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Fish Questions

4K views 28 replies 8 participants last post by  FDStation152 
#1 ·
Hi everyone.

I bought a fish tank for my work, and placed it on my desk, it's approx. 13L (or 3.5 Gallon; I hope thats right - I'm in Australia so we dont use Gallons :D )

Anyway, when I bought the fish tank, I set it all up, and I bought 5 fish.

1 Black Moore
1 Fantail
3 Feeder Fish.

Put all the chemicals in, and measure correctly, and the Water Crystals, and the tank went great.



It was running fine for about 2 weeks, Fish seemed all happy - although I did notice the Feeder Fish seemed to be picking on the Black Moore & Fantail. But generally there were no problems...

2 Weeks later, and the water seemed a little dirty, so I thought (was told usually every 2 weeks you change the water) I would do my first water change. I'm not really good with the Water Change, so I tried my best.Used a Siphon Pump to clean the gravel, and took about 1/2 the tank out, (was told supposed to take a 1/3; but accidently took more out)...

Filled up new water, and put some chemicals in, but I think I put the same amount that I would in the tank to begin with. (approx half a cap which equates to about 18L).. Came in the next morning and 3 of the 5 fish were dead. :cry: Then the final two passed away.

Snail didn't care funnily enough. He kept chewing away.

I called up this Fish Store, to be honest I didn't really like the guy that served me but he did some water testing; and told me the Amonia levels were high. (The water went a strong green).. and said that they are too high and they killed the fish.

He also told me that 5 fish is way too much for a tank this size.

Is this true?

I thought that 3 really small feeder fish and 2 medium size ones would be okay. It didn't seem cluttered. So I'd just like to get some people's thoughts and comments on how you guys clean your tanks, and what not.

He's told me to go home, completely rinse the tank, and set it up again new, and leave it for 2 days. Then get maybe 1 fish, wait a week or so, and then another one. He said that having 5 fish the Tank can't sterlize the bacteria or something and having 5 fish, it's just too much bacteria.

Would really like to get some friendlier people's opinion on my scenario and not someone who wont want to serve me because i'm not walking into his store buying a $500 tank setup.

Thanks for anyone that replies... :D
 
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#2 ·
YES!!! WAY TOO MUCH FISH!!! I must say, these are goldfish, they require at least 30 gallons for around only 2 goldfish!!! Your 2.5 is terrible for them. Do not buy any more goldfish, whatever you do. I would suggest either maybe 2-3 male guppies or 1 betta. Trust me, goldfish dont do well in that size tank, some goldfish even need a pond! Goldfish grow quite big and they are very heavy waste producers.

Another alternative to this tank is to have a moss/shrimp tank. What you do is grow different types of moss on the gravel bed, maybe add some lumps that look like hills around the back. Once the moss has grown and has a nice thickness to it, you can add some shrimp, maybe around 2-4 small shimp like red cherry shrimp.
 
#3 ·
musho3210 said:
YES!!! WAY TOO MUCH FISH!!! I must say, these are goldfish, they require at least 30 gallons for around only 2 goldfish!!! Your 2.5 is terrible for them. Do not buy any more goldfish, whatever you do. I would suggest either maybe 2-3 male guppies or 1 betta. Trust me, goldfish dont do well in that size tank, some goldfish even need a pond! Goldfish grow quite big and they are very heavy waste producers.

Another alternative to this tank is to have a moss/shrimp tank. What you do is grow different types of moss on the gravel bed, maybe add some lumps that look like hills around the back. Once the moss has grown and has a nice thickness to it, you can add some shrimp, maybe around 2-4 small shimp like red cherry shrimp.
:?: Oh okay, so your saying that this tank:



Just so you know, these are not 5 Gold Fish we are talking about - 3 of them are feeder fish, (really small tiny fish) and 1 is a Blackmoore.

Is not sufficent to hold a Blackmoore & a Fantail? 30 Gallons equates to approx. 113Litres. That is quite a lot for 2 fish. But oh okay.

I just find 1 fish really boring.

Can you give me an idea of what 'safe' fish are okay to put in? (If I wanted more than 1?)
 
#4 ·
A betta or a trio of male guppies will do.:) Boring fish though.:mrgreen:
 
#5 ·
its not the number of the fish that matters, its the size. THe oscar chichlid alone requires a tank of around 70 gallons. Gold fish grow quite big. Yes you could try bettas or guppies but i think having a shrimp tank would be quite nice. You could TRY 2 FEMALE bettas, but you have to watch them carefully, if they fight then you must separate them.
 
