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Questions regarding new tank set up and fish choosing, very confused !

4K views 34 replies 13 participants last post by  iheartmypitbull 
#1 ·
Hello,

I am a newbie, so new that my tank is still un wrapped in the living room. I am in need of some serious help.

So I bought this 10 gallon tank with a lava fern plant from Petsmart, theguy works there told me I have to set up the tank (put in water conditioner, a bit of fish food)and let it run for about 2-3 weeks before I put any fish in there. He also told me I may put the live plant in right away.Well, around where I live there is a small petsupply store, and told me very different story. They said I don't have to wait that long, 3 days to a week is good enough, and they told me the lava fern will not make it in the tank before I get the fish, because there's no nutrients for the plant.

Who should I listen? I am so confused now. Where should I put the tank if I want live plants in the tank, a east facing room or a south facing room?

I am also using the time to deciding onwhat kind of tropical fish I should get. I Can someone give me any advice?

The tank will have black gravel and salt/pepper stone, along with a wood log (the log is boiling in the pot now to get rid of some of the coffee color)

Any advice would be deeply appreciated.


Thanks

Jane
 
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#2 ·
First off welcome to the forum!!

You did the right thing by asking before setting up. I unfortunately did not when I put my first tank up and lost a lot of loved fish.

Actually; I can't believe I'm saying this lol; petsmart was correct. You need to buy a liquid test kit like API or tetra.

Put in the gravel and decor and your plant. Set up your filter complete with media and your heater and light. Fill with conditioned water and plug everything in. Add some fish food and let it run. Test the water daily. You want to get an ammonia spike reading and then that will drop and you will get a nitrite spike and then that will drop finally you'll get a nitrate spike. when that drops and everything is at 0 (especially ammonia and nitrite) your tank is cycled and ready to start SLOWLY adding fish. 1 or 2 at a time a week.

To help you figure out what types of fish go well together and to help avoid overstocking your tank I suggest going to AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor. Many more people will help on here as well. We love answering questions and seeing pics of tanks and inhabitants.

good luck
 
#3 ·
Oh and please research the fish you want heavily first before you buy. Many LFS (local fish stores) are just trying to make a buck.

Ask them questions you know the answers to. If they answer right you can begin to trust them. just a little tip
 
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#4 ·
ok so it seems you should read up on the fish tank cycle. It involved some chemicals that are secreted by your fish or fish food that jump start the growth of good bacteria mostly in your filter and gravel. The petsmart guy was right which surprised me cause they usaully arent right. Anyway more on that in a little. There are two ways to start the cycle that needs to begin for your fish to be able live healthily in your tank. The first way you can start the cycle is with placing a fish or a few into a running and setup tank. The fish will secrete ammonia through there waste and good bacteria will grow from it and end up turning the ammonia(which is lethal to fish) into nitrites(also lethal but not as much as ammonia) and then into nitrates( also lethal but only if there is a mass buildup of it). The other way you can do it is to not put fish in the tank and only drop in fish food(i dont know how often) to start the cycle. Fish food turns into ammonia and the process begins the same way as if you began it with fish. Finally that plant would survive in the tank as there would be nutrients available for it. Read up more on it. I wrote this quickly and only meant to give an introduction on the matter oh and welcome to the forum, its great:)
 
#13 ·
Yes, welcome!!!

mcb5522 is very right!

I have never cycled my tanks with fish food, but I have with fish.
The only thing I can think to add is that when picking a fish to cycle your tank with is to get a hardy species of fish that have the ability to survive a cycle.

Good luck with your aquarium!!!
 
#5 ·
WOW! This is the first time I have ever seen a place like Petsmart give good advice! Usually I tell people to support their local small business fish stores over chains like petsmart, but in this case, I think you found your self a good guy. Just make sure you always talk to him if possible.
 
#7 ·
Whoo Hoo!! Good advice given by all including a chain store employee. That's something you don't see every day (re: the store employee).

Good luck, keep us posted, and welcome to the forum.
 
#8 ·
As for your question regarding the position of the tank for the plants,I presume that your tank has a light in the hood?.
You only need the tank light to provide the light for the plants (the choice of plants you have will be limited to how good your light is).Having a tank in direct sunlight next to a window may give you a bad algae problem.Just put the light on a timer for about 10 hours a day (mine go on at 1.00 in the afternoon until 11.00 in the evening so I get to see my fish in all their glory when I'm home in the evenings).
If you want to go mental with the plants you can get a fert substrate,CO2 system etc.But you can still have a nice planted tank just using liquid ferts/root tabs.

