I am embarassed to say... (big newbie mistake)

I would suggest seeing if you could trade in some fish. I would trade the mollies or the danios for another couple of cory's. The ghost shrimp won't successfully lay eggs.

The biggest thing you need to do right now is constant water changes to keep ammonia below 2ppm and nitrite below 0.25 ppm. That probably menas daily water changes of at least 50% with dechlorinated water. When the ammonia stays 0ppm after 24 hours and the nitrite as well the tank is cycled and stable ans you can then start doing regular weekly water changes of 30-50%.

other way around TKOS. ammonia above 0 is a bad sign -nomatter how much.

Mainly look for ammonia testers and nitrite testers. nitrate isnt as important -youll know your tank is cycled when no ammonia or nitrite shows up after a few weeks, and unless you NEVER change the water it's hard to let nitrate buildup to dangerous levels.

I think the best thing we can do is point you towards a good beginner FAQ.. this is one of the best: http://faq.thekrib.com/ . It was originally written for the rec.aquaria boards back in the days when newsgroups were still really useful and not clogged with lots of junk and used by spammers to get email addresses. Read up on the "cycling" process of a tank and start with that. Dont get too caught up with kH, gH and some of the other fine points of water chemistry just yet.

TKOS's suggestions are very good, follow his recommendation for water changes and the like. He suggested to take back the mollies or danios for more corys.. if it were me I would take back every one but the three mollies OR the three danios. Both of these species are very hardy and will probably make it through the 'cycling' process okay. If you can remove some of the fish from the tank it will be a lot easier on you to keep the ammonia and nitrite within the limits TKOS posted. You can always add fish to the tank once its gone through its maturation process (this "cycling" thing I keep referring too.)

I wish ya lots of luck and definitely read up in that FAQ, it should help. You might also consider grabbing a good all around aquarium book from the LFS or bookstore.

Last note, you will be doing a lot of testing in the next few days and it sometimes gets hard to keep track of it.. this website is a free service and will send you email reminders to do water changes and it has the ability to record and track values for a lot of water quality parameters (like ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH). http://www.efishtank.com

>Sarah

I had a fish tank for a year, and I seem to do everything wrong possible but still have a good tank.

My water is clean, clear, and none of my fish have died in a year. When I first got the tank I put about 5 fish in and water and they died, which was a mistake. After that though everything was fine. I also have changed the water once in a year, besides filling up evaporated water with tap water. I clean my filter out every week, and clean the entire filter every 2-3 weeks, dunno if that kills the bacteria or not. I've also done one full tank cleaning, putting the fish in the bucket while I cleaned the rocks,fake plants, and the bottom/sides of the tank. Right now everything is good so I don't see a need to change what I'm doing. No more full tank cleanings though now I know about bacteria and stuff, and I'm hoping my filter will be less gross when I get rid of my goldfish soon. When I get a bigger tank when I'm out of college, I'll definatly start it off right. All my fish are happy in my 10 gallon tank though, which is probably overloaded.

1 4 inch goldfish
1 painted glass fish
2 rosies
4 unkown tetras
2 serpa tetras
a 3 inch pleco
2 mollies.

for a 10 gallon tank I'm pretty sure I'm over my limit, but all the fish are happy and move around except the goldfish lately. I Had no idea he'd get that big, I was still thinking that it doesn't get bigger than the tank it's in, but I've arranged to get him out into someone's pond.

Actually, my Molly, who was always lively, has taken to sitting on the bottom of the tank hidden between the plants. He rarely moves, until feeding time when he rushes out to grab some food. I'm hoping that getting rid of the Goldfish might help. This just started about a month ago, maybe someone knows what might be wrong, although I can't give any ph,ammonia, or things like that because I don't have the stuff to do it. :thud:

Ive never needed a receipt when returning fish...although I also didn't expect anything in return for them.

Here's what I would do:

1) keep the zebra danios
2) don't buy a test kit
3) get a bio-wheel filter

Keep the zebra danios because they are perfect for cycling a tank. I have cycled 5+ tanks and they have out performed all of the fish I have tried.

Don't buy a test kit. I would take advantage of the lfs and ask them to test your water. Just about every one does it for free. Hopefully they are in close range to your house? You will probably only need to test it once or twice a week.

Get a bio-wheel filter by penguin. They are the best type of filters I have used. The bio-wheel helps create the good bacteria you need. Also, I think undergravel filters are really meant to be used in conjuntion with another filter. At least, all of the times I recall seeing them in books and such, another filter was also used.

About the nitrates and nitrites. All you need to know is that these are some of the wastes produced by fish. You need bacteria in your tank to break down these wastes. The bacteria takes at least a month to be fully established in your tank. After its established, your tank is said to be cycled. Amonia is the other material that the good bacteria breaks down.

While your tank isn't cycled you need to do these things:

1) get the water tested at the lfs weekly or more
2) do a water change if the lfs says your nitraites, ammonia, or other chemicals are high
3) feed your fish very sparingly. any uneaten food while your tank isn't cycled will rot and be a problem
4) don't add any more fish until your tank is cycled

Hey valley, alot of times the store will just give you a credit for the fish you have . Call and ask, then you can get a test kit, Personally, I would return the 2 tetras (most are schooling fish, so they won't be happy if not in a group), the cory (who are also not happy in a group) and the mollys. You can try to cycle your tank with what you have and go from there.

Almost forgot Kev... :OT: , BUT, you have not lost any fish YET that is the key, you cannot go without doing water changes, gravel vacs., etc and expect your fish to be healthy. They will start to die, maybe not this week, month whatever, but the environment you are describing will not keep fish healthy. Without the proper tank maintenance you will begin to lose fish, see disease, etc. It is much easier to keep to a proper care schedule, cleaning, etc. than to replace fish=money... Also a full tank cleaning like you describe is not only uneccessary, but bad for the bio filter in your tank.
If I am way off, I know those on here more informed will jump in! (thanks!)