Am i doing it right?

[Christopher Lewis]

My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
heater running for a few days.

I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
them to cycle the tank.

All OK so far right.

Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the fish
being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's (i
think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting or
others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).

So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep the
ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between 1
and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.

Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2 weeks
now and *seem* OK so far.

Is there anything else i should be doing?

Thanks Guys

Chris

p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
every 2 days!!

[Mary Burns]

"Christopher Lewis" > wrote in message
...
> My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago.
> I
> filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
> heater running for a few days.
>
> I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended
> by
> them to cycle the tank.
>
> All OK so far right.
>
> Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the
> fish
> being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
> gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's
> (i
> think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting
> or
> others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).
>
> So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep
> the
> ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between
> 1
> and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
>
> Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2
> weeks
> now and *seem* OK so far.
>
> Is there anything else i should be doing?
>
> Thanks Guys
>
> Chris
>
> p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
> every 2 days!!
>
>


Cyling a tank with a few hardy fish and live plants, no more than about 5"
of fish in a 100 litre (25 USg = about 25" of fish) is usually safe. At the
moment you have, assuming the fish are young and small, a full tank.
Gouramis are usually about 2" when you buy them, mollies about 1.5", tetra
1", barbs 1.5", sharks 2", so with the first few, a lot of inches for a new
tank. Live plants do help a lot, taking ammonia from water first and them
nitrate. You will need to really check the water params carefully, lots of
water changes without disturbing the subsrate at first will help. Can you
get some live plants? You need to bear in mind the full size the fish will
get too. Most gouramis get to 4+" (unless they are dwarf gouramis) mollies
3+", sharks, red/black, grey or bala easily get to 6" or more, tiger barbs
3", tetra 1". With your mix of fish, sticking to 1" per gall is reasonable,
single/dual species tanks are a lot more forgiving and allow more per inch.
My 100 litre has only neons and minnows, small slim fish that get along ok
and enjoy the space. Your sharks/gouramis will need a bigger tank in time.
You may have to think about taking a few back until the tank cycles, as
ammonia then nitrite is not tolerated by many fish and they die. You may
have issues between the gouramis and tiger barbs as they get bigger. Some
gouramis are very terratorial.

Try http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/fishindx.htm to find out
exactly which species of gourami and shark you have, good clear pics to
help. Mary
>

[Iain Miller]

"Christopher Lewis" > wrote in message
...
> My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago.
> I
> filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
> heater running for a few days.
>
> I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended
> by
> them to cycle the tank.
>
> All OK so far right.
>
> Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the
> fish
> being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
> gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's
> (i
> think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting
> or
> others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).
>
> So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep
> the
> ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between
> 1
> and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
>
> Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2
> weeks
> now and *seem* OK so far.
>
> Is there anything else i should be doing?
>
> Thanks Guys
>

Sounds like you are doing fine - just keep an eye on the Nitrite level - it
will rocket up very quickly. You need some in the tank otherwise the thing
will never cycle but you need to keep both Ammonia and Nitrite under
control - and it sounds like you understand that.

You'll be able to accelerate the cycling process if you can get hold of
some "used" filter media from somewhere and stick that in the tank near the
filter inlet. Suggest you look into this becuase otherwise you will be in
for 4-5 weeks of water changes before it stabilises.

rgds

I.

[Altum]

Christopher Lewis wrote:
> My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
> filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
> heater running for a few days.
>
> I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
> them to cycle the tank.
>
> All OK so far right.

So far, so good.

> Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the fish
> being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
> gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's (i
> think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting or
> others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).

Oh my. 15 fish?!? I've gotten gifts like that. The sharks are not
real sharks. A lot of fish go by "shark" and none are suitable for
your tank. Red-tailed and rainbow sharks - relatively small,
aggressive cyprinids. Bala sharks, endangered, large, and skittish.
Irridescent sharks, which get huge.

> So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep the
> ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between 1
> and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
>
> Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2 weeks
> now and *seem* OK so far.
>
> Is there anything else i should be doing?

Water changes are good. Add 1 tsp/gallon of salt to help counteract
the effects of nitrite poisoning. When you change water, only add the
salt to the replacement water.

Seed bacteria. Get Bio-spira, or gravel, plants or filter media from
an established tank.

Good luck. Unfortunately, you'll need it.

