Fish.
Yup, I'm sure you all have seen my tank in the previous post. But a lot, and I mean a lot of shniz has gone down with this fishy business.
I'll start from the beginning.
My LFS (Local Fish Store) sold me African Cichlids. Yes yes, very pretty. But they neglected to tell me in their desire to rob me that Cichlids need a 90-100 gallon tank.
NOT A FRICKIN' 10 GALLON TANK!!!!
Assholes.
The only way I figured this out is when I joined an Internet forum about Cichlids and they told me to return the fish.
So I went back and asked "Why did you sell me Cichlids?"
Asshole behind counter "Give whatever he wants".
I'm a newbie to this stuff so I asked for some Black Widow Tetras (2), Zebra Danios (3) (CR's Suggestion) and 2 cory catfish. What was wrong with this? Well, Tetras and Danios like to be in shoals of 6 or more.
Next morning, Monday, I wake up , one cory and one zebra is dead.
I had joined another forum, Fish Forums. Net, and posted a query as to why the fish had died.
Here is the part of the text, Click here to view the whole post:
Just got yesterday 3 danios, 2 corys and 2 tetras. One cory was possibly DOA and in the morning I found a danio sucked into the filter. Baruch Dayan HaEmet. How should I repopulate this 10 gallon tank? Maybe I'll start fresh....I need readily accessible fish that are available in the Brooklyn, NY area and how many etc. TY J p.s. I would take them back to my LFS that I got them from but I just swapped 6 Chiclids that they sold to me (Idiots!!) even though I told them that I had a 10 gallon tank only. I'm NOT going back there!
The kind ladies and gentlemen on the forum were kind enough to point out that I needed to test the water.
What for?
BTT answers: ( and this should answer your query on Facebook, Ben-Yehuda)
Haha. We have the problem. Your filter is not cycled correctly. The term 'cycling' refers to building up a culture of bacteria in your filter which convert ammonia to nitrite, and nitrite to nitrate. Ammonia comes mainly from fish waste and uneaten food left in the tank, and is lethal to fish in very small quantities. The bacteria convert lethal ammonia into nitrite. Nitrite is also lethal to fish, but not to the same extent as ammonia, so this conversion is a step in the right direction. Another culture of bacteria also forms in the filter which converts lethal nitrite into nitrate, which in turn is not so poisonous as nitrite. Concentrations of up to around 100ppm of nitrate can be withstood by fish without adverse effects. The building of these bacteria colonies in your filter is what is known as 'cycling'. The process will take at least 3 weeks, and longer if undertaken with fish in the tank. I would advise that you take the fish back to the shop or get someone who has an established tank to look after them for you whilst you cycle your filter. Read the fishless cycling thread which is linked in my signature below. This is what you need to do. If you cant re-home your current livestock, you will need to undertake what we call a 'fish-in cycle' which involves controlling deadly ammonia and nitrite levels by doing partial water changes, often 3 times per day. This will cycle your filter, but be warned, you are likely to lose more lives in the process, and the fish who do survive will be permanently affected by the prolonged ammonia poisoning. The first step is to perform many small water changes and invest in a nitrite test kit so we can assess your water stats fully. Hope this helps. BTT
And so the party continues. I had added Bio-Spira to the tank, which is live bacteria but it didn't take all the way, apparently.
I rolled over to Petland Discounts where they tried to sell me more crap than I needed. No Sir, I'll just take a Nitrite and Nitrate Kit, that all.
Tested the water and here are the results:
NitrAte was 10 and NitrIte was 5. Bad. Poisonous.
So I did a fifty percent water change and went to sleep. Blogging? Nah, I'm wiped out.
Next morning, the readings decreased but were still lethal. Did ANOTHER 50% water change.
Finally, checked again by lunch time, about 3 hours and the Nitrite was gone.
Yes! Nitrite is 0 and Nitrate is 5 ppm, the tank is now stabilized.
Special thanks to Ms Inchworm and sj2k who took the time to chat with me via IM and answered all my questions.
Word to the wise: Do not believe anything they tell you in the pet stores. Bunch of lying bastards. Do not shop at World Aquarium.
Pet land Discounts isn't too bad though.
My best advice is go online to forums like I did and ask plenty of questions. The members were quite helpful and pleasant. They aren't trying to sell you anything either.
Last thing: I found a water-bug rolling around...Aha, this time I can put it to use. Trapped it and threw it in my tank.
The Tetras nibbled at it but the danios liked the bug more. Surprisingly, the catfish wasn't interested.
Some pictures from the Internet of my fish:
Black Widow Tetra
Cory Catfish
Zebra Danio 
Photo Credits:
www.winternet.com/
The TropicalTank.co.uk
www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk
Posts
12 comments:
Sheesh! What an adventure! I'm sorry you lost some of your fish but it seems you are on the right track now with the aquarium.
I've always wanted a fish tank. I'll keep all the info you posted in mine in case I ever do decide to get one.
A whole learning experience! I never realized there was all that.
Ugh you're giving me heartburn.
I went through all of this with the tank I bought 10 years ago. Checking the pH, changing the filters, vacuuming the gravel, mixing the fish ratio...
Then one day, the PT dumps the entire canister of fish food in the water.
Presto. Fish problem solved.
I usually stick to a fish that freezes well, like Gefilta.
Fish are good for three things. 1) Grilling 2) Baking 3) Pan-frying.
Get a dog. Dogs give you affection and are fun. Ever try to play catch with a fish?
B"H You're just goin' all out, aren't you?! Well, I guess if you're gonna do something, then you might as well do it right, huh? (Grammatical error for emphasis)
Thanks for the answer to my query.
Thanks to you, and to your experience, I'll remember to do the proper research before I start my own tank adventure.
Please keep us updated.
Hmm...do you think this topic warrants a spin-off blog?
ro: Yes I am :)
Miriam: Oh yea...
PT: ROTFL!!! Well, there goes my invite to the PT..and just when we were becoming friends...
Yingermon: LOL! Stay away from my fish..then again, they ain't kosher.
WG: Grrr. Dogs are cool but no room for one yet in my one bedroom apt.
I want a bull dog.
And keep your girly hands off my fishies. I don't want to smell grilled catfish ever :P
BY: Ya know, I was thinking about a spin-off but I really wouldn't have that much material to post.
Also, I'm going to enjoy inflicting useless knowledge about fish-keeping on you all :)
B"H Well, I'm serious about getting a tank one of these days. So, *I* don't think it's useless. I can learn a lot from the experience of others, ofter better than from a book.
Dude, I totally recommend joining my forum, listed in my links, before doing ANYTHING.
There is so much that can go wrong, from buying the wrong size tank to getting the wrong kind of fish to not cycling the water.
I'm always here if you have questions about it.
B"H Yeah, of course. That's what I found out from you already. I think I should probably get a job first, though: http://www.geocities.com/benyehudah5766
Oh, and thanks for the Q & A offer.
Yeesh. Seems like an awful lot of trouble for pets-- which is probably why I don't have any. In the past I've had fish (do goldfish count?) and gerbils, guinea pigs, and birds. Birds were noisy, so was the GP, and the gerbil died horribly after getting a tumor. Dogs? OK, but I'm not walking it in the freezing cold at 6am.
NJG: Funny, thats what I like, taking care of my fish.
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