new to this fish thing

[sylvia]

Once you've got the nitrAte under control, leave it about a week. Then do a water change (like you would do weekly under normal circumstances) and you can put in 3 new fish. However, make sure you research what you're going to get first. What are you considering? Something hardy like platies or danios may be the best place to start.
Also, can you describe the 'sucker fish'? If they are common plecs they will eventualy need to be re-homed though they'll be ok for the time being. Having said that, they have a few special requirements - they need wood in their diet (get a small piece of bog wood from your LFS and soak it a little to get rid of most of the tannins - you'll see the water you soak it in will turn yellow - then put it in your tank after about a week) and they also need to have algae pellets and other sinking foods given to them - prefferably just before the lights go out - to supplement their diet. If, however, they are chinese algae eaters, you should return them as soon as possible to your LFS as they get aggressive with age and can kill small fish, suck on larger fish' slime coats and are often responsible for removing eyes.

 

[retrogame888]

[hi there
the sucking fish are brown in colour , i think they are the most common type.i feed them the sinking wafers that are for them, only a few each day. the other fish that has survied is a molly, i was thinking of another molly and 2 tiger barbs. also i have 9 baby fish in the tank that have survied from one of the dead fish ?? not sure what they are though. possibley plattys as i had two of them before they died and one kept going in the cave which was i little strange.
also when doing the water change ive been cleaning the gravel at the same time, can you over clean the gravel ??
thanks

 

[rdd1952]

The sucker fish definitely sounds like a common pleco. They get really big and need to be in a minimum tank size of 55 gallons (for one). They are also very messy meaning they create a lot of extra waste (ammonia & nitrite) compared to other fish. It would definitely be a good idea to return those to the fish store if you can.

As for cleaning the gravel, you really can't over clean it. Just vacuum off the top. Don't stir it or anything like that since that will cause the waste/trash to fall down into the crevices and create other problems.