Good luck with the tank!,
Tomsk
 
#11 ·
If it isn't rinsed well it can cause your water to be cloudy when you first fill the tank with water. Gravel rinses much more easily than sand. If you rinsed your gravel for seven minutes and the water ran clear I think you'll be just fine. ;-)
 
#14 ·
it removes dust and any thing that you don't want in your tank. I don't think it is that big of a deal but not so sure. I recomend clownkillies for they are small and very nice I know they like softer water... i think... I think I got myself a good petsmart employee yay
 
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#16 ·
Thanks, now I am less nervous. The tank was very clear after I put the gravels in, now it's a bit cloudy because of the driftwood, ( I already pre-boiled the wood 3 time ) but I understand it will eventually go away. You guys are so nice, I am so happy that I came to the right place for advice! J.
 
#18 ·
hi.
as long as you have room in your home,you can always up grade to bigger tanks,
we find ourselves suffering from MTS (multie tank syndrome ) here and i'm sure you'll go down
with it too lol:lol:
i would love to get another larger tank.
 
#19 ·
I want a 100g, but I think I might be forced to get rid of one of the 55s :/
 
#21 ·
thank you.
hmmmmm if you looked at my tank through my profile,then they are probably old ones.
i use to use a lot of fake plants in the aquarium,bought them from a garden center,
the front of the tank was sand,then there was a home made devider,and the gravel
was at the back,then things changed,went down hill and i think there is a thread somewhere
showing the mess it became,and the vertual over night change...........see if i can find it.......
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquarium/serious-consideration-stock-58206/
and the gravel is now mixed with the sand.
tomorrow i hope to put an aquarium backing inside the tank.
 
#25 ·
lol i work at petsmart and yeah for the most part some stores know what they are talking about :p sucks cleaning the tanks tho everyday lol ... glad to know we gave you good advice :):):)
 
#29 ·
I think I got lucky, the young man who works there have a 55 gallon fresh water tank himself,he can talk about fishes for a long time. Aslo, the tanks there are super clean, fishes are very alert and active, water plants are big and healthy looking. I do think he did a great job taking care of all of these (I learned from the store manager that's his responsibility)

On the other hand, I just came back from a local pet store today, totally the opposite from what I saw at PetSmart, very shocking. I guess there's no absolute of anything.
 
#26 ·
Unfortunately most petsmarts, and all pet stores for that matter, can only hire from the pool of people that is available to them. The owner/managers may know a ton about fish, but that does not mean the employees do. unfortunately ALL businesses are there to make money. You need to get past that when dealing with pet stores, and realize that it is how they go about this that matters. My LFS loves to get money from me, but they do it by knowing what I like, what I have and what I need, rather than attempting to sell me things I don't need. In the end thats all you can ask for.

on a side note, the new Wallmart here carries fish. This makes me very sad. I almost want to apply there for a second job just to take care of them :/
 
#28 ·
on a side note, the new Wallmart here carries fish. This makes me very sad. I almost want to apply there for a second job just to take care of them :/
Totally agree with you guys on this! I did went to our Walmart just to check out what they have, and I felt so so sad for those fishes, the tanks are super dirty and alges everywhere. They should really not allow to sell fish for sure!
 
#30 ·
:) thats awesome. yeah the fish are heathy for the most part they all come from one breeder so we dont get any customers sick fish and whatnot. and clean a section of tanks a day so they all get cleaned once a week .. i have like 50 fish from there obv lol and none have died yet so yay :D:D haha
 
#31 ·
My local Walmart has always had fish, thankfully, over the last month, they have emptied all the fish out. I hope they are going to discontinue the sale of fish and that they arent just getting ready for a new set up. Walmart fish are always unhealthy. However, once I got lucky. I found one of those huge growing albino aquatic frogs (not the african dwarf), and he was a baby and they sold him to me for like $1!!! Had him for a long time!
 
#32 ·
The Walmart across the street from my work just remodeled and broke down their old fish system to bring in a brand new one. It's really sad looking, they have pictures of gravel on the bottoms of the tanks instead of real gravel, and all the fish look starved. But they've slowly been getting better over the last year or so, at least now they've got fish separated appropriately and the tanks are much, MUCH cleaner.

And, because I also work at PetSmart, I feel the need to throw my two cents in...

Yes, I will fully admit that PetSmart (at least our store) has a real hard time hiring knowledgeable employees. When I was hired three and a half years ago, I didn't have any pets, didn't know how to care for them other than common sense. I didn't know what fish were compatible, who ate what food, how big they got, nothing. And I was a pretty typical hire for my store. HOWEVER, because I was concerned with the animals under my care, on my breaks I read every book and magazine we carry in the store and in my spare time read up online about every species we carry. I learned about water quality, tank cycling, mating behaviors, the works. I then was able to use what I learned to help customers make the best purchases for their needs. I even had a customer who came in to buy cichlids, saw a juvenile cyrtocara moorii in the assorted tank, and was absolutely astonished when I actually knew what he was talking about when he said "I want the hap." (Cichlids are kind of my weakness!)

