell the particular tank though so I was able to reference what tank and i sought their advice.

What worries me is they did say i could probably have 10-15 small fish ( neon tetras/guppies) etc and should introduce this in 2 batches (hence why i put 8 in originally) The fish that eats it i think may have been Otocinclus.

Unfortunately based on the above a refund is out of the question for tank so you think i should go down the shrimp route? To be honest this is more for my son but i worry if i cannot sort it how will he.

Honestly another 10l would be workable a small 20l tank could probably house a group of 6 neon tetra or possibly a solitary beta , it’s tough been it’s for your son kids are so unreasonable and I imagine he already has his heart set on fish not a snail or a shrimp
My next steps would be
Get another 3-4 neons
And ask the fish store if you could have a little bit of used filter media and put it in your filter
I’d also keep an eye out for a cheap 20l+ tank sometimes people will give them away your local fish store may even have a used one in the back that is unsaleable and give it you

 

[Essjay]

The first lesson of fish keeping, something we have all learned the hard way, is never believe anything a shop worker tells you. Most of them haven't a clue and will make up anything to get a sale. I'm afraid the shop which sold you this tank, and the fish to go in it, gave you some of the worst pieces of advice I've heard



But we can help you get started properly.

If you can take the fish back, please do so. They all need a much bigger tank than 10 litres - or 20 litres.
You may be able to use it as a shrimp tank, but you will need to prepare it first. If you decide to do this, we can help you.


If you still want fish, though, a bigger tank is the best way to go. 60 cm long is the minimum for most fish, that's a 54 to 60 litre tank. This would allow you to keep small fish such as neon tetras, and in the right numbers. The shop also failed to tell you that tetras are shoaling fish which means they need to be kept in a group of at least 6 of the same kind, with more being better.

I disagree with Guyb93 on keeping neon tetras in a 20 litre tank though. This is only really suitable for a single betta (siamese fighting fish). Neon tetras need a bigger tank than 20 litres.

 

[Tank Sinatra]

It’s worth adding that you have done absolutely nothing wrong here. We all rely on the fish shops to give us the right advice. But 95% of the time it’s not.

You’ve found a great forum here. I am new to the hobby as well. But following the advice of the experienced guys and girls here has helped me out so much.

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

I am unsure of the solution (recommended from local aquatics store) but i put approx 1 ml of solution (as per instructions)

I will assume you mean dechlorinator in which case whatever the manufacturer says it's ok.

After 2 days of letting the tank run I was advised this will be sufficient for the fish, so purchased 2 black tetra, 4 neon tetra, 2 guppies and 1 (sorry not sure what it was but it was a little larger (sticks on the side and eats the algae). I initially put the bag in for 10 minutes and then put some of the tank water in the bag mixed for another 15 minutes then released.
I am told i should feed around 5 crushed flakes, once per day.

sadly it's too small for them so you might need to rehome them. If by black tetra you mean this then you will need at least 15 of them and at least a 100 liters tank, the neon tetra will at least need 60 liters for once again 15 of them, the 2 guppies could live there but I would recommend you to upgrade them to a 20 liters so they have more swim space, as for the other fish i is a pleco but it can either be a common pleco or a bristlenose pleco if it is the common pleco then you would need at least 400 liters for it and it would need a 60% meat 40% plants diet, if it is the bristlenose then it needs at least 40 liters and an 80%plants %20 meat diet (please note that by plants I mean things like lettuce, spinach, cucumber, squash or carrot and by meat I mean fishmeal based flakes, worms, and other invertebrates please do not feed mammal, reptile or avian meat to your fish).
I can't stress this enough DO NOT RELEASE YOUR FISH INTO THE WILD if you cant upgrade for the fish you have then give them to your local fish store or to another hobbyist that has the space for them.

I am told i should feed around 5 crushed flakes, once per day.

you should feed what they can finish in 2 minutes max so 5 flakes may have been too little food

day 1 & 2 all seemed ok, day 3 the larger fish and a black tetra had died, day 4 x 3 neon, this morning (day 5) the last black tetra died.
Now i have 2 guppies and 1 neon remaining. I went to the aquatics store yesterday and he said it sometimes happens. Not much of a help in all honesty.

it is normal to make mistakes as a beginner and the pleco and black tetras died because the conditions were not right for them, so did the neons. It's not your fault, it's your fish stores fault for selling a beginner such fish knowing the size of tank you had, and also the fish store employees most of the time don't even know about fish at all especially if they are from a big chain company and they just say what corporate tells them to so please never trust what isn't your own research, and if there are some mismatches form one site to the other juts remember that bigger tanks are always better, your Ph, Gh, and temperature should be in between what the best sites recommend and you can always look up the fishes natural habitat to get an idea of what they like, even if you can decide then come here and ask! the most trusted and best site for fish care guides is this one.

as I said it's ok to make mistakes, you just have to slowly get used to fish care, and I'm sure you can do it. Some great beginner fish for that 10 liters would be betta fish, clown killifish, lyretail killifish, and cherry shrimp (if you want to go for the betta I have to add the fact that whether or not he/she accepts the killifish or the shrimp will depend on his/her personality more than everything so if you buy a betta then add just a few shrimp first to see if it will eat them and if your betta is mellow enough to have tank mates you should only mix the betta fish with the clown killifish, not the lyretail), use live plants, they are your friends, use wood and dried leaves (Indian almond, mango or oak) they are also your friends, just boil them first and let the aquarium cycle for a month (aka let your aquarium have a day and night cycle without any living macro organism for a month) and then add in this order 1. betta fish/lyretail killifish 2.clown killifish 3. shrimp and let around 4 days between each new addition, as for numbers go with 1 betta or 2 lyretails, 5 clown killifish and 5 shrimp, its ok if you don't add all of the species recommended.
hope this helps and good luck.