#13 ·
Vivification said:
I was going to get 2 Female Beta fish, I was reading up, and some people say that you can get 2 Females Only... (Pref if they have been with each other).
Only one female betta in a 3.5 gallons. Female bettas are just as aggressive as the males.
 
#14 ·
Vivification said:
Just so you know, these are not 5 Gold Fish we are talking about - 3 of them are feeder fish, (really small tiny fish) and 1 is a Blackmoore.

Is not sufficent to hold a Blackmoore & a Fantail? 30 Gallons equates to approx. 113Litres. That is quite a lot for 2 fish. But oh okay.

I just find 1 fish really boring.

Can you give me an idea of what 'safe' fish are okay to put in? (If I wanted more than 1?)
I see you have tiny feeder fish, as all animals, they are small when young, and large when older. They will grow. Moores grow to about 10 centimeters and fantails even bigger! Feeders also grow quite big.
 
#15 ·
Okay, thanks everyone for your help,

I've decided I'll go out and buy a Fighter Fish.. just a couple of questions.

1) Based on the Tank, how often should I clean it/change the water
2) Can i get anything else (safely) to put with a Fighter Fish.
3) Male or Female?
4) I still have Flake Food, can I feed it that?
5) When I get the fish, any special conditions or things I need to do when I put it in?
 
#16 ·
First, the tank should be cycled. It's the most important thing in this hobby. A properly cycled tank will mean no fish will suffer.

Second, cleaning should be done weekly. A 30%-50% water change weekly. Also, if you decide to get the fish and let the fish cycle the tank, then up your water changes to 30% every other day, and test your water daily. Do not let ammonia or nitrites get above 1ppm. Preferably .5ppm or lower.

Next, I wouldn't recommend any other fish with the Beta myself.

Next, Either 1 male or 1 female. Your choice.

Not sure on feeding Betas myself if flake food would be ok as a main diet.

Next, acclimation. You need to acclimate the fish to the tank. It's fairly simple. First you place the bag in the tank, so it can acclimate to the temp. Leave in for at least 15 minutes. Once that is complete, you can acclimate to the tank water. You do this by emptying half the water in the bag in the sink, then slowly add some tank water to the bag with a cup. Do this til the bag is full, then empty half again, and repeat 2 more times. Once completed, empty the bag into a net over a bucket or sink and the fish will go into the net, then place the fish in the tank. Do not add the LFS water to your tank, you don't know what might have travelled with the fish in the bag.
 
#18 ·
Cycling is done 2 ways......

Adding straight ammonia to the tank up to 3-5ppm. When ammonia reaches 0ppm, you then dose to 1-2ppm. When the 1-2ppm goes to 0ppm in less than 24 hours, your tank is cycled.

Fish cycle means just that, the fish will produce the ammonia, and it is necessary to keep it below 1ppm, preferably .5ppm.

Cycling can take 6-8 weeks, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. There is no way around cycling the tank other than placing already cycled material from an established tank into your filter, and gravel from an established tank. This would shorten your cycle time greatly, down to maybe a day or 2, or instant. But no, your tank is not cycled. Read up on the post that was given above for cycling a tank. It's not as easy as just letting the tank sit for a day.

Yes, you can add the fish if you like, just make sure you get test kits and test the water daily, and do at least 30% water changes every other day until your cycle is complete, which could be up to 8 weeks.

The test kits to get:
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
ph
 
#21 ·
Hey Blueblue48, don't change your avatar.:thumbsup: You know how much we need it to show proof how big goldfish get.:mrgreen: :wink2:
 
#25 ·
Blue said:
Vivification said:
I was going to get 2 Female Beta fish, I was reading up, and some people say that you can get 2 Females Only... (Pref if they have been with each other).
Only one female betta in a 3.5 gallons. Female bettas are just as aggressive as the males.
Female bettas arent even close to being as agressive as the males. I've kept them 20 to a tank before without problems. Its the males that try to kill each other (and the females if they arent actively breeding). Not sure where you got that information from but I bred the things for a solid two years and never had problems with the females being agressive.
 
#26 ·
FDStation152 said:
Female bettas arent even close to being as agressive as the males. I've kept them 20 to a tank before without problems. Its the males that try to kill each other (and the females if they arent actively breeding). Not sure where you got that information from but I bred the things for a solid two years and never had problems with the females being agressive.
Have you ever consider a person's experience? I've experienced this before. You have to note that our experience differs. A 3.5 gallons with more than just one, there is still a chance they may bicker but as I said, it may differ. As for me, I'm not budging for another female betta.:roll: But whatever it is, it's just my experience so there's no need to try contradicting what I was saying. I just prefer to be safe than sorry.:)
 
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