Hi There

[PENNYWISE]

HI THERE I BOUGHT A NEW TANK 4 MONTHS AGO I THINK I MIGHT NEED SOME HELP

 

[catxx]

welcome! you've come to the right place!

 

[PENNYWISE]

THE SHOP I BOUGHT THE TANK FROM SOLD ME FISH ON THE SAME DAY AND HAVING READ SOME OF THE OTHER NEWBIE MESSAGES INOW KNOW WHY I HAD THE TROUBLE WITH THE WATER CYCLE.THEY SOLD ME 3 CLOWN LOACHES 6 TIGER BARBS AND 1 RED TAILED SHARK. .THE SHARK DIED TWO DAYS LATER AND WHEN I TOOK IT BACK AND TOLD THEM WHAT HAD HAPENED THE SAME IDIOT THAT SOLD ME THE TANK AND FISH SAID IT WAS ALL MY FAULT

 

[catxx]

s'ok, we all make newbie mistakes (p.s. take off caps lock, it's really not necessary to shout!).

what size is the tank and what do you have left?

 

[sannesley]

Hi Pennywise and welcome to the forums. This is a great site to be a member of if you want to learn about the art of fishkeeping .

Like you I've read a lot of postings where members have all been sold fish on the day that they bought their tanks. This is through no fault of their own. Like me when I bought my first tank you think that the Local fish shop (LFS) knows what they're doing regarding your tank and fish. After all they sell fish for a living and they should know what they're talking about in terms of fish well being after all!!! .

When you're starting out you should fill your tank with dechlorinated water and allow it to come up to temperature and then if you want to go down the route of cycling your tank with fish then buy 1 hardy fish like a platy or a molly. Then I'd be keeping a daily check on the ammonia and nitrite levels in the tank with my test kit and doing no more than 20 percent water changes as required to keep the chemical levels tolerable for the fish.

Then once ammonia and nitrite levels have dropped and nitrate levels are beginning to rise I'd slowly stock the tank so that the bacteria can grow to accomodate the increased bioload for the new fish. Good practice would be then to do a weekly check on the chemical levels in the water to make sure everythingis comfortable for the fish.

What size of tank do you have?

 

[PENNYWISE]

The tank has 180 litre capacity. The fish that are left are 1 golden plec 1 peppemint plec 4 clown loaches and the 6tiger barbs.I went out earlier and bought a nitrate tester kit and an amonia test kit,i did the tests and they both came back clear for the nasties must be good yes

 

[the_patriot2004]

THE SHOP I BOUGHT THE TANK FROM SOLD ME FISH ON THE SAME DAY AND HAVING READ SOME OF THE OTHER NEWBIE MESSAGES INOW KNOW WHY I HAD THE TROUBLE WITH THE WATER CYCLE.THEY SOLD ME 3 CLOWN LOACHES 6 TIGER BARBS AND 1 RED TAILED SHARK. .THE SHARK DIED TWO DAYS LATER AND WHEN I TOOK IT BACK AND TOLD THEM WHAT HAD HAPENED THE SAME IDIOT THAT SOLD ME THE TANK AND FISH SAID IT WAS ALL MY FAULT

lol dont listen to them. I bought an angelfish from wal-mart one day, brought it home, put it in the tank, did everything right, even left it in the bag for like 45 minutes before letting it out. it died that very day. I brought it back to wal-mart and listened to a 15 minute lecture on what I did wrong and how to do it right (even though I did everything right, even to what the gal was telling me, she just accused me of doin something wrong that i didnt do) I was like come on lady, the fish dying is your fault, just give me another fish. lol. i have 6 other fish in the aquarium that are doing just fine that I put in, including another angel, that are all just fine, and your fish is the one that died on me even though I did the exact same thing as the other fish. geesh, people. that person should of told you not to buy all those fish with the tank in the first place, next time just tell him to hush up or you'll take your business elsewhere. should work, sounds like he really doesnt care about fish just wants to make a profit, thats all.

