Inexperienced fishkeeper

Island_Gal

Island_Gal

Small Fish
#1
May 20, 2006
23
0
0
Florida
#1
Hello all, I am glad to have found this forum which I have learnt some stuff about how to take care of a tank. Two weeks ago I bought myself a 10 gallon tank along with 2 cichlids, 1 catfish, and 6 small feeder fishes. I was so excited with my new fish tank and I loved to watch the fishes swimming. Then one morning I discovered the feeder fishes were missing and to my dismay I realized they were eaten by the cichlids or the catfish but I suspect it were the cichlids. Right now I am noticing that the cichlids are picking on the catfish and I am worried that they might eat him too. Should I separate the catfish from the cichlids? I'm thinking of getting a 55 gallon tank soon because I learnt that the bigger a tank is the better it is. Another problem I am having is the water in the tank is a bit cloudy but I was told it will clear up in about a month. Is that right?

By the way, I am not quite sure what kind of cichlids and catfish I have but I think they are Malawi and shark catfish from what I have seen in the fish profiles in here and by googling.

Now let me introduce myself to you *BOUNCINGS
I live in the Sunshine State which would be Florida. I am deaf. I have always wanted a fish tank after being a scuba diver for several years. Now I haven't made a dive for so long I missed being around with beautiful fishes I decided to set up my own little aquarium :)
 

Pure

Pure

Elite Fish
#2
Nov 1, 2005
3,216
7
0
Jacksonville, FL
#2
Welcome to the tank!

One of the very most important things you can do is know what you're buying before buying it. So the best thing you can do is make a trip to LFS (local fish store) and have paper and a pen handy so you can write down the names of anything that peeks your interest so you can look them up and see if you can provide them a proper home or if they will get along with your current fish.

This is also immensely important when asking for help here on the boards. We can’t provide you with much information if you can’t tell us what kind of fish you have.

In this case all I can do is offer you some general information. Most cichlids are not appropriate for a 10 gallon, and in such tight confines you are almost certain that they will end up ripping each other to shreds with aggression.

There are a few species that do ok in a small tank like this but I suspect the ones you have are not one of them.

At this point the best thing you can do is try and return all of the fish you have and start over. The fish you have regardless of what exact ones they are, are not appropriate for cycling a tank. Cycling is explained here http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?t=31669

And yes the cloudiness is normal. That is the bacteria bloom that is one of the first stages of the tank cycling
 

Island_Gal

Island_Gal

Small Fish
#3
May 20, 2006
23
0
0
Florida
#3
Thank yo so much, Pure, for your help. I have read the links that you provided for me to read and I have found them to be very helpful and educated.

Right now I am feeling so sorry for my little catfish and I am thinking about buying a 55g or bigger tank for the 2 cichlids so the catfish can have its own peace of mind.

Any more suggestions or advices posted in here for me to read would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :)
 

Pure

Pure

Elite Fish
#4
Nov 1, 2005
3,216
7
0
Jacksonville, FL
#4
That would indeed be much better than a 10 gallon, however like I said before the current fish you have are not suitable for cycling a tank. What does that mean? Well the spikes in ammonia and nitrite that the tank is going to go through during the cycle will kill them. Very few fish can deal with these levels if they are left unchecked.

You can increase your chances of them living by doing heavy percentage waterchanges, and constant daily monitoring of the levels with a test kit. Test kits are also one of the best investments you can get. (Don’t get the paper strip ones, get the dropper ones) Otherwise this constant testing will need to be done for you at your LFS. Daily trips up there can get tiring.

About this catfish. Can you somewhat describe what he looks like other than a shark? I may be able to give you a rough idea of what he is if you can give me a little more info. I.E. color, striping. whiskers. Ect.

On one hand he may grow too big even for a 55, on the other he may do ok with African cichlids, or he won’t.
 

Island_Gal

Island_Gal

Small Fish
#5
May 20, 2006
23
0
0
Florida
#5
I just got back from Petsmart where I had bought the fishes from. I rechecked on the names and I found that the catfish is a Colombian shark and the cichlids that I have are African ones. The catfish is in dark silver color and has long whiskers. I just realized that the smaller one of the cichlids has now changed its color from dark white to black :confused:

I also checked on the tanks at Petsmart and I liked the 55g but unfortunately there isn't much room in my tiny apartment for it :( However I will be moving out to a bigger apartment this July and I will definitely get that 55g tank. If you say the catfish will grow out to be too big for a 55g then maybe I should consider in getting a tank bigger than a 55g or I might give it away.
 

Pure

Pure

Elite Fish
#6
Nov 1, 2005
3,216
7
0
Jacksonville, FL
#6
Indeed the shark gets too big for your tank. Sorry bout that. http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/ariidae/hexanema/700_F.PHP

The cichlids will do ok in a 55, of course you will have to get more. Just what ever you do, do not put anything else but other Africans in there for now.

There are only a couple of fish that will be ok in there with them, and your better off for now just to get used to caring for these before you try to introduce different species.

The 2 depending on how big they are they may do ok in the ten if you can get them through the cycle until July, but it's going to be an up hill battle. If they die just pick up and start over. This time with fish better suited to your current tank.
 

Rush07

Rush07

Large Fish
#10
Mar 1, 2006
252
1
0
Oneida, NY
#10
If the water is whitish it is probably a bacteria bloom which means the water is cycling correctly. This is a good thing and will clear up in a week or two.

If it is greenish then it is an algae bloom and this is not so good. The water here is very high in phosphates and if it is not treated I will get green water pretty quickly. The algae feeds on phosphates. Live plants or phosphate remover will help with that issue. Hope this helps.
 

