A newb with a tank - watchout!

[TAL]

First off,

Love the site and the posters here. Great info.

So my wife got my kids a fish tank. Little 3 gallon unit with this bio wheel thingy and a filter.

She bought three little fish.

It was cool but those betta's looked cool so I got one. We named him Rana.

And we moved and one died (stress?) - it was a cool little 1.5 inch fish.

We replaced it with a rainbow shark. His name is George. He chased the gold tetra we had so much he died. Bummer.

Rana had enough and did the puffed up head thing and chased George all around until George's agresive ways stopped.

So now this tank that was for my kids has realy caught my attention and I add some more fish. here it where it is at:

5 gold tetras (I love the schooling they do)
1 Betta - great fish - keeps everyone in line
1 Rainbow shark (bought him a cave and he loves it in there)
1 pleco cat fish that sucks on the glass and everything else.
2 Peppered Corys (called John and ponch) they clean side by side
1 GloFish (the only one of the original three still alive - very active fish)
1 Orange and black fish - no idea what it is but it looks cool - poos are a mile long!

The only two fish we lost where from the original 3 and just after we moved.

We had a white haze develope once (algae bloom?)

I mix up the food a bit and have sinking stuff for the bottom feeders.

I have to replace the filter alot.

The other day I noticed some weird behavior. The corys started running to the top alot. Then almost all the fish were at the top. Then the water turned green and thick. I knew quick action was needed.

The fish were removed (those rainbow sharks can jump!). The tank, cave and other fake coral thing and the pebbles were all cleaned.

Put bottled water back (and some treated tap) in plus a bit of the old water. All is good now.

I have just read the newb section and now know I have done alot quite incorrectly but I have done pretty well too.

It seems my tank is over populated but it is a thriving and active community full of color and life.

But it seems that pleco is destined to be much larger. Heck, even George the shark withh be about 6 inches. The corys wil be about 3 inches a piece.

Looks like a i need a new tank. even beter though - I want a new tank.

Have had the tank for a couple of months now. Its been 5 weeks since I lost a fish and 3 days since the emergency intervention. ( i think the tank being be a window was partly to blame.)

Dogs and cats and all other animals move aside. FISH rock.

Any input you have on my fish keeping skills to date is appreciated (good or constructive)

[FishGeek]

Ok your tank is severely overstocked. You have the stock load for a fully stocked 30G tank! IMO this is the size that you need to get at minimum. I recommend reading through more of the posts on here, especially the stickies.

BTW

[Kissyboots]

Welcome to the site...but holy crap that tank is overstocked!!!

First you have to remove fish until you only have 3 inches of fish left. "1 inch of fish per gallon of water" is a good rule of thumb.

And they cories probably went to the top because there's no more oxygen in the water. A 25% water change weekly is recommended, and with a tank that small, I'd suggest more.

Yeah, you definitely need to get a bigger tank. I started with a 20g which was just right (I recently upgraded to a 55g though which is sweet!)

When you set up a fish tank, you have to cycle it first; get all the bacteria going.

Unfortunately my mom is yelling at me atm, so I can't write more. I suggest getting rid of as much fish as you can before they all die......hopefully someone else will have more time...

[TAL]

Fishgeek: yes the newb section and numerous links I come across have been great and I have learned alot tonight.

Kissy: I have started doing the water exchanges now aS PART OF THE MAINtenance (darn cap lock button - who put it so close to the a and keys)

apparently the corys will run to the top as part of normal behaviour(to a point) but when all the fish where doing it and breather heavy - well that wasn;t good...

My biggest problem is that the pump and filter are too smal for the load.

I am looking into some larger tanks now. One guy here lists 85 fish in a 210g tank. Reason I mention that is he is way over the 1 inch per gallon rule.

I find the one inch per gallon rule to be to restrictive. Now, at my current population density - I would haveover 200 fish in a 55g tank and I will admit that to be excessive but going down to 1 inch per gallon seems to make for a boring tank. Granted - I am new and still learning...

BTW - my wife has forbid me adding anymore fish to my current tank.

[Kissyboots]

Ok, so the first step to take to correct this overstocking problem (which if it isn't fixed could cause some really big problems really soon!) is to find out if your lfs (local fish store) or chain or whatever takes fish. My local Petco takes fish so people can "adopt" them.

