Tanks gone wrong!

B

BigRog

AC Members
Mar 18, 2010
7
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0
Pineville , Kentucky
About 3 months ago our daughter recieved a 1.5 gal. aquarium for christmas. Her nanny bought her 8 fish and 1 snail in 1 week all fish but 2 died. the following week the other 2 died. the snail however survived. So I then bought 8 gold fish for her. they died all but 2. 3 nights ago I changed the water and when I put the fish back in they immediately died. But 2 weeks ago Gary the snail died. We were told it was from too much amonia from the gold fish. So about a month ago I bought bekah a 5 gal aquarium. I have a couple plants in it. I went to a diffrent pet shop and purchased 2 apple snails, 1 dwarf powder blue guarmi, And what was supposed to be 2 red tail sharks. the employee at the pet shop said they would go well together. About 2 days I noticed the gouarmi violently attacking one of the sharks. as it turned out he killed it. We looked the shark up online and it turned out that it was a albino rainbow shark. today we placed the gourami in the 1.5 gal. tank to seperate him from the red tail shark, because he has been attacking him as well. we are trying to see if the lfs will let us bring him in for store credit. trying to figure out if something is wrong with it or if it is normal for them to act this way. he also hits the tank if you hold your finger to the side of it so hard you can hear it. Also, if anybody has any suggestions on tank buddies for the red tail shark it would be appreciated. Thanks. :help:

-BigRog-
 
my suggestion is buy a bigger tank, cycle the tank, look up fish you would like, and not to overstock. the 1.5 gallon was WAY overstocked with the goldfish
 
I'm sorry to hear all that...but you aren't heading in the right direction. General rule of thumb...don't listen to pet store employees. They'd sell ice to Eskimo. Also, most goldfish need 30 gallons alone. Neither a 1.5 gallon or a 5 gallon are nearly big enough. Also, Albino Rainbow Sharks get huge! Unless you plan on getting a giant tank (I believe 55 gallons), it would be in your best interest to return the one you have left. Also, do you know about cycling your tank? It sounds like you haven't done that, and this is why your fish are dying. Before you purchase any more fish, I recommend you read up. And don't worry, we all had rough and bumpy starts in this hobby. Once you are on the right track, it's all very rewarding.
 
Yeah, i realized that the 1.5 was way overstocked now but you live and learn! How many fish for the 5 gallon tank would be reccomended if they were all small fish? :) thank you, and we do plan on a bigger thank in the future and no more overstocking we've had a heck of the past three months.

I cycle the water in the 5 gallon tank maybe once a week. is this too much or not enough?
 
There's only three things I would ever put in a 5 gallon tank.

1. A single male betta. Bettas love to swim around. They are colorful, fun, and personable. There are many types of bettas, too. Your snails might become snacks for a betta though. My crowntail betta loves his 5.5 gallon tank.

2. Snails or shrimp. Most people turn five gallon tanks into shrimp or snail tanks.

3. Ember Tetras. They are sorta difficult to get (you can buy them here on the Marketplace though), but I love these little buggers. At under an inch, you could put about six comfortably in a five gallon. They color up to be a nice bright red.

Five gallons is generally too small for most people. The smaller the tank the more difficult it is to take care of. In saying that, you're better off buying a nice large tank now rather than later (30 to 55 gallons). It might sound like a huge jump, but it's much easier.

Also, you mentioned the fish dying right after adding them. Did you use a dechlorinator?

Edit: A single Dwarf Puffer can live in a five gallon. But they are difficult (in my experience). I wouldn't recommend them for a beginner, but as a possibility in the future as you grow in the hobby.
 
what your talking about is changing water. once a week is acceptable. what nees to be done is to cycle the tank, totally differant. there are many threads and things about the correct way(s) to do this. without cycling, you will get a big ammonia spike that will kill your fish
 
I have to agree that a 5 gallon is pretty small for pretty much anything but a temporary quarantine tank or a few small things like the embers and some shrimp (which can be cool).

For cycling, there's a sticky at http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598 that has a lot of good info.

One other thing to think about is how long are you planning on having this aquarium setup. Is this something that you are willing to maintain if your daughter decides she doesn't like fish anymore or is this something that you'll be looking to get rid of after a year or so?

If it's something that you're willing to maintain, and/or would like to help her get excited about, then a 30 gallon with some brightly colored gravel, and maybe some brightly colored glofish. They would be compatable with the gourami and wouldn't outgrow a 30. You could have quite a few of them to form a proper school and still keep the snails too.
 
lethalcustoms00 said:
what your talking about is changing water. once a week is acceptable. what nees to be done is to cycle the tank, totally differant. there are many threads and things about the correct way(s) to do this. without cycling, you will get a big ammonia spike that will kill your fish
Click to expand...
Also, you mentioned the fish dying right after adding them. Did you use a dechlorinator?

Edit: A single Dwarf Puffer can live in a five gallon. But they are difficult (in my experience). I wouldn't recommend them for a beginner, but as a possibility in the future as you grow in the hobby.
Click to expand...

I did dechlorinate the tank, but I think it was just overstocking on my part.

what your talking about is changing water. once a week is acceptable. what nees to be done is to cycle the tank, totally differant. there are many threads and things about the correct way(s) to do this. without cycling, you will get a big ammonia spike that will kill your fish
Click to expand...

alright then, i thought that was what it was thank you. :) we do plan on getting a bigger tank in the future so we might just stick to one fish in the five gallon tank for the moment. all these suggestions are great thknk you guys so much for being nice, lol, most places i get "trolled" for posting this and saying we're retarded or something and yes, we do plan on keeping an interest in the fish it's something we've learned to enjoy, except for the fish deaths.
 
"Cycling" is the establishment of a healthy bacterial colony in the filter that breaks down harmful ammonia (basically fish waste) and nitrite into less toxic nitrate. Nitrate is removed by doing water changes. Cycling will pretty much occur naturally as long as there is "food" present for the bacteria (ammonia/nitrite), but HOW you keep those chemicals present is really what determines how much work you have to do. Cycling isn't really an overnight thing unfortunately...it usually takes 2 to 6 weeks. You should read this thread about different cycling methods: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598
 
As Zbbal mentioned, the rainbow shark needs to be kept in a larger aquarium (upwards of 40g, 55g preferable). They are aggressive fish and hate others of their own species. The gourami and shark are both tropical fish that prefer temperatures in the 76-80F range. I am presuming that your tank is currently unheated, and probably hovers at ~68F. If you want to keep tropical fish, you will need a heater, for the 5g, a 25W will suffice.

I would recommend taking the the shark back to the pet shop. Also consider buying a 20g or 30g from your local classifieds such as kijiji or craigslist. With a larger tank you have a wide range of options, and it is easier to keep stable.
 
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