# hardy fish ... and the naive owner.



## bilaliz (Jun 15, 2011)

thanks mods for validating my account ... 

i will first tell you what i have done, and then ask couple of questions. 

I got an old 20 gal tank that some one wanted to throw away, along with the gravel, rocks, siphon, filter etc, the stuff wasnt used for 10 years. 
i brought it home, washed the tank it with detergent and wiped it down with paper towel, filled it with water, washed the water pump and sponge filter with soap too and wiped down. ran the filter for couple of days and then it was turned off.
so now the tank is 5 days old, i went to Big Al's told them what i have done, (surprisingly) they said its fine to put fish in now, i got the carbon and some other filter, flake fishfood, nine xray fish, water heater

came home, put some chlorinater and that bacterial filter they gave me in the tank, rinse the gravel with water very well, as well as the rocks and driftwood as well, about an hour later, put the gravel in the tank, set stones etc, another half hour later i let the fish in! (dang .. from what i read now it should have died ... right?) 
started (over) feeding twice a day, then the water became kinda yellow and cloudy, two days later the clouds went away but still kinda yellowish.

2.5 weeks later I am now feeding the fish appropriately, i dont see the fish as being sick either. but i cant test the amonia and stuff since i dont have the test kit and i wont really be able to go get one for another month or so. 

thats where the question comes ... so the fish has been in the tank for 18 days, with the water being there by itself for another 5 days, (i did foolishly top it off couple of times with chlorinated water though) should i start doing the weekly water changes? if not yet ... then whats the right time? 

also what is a good tiny fish to put in this tank that dosnt require too much feeding (i.e can go weekend without being fed)


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

Yes, you should start doing water changes.


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## rkay (May 8, 2011)

Yeah for sure start doing water changes, remember to use a dechlorinator product. I usually let the water sit for 24 hours too to be sure of the tempature and stuff. Also a test kit is extremely important instead of buying anymore fish get a test kit it will help save yout current fish and let you know how your cycle is going.


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## cliff (Aug 30, 2010)

what is the current fish that you have?

Yes time for water changes, they are the best thing you can do for a fw tank


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## bilaliz (Jun 15, 2011)

Thanks for the replies folks, really really appreciated. i will do a 25% water change today, i have 9 x-ray fish cliff ... very hardy i'd say since i wasnt very smart with them.

also i am planning on putting this at my office desk, can you please suggest me a tiny fish that can go the weekend without feeding.


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## belo (Sep 25, 2010)

I would go with Red Cherry Shrimps... and lots of Moss


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## bob123 (Dec 31, 2009)

Any healthy fish can go over the weekend without feeding. If you take a water sample to the fish store they can test it for you.


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## Kerohime (Jan 10, 2011)

Wow did the people at BAs allow you to add 9 fish to a 5 day cycled tank? That is way too many to add all at once. 

The cloudyness is due to a nitrate spike, because your tank isnt cycled. Did you add a bacterial culture into the water? Its something like Nutrafin Cycle... it should help with keeping the nitrates down and to innoculate your tank with the healthy bacteria that you need. If you dont have an ammonia/nitrate/nitrite kit you can bring a water sample into BAs or even PJs to have it tested, my guess that your water is probably high in ammonia and nitrates, so keep up with the water changes, and do not remove or change your filter media for a while. 

You also shouldnt be using detergent to clean your aquarium supplies... unless its specialty aquarium cleaner ( use to use lab grade diluted Hydrochloric acid when i worked at a wet lab but that was the only thing i ever used). Hot water and a sturdy razor blade or sponge pad should do the trick. If you leave residual detergents onto any component of the tank (gravel, sponge, filter media, etc) it could cause some detrimental effects to the fish.

As for the USB aquarium, that tank is 1.5 quarts, which is less than 0.4 gallons of water. I wouldnt put anything other than a betta in there. maybe maximum of 5 cherry shrimp, but that is a ridiculously small tank. 

Maybe you should look into a dymax IQ3 or a Fluval Speck.


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## NomiGold (Jan 22, 2011)

Seems like everyone here has already given you solid advice, and anything I would add would pretty much just be repeating them.

As for that desktop aquarium, I would say it's too small for even a betta (generally a 2.5 gallon is a good minimum to start with for a betta), and they would need heat as well. It could house a small group of shrimp, which I think someone else mentioned. 

Would a five gallon be too large for your desk? You could house a number of interesting nano fish in a 5G and it would give you a tiny bit more leeway as a beginning aquarist.


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## bilaliz (Jun 15, 2011)

thanks a lot for the advice guys, I did a 25% water change, the fish seemed kind of scared ... but once done they were ok, i saw some white algae like substance attached to the driftwood so i took it out and washed off, before adding water i added the bacterial culture and dechlorinater.

about the small tank i agree that it cant carry a big fish and as some say not even a betta, however a 5 gal tank is too big for HR i think .. i may get away with the small one  so cherry shrimps then? do i need to cycle water before i put in cherry shrimps?


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

I would definitely go from some Cherry or Fire reds (an even redder version of the Cherry). They are quite hardy and have a high breeding rate!


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## Grane (Jun 14, 2011)

You should always cycle the water before adding fish to a new tank.


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