I'm Afraid These Fish Won't Survive...

[MrsM]

Well he should have let you take the equipment too! You really need a filter and it needs cycling asap..keep up with the waterchanges

 

[Baccus]

Very sad how people treat animals. I wonder if the teacher would have the same lack of of compassion for a furry animal? Actually I was a bit of a horror at school and if a teacher had showen that sort of lack of care for another creatures well being I would have spoken to the Principal and kicked up a huge stink. But probably best that you get the fish home first

.
Even a 10 minute trip I would try to find a way of keeping water moving/ flowing over the media. I know that when you least want it unforeseen things happen and a 10minute trip turns into an hour.
When adding the heater I would first of all check the tanks current temp, and then set the heater one degree above that and gradually over a few days raise the temp to the final setting. Also it will be a good idea to correctly identiify all the fish. The cory will like temps around 22 degrees with 26 degrees cel being towards the top of its prefered temp range. I see a platty or female swordtail also in the mix which will take the same temp range. One of the fish looks a bit like a dwarf gourami which also will take the same temp as the other fish mentioned. The other two slim orange fish look a bit like glow light tetras but I am not 100% sure and there also looks to be a female guppy in the mix.
From the fish I can identify I would aim at having the temp on the heater set to around 22-24 degrees cel.

 

[KCB]

Keep up the good work Ale_xis, you're doing the right thing for these poor guys and giving them the best chance of survival. If your classmates have a fit over you taking them, just do what MrsM said , I'm sure if they didn't care about the state of their tank then they probably won't care if they died.

 

[NewBea]

If your worried about taking them back, as i would be.......LIE, and say theyve died....then you can keep them and hopefully you can give then a longer happier life.....good luck and well done for trying

EDIT....did you steal the fish from school?

What a naughty advice MrsM Some of the school mates might find out that they are alive when they go for a visit.

I don't see why the teacher wouldn't agree to the permanent relocation of the fish given that he doesn't care what happens to them anyway. His attitude is disgraceful! If he can't and doesn't want to look after them then why did he even agree to keep the fish is beyond me?!?!?!

Good luck, Ale_xis, I hope you can keep them alive and well. You are clearly doing your best to help them! I will follow your topic to see how you are getting on

 

[Flute]

It's shocking how people can care so little for animals Good on you for doing this- sounds as though it's a bit of an awkward way around for you, but as others have said your heart is definitely in the right place. Really looking forward to see how you get on once you manage to get the filter and heater for them

In regards to bringing the filter home- I recently had to move my tanks and filters on a 4 hour journey. I just popped the filter media in a fish bag, filled it with enough water to cover the media, made sure I got enough oxygen into the bag as possible (don't breath into the bag), and then tied it securely. All my media survived the journey fine, and my tanks didn't even go into a mini cycle So you should be fine for a 10 minute journey as long as you keep the media covered in water

 

[Ale_xis]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm about to get my wisdom teeth removed, but once i'm back to normal, I'll go home and wash that sand for them. The Cory calmed down but when he gets spooked, he darts into the rocks so I'll definitely switch to sand. And thank you for all the other advice so far it's been 12 hours into new tank and no signs of shock, so hopefully they are stable now

 

[Ale_xis]

Ah So I got home and noticed the water was colder than before.. I would say its in the lower 70's atm. I took out all the gravel and will work on sand when I'm not as drowsy, but i was curious if I could put a heat lamp over them? I have an extra 75 watt bulb I use for my bearded dragon but he would be fine without it since he has another one. Would that kind of help warm them a little? I have a heater that I was thinking of using but got scared because of the tank being glass and the fear of it conducting too much heat. Should I try, or just leave them? I do put slightly warmer water during water changes but not enough to send them into shock. It's just that the water feels very cold today
Sorry sorry for all the spam again, I'm doing fine with everything else thanks to you guys, but if there's anyway to warm them up a bit without a heater, please list any suggestions!

 

[MrsM]

yeah id put the lamp over the tank for a bit, but id also wrap a towel round the tank, might keep a bit of heat in... dont have the lamp on all day and night though....fish need darkness for rest too

 

[Ale_xis]

I got 5lbs of Aquarium sand today, cleaned that, and put it in. I think they like it! The little Cory was snuggling into it and is just relaxing. I put a 60 watt lamp over the tank, but the readings seemed wrong. I don't have an actual water thermometer, so I was using a probe from my lizards cage. The water, according to it, was 80 in less than 5 minutes and went up. Didn't want to risk boiling them so I draped a towel over their cage for now to keep them warm. Good news is, I set them up right next to my bearded dragon and where his lights are, so they'll get a little warmth just from being next to his cage! The other 6 fish will be here soon, so I think I'll do a water change for them, then gradually move a few into here. We'll have to see, but all in all everything is going good I think 6 more days...

