I was in petsmart, buying my first fish there since i started up my first tank with zero knowledge of the hobby three years ago. No good fish stores any more. I was checking out the sunburst mickeymouse platies, waiting for Ryan the fish guy to finish with another customer. The customer was getting two african cichlids. he was talking a lot, i couldn't help but listen in.
He started talking about how when ever he adds new fish they get attacked, so he wasn't sure if these ones would last. I decided to become a part of the conversation. I asked how long the tank had been up, and explained to him how the fish have there teritories, and that they see the new ones as bad news, which is why he's having bad luck. he started asking me a bunch of questions, everything from stocking to treatment, etc. he mentioned that the water was cloudy and that there was algae on the fake plants. He then asked if I would be comfortable coming by his house to check what was wrong with his tank. I agreed.
I followed him to his place. He had an unique set up, but the wrong fish. It was a wall mounted 30 gallon, about 5 inches wide, and long. He had about 5 african cichlids and one loan tinfoil barb, bagged by accident once at the store. There were not enough hiding spaces for the fish at all. The one cave had been claimed, and the rest were fighting for the plastic plants. First thing he showed me was how much he was feeding them, a weeks worth in a day.
I showed him how to do a few things, explained water chemistry a little bit, checked out his filters and talked stocking. He is going to return the cichlids for a nice community tank with platies and danios. He was pretty excited about everything he learned, and I was glad to make one aquarium safer for their inhabinents.
He started talking about how when ever he adds new fish they get attacked, so he wasn't sure if these ones would last. I decided to become a part of the conversation. I asked how long the tank had been up, and explained to him how the fish have there teritories, and that they see the new ones as bad news, which is why he's having bad luck. he started asking me a bunch of questions, everything from stocking to treatment, etc. he mentioned that the water was cloudy and that there was algae on the fake plants. He then asked if I would be comfortable coming by his house to check what was wrong with his tank. I agreed.
I followed him to his place. He had an unique set up, but the wrong fish. It was a wall mounted 30 gallon, about 5 inches wide, and long. He had about 5 african cichlids and one loan tinfoil barb, bagged by accident once at the store. There were not enough hiding spaces for the fish at all. The one cave had been claimed, and the rest were fighting for the plastic plants. First thing he showed me was how much he was feeding them, a weeks worth in a day.
I showed him how to do a few things, explained water chemistry a little bit, checked out his filters and talked stocking. He is going to return the cichlids for a nice community tank with platies and danios. He was pretty excited about everything he learned, and I was glad to make one aquarium safer for their inhabinents.
: JK Good job 