Question for Wilder...Thanks for all of your help

[seanus]

Hello Wilder

As you know, I had a wonderful 29-gallon freshwater tank going with a bala shark, goephagus cichlid, silver tip shark, gourami, and a couple mollys. All was well, water quality (gH, kH, pH, Nitrite, Nitrate & Ammonia) levels were good, and I had the tank running for 13 months.

After introducing a new tadpole from the local fish store two months ago, he killed off the entire tank with a nasty parasite that medicine & water changes couldn't get rid of! sad.gif It was a bad week.

So, the tank has been sitting for two months with no life. I am starting over, and want to design the best combination of fish. This is where I'd really appreciate your advice!

Do you think it's best to get the fish all at once?

How should I deal with the water in my tank now? It had fish living in it two months ago & I haven't been changing it. I lowered the temp. signficantly and have just raised it again to the original level. Should I change 50% twice before adding fish? I'd love some help about starting over...

Lastly, I am thinking of going with brackish water & a tank with 3 puffer fish. At my LFS, they are $8 for 1-2" fresh/brackish water puffers. What else would you recommend adding with them (I want a VERY visually appealing tank)?

I have never kept brackish water & would love to hear opinions on its level of care...

If you would recommend freshwater instead of brackish, what combination of fish would you go with for a 29-gal hex tank?

I really want a great setup & I love frogs, colorful/unique/beautiful fish. Your advice is very much appreciated...thanks in advance

 

[Torrean]

Just Wilder or will you take advice from anyone.

1. You will need to cycle your tank again.
2. I'd change all of the water before adding fish.
3. I'd rinse everything including the gravel. Get all the crud out of there. Scrub the glass with a NEW sponge too.
4. If you want a visually appealing tank I'd go for a lot of small schooling fish and a heavily planted tank.

BTW this thread really belongs in beginners not emergency.

Hope you don't mind my 2 cents.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I am much less qualified than Torrean to stand in for Wilder but I'll put in my pennyworth anyway:

If you do a fishless cycle you will then be able to put in all your fish at once.

(As Torrean says the tank has to be cycled somehow as 2 months standing around without a source of ammonia=fish will have killed off the beneficial bacteria).

I would second the idea of plants and small shoals of colourful fish as that is very visually attractive. IMO looks best with large shoals of one thing. (My lfs has a big display tank of neons and it looks COOL. Though I would perhaps go for some less common fish).

Whatever you do, don't get any more balas- the tank is too small. (Not sure about the silvertipped shark either).

If you go for puffers, do your research very carefully. They won't fit in with everything and they may have special dietary requirements.

Also, when you scrub out, careful with the sponge- some of them are impregnated with some sort of cleaning stuff, test it first to see that it doesn't foam.

Good luck!

 

[abstract]

i would leave the tank out to completely dry for a month (as it sounds like you still have water in it for some reason)....it seems silly to still use the same water (even after doing a partial water change) that killed off all of your fish...

 

[pica_nuttalli]

do you have a name for these "fresh/brackish" puffers? LFS often get the needs of puffers horribly wrong, so you have a TON of fact checking you'll need to do. i can't think of ANY brackish puffers where 3 of them can be kept in a 29g. the only other fish which can live happily with a brackish puffer is the bumblebee goby. puffers are pretty nasty fin-nippers.

as for a brackish tank, there are very few plants that can tolerate a brackish environment. so most brackish tanks are rather sparsely decorated. artificial plantings can be used, but are not necessary since brackish fish aren't really accustomed to plants. brackish tanks should use marine salt; salt should only be replaced during water changes. different brackish fish have different salinity tolerances, so you'll need a way of monitoring how much salt you have in one go.

 

[seanus]

thanks for all of the help everyone

yes, the fish are 1" leopard or green spotted puffers. they have a max size of 6". so i thought three would work relatively well.

i was only going to consider possibly adding a couple of silver scats...and think i will cycle the tank now with some danios for a week before getting the new fish. i'm sure the puffers will eat the danios, so i won't be getting many...just need some ammonia build up first.

pica_nuttalli, i only have rocks, a fake plant/rock/cave and some other fake plants, so i'm good on the brackish pre-qualifier there. thanks! and i will use the marine salt, not aquarium salt. i am going to buy a salt measuring device (only $10 or so) and will watch it.

i guess the only question i have remaining is...how much extra time is required to maintain brackish water? i've heard saltwater requires way more time, but is brackish not so bad? if it's just adding/measuring/monitoring a little salt, it can't be so bad with brackish water....

I hope!

 

[Torrean]

You should cycle the tank until it's finished. Not just a week.

BTW I don't know that much really. If you asked me an advanced question I'd have to research it and sometimes I get the easy stuff wrong.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

green spotted puffers need to go into (essentially) a fully marine tank when grown. if you cannot support a marine tank, skip out on the green spotted puffers.

 

[vantgE]

My $.02 as well

Bleach your tank, decor, and equipment out let it then let it dry entirely rinse it good and let it dry again for a couple days, you don't want anything comeing back

Do a fishless cycle if you can

I am also planning a GSP tank so may I suggest a few things I seem slighlty ahead of you in research but have no real experience

You will only get one GSP for a 29,

Brackish watter tanks are not much harder then freshwatter and the GSP will not have to go entirely marine that is optional
Marine tanks are not too expensive though still more then freshwater but extra costs are minimal if you do the fish only route-no live rock corals anemones and such, what you end up with will be your decision when your puffer is nearly full size so you have time to think it through
Don't add salt directly to the tank it should be diluted first and added slowly

Another note puffers can be expensive to feed the diet will consist mostly of live and frozen foods-breeding your own snails will nearly take half the cost away

Sand will also be prefered over gravel but don't worry you can get it as cheap as you want or as expensive as you want 3.00-70.00 dollars for several pounds cheaper stuff will require more initial work but no more meintenance, try and make an intresting complex tank these are very smart fish and can get bored simple tanks

Do lot's of research always maintain your intrest and continue learning

 

[seanus]

Thanks very much!

Even though they are only 1", I should only go with one GSP? I'd love two, but I'm listening!

Right now, I have small rocks & fake plants (which I will be cleaning thoroughly).

I'll follow the advice & have some reading to do!

What do you anticipate the monthly cost of puffers to be (for food)? Is it easy to breed one's own snails?

Thanks in advance!

Sean

 

[vantgE]

You could go two if you are definately getting a bigger tank 55 gallons minimum, puffer freak has two right now in a smaller tank, but I doubt a 29 could keep them for more then a year but only guessing based on how my other fish grow
If your fish store has figure eight puffers you could do two of those

It should be easy to breed your own snails in a seperate tank or filtered container, just feed em a little and you'l get alot

I might have exagerated a bit on the half thing but that's what I am aiming for and hopeing for I'm estimateing about 10 dollars a month

about ten dollars for a pakage of frozen foods-bloodworm, krill, mysis sort of thing, and then a couple ghost shrimp once a month or so five dollars, but mostly free free snails so 10-15 dollars but it's hard to tell