I'm a fish abuser!!

[Loboto-Me]

Well I'm a newbie so that's my story and I'm sticking with it )

I bought a 29 gal aquarium, set it up, let it run for about 24 hrs and transfered the fish I already had in my 10 gal tank into it. Mind you, I did use conditioner and checked the ph and temp. Now dumb me finds this wonderful forum AFTER the fact and discover that I needed to cycle the aquarium first!
Not that I even know what cycling is... but I do realize that I made a big mistake toward my poor fishies
My tank has:
2 dwarf powder blue gouramis (one of which is being bullied by the other.
2 orange mollies
1 black mollie
8 neon tetras (2 died because of my abuse i suspect and were replaced )
2 "unknown" pinkish fish... my memory fails me at this time
1 algae eater
2 fancy guppies (male and female)
and a net nursery containing about 25 guppy fry all happy so far

All fish seem to be doing fine except for the brow beaten Gourami who's a bit too quiet for my tastes... hoping to give him away to my MIL who has inherited my 10 gal tank.... but dang she's slow at getting her tank ready... hope I don't lose him during my 10 day out of town vacation!
I plan on putting 2 of those 7 day vacation food blocks in the tank... do you think that will be enough for them?
But what do I do for my baby guppies? Can I get a little 2 day feeding cube to put in their "nursery"??
Any other suggestions? I am so worried about them already.

Glad to meet you guys, and I'm so grateful that you guys are here to advise me!

Thanks a ton

 

[wuvmybetta]

Hi Lobo ,welcome to the forum

First of all...everybody makes mistakes in the beginning so don't fret over that
BUT it is kind of a sticky situation that your going out of town right now
How long has the tank been set up?
Do you have an ammonia & nitrite test kit?
When fish first go in a tank it's clean and ammonia free,but over the period of a couple of weeks ammonia will build up from uneaten food and waste..which can be harmful to your fish. Eventually the ammonia will peak to it's highest state and begin to drop and turn into nitrite (also harmful to fish) the nitrite will get higher & higher and peak which forms nitrate...after all this your tank will be cycled,usually a 6 week ordeal with a "fish cycle". There's a very informative article in the beginner's section that will explain things more thoroughly.

For now you need to do partial water changes if your fish begin to look sickly. I'd steer clear of the week long feeders because with an uncycled tank that could do a lot of harm,you'd more than likely come home to a tank full of dead fish
Can your mil drop by a couple of times to feed while your gone?

 

[SneakBetta]

Don't worry, it took me 3 fish before I found out I was the one doing the crime (not cycling the tank)! At least you now know you made the mistake and will never do it again!

 

[Eelzor]

Welcome to the FOrumz!

 

[wuvmybetta]

Lobo~if you come back to the forum (and I hope you do!) go and read the article I mentioned on fishless cycling. Here's my thoughts,if your not too attached to any of the fish just bring them all back to the lfs and go buy some pure clear ammonia,follow the instructions in the article and by the time you get back in town your tank will be cycled and ready for a nice stock of fish (and I guess since you gave the other tank away it was completely torn down huh? All of this trouble you may have could have been avoided with a few handfuls of gravel from that tank ,live & learn) your lfs might even hold your fish for you if you prefer to keep them

And since you said that gourami was a softy you may be interested in stocking with some slightly more aggressive fish,maybe some cichlids ,don't get me wrong...mollies and guppies are pretty and all that but cichlids are awesome and I believe there's several different types that can live well in a 29,maybe some other forum members can give suggestions on what types and how many can fit comfortably in that size tank.

 

[Loboto-Me]

Thank you all for your support and replies.

I'm so mad at myself, you're absolutely right wuvmybetta about the old tank. The dumb thing is, I left the old aquarium sitting there filled with one quarter of the old water, and the old stones for 4 days. When I finally decide to get onto cleaning it out for my MIL, I discover this forum the same evening AFTER I clean the old stones. What a dumb-dumb!
I've really gotten attached to my babies (the first bunch I've ever raised) and I'm also very attached to my Gouramis as well... they seem to be getting a bit better as I saw my timid one swimming around the tank today in the more agressive's "territory". They each have taken over a side of the tank. But the agressive fellah was coming over to the timid's area to harrass him. Today though, Agressive was quietly resting at the bottom of his own side, and Timid was swimming around at the top side of it . LOL... GOOOOOO Timid!
Anyway, back to tank problems, I went and bought my fishies at Petsmart... doubt they'd keep them for me until I get my tank properly cycled .
But I do have a bit of good news.... As I said before, I'm leaving for 10 days and found some non plaster time released food tablets for the fishes.... I think that should help. Say's its good for up to 30 day holiday.... so I'll be putting in 8 or 9 tablets in the big part of the tank, and 2 or 3 in the net-type nursery for the fry. I think that should be pretty good for them don't you?
I'll be posting about a confusion next, so would appreciate you guys' advice there too.

You can be sure I'll be a regular here! This place is fantastic!!

Thanks!

 

[Gunnie]

I think just about everyone has done something they regret since they started keep fish, me included! I have been in emergency situations before with fish in an uncycled tank. Can you get your hands on some bio spira? It's made by Marineland, and it's the nitrifying bacteria your tank needs to be cycled. It's sometimes hard to find locally because it's a new product and should be kept refigerated (I not convinced yet it shouldn't be). If you can't find it locally, I have ordered from Bernie at The Fish Store with great results. If you do get the bio spira, you're supposed to add it at the same time as you add your fish, so you would probably have to termporarily move the fish, drain the tank, re-fill the tank, add the fish, then add the bio spira. I had to do this with my 100 gal. cichlid tank. After doing this, I never got an ammonia or nitrite spike, and the tank has been running now for about 2 months! Here's another link to learn more about it

Bio Spira Experiment

New and improved cycle might also be helpful. It's not an instant cycle like bio spira, but it's better than what you got now. It must be the new and improved version though.