does anyone here know anything about fish aqauriums?

i am dumbfounded!!

does anyone here know anything about fish aqauriums?

a couple of months ago my wife and i purchased a 10 gallon fish aqaurium and in the last week....2 Pocosamus fish (algea eaters) have died and i can't figure out why...the Goldfish are doing great, but I can't seem to keep the sucker fish alive, any idea's?
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:09 am Post subject:

Get some algea and just toss it in the tank xD

I don't know anything about fish tanks, I just had to throw that in.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 11:36 am Post subject:

you have a filter?
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 11:41 am Post subject:

They probably starved, if the tank is not generating enough waste to produce algae, they have nothing to eat. Their are algae tablets you can put in for them to eat.

Thats my 2 cents worth.

Other than that they make a good planter.
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Serve the Lord, Jesus Christ with all your heart, soul and mind.

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 11:42 am Post subject:

I have had fish tanks for ....., well lets just say for a very long time. Talk to me on vent sometime and I'll help you out.

My first guess is they are not getting enough food. Young ones eat a lot of algae and scavenge some. As they get older they will eat less algae and will rely more on scaveging. The problem is that a new tank won't have much algae. Goldfish are little bottomless garbage disposals and will not leave much food for anything else in the tank. Frequently the small algae eaters won't eat much during daylight hours. So here's what I would guess:
1 Not enough algae to support.
2 Not enough food left for them after goldfish pig out.
3 Probably too timid to aggressively eat during the day.

Water quality can also be a factor, this would be my second guess. Goldfish eat alot and produce alot of waste. This can lead to poor water quality. Some fish are not very hardy and need good quality water conditions. Goldfish are very hardy and can live in very poor conditions. Make sure you don't over populate your tank (10 gallon is small), have good filteration, and excellent airation.
A ten gallon tank won't support many fish and definetly not more than one algae eater.

You might want to try some of the different types of algae eaters and not plecos. Flying Fox, Redtailed Shark, Chinese Algae Eater, and a few others would probably do better in a 10 gallon tank. Only buy one for this size tank.

Hope that gives you a place to start. A good pet store is usually always happy to give advise for free, so make some contacts.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 4:14 pm Post subject:

Bullet I have had tanks for years. I have 2 right now in my spare room. 1-55 gallon and a 25 gallon. You can't just fill it up with water and throw fish in it. You need to first let the water sit untouched with filter and air running and gravel, prettys and such for at least 1 week before adding fish. Reason for this is because the first stages of producing your environment is very toxic for fish to live in. This is probably why your fish were dying. Algae tabs will work but not a major need. Plantlife helps alot due to algae already existing on them. Goldfish and guppies are probably one of the easiest species of fish to take care of, hell they don't even need air running. This should solve your problems if you need any help I would be happy to help you.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 4:25 pm Post subject:

thanks guys....i may just get rid of it...too much hassle for me
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 5:39 pm Post subject:

Fishtanks are very easy to uphold Bullet. Once the water in the tank has sat for awhile, you never have to fool with it other than maybe clean it once every 3 or 4 months, add water when needed and feed your fish. Simple no hassles trust me. I might be a spazz, but I always tell the truth.
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{uZa}<pARaSiTe> · Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 12:16 am Post subject:

I’ve kept fish for… well nearly my entire life now. I used to even breed fresh water fish for a few years. (before I moved into my apartment I had over 300+ gallons of tanks) Everything the guys put up is true about proper cycling of your tank. If you can, have a friend give you some water (or a piece of the other tanks filter pad) from an established tank to introduce “good” bacteria to your tank. This will allow for a more balanced water quality in a faster timeframe. I’ve set up brand new tanks for friends in one day with stellar results using this method. (Lots of my water though) Also, since you have goldfish make sure you are not using a heater in your tank (or have it set low 70-72degrees) The reason for this is goldfish are coldwater fish and they produce slime in warm water. (Bad for water quality)

Your plecos are probably dying from one of two things.
1. Picking on- If your plecos are too small the goldfish may be picking on them. Keep in mind stress is the #1 killer of fish. It really does not take much to make a fish go fins up from stress. Try to find a pleco that is closer in size to you goldfish when you purchase them. Also make sure the pleco has a place to hide from the other fish. An upside down flower pot with a hole knocked out (for a door) is perfect. Having a place to hide out is really important to the nocturnal pleco. (When they are juveniles, as they age they venture out more in the day.)

2. (Most likely) Starvation- A Goldfish is a Hoover vac that will eat anything it can get its mouth around. (Even a still living full sized male Krib… it’s a long story) In actuality a gold fish would eat itself to death if given the opportunity. If you don’t think the the plecos are eating enough. Then wait an hour after the tank light is off and put some fish food into the dark tank. The goldfish should not see the food and it will drop to the bottom. (Or buy pellets that drop to the bottom fast. Still feed at night though) There the pleco should eat at his/her leisure over the night. (When they come out mostly.)

Also it is not a good idea to have more than one pleco in a ten-gallon tank. They will compete for the same food and could starve each other off. The best method is to buy fish that swim in the three different zones of your tank (top, middle, and bottom.) so they don’t compete for space. When buying fish a good method to think of is one gallon per inch. So if you buy a fish that is three inches then allocate 3 gallons of space to that fish. Also bear in mind that fish grow and may soon be too large to fit in your tank. I had a Gold fish that was easily the size of my open hand. He started out small but before I knew it he was the king of my 60 gallon tank and this penny fish was killing my expensive Africans cichlids.

And I would NEVER recommend a red tail shark to anyone, they look cool but are a menace once they mature. (+they turn gray in color) They are also notorious tank jumpers. Also if you were going to get guppies, swordtails, or platties you will want to add some aquarium salt to your tank. (1 teaspoon per 2 gallons, FISH TANK SALT!!! Not table!!!) these fish are actually more of a brackish fish. (50/50 salt-fresh water) if you keep them in straight fresh water they will develop iche (short for Ichthyophthirius) and will pollute the whole tank over, and over, and over. After your goldfish are gone, if you are looking for a cool tropical fish to keep I recommend severums. These fish can grow to a decent size but they are very docile and can even be trained to let you pet them and eat from your hand. I had 3 (2 gold and a green) a few years back. Pretty fish and pretty easy to keep as fish go. My personal favorites are Australian Rainbow fish.

Well this was fun for me. Please don’t hesitate to PM me with questions if you may have any. I’ve kept nearly all varieties of common freshwater fish and brackish fish over the years. (I’m into the more rare ones now) but I’m always ready to help when I can.

-bug

Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 12:22 am Post subject:

thanks Bug for the advice....I still may get rid of the tank...i mainly got it for the girls, but I am the one that ends up taking care of it all and I have too many other things going on...
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:02 pm Post subject:

yes Bug did have fish tanks all over the house, before he moved out, some very big tanks with some beautiful fish, but I for one am glad they are gone. I hated watching him feed the little fish to the Big Ones for dinner. Dump the water and give the fish to the next kid that has a birthday. Put some plants in the tank instead. Laughing

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D_Day, MI6, & Bug..

.. or not