Water changes?

[CAMeadors]

Hi
I have a 20 gallon tank, that I seem to be learning by trial and error on. (My first error was letting Petsmart sell me a 1 gallon tank and 4 fish to go in it!) They all died except the Bala shark. Which, now that I have learned more, I'm surpized that even he lived. But anyway the 20 gallon tank is about 5 weeks old and now has 1 bala shark, 3 giant danios, and albino catfish and a goruami. I think this is probably an odd mix but they seem to be doing okay. Anyway I have not done any water changes yet and in fact I need to add some water. I was wondering how to best do water changes. The acquarium is in my son's room. I bought one of those things that attached to the faucet with a 25 foot length. I was wondering if I need a certain type of material for the bucket (plastic, metal) etc or if it matters. I have been testing the water and the nitrites were a bit high, so I bought some bacteria at the fish store and everything seems to be okay for now.
Thanks for your help.

 

[The-Wolf]

Hi
I have a 20 gallon tank, that I seem to be learning by trial and error on. (My first error was letting Petsmart sell me a 1 gallon tank and 4 fish to go in it!) They all died except the Bala shark. Which, now that I have learned more, I'm surpized that even he lived. But anyway the 20 gallon tank is about 5 weeks old and now has 1 bala shark, 3 giant danios, and albino catfish and a goruami. I think this is probably an odd mix but they seem to be doing okay. Anyway I have not done any water changes yet and in fact I need to add some water. I was wondering how to best do water changes. The acquarium is in my son's room. I bought one of those things that attached to the faucet with a 25 foot length. I was wondering if I need a certain type of material for the bucket (plastic, metal) etc or if it matters. I have been testing the water and the nitrites were a bit high, so I bought some bacteria at the fish store and everything seems to be okay for now.
Thanks for your help.

Hi CAMeadors
First off water changes should be done weekly and
change around 20-30% at a time. I always use a plastic
bucket as a metal one could leech certain chemicals into
the water, best be safe than sorry.

Now sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but are you
aware of the adult sizes of you fish? I hope that you do
know and that you are prepared to re-home or return
the fish when they get bigger.

The lesson is never trust the lfs untill you know they are telling the truth,
most are there to make quick profit and do not care about the fishies health.

 

[Joviella]

Hi......firstly,welcome
Have you read the pinned topics at the top.....they should give you a good insight about the fishkeeping world.
For water changes I use plastic buckets,with a syphon gravel cleaner to take the water out, and to put it back in I do the same in reverse.Hope this helps!!

 

[CAMeadors]

Danio2004,
Which fish are going to get too big? Is it the catfish?
I sure wish I could trust the info from fish stores because they knew what size tank I had when I started.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Joviella]

Bala sharks can grow to 15" and should be kept in groups. Not sure about the giant danios....I will leave that for danio2004 to answer you. Some catfish can grow large. It depends on what kind you have.

 

[kev_kb]

Its a sad fact that you can't trust fish stores, but in my experience its true. If it wasn't for this I'm sure I would have a tank with 13 dead fish in it, but thanks to this site I kept an eye on it whilst cycling and water changed frequently and the process is now over with no losted fish.

To find out about your fish, and any future purchases search this site and Google.

 

[The-Wolf]

Danio2004,
Which fish are going to get too big? Is it the catfish?
I sure wish I could trust the info from fish stores because they knew what size tank I had when I started.
Thanks for your help.

the gaint danios will reach 15.2cm/6" and need to be in groups of at least 5 as they are social fish and thrive in groups, they can live for upto 6 years. I would recomend at lest a 4ft long tank for giant danio.

The bala shark will reach 36 cm/14.17" and you really need at least 55gallons to house an adult. They can live for 10+ years as well. not sure about needing groups of them or just one

I'm no expert on catfish so I don't know about the albino one, I have seen an albino that was at lest 2.5ft, but that is not to say yours will get that big.
CFC is the catfish expert, perhaps he will help you on the type and size etc on that.

EDIT
Where are my manners?
to the forums.

 

[kev_kb]

I'm no expert on catfish so I don't know about the albino one, I have seen an albino that was at lest 2.5ft, but that is not to say yours will get that big.

Not sure if this is the same fish, but I have Albino Corydoras which are sold as Albino Catfish at my LFS and according to the LFS (who I don't trust 100% lol) and the Internet they grow up to 3 inches only. If they are the same fish they like to be in groups of at least 3.

 

[corrosive]

Problem solved! Dont buy off places like pets mate, and pets at home. Go to an aquatic shop which specialize in fish, you can ask them all the questions and if theyre any good they will sell exactly what you need if you ask.

For example with your bala if you bought it from a local fish shop, they would either not sell it you because of your tank, or they would say its ok, but you will need a bigger tank in a short while, and things like that.

 

[clutterydrawer]

There are hundreds and hundreds of different catfish. It's quite possible the one you have is a corydoras, they are commonly available in the albino form. Does it look like this?

If so, it will not outgrow your tank. They only reach about 2"-3". However, they are shoaling fish so it would like some friends of his own species (not till you've got rid of the bala shark tho )

P.S. - is the tank cycled?

 

[CAMeadors]

Thanks for all the advice! I sure wish I had found it before I started buying fish and supplies. But anyway, now I am hooked and will hopefully avoid making the same mistakes again.
That picture of the corydoras catfish does look like mine. I'm glad to learn that at least he won't outgrow the tank. I see you recommended I get a couple more-after I got rid of the shark. I know the shark is supposed to be semi-agressive, but right now he is the scaredest one in the tank. He will be going for a piece of food and if anybody else comes near he lets them have it. Maybe I just got an odd Bala shark.
Should I not get any more Danios until I get rid of the shark too? After I added the gourami to the tank, the shark now hangs out and swims with the Danios.
I think the tank is cycled-not properly as I know now. I let it run for a week with no fish and the filter running with the bacteria drops Petsmart sold me. I have also started with just 4 fish in there and have been checking the water every couple of days. I know this is not the ideal way to do it, and next time I will know better, but I'm hoping since I've made it 5 weeks if I keep checking the water everything will be okay.

Thanks again for all your help and advice.

 

[clutterydrawer]

sounds like you're doing well
who told you the shark was semi-aggressive? bala sharks are very timid, skittish fish, especially when not in a school.

do you think you could maybe find a shop that would let you swap your danios for a smaller variety? cos as was mentioned, they're gonna get to 6" which is a bit big for a 20G tank, while regular danios only reach about 2".

to give your fish the best chance, when you test the water, doa water change if ammonia or nitrite is over 1ppm. and if you want to learn moer about cycling there's a pinned topic at the top of this forum called "Avoiding and Treating New Tank Syndrome". happy fishkeeping

 

[boozybears]

Welcome to the forum! Yes this place is very addictive!

Don't beat yourself up about listening to the bad advice of the lfs.. many of us have done the exact same thing (yup! i found this site the day AFTER i bought all my fish!) but lucky for you and your fish you found us now.

Please take the time to read all the pinned articles up top about cycling and water changes. It took over 7 weeks for my tank to cycle properly (with fish) and that was with doing daily 10-15% water changes and daily water level checks (amonial, nitrite and nitrate). Have you been checking your levels?

Good luck to you! We look forward to seeing you around in here and hearing about your progress.

Valerie