new guy here

Cutlass

Cutlass

Large Fish
#1
May 16, 2003
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42
Galloway, OH
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#1
hi everyone, i'm not really new to fishkeeping, i've had a tank in various sizes and shapes for a long time. right now, i have a thriving 55 gallon freshwater with 5 clown loaches, a pleco, and 4 green severum cichlids.

currently i am also experimenting with a very small tank (2 gal hex, dont laugh :D ). hopefully you guys can help me out a bit :)
 

Last edited:
Brobro

Brobro

Large Fish
#7
Apr 7, 2003
343
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0
The Milk Carton
#7
i have a severum and a clown loach too! only i need to get rid of the clown cause all of his friends died a while back, and he never comes out now. im taking him back to the lfs soon. :(
 

FrankDMann

FrankDMann

Medium Fish
#9
May 5, 2003
86
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48
Va Beach
netertainment.net
#9
Five Balas dead?

Funny thing happened to me. I had one 9-inch bala that I bought 2 years ago. I decided to go to petsmart and get him some buddies.

Well, the new fish were in the tank overnight, and when I checked them out in the morning, two of them had very advanced cases of mouth fungus. I immediately treated the tank w/antibiotic, but those two died.

The worst part of it all is that my big guy caught it too. I applied a couple of more treatments, changed the water, but couldn't save the poor fella. He died during treatment.

I took the 2 youngin's back to petsmart, and they wanted to exchange them. When I got a load of the tank they were in, I noticed that ALL of them hadthe fungus!!!!

I told them that they're running a deranged pet cemetary over there, and I wanted my money back. After haggling with the manager, I finally got my 6 bucks back.

The end result is that I traded my one big shark for one tiny one. I was heartbroken over the bala. He was my favorite fish. On the plus side, I found a LFS in the area with some beautiful tri-colors for the same price, and they appear to be healthy, so in a couple of years, I should have some nice big sharks.

Anyhow, welcome to the board, and I'm sorry about your sharks. I know how it is!!

Frank
 

U

uncutbulldog

Large Fish
#11
May 21, 2003
182
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47
Indianapolis, IN
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#11
I know what I did wrong, but let me tell you what I've done since I got my tank---then any suggestions would be helpful.

May 7---set up tank 30gal. (wisper40 pwr. filter, thermometer, heater, 12in air stone)

May 8---bought 12 feeder fish

May 12---bought 2 african frogs, 2 suckers (2 in long)

May 13--1 dead frog

May 14--bought 5 bala sharks, 5 long wisker catfish (all about 2 in) ammonia level < .5 ppg didn't check nitrite (didn't understand "cycling tank"

May 15-17--feeder fish disappearing--think they were eaten, not sure by which fish--no dead feeder fish in tank-- just disappeared

May 18--20%water change---white spots on cats--suspected Ich--treated with Ick-guard II)

May 19--3 year old daughter dumped a S%#T-LOAD of food into tank---another 20% water change

May 20--white spots worst--slime on some cats--nitrite 5mg\L+++

May 21--5 dead catfish-5 dead bala sharks
still have my two suckers and 1 frog--i suspect they will be gone to---nitrite levels off the charts

I now understand the cycling process(alot of reading). Looking for info on what to do next to have better luck next time.

As of now I am just going to wait until the nitrite levels drop and buy more fish---I hope people read this that haven't started their tank yet so they can learn from me
 

catfishmike

catfishmike

Superstar Fish
#15
Oct 22, 2002
2,614
0
36
Sin City, again...
#15
welcome to the board cutlass i love loaches but not clowns to hard to take care of,maybe one day
welcome uncutbulldog,i'm sorry to hear about your losses but it happens to the best of us.i hope now your armed with all the info you need.
i hope you both enjoy the "tank"
 

FrankDMann

FrankDMann

Medium Fish
#16
May 5, 2003
86
0
0
48
Va Beach
netertainment.net
#16
Bulldog...

Well, sounds like you learned something, anyways! lol... I remember when I was starting out, I kept killling fish, and kept getting more that would die again....over and over and over until the tank was established.

You're doing better than I did, LOL!!!!!

I started a tank 3 years ago with some zebra danios. From what I hear, they are great starter fish, but you might want to poll the others.

Do you have any plants in the tank currently?
 

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