 

[PENNYWISE]

I think your right patriot i havent back there since and no intention of doing so, why should i give my hard earned money to a t**t who dosent care about the welfare of the fish i buy.

I have found another retailer who gives good advise and seems to care about his stock.

 

[Underwurlde]

Just to chip in here; the best advice I can 'dish out' is to just say this:

BEFORE you do anything, buy anything, change anything or put ANYTHING in your tank or follow ANY 'advice' from ANYONE outside this forum (or other fishy forums) is: ASK ABOUT IT HERE FIRST.

In otherwords, get a general concencious from the experts here and don't be impatient.

You will never regret following this advice, I promise you.

Andy

 

[PENNYWISE]

I understand that now. Thanks for your time

 

[Underwurlde]

Now for the bad news but I think it fair to mention now rather than when you get BIG problems.

There is a general rule that relates the MAXIUM length that a fish will grow to (in a tank) to the volume of water it should be kept in. You add up the maximum lengths off all your fish and this should match or be below the volume of water that they can be happily and safely kept in.

This general rule states that for every ONE INCH of MAXIMUM (what the fish will grow TO) that you should provide at least ONE US GALLON of water.

Your tank is 180 Litres, this is 48 (US) Gallons. In other words, the maximum length of fish that can be kept in that tank is about 48 inches in total.

Taking a look at the stock you have:

1x Golden Plec: Will grow to 14â€￾
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=50026

1x Peppermint Plec – Dunno, but not small so of the order of about 14â€￾

4x Clown Loach - Each one will grow to 12â€￾ (some say 14").
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=34953

6x Tiger Barb – Each one will grow to 3â€￾
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=60999

Hence, for your current stocking, total fish length = (1x14) + (1x14) + (4x12) + (6x3) = 94â€￾

You would need a 94 (US) Gallon tank or in other words a 356 Litre tank.
For the stock you have, you'll need a tank TWICE THE SIZE.

Put it another way, the 180L you have will only just accomodate for the Clown Loaches on their own and NOTHING else!

Sorry.....

Andy

 

[PENNYWISE]

These fish where all brought from my original lfs and before i joined the forum.

He told me the peppermint plec will only grow to about 3"

At the moment all the fish are juveniles and i really do enjoy watching them and careing for there welbeing so ill have to talk the missus into haveing a bigger tank (well twice the size).

Thanks for help and ill start working,pleading with her right away.

 

[Underwurlde]

3" my ars....

More BS from your friendly LFS

http/www.tropicalfish4u.co.uk/acatalog/c...Spot_Pleco.html

(30cm = 12")

Anyway, since they are juveniles at the mo, no reason why you can't keep them where they are for the time being, I just mentioned your stocking as a heads up for FUTURE consideration. No reason why you can't add a second tank later on to rehome half your stock when they start to get bigger.

Andy

 

[PENNYWISE]

What do you suggest then, apart from avoid that shop like the plague

 

[Squid]

Just to chip in here; the best advice I can 'dish out' is to just say this:

BEFORE you do anything, buy anything, change anything or put ANYTHING in your tank or follow ANY 'advice' from ANYONE outside this forum (or other fishy forums) is: ASK ABOUT IT HERE FIRST.

In otherwords, get a general concencious from the experts here and don't be impatient.

You will never regret following this advice, I promise you.

Andy

Whilst I agree with your sentiments, I think that might be a little strong. There are some very good LFS out there with some staff being far more knowledgeable than a large number of us on here (including me). It just so happens some of them are not so good e.g. pets at home (some). I think that bouncing ideas off people in this forum until you feel you can trust your local LFS is a good thing.

It's very hard to tell who are the "experts" on this forum sometimes. There are some for sure (not me), but often on this forum people repeat what other people have said (me too sometimes) and are giving advice based upon something somebody on here has said previously. This doesn't make it correct. I have seen many newbies do this, or use and answer to a question that was not correct. Just one small variable needs to change in the question, and the answer can change dramatically.

I would suggest researching the internet (including here), books, magazines and speaking to your LFS. This is the best way to move forward with a consensus approach from a number of different sources.

Cheers, and welcome.

Squid