Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to share my story with other newbies, and when i use that term I mean someone who has absolutely no experience with aquariums.
I decided to cycle my tank with Danios. I bought all the necessary equipment (I have a 20 gallon long tank), then let everything run for 4 days. I have the AC50 filter, and I was letting it filter in the middle setting, which should be around 100 GPH, which i thought was fine at the time.. On Tuesday night, I bought 6 Danios, they were on the small side, but hey, that is OK, I want to see them grow up! Anyway, I was very excited to finally see fish in my tank! However, when I woke up on Wednesday morning, I only noticed 5 fish! I figured the other was just hiding, no big deal. When i got home Wednesday night, I still only saw 5 fish, one of my zebra danios was missing. I searched the ornaments, the plants, no sign of it. I thought i never took it out of the bag, or it jumped out and is somewhere in my living room, I had no idea.. then thursday morning, I was down to 4 fish! I thought this is impossible, so i took the fish out of the aquarium, put them in a bucket, and searched everything thoroughly. No sign of either fish.. Ah, one place i didnt check, the filter! So i pulled out the media, and sure enough, 2 dead fish.. Apparently the fish were hiding behind my plants and the filter setting was way too strong for these small fish, and were sucked up. I immediately turned down the setting to the minimum and moved the plants away from the filter. So, if you are just starting out, I hope I have helped you to avoid the same fate that I suffered.
I just wanted to share my story with other newbies, and when i use that term I mean someone who has absolutely no experience with aquariums.
I decided to cycle my tank with Danios. I bought all the necessary equipment (I have a 20 gallon long tank), then let everything run for 4 days. I have the AC50 filter, and I was letting it filter in the middle setting, which should be around 100 GPH, which i thought was fine at the time.. On Tuesday night, I bought 6 Danios, they were on the small side, but hey, that is OK, I want to see them grow up! Anyway, I was very excited to finally see fish in my tank! However, when I woke up on Wednesday morning, I only noticed 5 fish! I figured the other was just hiding, no big deal. When i got home Wednesday night, I still only saw 5 fish, one of my zebra danios was missing. I searched the ornaments, the plants, no sign of it. I thought i never took it out of the bag, or it jumped out and is somewhere in my living room, I had no idea.. then thursday morning, I was down to 4 fish! I thought this is impossible, so i took the fish out of the aquarium, put them in a bucket, and searched everything thoroughly. No sign of either fish.. Ah, one place i didnt check, the filter! So i pulled out the media, and sure enough, 2 dead fish.. Apparently the fish were hiding behind my plants and the filter setting was way too strong for these small fish, and were sucked up. I immediately turned down the setting to the minimum and moved the plants away from the filter. So, if you are just starting out, I hope I have helped you to avoid the same fate that I suffered.
