COMPLETELY overwhelmed newbie!

L

Lynxa

Registered Member
Sep 11, 2004
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New Orleans, LA
Oh my goodness!!!! I didn't know how much I didn't know until I started reading this forum!!!! :sad I was just going to ask a simple fish behavior question but I think I'm doing a lot wrong so I'll just give you the background of the tank.

About a week ago I bought the proverbial "starter kit" from ***-Mart consisting of a 10 gallon tank, hood, filter etc thinking "the smaller the tank, the less complicated it is to take care of", right? Grrrrrrrrrr...... :rant:

So the guy at ***-Mart tells me I can get five or six little goldfish in my tank but I'm looking at how big the big ones are and wondering what's going to happen when they get THAT big so I pick out a fantail and an oranda: Glorfindel and Gilthoniel - each about an inch long from nose to tail. The guy tells me I need an algae eater so I get a small pletocostomus (is that how it's spelled?) whom I have dubbed The Balrog (noticing a theme? :D ). The Balrog is about an inch and a half long.

Gilthoniel went belly up last night - literally. He started swimming upside down. He seemed to be perfectly fine, just upside down. I put him in another small tank and went to get aquarium salt and peas (does that really work for swim bladders?) and he was dead when I got back. :sad He had no fungus on him, no white spots, nothing! He was perfectly shiny, just upside down (but he was a ***Mart fish so there's no telling).

Now Gilthoniel seems to be as happy as a little clam, even though he seemed to be really attached to Glorfindel. I have three plants that are doing surprisingly well considering I am an aquarium idiot. My problem is The Balrog. The guy at the store swore that goldfish and pletocostomus would do fine together but lately The Balrog has started chasing Glorfindel around, trying to....I guess suck on him or something :eek:

Now I want to be a good fish mommy and I just read about cycling and I'm going to buy the tests now. This is completely overwhelming, though. As soon as I get paid I'm going to get a bigger aquarium. How long should I wait before transferring my fishies? And once THAT's done cycling I'll get another oranda but what should I do with The Balrog? Is his behavior normal? Should I give The Balrog his own aquarium or give him to a friend with more suitable fish? :sad:

I'm sorry this was so long, but I love my fish and I want them to be happy despite the fact that I don't know what I'm doing!
 
Ahh.. read, read, then read some more. Then get a nice sized tank, (29 gallons is a nice size, in my opinion.) And learn some more! hehe.. welcome to the hobby. As for your fish: Most goldfish get pretty big, and are messy. (they eat alot, and poop alot) I don't have any myself, but I've seen people recommend at least 10gal per goldfish, and that is too small, I think a 29 gal might be a good size for one, with a decent filter system and regular water changes. The pleco, (if it is a normal pleco) will get to be over a foot long. Waaaay too big for a 10 gal, and too big even for a 29 gal. Maybe you know someone that can adopt him? or take him back and get a credit on other fish?

Goldfish need goldfish food, tropical flake food has too much protein for em. (you can get goldfish food, has a good balance of nutrition for em) Everywhere I've seen info on goldfish says that they like to eat plants, too. So if you get a live plant, plan on the goldfish eating it. (not a bad thing, as long as you don't get attached to the plant)

Definitely read the "cycle" sticky at the top of this forum, it has tons of info about what is going on in your tank (as far as the normal bacteria getting established, ect.)
 
A 10 gallon tank is fine for a starter tank, but you do have to chose fish that won't grow too large for it.

If at all possible, I'd get rid of the goldfish and the pleco. Either take them back or give them to a friend or something. Then you can do a fishless cycle and get everything ready which will take 4-6 weeks or so. While it's cycling, you can look at fish profiles and find some fish you like. Post here and you'll get advice on which ones would work and how many and suitable tankmates, etc. Then once the cycle is completed, you can go out and buy all the fish for your tank and life will be good :)

This is an awesome place to get help getting started in this hobby. Welcome!
 
It amazes me how many people start with this hobby!!
a balrog is a thing of morgoth, you need mithraldil :D
(mithrandil = bigger tank)
And hi, welcome, good luck! :troll:
 
:eek: The Balrog is going to get to be A FOOT AND A HALF!?!?! Oh lord now I'm going to have nightmares. He's creepy enough at an inch and a half!

And I need a thirty gallon tank for ONE goldfish? :( Right now Glorfindel's so tiny I lose him in the ten gallon! How soon until he outgrows it? :sad

*sigh* and here I thought a goldfish was one of the most uncomplicated pets on the earth!

Is there any other fish that's as pretty as fancy goldfish but does better in small spaces? I love watching their chubby little bodies and long fins! It's so relaxing! Their faces remind me of our pug! :p

We also have a backyard pond with a fountain in it. The pond is about two feet in diameter and a foot and a half deep (maybe a bit more). Would Glorfindel do better in there once he outgrows the aquarium? (provided he lives that long). I've really grown attached.
 
Well, I'd say some reading will do you good. I love the names, I am myself a huge Tolkien fan. . .perhaps too huge.

My site may help you (in sig), but I don't get into coldwater/golfish stuff, because its basically a given, or so I thought. . .

And your pleco won't reach nearly that size in a small tank. They also find ways of living in tanks too small for them, and adapt to such conditions far better than most fish.
 
I would think putting the goldfish in the pond outside would be an excellent idea, but hopefully someone else with more experience with goldfish will post.

I'm quite partial to bettas. My favorite tank ever was a 10 gallon that housed one beautiful male betta and 6 panda corydoras catfish with some easy live plants. That has always been by far my favorite and most enjoyable tank. In fact, I'm setting up one for my mom soon. Bettas and cories both have great personalities :)
 
They also find ways of living in tanks too small for them, and adapt to such conditions far better than most fish.
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please explain. if a pleco gets 18 inches long, he'll have an inch of space on either side of him in a 10 gallon tank. Not to mention the amount of metabolic wastes a fish that size will produce will completely overwhelm a 10 gallon environment. I've never heard anything along the lines of what you're saying.

[edit] it's true that a pleco won't reach that sise in a small tank. but they will outgrow it, and get stunted. Stunting, by the way, is very bad for fish and can be lethal.
 
I agree with Arklady, a betta is an awesome fish for a 10gal, along with a few cories. I have a 10gal for my betta and 4 peppered cories, and it's by far my favorite tank. You have so many color choices there, too. And just think, you can save a poor betta from one of those horrid cups. :)

And like Chico says, the pleco information is a little off. Fish don't adapt to too small of tanks, they become stunted, something that is painful for them and shortens their lifespan. Their body stops growing, but their bones don't, basically. Doesn't sound too pleasant. And that goes for any fish in a tank that's too small for their adult size, not just plecos.
 
Sorry if you guys took that the wrong way. . .I didn't mean that its perfectly ok to have it in a tank that size, just that it would survive in those conditions if it had to for longer than some may expect. Plecos grow reletively slowly, so it would be fine for quite some time. However, in time a larger tank would be necessary. The bigger the tank, the happier the fish will be.
 
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