orange slices

I just inherited a 55g freshwater tank. I gutted it and started fresh. It's
been a week, and I started with five 1-2" fish. The water is clear and the
water tests are all where they should be. I will be adding another 5 fish in
a week or so. I know nothing at all about aquariums and have done my
homework online and advice of PETCO store. The pet store recommended a
"treat" (orange slice) once or twice a week. I put it on the wall of the
tank and they haven't touched it, lol!! They had an orange slice in every
tank at the fish store and the fish were going crazy over it. Has anyone
heard of this and is it really a "treat" ?

On Dec 24, 12:42*pm, "crystal101" u40127@uwe wrote:
I just inherited a 55g freshwater tank. *I gutted it and started fresh. It's
been a week, and I started with five 1-2" fish. *The water is clear and the
water tests are all where they should be. *I will be adding another 5 fish in
a week or so. *I know nothing at all about aquariums and have done my
homework online and advice of PETCO store. *The pet store recommended a
"treat" (orange slice) once or twice a week. * I put it on the wall of the
tank and they haven't touched it, lol!! *They had an orange slice in every
tank at the fish store and the fish were going crazy over it. *Has anyone
heard of this and is it really a "treat" ?

Depends........on what jkind of fish you have. A lot of goldfish and
koi will readily eat at sliced oranges. But lots of fish will not even
bother with it, and there are lots of goldies and koi that will not
touch it as well. Your best off not taking anything that Deathco er ah
make that Petco says as the gospil. While orange slices may in deed be
beneficial to some fish, it oculd also be with Deathco that the fisha
re feed so little and far and between that the fish are just desperate
for anything to eat. Deathco does not have the greatest reputation on
sellling decent healthy fish.......and are also the only outfit I have
ever seen putting plastic containers of salt in all the tanks even in
tanks containin g fish that are readily known to not tolerate salt
very well.this is all done in lame attempts to knock out ich and other
parasites that Deathco is so well known for giving to its customers
for no additional charge.

But there is nothing wrong with feeding your fish sliced oranges or
even pieces of cantalope or watermelon or squash or whatever. Its rare
that one owuld really hurt a fish if it eats foods as such, b ut they
are not a substitute for proper commercially prepared or good home
brew feeds........

Oh you may find that your fish will like the orange slice better if
its left to float untethered in the tank...........no real need to
anchor it in place, unless its floating around bothers you or some
piece of aquarium equipment.

"deathco" heheh.........thank you for your help. I removed the orange slice.
Yes, I do provide my fish with a high quality fish food. I'll be adding
Lunar led lighting soon for at night. I am excited and love this aquarium.
The fish each have their own personality and I want to do right by them and
keep them happy. As for the fish, I told "deathco" I was a beginner and knew
nothing and they picked out the five fish. My bad I didn't ask what kind
they were. One I know for sure is a black molly, one is a little swordtail,
one is a potbelly molly and the other two are orange and black not sure what
they are. The potbelly one seems to be a bit territorial when it comes to
feeding time, goes after any fish that comes within "his" area while eating.
Also petco told me to add conditioning salt with the any water changes as
they said it would help with stress, which I did. I want to add neons and
maybe one male betta maybe in 3-4 weeks. I keep the water temp. at 78.

"crystal101" u40127@uwe wrote in message news:7d2e0552eea94@uwe...
"deathco" heheh.........thank you for your help. I removed the orange
slice.
Yes, I do provide my fish with a high quality fish food. I'll be adding
Lunar led lighting soon for at night. I am excited and love this
aquarium.
The fish each have their own personality and I want to do right by them
and
keep them happy. As for the fish, I told "deathco" I was a beginner and
knew
nothing and they picked out the five fish. My bad I didn't ask what kind
they were. One I know for sure is a black molly, one is a little
swordtail,
one is a potbelly molly and the other two are orange and black not sure
what
they are. The potbelly one seems to be a bit territorial when it comes to
feeding time, goes after any fish that comes within "his" area while
eating.
Also petco told me to add conditioning salt with the any water changes as
they said it would help with stress, which I did. I want to add neons and
maybe one male betta maybe in 3-4 weeks. I keep the water temp. at 78.
==================================
Don't add salt with every water change unless you have a way to test the
salinity of the water. It can build up to the point where it's toxic to the
fish and any live plants.
--

RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

On Dec 24, 6:03*pm, Steve Wolstenholme
wrote:
On Mon, 24 Dec 2007 19:49:42 GMT, "crystal101" u40127@uwe wrote:
Also petco told me to add conditioning salt with the any water changes as
they said it would help with stress, which I did. *I want to add neons and
maybe one male betta maybe in 3-4 weeks. *I keep the water temp. at 78.

Don't add salt with neons and betta. They don't like salt.

Steve

This is true..same for a lot of the catfish .they do not tolerate salt
very well either. Take what the folks in the places like "Deathco"
tell you with a grain of "salt"...........and before you do what they
saym, ask online as well and compare what yuor told. I am not saying
that everything that is stated by Deathco folks is wrong, but the
majority of it is bull$hit and while some may mean better there are
some employees that just do not have a clue and will run their mouth
to say something even if its wrong or half right.