[Richard Sexton]

In article >,
Christopher Lewis > wrote:
>My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
>filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
>heater running for a few days.
>
>I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
>them to cycle the tank.
>
>All OK so far right.
>
>Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the fish
>being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
>gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's (i
>think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting or
>others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).
>
>So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep the
>ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between 1
>and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
>
>Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2 weeks
>now and *seem* OK so far.
>
>Is there anything else i should be doing?
>
>Thanks Guys
>
>Chris
>
>p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
>every 2 days!!

How bout every day?

That's really too many fish for a new tank that size. Add lots of hornwort
and keep changing water. it might settle out but it'll be a decilcate balance/

Lose some of the fish (just stop water changes, a few will die anyway) and they'll
find their equilibrium.

Give some of the fish back?

How much does she love you? Enough to buy you a bigger tank ? They're cheaper used...


--
Need Mercedes parts ? - http://parts.mbz.org
Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home page: http://rs79.vrx.net
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net

[§tudz]

Christopher Lewis wrote:
> My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
> filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
> heater running for a few days.
>
> I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
> them to cycle the tank.
>
> All OK so far right.
>
> Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the fish
> being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
> gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's (i
> think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting or
> others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).
>
> So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep the
> ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between 1
> and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
>
> Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2 weeks
> now and *seem* OK so far.
>
> Is there anything else i should be doing?
>
> Thanks Guys
>
> Chris
>
> p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
> every 2 days!!
>
>
>

You shouldn't be doing water changes yet? you have TOO many fish in
there to cycle to tank. It is best to not have fish in the tank to cycle
it. for at least a week, 3 or 4 days if you use nutrafin's cycle.

find out what 'sharks' they are, if they are black red tailed shark or
rainbow sharks they will fight each other, if they are bala sharks they
will grow huge! 15"+. or if they are iridescent sharks they will grow
over 2 foot, lol.

did you gradually add the fish? or did you add them all at the same time?

and as for doing water changes every 2 days?? why are you doing them SO
often, once every month or two weeks should be fine.

§tudz

[Gill Passman]

Christopher Lewis wrote:
> My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
> filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
> heater running for a few days.
>
> I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
> them to cycle the tank.
>
> All OK so far right.
>
> Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the fish
> being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
> gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's (i
> think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting or
> others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).
>
> So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep the
> ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between 1
> and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
>
> Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2 weeks
> now and *seem* OK so far.
>
> Is there anything else i should be doing?
>
> Thanks Guys
>
> Chris
>
> p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
> every 2 days!!
>
>
>
Hi Chris,

Check out the following link for advice on cycling:-

http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

It will give you some good hints...

Being in the UK a lot of these "miracle" products aren't available to us
but you might try some Nutrafin Cycle and Waste Control....the water
changes will also be helping...take a look at your filtration system -
often the filters sold with these tanks are the minimum for low stocked
tanks - try adding another filter/pump if you can stretch to it...the
suggestion of getting some established filter medium and/or substrate is
a good one - this is how I set up my tanks now but I have the benefit of
being able to "steal" from the tanks that I already own...

Try returning some of the fish...some places will give you credit for
them...MA certainly do...

Good Luck
Gill

[Daniel Morrow]

Bottom posted.
§tudz wrote:
> Christopher Lewis wrote:
>> My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks
>> ago. I filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left
>> the filter and heater running for a few days.
>>
>> I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish
>> recommended by them to cycle the tank.
>>
>> All OK so far right.
>>
>> Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of
>> the fish being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in
>> it. They are gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a
>> few red eyed tetra's (i think thats what they are called), some
>> tiger barbs, some sharks someting or others (cant remember and i
>> doubt they are real sharks).
>>
>> So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to
>> keep the ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was
>> somewhere between 1 and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
>>
>> Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there
>> 2 weeks now and *seem* OK so far.
>>
>> Is there anything else i should be doing?
>>
>> Thanks Guys
>>
>> Chris
>>
>> p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water
>> changes every 2 days!!
>>
>>
>>
>
> You shouldn't be doing water changes yet? you have TOO many fish in
> there to cycle to tank. It is best to not have fish in the tank to
> cycle it. for at least a week, 3 or 4 days if you use nutrafin's
> cycle.
>
> find out what 'sharks' they are, if they are black red tailed shark or
> rainbow sharks they will fight each other, if they are bala sharks
> they will grow huge! 15"+. or if they are iridescent sharks they will
> grow over 2 foot, lol.
>
> did you gradually add the fish? or did you add them all at the same
> time?
>
> and as for doing water changes every 2 days?? why are you doing them
> SO often, once every month or two weeks should be fine.
>
> §tudz

I don't know studz, if I am not mistaken you state a lot of contradictions
to aquarium standards today. I am just pointing out to the original poster
to take any information with a grain (no pun intended!) of salt. Good luck
and later!

