New to Keeping Fish-10 gal tank

[Tayfish3]

Hey guys, I'm new to fish aquariums and I've already made some beginner's mistakes. I already feel bad enough so please be nice. I do want to learn and give my fish a happy home!

1. I listened to a fish store's misinformation and got 3 tiger barbs, 1 green barb, and a bala shark for my 10 gal tank about 3 days ago...also put in with a 2yr old gold fish who is quite resilient given the circumstances he was living in before I got involved. I know goldfish are more cold water fish, but the person at the store said he should be fine in mid 70's water.
2. I do have a heater, filter, and bubbles for the tank and will regularly check the temperature.
3. I know to siphon 30% of the water and replace once a week and vacuum the pebbles. Feed them twice a day as much as they will eat in 3 min.

I let the new fish float in their bags for 20min to get used to the new environment. For the first 48 hours everything seemed to be fine. They were all swimming around, eating, and getting used to each other. The one green barb was being a little bit of a bully to one of the little tiger barbs, but it didn't last long. Then the next day I saw that one of the tiger barbs was hanging in the bottom left corner in the decorative grass. He wasn't swimming around with the others and seemed a little lethargic. Everyone else was fine. Welp, I woke up this morning and that tiger barb was dead and so was the bala shark. I can understand about the barb because he was already acting weird, but the bala was fine. I did read that they are aggressive swimmers and shouldn't be kept in a small tank, so maybe he swam into the wall or something? I would not have gotten him had I read and not listened to the person working at the fish store for this size tank.

So now I have the 2 tiger barbs, 1 green barb, and a goldfish. Will they be okay in this 10 gal tank together? As of now, I cannot get a bigger tank and believe me I do want these fish to be healthy and thrive. Any advice will help!

Thank you.

 

[fluttermoth]

I'm afraid you're going to have to rehome or move some of these fish.

The tiger barbs can be quite aggressive and nippy, and there is no doubt they're going to bully the goldfish. They might even kill it

Tiger barbs need to be kept in large groups, or their bullying can get out of control, but that would need a much bigger tank than a ten gallon

Is the green barb a green tiger, or another species? Is the goldfish a fancy or a normal? If it's a normal type, then that can't live in a ten gallon either, as they can grow to nearly a foot long.

 

[Tayfish3]

It's a green/blue tiger barb. The goldfish is normal from a carnival. It was in a 3 gallon tank covered in algae, who somehow has lived like that for 2 years, before I put him in this 10gal tank.

I guess I could take my fish back to the store and maybe do an exchange. What fish would thrive in a 10 gal tank?

 

[fluttermoth]

Yeah, normal goldies need to be in ponds, not tanks, I'm afraid.

What fish you could successfully keep depends on the dimensions of the tank, and whether your water is hard or soft; you can find that information out on your supplier's website.

 

[Demeter32]

The short answer is no, those fish will not do well in a 10gal tank. Tiger barbs should be in at at least double that (29gal is my minimum though) and a regular comet goldfish needs a much larger tank, something like a 55gal for 1 goldfish. Best to find a pond that already has goldfish and release him.

I say either return the fish and choose something that will do well in a 10gal or upgrade to a 29gal. Sounds to me the tank was not cycled before adding the fish. I'd look into the nitrogen cycle to get a better idea of water quality and stocking.

 

[Essjay]

The store also badly advised you about the bala shark. These fish grow up to 30 cm (12 inches) needing a tank at least 240 cm (8 feet) long. And they are shoaling fish so you need at least 6 of them.


As you have unfortunately discovered, never believe anything a shop says. Always research things for yourself.

 

[snork6]

This link will help you learn how to properly cycle your tank

http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

 

[Tayfish3]

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[Stiphodon]

Hi Tay this reply might be a little late to be of any help to you but I thought it might help.

As stated previously on the thread it is hard to say what species of fish will be fine in your tank without knowing the dimensions.

Saying this however there are a few species I would suggest looking into. ( sadly you do need to rehome all of your current fish or atleast upgrade the tank )

some of the species are
celestial pearl danio
scarlet badis
betta splenden
honey gourami
spice rasbOra
chilli rasbora.

If you wanted something slightly more exotic most small killifish species would be fine or you could have some shell dwellers from lake tanganiyika specifically neolamprologus multifasciatus

hope this helps

 

[Tayfish3]

This link will help you learn how to properly cycle your tank

http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

Thank you! I did re home my fish and now I have a 46 gallon tank. I will definitely use this information to properly cycle this tank.

 

[kornel351]

Thank you! I did re home my fish and now I have a 46 gallon tank. I will definitely use this information to properly cycle this tank.

Great to here u upgraded your tank make sure u leave the tank running for a couple weeks before u add the fish in to build beneficial bacteria .

 

[Essjay]

Just running the tank for a couple of weeks will not build up the bacteria. Ammonia must be added to build them up and the process takes longer than a couple of weeks.

The only alternative is to plant live plants - a good number of them not just a couple - wait till you know they are growing well then add fish a few at a time.

 

[kornel351]

Just running the tank for a couple of weeks will not build up the bacteria. Ammonia must be added to build them up and the process takes longer than a couple of weeks.

The only alternative is to plant live plants - a good number of them not just a couple - wait till you know they are growing well then add fish a few at a time.

or add pure Ammonia to the water and do regular water tests .

 

[Essjay]

The best way to cycle a tank is by following this method http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

This method was devised by a member on here because the old "add ammonia every time it drops to zero" method made so much nitrite it stalled the cycle. If the method in the link is followed exactly, nitrite can never get high enough to stall the cycle.