My New Fish!!!!!!!!*_*

[PeTlOvEr13]

I just got new fish today!!!!!

I got...

1 Ten gallon fish tank
2 Ghost shrimps
1 Flame tetra
1 Molla
2 Guppies (Male & Female)
2 Snails (Green & Yellow)

I got them all from Walmart!!!!! They have the best fish I have ever seen and there in great condition.

[mr gerbil]

Let's get this straight...you got them all at the same time?

[Shrelana]

you are way overstocked, and needed to cycle before adding any fish to the tank.....what type of water conditioner are u using? If you haven't already, get cycle, and dose heavily as well as getting at least one pack of biospira.....

[Shrelana]

OK, I truly am scatterbrained....the reason you are overstocked is because tetras need to be in schools of at least 6, if you do that with your tetra, you will be able to have pretty much nothing else in there....Maybe the 2 guppies, but remember, they breed like crazy (from what I've heard). You would really only need one snail just because they clean a lot of algae with just one (trust me on this one) and they let out a lot of waste....

[mallyrk]

First, most wal-mart's fish suck. They use a universal system where all the tanks are linked together.. so if one fish has ich or a parasite, they all can. So be careful. Even though they LOOK okay.

Second, you shouldn't buy the tank and add the fish in the same day. You need to let the tank cycle...

Third, tetras need to be in schools of 6 or more. If not, they don't usually last to long.

Fourth, Snails eat algae. You arn't going to have algae in a new 10 gal tank. You won't need two anyway. One will do the job great. You will need to buy some algae wafers for them...

[Shrelana]

do you mean mollY when you say mollO? If not, do you know what size tank they need? Did you do any research before buying your fish?

[PeTlOvEr13]

My fish r fine...and plus if they die u just buy ones. There only a dollar anyway.
but yes i've read up on and my fish are just fine.

[Shrelana]

i'm sorry, but fish have lives just like you and me. How would you like if your parents said "if she dies, we'll just have another"?

[mallyrk]

THey are a living thing... and while they are in your care you should give them the best life possible.. not throw them all in a tank and say "there ya go! If ya die, the store always has more..."

If you read up on your fish you would know that tetras run in schools, and not to add fish before cycling your tank. Yeah, you must have done tooonnnns of reseach! :rolleyes:

[Shrelana]

If this is the way you think of ur fish, you do not deserve to have any pets. period!

[Spudnik]

Rather than just say that your 'fish r fine', why don't you listen to these people who are experienced and know what they are talking about so that they can help you give your fish a better life? After all, your signature says:

'*_* I :heartbeat em' all!!!!!!!!^_^
Treat your pets right!!!!!!!!!'

[formericequeen]

My fish r fine...and plus if they die u just buy ones. There only a dollar anyway.
but yes i've read up on and my fish are just fine.

sorry but no, you dont deserve to have any fish - they are not just 'things' that you can treat cruelly and throw away when they die and replace them. yes people make mistakes, me included, but it was accidental and now i take proper care of my fish, they are pets not entertainment

[dog mad]

so youre telling me that you read somewere that you can buy all your fish at the same time and just dump them in a tank without cycling your tank?

[nessabutterfly4]

maybe you should explain to PeTlOvEr13 what cycling means. If you are talking about watching the nitrates go up then you dont know what you are talking about, bc that is a natural cycle that can sometimes take months to happen and does not need to happen for the tank to be safe. What PeTlOvEr13 does need to watch is the ammonia levels which will tell if the tank is overstocked or not and if the tank is safe to put fish in. I agree that a person should wait until they see some algae but they dont need to, bc a flake diet for the fish will be perfectly fine until the algae grows (which wont be long). I you are all thinking like a saltwater tank where the ammonia will peak in order for algae to grow and fish to be able to be put in, that does not happen in a freshwater tank.

[mr gerbil]

Not quite, actually.
Ammonia arrives in the tank through uneaten food, fish waste, etc. It's the most harmful compound to fish.
Nitrifying bacteria colonise and convert the ammonia to nitrite. This is the second most dangerous compound to fish.
More nitrifying bacteria colonise and convert the nitrite to nitrate. This is fairly harmless.
Fishless cycling will take away this problem with new tanks.

[dillydally6]

that was a dumb desicion to buy your fish and tank all at the same time. there is a tank cycling process to go through.

[Nell]

The problem is that not many people know about cycling and all of the other important information before they go out and buy fish. Most pet stores aren't very good at informing people, especially large chain stores who only see the fish as profit. If the fish die because the person doesn't know what they're doing, then it just means that they'll keep buying more fish until they get frustrated and give up.
Ever wonder why you can find so many tanks secondhand? Because fishkeeping is harder than what most people percieve, and few of those people do the required research to do well in the hobby.

Part of the point of having a forum like this is to help educate people about these things. Unfourtunately, not everyone is going to do all the research they need before they go out and get fish. A lot of people start out the wrong way and make a lot of mistakes (lets see a show of hands people! lol) but take the problems they have as an opportunity to learn and do things better in the future.

I'm sure the OP is going to have quite a few problems because they didn't set up their new tank properly, and I hope they stick around and use this as an opportunity to learn something instead of just adopting the mindset that fish are disposable creatures and they can just go out and buy new ones if these die.

[LeprechaunLady]

She's also posted on the hamster forum saying that she "flicks" their noses to try and "teach them who's boss." She should not be allowed to get any pets with that outlook. That's animal cruelty and she just keeps posting about where to find new pets. The last post I saw from her is "Where can I find bunnyz???"