[Marco Schwarz]

Hi..

> You shouldn't be doing water changes yet?

Hmm..???

> you have TOO
> many fish in there to cycle to tank.

Yes.

> It is best to not
> have fish in the tank to cycle it.

Yes, but then bacteria have to be fed in a different way.

> for at least a week, 3
> or 4 days if you use nutrafin's cycle.

I'm afraid that won't help.

> and as for doing water changes every 2 days?? why are you
> doing them SO often, once every month or two weeks should
> be fine.

Sorry, he still has "fish soup" in that tank, shouldn't
stress them, so he has to keep NH3 and NO2 small.

@ Christopher:
Try to think about daily water changes for the next 2
weeks.. ;-)

--
cu
Marco

[Marco Schwarz]

Hi..

> Cyling a tank with a few hardy fish and live plants, no
> more than about 5" of fish in a 100 litre (25 USg = about
> 25" of fish) is usually safe.

Hmm.., what are hardy fish?
--
cu
Marco

[Sean]

"Marco Schwarz" > wrote in message
...
> Hi..
>
>> Cyling a tank with a few hardy fish and live plants, no
>> more than about 5" of fish in a 100 litre (25 USg = about
>> 25" of fish) is usually safe.
>
> Hmm.., what are hardy fish?



Fish that are resilient and can go through the stress of something like a
major cycle, without getting sick or dying?



Sean

[SpiceySpice]

i think you are doing great considering, what you should have done with
those second lot of fish is say "no thanks"
and waited for at least a month before adding new fish.

I would try and take back the gouramis, and the shark for def, as these will
cause you problems long term, and will out grow your tank, they may also
intimidate the other smaller fish and cause you more problems.

Keep up the water changes, add some nutrafin cycle, keep feeding down to
minimum fish dont hurt if not fed for a day or two, also with no live plants
you are gonna have big algae problems so you to plants heavily and quick.

Hope that helps, di
"Christopher Lewis" > wrote in message
...
> My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago.
> I
> filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
> heater running for a few days.
>
> I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended
> by
> them to cycle the tank.
>
> All OK so far right.
>
> Then.... My mother boyfriend turns up at my house after 2 days of the
> fish
> being in the tank with a bag with about another 15 fish in it. They are
> gourami's, 2 or three different kinds of mollies, a few red eyed tetra's
> (i
> think thats what they are called), some tiger barbs, some sharks someting
> or
> others (cant remember and i doubt they are real sharks).
>
> So now i am doing a 20% water change every 2 days in an attempt to keep
> the
> ammonia and nitrite levels down. Yesterday ammoina was somewhere between
> 1
> and 1.5 ppm so i did a 40% water change.
>
> Nitrite is about 1.0 ppm at the moment. they have all been in there 2
> weeks
> now and *seem* OK so far.
>
> Is there anything else i should be doing?
>
> Thanks Guys
>
> Chris
>
> p.s. I'm sure i'm going to enjoy this once i dont have to do water changes
> every 2 days!!
>
>
>

[NetMax]

"Sean" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Marco Schwarz" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Hi..
>>
>>> Cyling a tank with a few hardy fish and live plants, no
>>> more than about 5" of fish in a 100 litre (25 USg = about
>>> 25" of fish) is usually safe.
>>
>> Hmm.., what are hardy fish?
>
>
>
> Fish that are resilient and can go through the stress of something like
> a major cycle, without getting sick or dying?

Sometimes, it's hard to know when Marco is being facetious or serious
;~).

Other than a few fish which are known to be particularly fragile (mostly
under under transport conditions, which is why we notice), the hardiness
of a fish has more to do with its size, how long it's been in the tank,
whether the water parameters are acceptable, and its metabolism (imo).
Only the last point is species dependant, so there is a lot of urban myth
to picking a particular type of fish because it's 'hardy'. They are
mostly all equally 'hardy' if the environment is correct (or wouldn't
their evolution have had a a very short history?).

Returning back to 'acceptable water parameters' fish can be selected (or
avoided) according to the particular abuse you're anticipating. For a
heat wave, I wouldn't have White Cloud minnows, Dojos or Kuhliis, and if
the water was going to get very cold, then Goldfish, Koi and Sunfish come
to mind. My well water gets very hard mid-summer, making Discus, Altums
or Rams quite miserable, but bringing out nice colours in African mbuna
and Monos.