A simple rule to follow is: Never add "anything" to a fish tank unless
you have on hand a proper test kit to test for whatever it is that
you added. On the Deathco theory of adding salt with water changes to
eliminate stress.....its inevitably a death sentence for anay fish
tank even if it was a sal****er setup to do that unless yu can check
your salt levels. Salt does not evaporate so in time the salt levels
will be getting tothe point of brackish water salinity content, and
then it will reach what is considered sal****er parameters, but by
this time most if not all FW fish will be floating dead.......and
you'll wonder why.............and all those Deathco folks will say is
change the filters, and 50% of the water add some salt and start
again.............its their typical "canned replies" that is taught in
their 5 day fish technician course the take to maintain , er ah make
that sell fish.as they certainly do not know how to maintain fish. A
fish in a properly setup tank with water changes performed when they
should be and water parameters in check will not be stressed out.
Learn what fish get along with what fish, and also find out what fish
you really have in there now............and learn to pick out healthy
fish. Do not add a bunch of fish at one time, but rather add a fish or
two over the period of a few days or a week so yuo do not overload the
filter...........and create high ammonia and nitrate and nitrite
levels...........Have fun....

"crystal101" u40127@uwe wrote in message news:7d2d6fefc05a8@uwe...
I just inherited a 55g freshwater tank. I gutted it and started fresh.
It's
been a week, and I started with five 1-2" fish. The water is clear and
the
water tests are all where they should be. I will be adding another 5 fish
in
a week or so.

If this is a new set-up keep testing for ammonia. Don't add more fish until
you know your tank is cycled.

I know nothing at all about aquariums and have done my
homework online and advice of PETCO store.

Online is better. Chain stores are not known for having knowledgeable
employees. They're well known for giving out terrible information and
advice.

The pet store recommended a
"treat" (orange slice) once or twice a week. I put it on the wall of the
tank and they haven't touched it, lol!! They had an orange slice in every
tank at the fish store and the fish were going crazy over it. Has anyone
heard of this and is it really a "treat" ?

I only give my koi and goldfish oranges. The other fish have no interest in
fruit.
--

RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

"crystal101" u40127@uwe wrote in message news:7d2d6fefc05a8@uwe...
I just inherited a 55g freshwater tank. I gutted it and started fresh.
It's
been a week, and I started with five 1-2" fish. The water is clear and
the
water tests are all where they should be. I will be adding another 5 fish
in
a week or so. I know nothing at all about aquariums and have done my
homework online and advice of PETCO store. The pet store recommended a
"treat" (orange slice) once or twice a week. I put it on the wall of the
tank and they haven't touched it, lol!! They had an orange slice in every
tank at the fish store and the fish were going crazy over it. Has anyone
heard of this and is it really a "treat" ?


Before you get too far into this, and specifically before adding more
fish, I wonder if anyone has explained the nitrogen cycle to you, and/or
told you that specific types of bacteria must be given time to grow and
multiply in the tank and filter before you add too many fish, in order to
consume the deadly poisonous waste (ammonia compounds) that the fish will
produce. If not, you'll soon be complaining of dead fish and wondering
why... Do a Google search on "nitrogen cycle" and "tank cycling" or similar
keywords and read thoroughly. Fish produce ammonia (deadly poison) as waste
product; one type of bacteria converts ammonia to nitrite also deadly but
less so); another bacteria type then converts the nitrite to nitrate (note
differences in spelling) which is much less harmful and gets removed
(diluted) at regular partial water changes. This process is known as the
nitrogen cycle. I would not add so many fish in such a short time to a tank
that has been recently set up. It takes about six weeks usually to "cycle a
tank" (grow the bacteria) and many people prefer to do it without fish (the
fish much prefer this method also). Google "fishless cycling" for
information about this (even though you already got fish, it is good to
know).

Fedor

Wow, thank you all.....excellent and very helpful information! I looked up
"recycling". I had no idea. This site is wonderful and you all are quite
knowledgable. Thank you again for helping me to have a safe and happy
environment for my fish............oh and keeping them alive!

Fedor_DeGazz wrote:
I just inherited a 55g freshwater tank. I gutted it and started fresh.
It's
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
tank at the fish store and the fish were going crazy over it. Has anyone
heard of this and is it really a "treat" ?

Before you get too far into this, and specifically before adding more
fish, I wonder if anyone has explained the nitrogen cycle to you, and/or
told you that specific types of bacteria must be given time to grow and
multiply in the tank and filter before you add too many fish, in order to
consume the deadly poisonous waste (ammonia compounds) that the fish will
produce. If not, you'll soon be complaining of dead fish and wondering
why... Do a Google search on "nitrogen cycle" and "tank cycling" or similar
keywords and read thoroughly. Fish produce ammonia (deadly poison) as waste
product; one type of bacteria converts ammonia to nitrite also deadly but
less so); another bacteria type then converts the nitrite to nitrate (note
differences in spelling) which is much less harmful and gets removed
(diluted) at regular partial water changes. This process is known as the
nitrogen cycle. I would not add so many fish in such a short time to a tank
that has been recently set up. It takes about six weeks usually to "cycle a
tank" (grow the bacteria) and many people prefer to do it without fish (the
fish much prefer this method also). Google "fishless cycling" for
information about this (even though you already got fish, it is good to
know).

Fedor

--
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