Then if you want to continue fishkeeping, I would recommend getting a larger fish tank, 20-30 gallons if not more, if you'd like. Check Craig's list; they usually have some pretty good deals.

When you set up a new tank, you have to cycle it. I don't have the link on me right now, but both MissFishy and D3sc3n7 I believe have links in their signature and there should be one, if not several, threads on how to cycle a tank properly. It's either fishless, or with fish; fishless is recommended.

After your tank has cycled, you can start adding fish, SLOWLY! Not all at one time because that can stress the fish. I would start with some bottomfeeders. Add a couple fish every couple weeks or even once a month until you are to your preferred limit. I like the "one inch of fish per gallon of water" rule of thumb because it keeps me from overstocking. But you have to use the adult sizes of the fish to add them up, not the current sizes. If you use current sizes, you'll have too many fish and they won't grow properly.

Also, research before you buy any fish. Some fish can not live in the same tank with others. For instance, you should NEVER put two male bettas together. There's a profile section on this site (up top, left, next to forum) where you can look up the most common fish species.

Make sure you know what they eat too. I ended up feeding my first fish (a betta) flakes because I was unaware that they need betta bites. Luckily he survived my ignorance.

Make sure you do water changes frequently, the fish need oxygen (just like we do) and that's in the water. You might consider getting a siphon (or just a plastic tube) so you can clean the gravel or sand or whatever you have.

Also, you might want to get a testing kit. Freshwater and Saltwater Aquarium Supplies at AquariumGuys.com has the API Master Test Kit which I use. It's really helpful because it tests Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, pH, and High pH. Plus you get an 8% discount of their stuff because you are a member of MFT!

Anyway, I think that's it. Just trying to help you out. Good luck!

[FishGeek]

The one inch per gallon rule is more strict when it comes to smaller tanks. In larger tanks its a loose rule, if that makes sense. The more water volume that you have the more leeway you have. Also it depends on what kind of fish you decided to go with in a tank on how many you can put into a tank. There is more to stocking than just the amount of inches.

[Kissyboots]

Originally Posted by TAL

I find the one inch per gallon rule to be to restrictive. Now, at my current population density - I would haveover 200 fish in a 55g tank and I will admit that to be excessive but going down to 1 inch per gallon seems to make for a boring tank. Granted - I am new and still learning...

Yeah, I feel that way too sometimes. I had a 5g tank and I couldn't do much with it...part of the reason why I just got a 55g. Plus, if you only care about what you see (as in a lot of fish) and not about the fish's health...then...why are you keeping them??

Anyway, the 1 inch rule is VERY useful especially for beginners because it means not so many water changes and less diseases. Once you get a feel for what your tank can handle, then you can start experimenting. But for now, STICK WITH IT! It solves most if not all of your problems.

[Rayneuki]

Personally, only the beta should be in the 3 gal. That's my opinion though. What she meant by suffocating is there was no oxygen or anything left in the water... It was all just poo and pee.

1 inch per gallon is sometimes not even the case! It's in place to help the bio-load and also to give territories to the fish. The reason you have aggression(or had) was because there isn't enough floor-space and hiding holes in a 3 gallon.

It's not to make the tank boring (by no means is a tank boring using the 1inch per gallon. All of my tanks are UNDERSTOCKED and they're great.)

85 fish in a 210? It ALL depends on what fish.

A 5 inch bn plec USUALLY requires at least a 30 gallon tank (not that only a BN plec can go in the tank.)

I keep loosing my train of thought but I hope you got my point?

[TAL]

Well... I have to find a spot in the house for a 50g tank. I have now read alot of threads on various fish topics and am very glad I came across this site.

I will now give myself kudos for keeping my little mexico city of fishtanks basically healthy (in as much as the only deaths I had came when there were far fewer fish).

Is it true that the pleco sucking on the glass will reach 11 inches???

Where was that info when I bought him!!!

[MissFishy]

I concur with most posters here, your major problem that needs to be fixed IMMEDIATELY is overstocking. There is no way a tank that size can handle that bio load. I highly suggest you read through all the info on my website linked below in my signature. 1 inch of a fish per gallon is a great rule to follow. I know it sounds like too much room for them, but remember that in the wild they would have far more room than that to swim around. When you get to the larger sized tanks, this limit can be relaxed a little bit. Fish need room to swim and such to remain healthy. Good luck to you, but I suggest you get a larger tank and get to cycling it within the next day if you don't want to lose any fish.