Clueless...

[psyche]

Your well meaning friend has put you on the spot! I can only agree with those above. I have a 10 gallon tank and enjoy it a lot, but it need some work to be a good home for fish and those impulse purchases are not good choices . You might be okay with the angel but it will take a while for the tank to settle down and have good water quality which comes from building up the right bactera.

I would suggest returning the shark, getting a few plants and an ammonia detector of some sort. You can get a pretty good one that sits in the tank and changes color. Than have you kid keep an eye on it and tell you if it gets out of the safe yellow zone. Then you will need to change the water.

To begin with you might need to change the water quite a lot. You can also get some "ammo lock" products just in case it gets really bad and is making the fish sick.

Good luck!

(If you start over a better sort of fish might be male fancy guppies. They are small, hardy and very pretty.)

 

[lateinningmagic]

Hello and welcome to AC

Is there any chance you can upgrade the tank soon? For the Rainbow shark you'll need a 55 gallon tank, for the Angel, you'll need a 20 gallon TALL (not LONG). When buying a new tank, bigger is always better (provided you have the space and $$). It's not only better because you can fit more fish and more fish types, but also because its easier to maintain the quality of the tank.

If upgrading isn't an option then I would have to suggest bring back to the store both fish soon. They may be ok right now, but will soon get too big. And even if that wasn't the case, you have to cycle the tank and this can be hard on fish, especially Angels which are on the sensitive side.

Once you tank is cycled (check the Sticky in Freshwater Newbie section) I would suggest getting some small Tetras like Neon, Ember, or Cardinals, and some small Corys - Pygmy Cories would be nice. If you want an attractive "centerpiece" fish, you can get a Betta. Show a picture of a Betta to your son, I'm sure he will love it.