Needle-nosed gar won't eat!

[Karinza]

Okay, so we got a new 55-gallon tank and a 40-gallon tank (thanks discuscraze!) and we purchased a needle-nosed gar to put in the 55g. He sat in the 10g tank for a few days so we could go pick up and set up the 55g. While he was in the 10g, he wouldn't eat anything. We had 4 guppies and 4 rosies in the water with him. The rosies died, the guppies had babies, and the gar still wouldn't eat. His gills and the tip of his nose had also turned bright red.

We put him in the 55g along with the four guppies and a pl*co. He's been in there for about 36 hours and he still won't eat. My fiancee took a guppy and dangled it in front of his face, and he didn't seem to care. Otherwise, he seems to be much happier and enjoys riding up the tank in the two large airstones we have at the bottom. Why isn't he eating?

Now, I'm going to do a fishless cycle with the 40g, and then I'm going to put a few community fish in there. Well, "a few" might be an understatement -- a seemingly reputable book on setting up aquariums recommends the following mix of fish for a 29 gallon tank (remember, I have a 40g):

- 3 Platies
- 8 Zebra Danios
- 6 Lemon Tetras
- 4 Cory Cats

What do you guys think? Is this a good mix? Can I substitute another kind of tetra? Can I throw in an oto cat for the algae? I heard they eat algae, and are good for smaller tanks.

Finally, can anyone give me a good link for fishless cycling? I can't seem to access the one on here.

Thanks!
Karinza

 

[OrionGirl]

Was the 55 cycled for the gar? Redness around the gills is often an indication of ammonia burns, and fish that are sick seldom eat. Test the water, and if there is detectable ammonia, start doing water changes to bring them down.

For the other--yes, you can substitute a different tetra, but make sure it's onw that's a similar size. Oto's do best in groups, and in established planted tanks. They tend to starve in new tanks--they don't provide enough algae to keep the fish healthy. There are much better ways to control algae--don't buy a fish for a problem you don't have, basically.

Here are Chris Cow's original articles on fishless cycling--read through them both, as the second covers some additional conditions (like low KH).
http://www.aquasource.org/CMS/modul...ons&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=2&page=1
http://www.aquasource.org/CMS/modul...ons&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=3&page=1

 

[freeless2002]

Well, I see that you found your larger tanks since we talked last week Thats good. What you DIDN'T do is cycle the tank. There is no way fish cycled or not that tank is cycled. The redness is likely caused by high ammonia, which most likely killed the rosies. When you said the gar was not eating, I thought needs live food but since you already have that, fish that do not eat are stressed, unhappy or are not in good water.

I understand the excitment of having a tank but take it SLOW and cycle your tanks correctly before start putting alot of fish in there and have them die. Just b/c someone tells you that if you use this product you can have this in a week DOES NOT always mean you can.