RE: What fish for a new tank

[janetjam7]

Dear Fish Lovers,

I just set up a 15 Gal Eclipse System 12. There are three tetras in it. I put my old mini bio-wheel in it to float to keep it moist, and apparently infected the tank with what ever bacteria that the Plecos from the old tank polluted it with.

I had to flush the Plecos, due to their pollution levels. I would have never bought them if I had read about them first here...

Well, anyway, the tetras are doing fine, but the water is turning cloudy again and it is only 2 days since fresh conditioned water was added. Do I have to do a complete tank break-down and scrub out, or can I just change most of the water out?

Also, I need suggestions for what else I can put in the tank with the neon tetras. I want to add four tetras, and something orangey red that will swim around the middle or top. The neons seem to like the bottom one-third.

Thanks so much,
janetjam7

 

[NJ Devils Fan]

Wait, let me get this straight, you killed fish because they made too much waste in the tank!?!?

 

[canucks]

eeeek!

 

[pinballqueen]

Originally posted by janetjam7
Dear Fish Lovers,

I just set up a 15 Gal Eclipse System 12. There are three tetras in it. I put my old mini bio-wheel in it to float to keep it moist, and apparently infected the tank with what ever bacteria that the Plecos from the old tank polluted it with.

I had to flush the Plecos, due to their pollution levels. I would have never bought them if I had read about them first here...

Well, anyway, the tetras are doing fine, but the water is turning cloudy again and it is only 2 days since fresh conditioned water was added. Do I have to do a complete tank break-down and scrub out, or can I just change most of the water out?

Also, I need suggestions for what else I can put in the tank with the neon tetras. I want to add four tetras, and something orangey red that will swim around the middle or top. The neons seem to like the bottom one-third.

Thanks so much,
janetjam7

I first want to take a moment to flame you for your cruelty to an animal that has no idea why you flushed it down the toilet.

Moment of flaming over.

Now then... crystal-clear water is not what you necessarily want in your tank. A tank does not have to be glass-clear to be healthy, in fact, most tanks are not. What you do want is a healthy bacterial colony. Let's get on to finding out a little more about your tank.

What are your water parameters? Ph and ammonia at least, and nitrite and nitrate if you have the tests for them (and if you don't, I suggest you go buy them.).

Next, how long has the tank been set up?

Don't freak out, you have not "Polluted" the tank, unless your unfortunate plecos were ill, which I doubt from your post. They produce a lot of waste, sure (but hey, so do you...), but that actually will help you out, honestly. I would assume that you probably are experiencing a bacterial bloom, which will pass. Either that, or you are overfeeding, which is easily remedied by, well, not feeding your fish so much.

What color is your cloudy water? Is it brown, white, green? There's a reasonable explanation for all.

brown/orange=overfeeding
white=bacterial bloom
green=algae bloom

Please don't scrub your tank. You'll do more harm than good. Remember, you WANT bacteria in the tank. That's what sets up a stable ecosystem that is safe for your fish.

And as far as the fish thing goes... don't buy any more right now, until we get everything resolved for you. At that point, I would make the suggestion of either more neons, or trading them in for the orange or red ones that you want. That tank is too small for two different shoals of schooling fish. You've got the numbers pretty good, though. I wouldn't add more than 3 or 4 more fish of small-tetra size, or one more in the dwarf gourami size range.

Sorry for the length. HTH

Get back to us with those test results so we can better advise you...

 

[ChilDawg]

Okay, next time, if fish are a little more than you can take care of, there is probably an LFS in or near your town which could take them off your hands. They may not pay you full price for them (unless you are within the return period), but it would be better than flushing them.

If the water turns cloudy, you need to make a slight water change and possibly change the filtration media if you had not done so in forever.

Best of luck,

Matthew

 

[janetjam7]

It is bacterial bloom

Thanks to everyone that replied. The plecos are a transfer from a friend who didn't want them either. They were the culprits in causing the white-ish cloud in the 20 gallon tank that he had. I was the one that committed the sin of flushing them. I read about the plecos causing the bacterial cloud on this site on another thread.

I had hoped, when taking the plecos, that they wouldn't fill my tank with the white cloud, but I was wrong. The adoptee plecos filled up my old ten-gallon in about three weeks with their white cloud. My penguin mini filter with bio-wheel must have been doing an exemplary job of keeping the water clear, if it took the plecos three weeks in my ten-gallon to cause the bacterial bloom.

The fish chain that sold them to him never mentioned that they (plecos) shouldn't go in anything less than a thirty gallon! I was the one that kept looking things up on the net to find out what was going on. People at the fish chain sell fish all of the time to people just setting up tanks that I am sure kill many of their fish, and never mention anything about how to keep a tank. My friend killed four angel fish and several cichlids, and spent about 500 bucks which he flushed metaphorically down the toilet. He would take advice from no one. I am at least trying to learn about the fish and their needs. So cut me a break!

I know a fair amount about the beneficial bacteria, and do not have test kits at this time, as I have never needed them in the past. I will purchase ASAP. I always had had clear water and happy fish for the past five years. The eclipse fifteen gallon is a new set-up, but I had a ten-gallon for five years with nary a problem. I was trying to seed the new filter with the old one, besides using the Cycle bacteria starter in the new tank.

This bloom is a full white cloud this morning. I am going to do a partial water change. But I know the white cloud will come right back, as it did for my friend who gave me the plecos (not the neon tetras, they came from my ten gallon which had been clear).

Also, the filter and the set up are brand new, don't worry, they are too clean, if anything. I was trying to seed the new filter with the old ones beneficial bacteria, and I got the same white cloud.
Regards, janetjam7

 

[val]

Welcome...

JanetJam to Aquaria Central, home of the most concerned fishkeepers on the internet

I hope you'll stick with us here, Janet, but you did give us a bit of a shock. You come to a board populated with people who live and breathe fish and breezily admit that you'd flushed fish, and you'll get our attention. We do hope, though, that we can help you get started on this wonderful hobby.

As to what to do next, good answer from pinballqueen. I'd let your tank get established for a while and you can add a couple more neons. If you can keep 7 neons in the tank for a month then your water chemistry should be fine for them. If you want a more dramatic fish to keep with them, you could add a male betta which would give you color, activity in the top half of the tank and it would look great.

Let us know how it's going...

Val

 

[ChilDawg]

Sorry, we weren't trying to be that rude (at least I wasn't), but rather let you know about your myriad of options for if the store sells you a fish which they should not have. (And that happens a little too often for many of our tastes.)

You did kinda shock us with the flushing thing, but we can get over it as long as you promise not to flush a fish for those reasons again--there are other options, and there are plenty of fishkeepers here who would love to take some fish off your hands if you wind up with the wrong ones for your tank and the store doesn't let you return them.

Hopefully all is back on the good foot, and we hope to help you much over the months to come.

~Matthew

 

[Slappy*McFish]

I once had a cat who refused to use his litterbox, so I flushed his arse down the toilet.

 

[canucks]

hahaha Slappy!!

To janetjam7, about "the white cloud", (sounds so ominous), everyone else correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the white cloud you experienced is a pretty normal and harmless thing. I'm relatively new to this, but when I set up my 20g around the start of Feb, I had a bloom for a few days. It just went away. Also, whenever I do H2O changes for my turtles the same thing happens for a day or two. There are two overgrown (and lucky) 4" feeder goldfish in there with them and none of the residents seem to be bothered by it, ("the cloud", that is). If I may be so bold as to offer my 2 cents (as a newbie)... Water changes are a must if you are cycling with fishies, but IMVHO, I wouldn't worry about the cloud.
Take it, or leave it.
Kat