Need Help- Do not know what I'm doing

It seems conceiveable to me that you could house those fish in a 55 gallon tank as long as you have a good water change schedule and filtration. Also, it might be good to have a divider to help stop aggression. If you have the money though itd be great to have a 75 gallon, thats what i started with and its great. The 75 gallon is very good for beginners because the large size helps prevent large swings in water quality, temperature, etc. It sounds like you have the desire to be a great fish keeper, keep up the good work. It's good that you sought more information than just what petsmart or whatever gave you, i started with petsmart and that was a mistake, all the info they give you is crap. I now go to my LFS and the staff there are very knowledgeable, if you have one of those in your area itd be better to go there.
 
But also if you go with the 55 gallon (or 75 gallon) make sure you have plenty of hiding spaces and caves. And make sure you have a complete cycle, if you take gravel, decor, etc. from your ten gallon and put it in your new tank it will speed up the process. Considering the situation youre in you want it to go as fast as possible, there are products out there that help the process too, bacteria additives that work relatively well.
 
And one more thing i forgot to mention, because of the shape of the 55 gallon it doesnt oxygenate the water as well as a 75 gallon, if you get the 55 just make sure to aerate it well.
 
The only problem with the 55 is it's only 12" wide and kissing gouramis can get up to 12" from what I've read. It would be a bit of a tight squeeze. As mentioned before the sharks will fight they are very territorial and it's generally recommended to just keep one per tank. There is also going to be some aggression issues between those 3 gouramis.
 
jamiejam312 said:
Thank you all SO much for your help. It is SO nice to see how PEOPLE CARE here. I will be unsubsciribing from this site. I thought coming here people would be NICE AND HELPFUL. But instead you make smart little comments. Hey Bob BIshop I hope someone RETURNS YOU BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM.

I AM NOT RETURNING THESE FISH . PEOPLE LEARN HOW TO READ. I AM ASKING FOR FRICKING SIMPLE ADVICE. INSTEAD I GET STUPID COMMENTS. LEARN HOW TO READ I ALREADY CARE FOR THESE FISH. THERE IS NO SENSE IN SENDING THEM BACK TO A **** PET STORE WHERE THEY WILL BE KEPT IN EVEN WORSE CONDITIONS. DID YOU EVER THINK ABOUT THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!????????? NO.

YOU PEOPLE NEED TO GET OFF YOUR LITTLE HIGH HORSES AND ACTUALLY HELP SOME PEOPLE WHO ARE JUST TRYING TO DO RIGHT FOR THEIR FISH.

I WILL ASK FOR ADVICE ELSWHERE. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WASTING MY TIME.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

wow...:thumbsdown:
 
We all have been there in the beginning. We are trying to recommend what would be easiest for you in your situation. You mentioned you don't have a lot of money so that is why they advised you to trade your fish for ones that would be more affordable and enjoyable for you.
so if you want to have large aggressive fish and can afford a large tank and supplies, then go for it. We will be here to help. If don't want that route, then trade them for smaller peaceful fish. Up to you, but we just know from exp. that those fish will not work in that tank for the long run.
 
It is hard to give fish advice without trying to come off like a know it all/snobby person... Trust me I've tried this with my friends... Oh look I'll buy this African Clawed Frog and then keep it in the little container it came in and not change the water! I tried to tell her to get perhaps a bigger tank and showed her all these cool websites about them... but she freaked out much like this guy actually lol.

I don't think this guy is going to come back to read this thread though... Either that or he's made a new name because he realizes that he freaked out over absolutely nothing.
 
I started out the same way - 5 gal tank and 3 fish that were all set to get VERY large (severum, banded leporinus and a common pleco). I figured the guy at the fish store knew what he was selling me - turns out, not so much...

Unfortunately people who work at fish stores are not necessarily knowledgeable about fish. Some are, but most aren't.

You got good advice here on either returning the fish until you can get a bigger tank, or getting a bigger tank ASAP (75 gal would be my recommendation - try craigslist, that is where I found mine).

You are learning and researching which is good. Many people do not bother to do so.

My best advice for now is water changes - a lot of them - often. - 50% every day for now would be a good way to start since you have a lot of fish in a very small amount of water. Make sure you're using a de-chlorinating chemical when adding new water to the tank, and keep the water at a similar temperature to what is in there already to avoid shocking the fish with a fast temp change.

Good luck and I hope all your fish make it.
 
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