Sadly, I no longer work in that department and all of my knowledge is being wasted working nights alone. :( Of the six people now taking care of the fish, there are only two that I would trust to have the right answers.

Now, although few people who work with me know what they're talking about, our PetSmart is about a ZILLION times better than the Petco a block away. Their tanks are filthy, there are always dead fish floating around, and everyone seems to have ich. Last time I went in there I couldn't even see into two of the tanks because of the thick brown algae growth, and when I asked the employee to clear it, there were three emaciated ich-infested oscars behind it :( they always have dead bettas on the shelves, and their RES turtles are always bleeding from fighting with each other. It's such a sad store, I can't even go in there anymore.

That being said, I absolutely love love LOVE the small privately run shop down the street from my house. They're the best EVER!!!
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#33 ·
The Walmart across the street from my work just remodeled and broke down their old fish system to bring in a brand new one. It's really sad looking, they have pictures of gravel on the bottoms of the tanks instead of real gravel, and all the fish look starved. But they've slowly been getting better over the last year or so, at least now they've got fish separated appropriately and the tanks are much, MUCH cleaner.

And, because I also work at PetSmart, I feel the need to throw my two cents in...

Yes, I will fully admit that PetSmart (at least our store) has a real hard time hiring knowledgeable employees. When I was hired three and a half years ago, I didn't have any pets, didn't know how to care for them other than common sense. I didn't know what fish were compatible, who ate what food, how big they got, nothing. And I was a pretty typical hire for my store. HOWEVER, because I was concerned with the animals under my care, on my breaks I read every book and magazine we carry in the store and in my spare time read up online about every species we carry. I learned about water quality, tank cycling, mating behaviors, the works. I then was able to use what I learned to help customers make the best purchases for their needs. I even had a customer who came in to buy cichlids, saw a juvenile cyrtocara moorii in the assorted tank, and was absolutely astonished when I actually knew what he was talking about when he said "I want the hap." (Cichlids are kind of my weakness!)

Sadly, I no longer work in that department and all of my knowledge is being wasted working nights alone. :( Of the six people now taking care of the fish, there are only two that I would trust to have the right answers.

Now, although few people who work with me know what they're talking about, our PetSmart is about a ZILLION times better than the Petco a block away. Their tanks are filthy, there are always dead fish floating around, and everyone seems to have ich. Last time I went in there I couldn't even see into two of the tanks because of the thick brown algae growth, and when I asked the employee to clear it, there were three emaciated ich-infested oscars behind it :( they always have dead bettas on the shelves, and their RES turtles are always bleeding from fighting with each other. It's such a sad store, I can't even go in there anymore.

That being said, I absolutely love love LOVE the small privately run shop down the street from my house. They're the best EVER!!!
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Sounds like Petsmarts need to hire more employees that either know what they are talking about, or are willing to fully learn the info, like yourself...and keep them available to the customers instead of working nights.

On the Walmart subject...my best friend called me last night to tell me that her hopes of her walmart no longer selling fish were not coming true...they cleaned the tanks and re-stocked...this time carrying lots of cichlids (oscars & blood parrots are ones she mentioned). She said it looked as though nothing had changed, just stocking fish they are sure to kill or sell to people who have no clue about them.

I am not a fan of Petco. They are more expensive than petsmart and have less inventory. In my area, most of our Petcos are closing down due to no customers.
And dont get me started on evil Petland!!! I refuse to set foot in that puppy mill supporting establishment!!!

But to you, Iheartmypitbull, thanks for being a good Petsmart employee...any way us non-employees can express our concern to the company about needing more knowledgable employees, at least in the areas that deal with live animals??? Or shall I say, in a way that they might actually read??
 
#34 ·
Um, not that I'm aware of. I know regarding internal affairs (i.e. issues between associates or associates/management) there is a lot of big talk from corporate but not a lot of action to correct any problems. I can't imagine they would give you the time of day either. Although I suppose if there was enough of an uprising they might be forced to do something about it. I know there's a PetSmart facebook page where you may be able to voice your concerns. I'll see if by any chance I can find something on our associate website about who to talk to....
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#35 ·
Well I found everyone in corporate's email addresses but it says everything on the website is confidential and I don't want to get fired. The best I can find for all of you is the email for PetSmart's Public Relations. Pr@ssg.petsmart.com it says it's for media contact but I suppose y'all would most closely fall under that category
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