I bought a 10 gal freshwater tank for my 11 mo. old 3 days ago at Wal-Mart and the girl sold me 2 koi and 4 fantail goldfish, I set it up per instructions and the water is cloudy 3 days later? What did I do or not do? Help!
3 day old 10 gal tank cloudy? Help!
- Thread starter karla
- Start date
Karla, the cloudy water is quite possibly a bacterial bloom. Your tank has yet to complete the cycle process I would suggest daily partial water changes (aprox 25%), but do not forget water conditioner if you are using tap water.
IMHO, you are overstocked the fish you have will outgrow your tank very quickly.
Please let us know how you make out.
IMHO, you are overstocked the fish you have will outgrow your tank very quickly.
Please let us know how you make out.
I would take all your fish back. Koi get very large, 2ft, and can live 75+yrs, it will not live half that in a 10g.
The goldfish will also get large, 7-9'', and will also need a large home. They should 15+ years I believe.
Wal-Mart employees don't usually know very much about fish; I'm sorry you got misinformation but hopefully we can help you out
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You will want to cycle your tank, you can find more information in the sticky at the type of the thread page about it. You can also find information at http://skepticalaquarist.com .
Next, I would look into smaller fish. Perhaps 6 cardinal tetras (Or other small non-finniping tetra), 1 male betta, and 4 cory cats?
HTH
The goldfish will also get large, 7-9'', and will also need a large home. They should 15+ years I believe.
Wal-Mart employees don't usually know very much about fish; I'm sorry you got misinformation but hopefully we can help you out
.You will want to cycle your tank, you can find more information in the sticky at the type of the thread page about it. You can also find information at http://skepticalaquarist.com .
Next, I would look into smaller fish. Perhaps 6 cardinal tetras (Or other small non-finniping tetra), 1 male betta, and 4 cory cats?
HTH
Agreed. Koi should be in ponds and goldfish should be in a minimum of 10 gallons per fish - starting at a minimum of 20-30gallons.
Do read up on fishless cycling - it is important in keeping your fish alive
I'm fond of the suggestion Puma gave you for stocking. 1 male betta, 6 neons/glowlight/cardinal tetras and 3-4 corydoras catfish makes for a fun tank And, best of all, they will happily fit into a 10g!
Welcome to the board, btw! If you stick around (and you should)you'll find it nearly impossible not to learn lots!
Do read up on fishless cycling - it is important in keeping your fish alive
I'm fond of the suggestion Puma gave you for stocking. 1 male betta, 6 neons/glowlight/cardinal tetras and 3-4 corydoras catfish makes for a fun tank
And, best of all, they will happily fit into a 10g!Welcome to the board, btw! If you stick around (and you should)you'll find it nearly impossible not to learn lots!
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I also agree that for those fish a 10 gal. aquarium is way to small. You should get smaller fish. Usually you should get 1 in. of fish per gal. So you could get ten 1 in. fish for a 10 gal aquarium. I also have the cloudy water and it's nothing to worry about. You can clear that up with some stuff from your local pet store. However, I do highly suggest that you make sure you cycle the tank for 30 days or your going to have a lot of dead fish on your hands.
Yeah, I would say its a bacterial bloom also. If its an option I'd take the fish back. With them out of the tank start water changes. Daily best, but every other day should be fine. Also if you don't have one, get a water heater and a thermometer. Cheap ones should be fine. After a week you can add some fish back in. Some people argue, but I find peppered corys hardy enough to start a tank with if you don't want to do fishless cycling. 3 fish with some shelter (fake plants) should be fine. I think more and they'd be too crowded to forage and any less and they won't feel comfortable. Take care not to overfeed. One good quality algae wafer a day should keep them happy. One thing I will say is that goldfish are very messy. Because of that in a 10g tank they'd quickly leave behind much too much waste and you'd have to clean it more often than if you had other fish. I think neon tetras would be a good fish and they are fairly inexpensive. Get about 6 to 8 and they should be fine. Another alternative would be a pair of ram cichlids from a reputable fish store along with a small rock structure or 2 to go along with the plants.
Hmmn, should have said earlier. A temperature of about 75f would be good.
Hmmn, should have said earlier. A temperature of about 75f would be good.