Going to fish store soon....what are some good fish to buy

[lordroad]

Not to hijack the thread, but how come a sand sifting star would die? Are they some of the tougher starfish to care for or do they need deep mature sandbeds?

 

[1979camaro]

the second one...not enough for them to eat no matter how mature your 20g sandbed is, simply not enough volume

 

[Shipley18]

ok well i do trust you guys an di was gonan combine your ideas, and if you want go ahead buy me a couch lol I'd use it! my tank has been set up for 7 months do i still need to wait to add fish(or was that jsut so i reserch it alittle?)

 

[Shipley18]

also i found a rock with this really small pink coral kinda looks like featherdusters but with thicker fan parts....any ideas as to what this is?

 

[aresgod]

pics help to ID stuff. and yea Sand sifters are pretty hard to keep alive, I have on in my 40, but i target feed him 3 times a week ontop of what he gets in my sand bed. 7 months is a long time. has it been stable for that long? what are your test results? if you dont know or dont have tests those should be purchased BEFORE you buy fish.also research before you buy, otherwise you often end up with impulse buys which are a bad idea.

 

[1979camaro]

wait...i thought you just set up this 20 a month or so ago...didn't you have a 5g before that?

 

[Shipley18]

well i assume my levels are fine because none of my snaisl or crabs have ever died..but i supose they are hardy, and my shrimp didn't die it got sucked to a filter intake and couldn't get free, so ya i knwo i need tests i have nitrite, nitrate, copper, and PH and all those have remained constant for awhile. ya i knwno 7 montsh is along tiem with no fish but i want to be sure that everything is right for my first fishies

 

[aresgod]

well what are the levels on all those tests?

 

[Shipley18]

oh god i can't remeber ummm....lol i knwo one was 0ppm on was 7.6 for ph and my tamp is 78 degrees bu ti can't remeber anymore

 

[1979camaro]

perhaps you should re-test before you go buy anything

 

[Shipley18]

ya thats a good idea, but seriously what could be wron gif its been running good for so long? and i haven't lost any creature to do bad levels.... I'm sure theres alot so I'm awaiting my beating..lol

 

[aresgod]

well first of all your pH is way low, it should be 8.1-8.3, im suprised your hermits havent died. and may times tanks will recycle or there will be amonia spikes due to something dieing that you didnt know about. I would do a large water change with correctly mixed salt to get your ph back up or add buffer, but either way the ph must be corrected before adding fish, otherwise they will most likely go into shock

 

[Shipley18]

sorry i was wron gon my ph is it in normal perameters jsut redid the test and accidently used my fresh water test...sorry

 

[wayne]

I'd expect the freshwater test to work ok, but you might well be at the high end of it.

What can you get?
What shop options do you have?
What sort of fish do you like - stripes, spots, solid colours, fish that move a lot, fish that perch...