If you want hardy fish, choose them according to your water parameters,
and once they are acclimated, have grown a bit, and if their water
conditions are within their acceptable range, they are *ALL* hardy :o).
--
www.NetMax.tk stirring the pot again ;~)


>
>
> Sean

[Edward Cowling London UK]

In message >, Christopher Lewis
> writes
>My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago. I
>filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
>heater running for a few days.
>
>I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended by
>them to cycle the tank.
>

Sorry at that point you lost my patience. I think we should take a leaf
out of the current trend for "instant offence" and protest outside your
house :-)

Never use live fish to cycle a tank, they are as you say LIVE creatures.

Feed an empty tank. I know it sounds daft, but a small pinch of food
every morning for about 5-6 weeks will very effectively get the bugs
going in the tank.

Personally I'd like to see a license to keep fish introduced, with basic
training considered mandatory.

--
Edward Cowling London UK

[Edward Cowling London UK]

In message >,
SpiceySpice > writes
>i think you are doing great considering, what you should have done with
>those second lot of fish is say "no thanks"
>and waited for at least a month before adding new fish.
>

A big "I agree totally" to that. Tell the well meaning in laws it's your
tank and don't let them interfere.

--
Edward Cowling London UK

[Sean]

"Edward Cowling London UK" > wrote in message
...
> In message >, Christopher Lewis
> > writes
>>My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks ago.
>>I
>>filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter and
>>heater running for a few days.
>>
>>I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish recommended
>>by
>>them to cycle the tank.
>>
>
> Sorry at that point you lost my patience. I think we should take a leaf
> out of the current trend for "instant offence" and protest outside your
> house :-)
>
> Never use live fish to cycle a tank, they are as you say LIVE creatures.
>
> Feed an empty tank. I know it sounds daft, but a small pinch of food every
> morning for about 5-6 weeks will very effectively get the bugs going in
> the tank.
>
> Personally I'd like to see a license to keep fish introduced, with basic
> training considered mandatory.



I don't know about training and a license, that seems a tad expensive and
would lead to government overhead and all that jazz. What I think the fish
shops should have to implement is a basic testing system for each major
class/type of fish. Just basic questions to determine if the person would
be suitable to keep fish. Questions like: What temp should tropical fish be
kept at generally? What is a cycle? How many times do you feed these fish
and with what type of food? I think that would be a great solution and it
would embarrass a lot of ignorant buyers into not making the purchase until
they knew more.



Sean

[NetMax]

"Sean" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Edward Cowling London UK" > wrote in
> message ...
>> In message >, Christopher
>> Lewis > writes
>>>My girlfriend bought me a 100 litre tank for my birthday a few weeks
>>>ago. I
>>>filled it with gravel a few fake plants and water and left the filter
>>>and
>>>heater running for a few days.
>>>
>>>I then went to my local fish shop and bought some small fish
>>>recommended by
>>>them to cycle the tank.
>>>
>>
>> Sorry at that point you lost my patience. I think we should take a
>> leaf out of the current trend for "instant offence" and protest
>> outside your house :-)
>>
>> Never use live fish to cycle a tank, they are as you say LIVE
>> creatures.
>>
>> Feed an empty tank. I know it sounds daft, but a small pinch of food
>> every morning for about 5-6 weeks will very effectively get the bugs
>> going in the tank.
>>
>> Personally I'd like to see a license to keep fish introduced, with
>> basic training considered mandatory.
>
>
>
> I don't know about training and a license, that seems a tad expensive
> and would lead to government overhead and all that jazz. What I think
> the fish shops should have to implement is a basic testing system for
> each major class/type of fish. Just basic questions to determine if
> the person would be suitable to keep fish. Questions like: What temp
> should tropical fish be kept at generally? What is a cycle? How many
> times do you feed these fish and with what type of food? I think that
> would be a great solution and it would embarrass a lot of ignorant
> buyers into not making the purchase until they knew more.
>
>
>
> Sean


I'm 100% with Sean on this one. We did this at the store. The trick was
to ask all the questions conversationally. With a new customer, you can
make lots of extra time ("have you seen bla bla - just came in", then
catching the fish, showing compatible plants etc etc). All the while,
expressing enthusiasm in the fish they are buying "So what type of fish
do you have now?, size of tank etc etc".

