Help! Pet shop lied to us.

jasonG75 said:
YOU can always find a cheap tank on CraigsList.
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Maybe you can, but I have looked for a year now and everyone here is asking retail value or more (rich people that get a bunch of fish and a nice tank and then dont cycle it, thus killing the fish and making the people angry, causing them to feel the need to get every penny back).


Glofish would be super cool for him, not sure if lights have anything to do with his relaxation but if you turn the lights off in the room and put a black light over the tank the glofish will glow brighter colors, however many pet stores sell 3g glofish tanks that are not suitable for glofish to live happily for a long time, I would give them a month tops in a tank of that size, especially if filled with as many fish as they show on the box. (my 10g box showed 42 full size guppies on it, but would be good for about 8 of them).

Neon tetras are very common and cool looking. They do good in groups of 3 or more, a couple guppies and a school (fishy term for group) of neon tetras would go good in a 10g.

Bettas are really cool, I have a 5g with my betta in it. I think he is a double tail, but I could be wrong. They can be fast when they want to be, but tend to be on the slower side. After the first week or two they really get interactive with you. Mine follows my finger as I move it around the outside of the tank. They will go up and beg for food as mentioned before. Not a huge bio load especially compared to goldfish. Mine happens to be very mellow, but some are very aggressive (that is why any good pet store will have them separated from sight of each other or they will just flare all day).

Also mentioned above were dwarf gourami. There are several varieties in many colors. My favorite is a powdered blue one at the lfs (havent bought him though) and dwarf flame gourami. But honey gourami seem to be very calm, and many people like them. I dont care much for their single color plain look, but your son might.
 
nerdyrcdriver said:
Maybe you can, but I have looked for a year now and everyone here is asking retail value or more (rich people that get a bunch of fish and a nice tank and then dont cycle it, thus killing the fish and making the people angry, causing them to feel the need to get every penny back).
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It is hit or miss..Never said it was exact. However most people that find killer deal are on CL, maybe your area is different. Always remember the 1$ A Gallon rule (USED)
 
Get rid of the ammonia remover. Bacteria needs the nitrite (which is produced from ammonia ) in order to survive. No ammonia, no nitrite, and the bacteria will starve sending the tank into another cycle. Also don't add all the fish at once. Maybe one a week. In such a small tank one goldfish is enough, they don't have stomachs and need to constantly feed. Why not try some smaller fish like neon tetras and add a some ghost shrimp to eat up leftover food. Maybe a couple of those, they are dirt cheap . With that setup you could probably have 3-4 fish(depending on mature size) and a some other interesting creatures. Just take it slow.

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Forget the draw gouramis, they almost always suffer from a disease specific to them and will only last a few months. Watching them die is agony for you and the fish. Its not a pretty sight.

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Ok the "starter aquarium" I bought is an aa-aquarium one 15l). I think we are going to go for a betta as when I showed my son the picture he really reacted to it. If I do stop using the ammonia remover how do I keep the betta from being sick/dying? I've been doing 25% water changes every day to try and get levels down but ammonia is still high. With the betta should I still get a ghost shrimp or sucker fish to help keep the tank clean or will the betta just see them as a snack?
 
Prettykitty said:
Ok the "starter aquarium" I bought is an aa-aquarium one 15l). I think we are going to go for a betta as when I showed my son the picture he really reacted to it. If I do stop using the ammonia remover how do I keep the betta from being sick/dying? I've been doing 25% water changes every day to try and get levels down but ammonia is still high. With the betta should I still get a ghost shrimp or sucker fish to help keep the tank clean or will the betta just see them as a snack?
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Bettas are really strong fish, hundreds of thousands of them live in little things under 1g for years with crazy high ammonia levels.

It is really a hit or miss with bettas and shrimp. Some will see them as a snack, others wont even notice them.
 
jasonG75 said:
It is hit or miss..Never said it was exact. However most people that find killer deal are on CL, maybe your area is different. Always remember the 1$ A Gallon rule (USED)
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Or just wait till the 26th and go the the petco $1 per gallon sale.
 
Don't stop using ammonia neutralizer. That's why prime is recommended. It renders it harmless to the fish but still in a compound that can be processed by the bacteria and keep it alive. I don't know how other ammonia neutralizes react with it that's why prime is recommended but I think many others handle ammonia the same way
 
When you get a bigger tank I definitely second the recommendation for glofish. If you need more info on them feel free to ask. They have a jellyfish gene in them (they were designed by a company as a means of testing water because their coloring will get brighter the more stressed they are from the genetic modification) and they come in 5 colors (blue, purple, pink, green, and orange). They are an excellent fish to keep and one of the most hardy (they were used to test dirty water so they have to be hardy lol).

Theyre also black light reactive and you can get a tank and put actinic bulbs (kinda like a black light but more for aquaria use) in it and they glow wonderfully

I'm also of the opinion that a betta will do fine in your 4 gallon tank. They love in cups at the store and areas about the same size in many peoples houses. Obviously that is not the correct way to house them but many people keep them in 5 gallon tanks and I think yours is around 4 gallons which should do fine
 
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