Island_Gal

Island_Gal

Small Fish
#11
May 20, 2006
23
0
0
Florida
#11
Rush07 said:
If the water is whitish it is probably a bacteria bloom which means the water is cycling correctly. This is a good thing and will clear up in a week or two.

If it is greenish then it is an algae bloom and this is not so good. The water here is very high in phosphates and if it is not treated I will get green water pretty quickly. The algae feeds on phosphates. Live plants or phosphate remover will help with that issue. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
The water is whitish but it is thick and it is a bit hard to see where the fishes are without any lights. Is this still good or not?
 

Rush07

Rush07

Large Fish
#12
Mar 1, 2006
252
1
0
Oneida, NY
#12
I am just finishing up cycling my tank and I would say that I had cloudy water for about 2 weeks. When it was cloudy I could not see through the tank. It was pretty bad. It sound to me like it is a bacteria bloom and is what you want to happen. I would not worry yet. There are people here that know a lot more about this than I do and hopefully they will chime in, but it sounds a lot like what I saw with my tank. Your first post was on Monday, so I would think that you will have another week or two with cloudy water. After that it should be crystal clear.
 

Pure

Pure

Elite Fish
#13
Nov 1, 2005
3,216
7
0
Jacksonville, FL
#13
Yup the cloudiness is perfectly normal. It is the bacterial bloom that all new tanks go through. It will clear up in time. Do not waste your $ on the chemicals they sell at the LFS to clear up cloudy tanks. They won't work.
 

E

Etheostoma

Large Fish
#16
Aug 28, 2005
300
0
0
Missouri, USA
#16
If it smells, I'd go with "yes". A 25-30% change shouldn't affect cycling, provided you dechlorinate.

Did you return the fish as previously suggested? You really shouldn't have a tank as loaded as you indicate while cycling.
 

Island_Gal

Island_Gal

Small Fish
#17
May 20, 2006
23
0
0
Florida
#17
Etheostoma said:
If it smells, I'd go with "yes". A 25-30% change shouldn't affect cycling, provided you dechlorinate.

Did you return the fish as previously suggested? You really shouldn't have a tank as loaded as you indicate while cycling.
Click to expand...
Thank you, Etheostoma, for your reply.

I did about 25% water change and the smell is now not as bad as it was.

Pet Supermarket won't accept back the fishes so I still have them in my tank. So far they are doing good and hopefully they will stay that way until I get a bigger tank for them.
 

N

noncentric

Large Fish
#18
Feb 18, 2006
196
0
16
WA state
#18
Hi Island_Gal, I've been reading through this thread and didn't notice any test results (for ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate). It's really beneficial to test your water once every day or two while cycling with fish in the tank, so that you can better determine how the cycle is progressing and whether or not a water change is needed.
It sounds like you have a PetSmart (isn't that where you bought the fish)? If that's the case, then you can buy the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master test kit from them, but print out the price on their website and have them do a price-match - since the online price if less than half the in-store price:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...1149201208059&itemNo=2&In=Fish&N=2030068&Ne=2

It's disappointing that the store (Pet Supermarket or PetSmart) won't accept returns of the fish. I would complain to management about this, especially if they sold you the fish knowing that you only had a 10-gal tank - as none of those fish are appropriate for a tank that small. You may have some luck selling the fish yourself, maybe post in the Classifieds section here or in the Craigslist.org site for your area - you might be able to find someone local to pick-up the fish, so you don't have to ship them.

Keep us updated on how things are going. Good luck! :)
 

Island_Gal

Island_Gal

Small Fish
#19
May 20, 2006
23
0
0
Florida
#19
noncentric said:
Hi Island_Gal, I've been reading through this thread and didn't notice any test results (for ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate). It's really beneficial to test your water once every day or two while cycling with fish in the tank, so that you can better determine how the cycle is progressing and whether or not a water change is needed.
It sounds like you have a PetSmart (isn't that where you bought the fish)? If that's the case, then you can buy the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master test kit from them, but print out the price on their website and have them do a price-match - since the online price if less than half the in-store price:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...1149201208059&itemNo=2&In=Fish&N=2030068&Ne=2

It's disappointing that the store (Pet Supermarket or PetSmart) won't accept returns of the fish. I would complain to management about this, especially if they sold you the fish knowing that you only had a 10-gal tank - as none of those fish are appropriate for a tank that small. You may have some luck selling the fish yourself, maybe post in the Classifieds section here or in the Craigslist.org site for your area - you might be able to find someone local to pick-up the fish, so you don't have to ship them.

Keep us updated on how things are going. Good luck! :)
Click to expand...
I realize that I said PetSmart in the beginning but it is really Pet Supermarket that I got my tank and fishes from. I guess the sales man there wasn't an expert on fish keeping or he didn't want to bother with communicating with me :( I ought to complain about him to the store manager! If I had found this site from before I would have waited until I got to learn everything about fish keeping.

Thank you for giving me the link to PetSmart. I will look into it to see if there is one in my area. I will buy that test kit!

By the way, I have noticed that my 2 cichlids are not picking on the catfish anymore. I have grown fond of these 3 fishes and I am trying my best to keep them alive until I can get a bigger tank for them.
 

Island_Gal

Island_Gal

Small Fish
#20
May 20, 2006
23
0
0
Florida
#20
This morning my catfish died :(
I didn't expect that I would feel so sad after it dies.
I have the test kit and I am doing the tests everyday to make sure the water is okay. I guess the catfish couldn't take it with the cycling.

By the way, I found a PetSmart in my area and I must say that I like the staff there way better than those at Pet Supermarket. I am not going to shop at Pet Supermarket ever again because they did not help me when I bought the tank and fishes from them :mad:
 

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