I've done many *non-sales*, where the customer decided against buying any
fish (I discovered they had Ich, or were overstocked etc). Sometimes I'd
have to go around putting bagged fish back into the tanks, but more often
than not, it left us with a new loyal customer who was interested in
doing the right thing, and they found a place they could get information.
They still spent money (probably a little guilty for 'wasting' our time),
but it was on new food, plants, meds etc, so the store didn't lose
anything.

We don't need to give the government more things to legislate (imo).
Common sense, good fish husbandry and good business practice are all
still compatible.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Koi-Lo]

"Edward Cowling London UK" > wrote in message
...
> Personally I'd like to see a license to keep fish introduced, with basic
> training considered mandatory.
===============
I would love to see *that* as well as a Lic. to keep any pet. Next
mandatory classes on parenting for all those who want to have a family. One
spoiled disobedient child in the LFS last week must have caused the death of
many fish from banging things from the shelves on the tank fronts. The poor
fish were panicking. His parents were oblivious...... :-(
--

Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>

[Gill Passman]

Koi-Lo wrote:
>
> "Edward Cowling London UK" > wrote in
> message ...
>
>> Personally I'd like to see a license to keep fish introduced, with
>> basic training considered mandatory.
>
> ===============
> I would love to see *that* as well as a Lic. to keep any pet. Next
> mandatory classes on parenting for all those who want to have a family.
> One spoiled disobedient child in the LFS last week must have caused the
> death of many fish from banging things from the shelves on the tank
> fronts. The poor fish were panicking. His parents were
> oblivious...... :-(

I went to the LFS today. As we approached we saw a man and a young boy
of around 10 years I would guess. They were clutching lots of leaflets.
The father was chatting to the boy quite enthusiastically about the need
for them to get the tank set up before getting any fish...this is the
norm for this place....

They also have very big signs up about children only being welcome if
supervised by an adult - must have taken my daughter in there too many
times - lol - but she does at least know not to touch the glass of the
tanks or be loud around the fish because of scaring them.

I'm with NetMax on this one. I don't see how licencing fishkeepers would
work....we don't licence owners of other pets just the places that sell
them...education is the key - not only of those working in LFSs but of
the customers themselves....

Gill

[Marco Schwarz]

Hi..

Well, two different replies to an innocent question.

Sean's definition show hardy fish have stress while cycling
a tank. This is why I generally recommend a fish-less
start.
--
cu
Marco

[SpiceySpice]

I cant believe the advice given out by so called pet stores, i was in once a
few weeks ago and the advice given to a customer was, to set up the tank for
2 days to let the temp settle, then you can add, all these fish, guppies,
mollies, platies the list was endless, i nearly passed out.


"Gill Passman" > wrote in message
...
> Koi-Lo wrote:
>>
>> "Edward Cowling London UK" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> Personally I'd like to see a license to keep fish introduced, with basic
>>> training considered mandatory.
>>
>> ===============
>> I would love to see *that* as well as a Lic. to keep any pet. Next
>> mandatory classes on parenting for all those who want to have a family.
>> One spoiled disobedient child in the LFS last week must have caused the
>> death of many fish from banging things from the shelves on the tank
>> fronts. The poor fish were panicking. His parents were oblivious......
>> :-(
>
> I went to the LFS today. As we approached we saw a man and a young boy of
> around 10 years I would guess. They were clutching lots of leaflets. The
> father was chatting to the boy quite enthusiastically about the need for
> them to get the tank set up before getting any fish...this is the norm for
> this place....
>
> They also have very big signs up about children only being welcome if
> supervised by an adult - must have taken my daughter in there too many
> times - lol - but she does at least know not to touch the glass of the
> tanks or be loud around the fish because of scaring them.
>
> I'm with NetMax on this one. I don't see how licencing fishkeepers would
> work....we don't licence owners of other pets just the places that sell
> them...education is the key - not only of those working in LFSs but of the
> customers themselves....
>
> Gill

[Koi-Lo]

"Gill Passman" > wrote in message
...
>
> I'm with NetMax on this one. I don't see how licencing fishkeepers would
> work....we don't licence owners of other pets just the places that sell
> them...education is the key - not only of those working in LFSs but of the
> customers themselves....
=======================
I know. You're right. It is a *nice thought* though....... :-)
--

Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>

[Sean]

"Marco Schwarz" > wrote in message
...
> Hi..
>
> Well, two different replies to an innocent question.
>
> Sean's definition show hardy fish have stress while cycling
> a tank. This is why I generally recommend a fish-less
> start.

Yep, throw in some live plants and work from there...

Sean