 

[Baccus]

The little cory will love you

, for giving it some sand. If you really want to see their snuffling abilities bury or partially bury a bit of a treat in the sand and then sit back and watch the cory go to town. I call my corys bulldozers

, they move the sand around so much.
I was wondering if while using a lamp over the tank to help warm it, if you could get a timer/ controler and set the light to come on for 1-2hr intervals (depending on how long it takes for the water to get to optimum temp for the fish), and then off for enough time for the tank to cool slightly again. It might cause even more fluctuations in the temp but it also might be a bit safer than having to double check the temp every five minutes to see if its getting too hot.

 

[Ale_xis]

Ya, I will try that out tomorrow. Letting them rest for tonight, since I moved the rest of the other fish in, so trying to let them relax! Did the same method, left them in half their old and 30% of fresh water for 15 minutes then put them in. They're a little panicky, but my first 6 were like that for the night too. Now they're swimming around pretty normally.

Okay okay, I had one last question. If I keep them all, I will be releasing the 2 minnows I have in the tank in a nearby pond, since I'd rather not keep them in my tank. They deserve to be released by now. That will bring me down to 10 fish.. I was curious on two things-
It looks like one of the guppies(?) is pregnant, or just extremely fat. I REALLY don't want these fish having babies, because I can't upgrade them to anything bigger. If I end up loving this hobby, maybe in the future yes, but as of now a 10 gallon is a must. What exactly do I do if this happens? Will the store perhaps take the babies? As bad as it sounds, I really don't want them.
And last... Since I'll be down to 10 fish once I release the minnows, I really wanted to get another cory for my buddy. How many fish, one everything is cycled and ready to go, could happily live in this tank?

Also, here's a pic I got of the majority of the fish. They like to crowd together so this is pretty much all of them. Can anyone help me identify these guys? I'm assuming tetera's and guppies, but I have no clue. And sorry for blurry-ness, the tank is pretty scratched up so it's hard to get a clear picture.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

One thing you can do, if you still don't have a filter and can't get the one from school... if you can afford to buy a new filter, do. But, also see if you can buy old cycled filter media from the fish shop, that way you'd have a good colony of good bacteria to start with.

 

[Ale_xis]

I really can't afford to right now I'm just doing lots of water changes to ensure they have clean water. Plus, if I can get one basically for free on Monday and not have to worry about cycling the tank for weeks, I'd rather be patient and just keep their water clean. My plan is to get the filter and heater home Monday, and instantly start the filter. I'll leave the heater in there for a 30 minutes then slowly start it up. I'm hoping that's okay, with all the fish inside. I haven't been overfeeding them so hopefully there's not TOO much ammonia, but I will be getting a test kit as well to monitor it when I start the cycling. The tank should be almost instantly cycled within a few days with the old filter right? Plus I'll be bringing home some of the decorations home too which will help with the bacteria levels too. I was thinking of separating a few of the fish, but moving them back and forth is very stressful. If the ammonia levels spike, I can always do a water change or move fish then. I just hate having to move them again, especially when they're getting comfy.
Recommendations? (i lied, THIS is the last question.)

 

[Baccus]

Ok starting from the right of the picture I can see two glowlight tetras, possibly a guppy, then the cory, a platty or female swordtail, 3 (possibly) x-ray tetras, a fish that looks a bit like a barb and another platty or swordtail.
As for the minnows and releasing them into a nearby pond, if the pond is a wild pond (ie not in somebodies yard) then releasing them is inadvisible simply because they may not be native/ endemic to the area but also you could introduce diseases into wild populations of fish. I would see if a local shop would take the minnows, or even if any organisations like RSPCA (or similar animal rescue place) can help you find a new suitable home for the minnows.
As for a pregnant guppy, any fry she has in the tank are more than likely to get eaten by her (yes they will scoff their own offspring) and if she doesn't the other fish will (all except the cory that is). For fry to have a chance of survival in the tank you would need a nice dense planting for the fry to hide from the other fish in.
I don't know if your talking in U.S or U.K gallons but the barest minimum of corys would be 3 or 4 with a preference for 6 or higher. Once your tank is fully set up with a cycled filter you could gradually add another cory (preferably the same type of cory) every week or so until you reach your desired number without over loading the tank. 6 corys in the tank with the current stocking I would think is pushing it so maybe aim for 3 with looking at increasing the numbers at a later date.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Have you tried asking on freecycle for a filter? I find fish supplies often come up in my area. Maybe you can get something that works there then pursue used filter media at a fish shop.