beginners questions

hi, i have just got my first tropical fish aquarium. set it up two
weeks before adding any fish and took the water sample to shop, the
advised it was ok - a little high on the nitrite side but nothing to
worry about too much.

i have a small tank so started with 3 guppys and 4 tetras. all was
well for 3 days and then 1 one of the tetras died. i have done my own
tests for nitrite and amonia which seem ok. have done water changes of
about 5l from a 35l tank. what am i doing wrong?

I was told to feed the fish only 3 times aweek and as such so far they
have only had two feeds - they seem to eat it really quickly when i do
feed them - am i not feeding them enough perhaps? (they only get
literally a couple of flakes).

any thoughts ?

thanks

*Note: There are two *Koi-Lo's* on the pond and aquaria groups.

"froggo" wrote in message
oups.com...
hi, i have just got my first tropical fish aquarium. set it up two
weeks before adding any fish and took the water sample to shop, the
advised it was ok - a little high on the nitrite side but nothing to
worry about too much.

How can it be high on NITRITES with no fish in it?

i have a small tank so started with 3 guppys and 4 tetras. all was
well for 3 days and then 1 one of the tetras died. i have done my own
tests for nitrite and amonia which seem ok. have done water changes of
about 5l from a 35l tank. what am i doing wrong?

What does "about 51 from a 351 tank" mean? You did 51 water changes and the
tank is 351 gallons?!?!?!?!

I was told to feed the fish only 3 times aweek and as such so far they
have only had two feeds - they seem to eat it really quickly when i do
feed them - am i not feeding them enough perhaps? (they only get
literally a couple of flakes).

You were told wrong. The clerks in most fish stores know little about the
fish they sell. Feed them every day. Guppies and the small tetras eat
daily. Just don't feed so much that it falls to the bottom and rots.
Predatory fish that eat huge meals may skip days as they digest their latest
victim. You can Google "tropical+fish" and come up with enough reading to
keep you busy for hours. :-)

Koi-Lo....
Aquariums since 1952.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages: http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Disclaimer: Rude, inane or obscene messages are not mine .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~{@

"Koi-Lo" none wrote:

What does "about 51 from a 351 tank" mean?**You*did*51*water*changes
and*the tank is 351 gallons?!?!?!?!

That's "l" as in "L", not a 1 :-). The OP is doing a 14% water change.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

*Note: There are two *Koi-Lo's* on the pond and aquaria groups.

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
...
"Koi-Lo" none wrote:

What does "about 51 from a 351 tank" mean? You did 51 water changes
and the tank is 351 gallons?!?!?!?!

That's "l" as in "L", not a 1 :-). The OP is doing a 14% water change.

--
It's turtles, all the way down
===============================
Gotcha!

Thanks.... :-)

Koi-Lo....
Aquariums since 1952.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages: http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Disclaimer: Rude, inane or obscene messages are not mine .
The person impersonating me is posting through Earthlink.net.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~{@

"Koi-Lo" none wrote in :

How can it be high on NITRITES with no fish in it?

Through any already present organic wastes. Maybe it is old or active
gravel. Maybe his cat peed in it. You don't always need fish to cycle a
tank.

You were told wrong. The clerks in most fish stores know little about
the fish they sell. Feed them every day. Guppies and the small

Mature fish of almost any kind can go a day or so without food without any
ill repercussions. When clerks give this kind of advice it is less about
misinformation than it is about concern for someone crashing an immature
tank by overfeeding.

A fish introduced into a tank with nitrites present is probably going to
behave lethargically and may not be eager to feed. Unfortunately, out of
misdirected concern many novice aquarist try to compensate for this
lethargy by feeding larger amounts more frequently, making their problem a
whole lot worse.

A healthy fish can easily survive alternating days of fasting, it cannot
survive sky rocking nitrites or a large ammonia spike.

YOu would be well advised to go to a web based forum and get sound
answers from established folks not these fly by night clueless
arogant jerkoff, who think they are gods answer to the aquaria world.

On Mon, 29 May 2006 07:31:39 -0500, dc wrote:
"Koi-Lo" none wrote in :

How can it be high on NITRITES with no fish in it?

Through any already present organic wastes. Maybe it is old or active
gravel. Maybe his cat peed in it. You don't always need fish to cycle a
tank.

You were told wrong. The clerks in most fish stores know little about
the fish they sell. Feed them every day. Guppies and the small

Mature fish of almost any kind can go a day or so without food without any
ill repercussions. When clerks give this kind of advice it is less about
misinformation than it is about concern for someone crashing an immature
tank by overfeeding.

A fish introduced into a tank with nitrites present is probably going to
behave lethargically and may not be eager to feed. Unfortunately, out of
misdirected concern many novice aquarist try to compensate for this
lethargy by feeding larger amounts more frequently, making their problem a
whole lot worse.

A healthy fish can easily survive alternating days of fasting, it cannot
survive sky rocking nitrites or a large ammonia spike.

"froggo" wrote in message
oups.com...
hi, i have just got my first tropical fish aquarium. set it up two
weeks before adding any fish and took the water sample to shop, the
advised it was ok - a little high on the nitrite side but nothing to
worry about too much.

i have a small tank so started with 3 guppys and 4 tetras. all was
well for 3 days and then 1 one of the tetras died. i have done my own
tests for nitrite and amonia which seem ok. have done water changes of
about 5l from a 35l tank. what am i doing wrong?

I was told to feed the fish only 3 times aweek and as such so far they
have only had two feeds - they seem to eat it really quickly when i do
feed them - am i not feeding them enough perhaps? (they only get
literally a couple of flakes).

any thoughts ?

thanks


Your tank is still cycling. Ammonia and nitrite should be 0 before stocking
your tank. Any detectable amounts at all of either is NOT ok, and can be
deadly to your fish.

It can take over a month for a tank to cycle. Only very hardy fish, such as
White Clouds, should be added to facilitate the bacteria culture by
providing a source of ammonia. Tetras need excellent water quality and
therefor are definitely not good candidates for the job.

John

Whats wrong with yuy asshole, did you not see the messages and read
them that this group is closed. u need to go to the Google freshwater
aquarium hosted by those gays and lesbians if your looking for info,
Those jopkers do not bite, but they are kind of narrowminded and
biased.......but I guess its still getter than havingyur meail address
harvested and you getting trashed in the usenet grops..so be gone
with you...Tell em CarolGulley sent you.

On 28 May 2006 06:21:15 -0700, "froggo"
wrote:
hi, i have just got my first tropical fish aquarium. set it up two
weeks before adding any fish and took the water sample to shop, the
advised it was ok - a little high on the nitrite side but nothing to
worry about too much.

i have a small tank so started with 3 guppys and 4 tetras. all was
well for 3 days and then 1 one of the tetras died. i have done my own
tests for nitrite and amonia which seem ok. have done water changes of
about 5l from a 35l tank. what am i doing wrong?

I was told to feed the fish only 3 times aweek and as such so far they
have only had two feeds - they seem to eat it really quickly when i do
feed them - am i not feeding them enough perhaps? (they only get
literally a couple of flakes).

any thoughts ?

thanks

On 28 May 2006 06:21:15 -0700, "froggo"
wrote:

hi, i have just got my first tropical fish aquarium. set it up two
weeks before adding any fish and took the water sample to shop, the
advised it was ok - a little high on the nitrite side but nothing to
worry about too much.

i have a small tank so started with 3 guppys and 4 tetras. all was
well for 3 days and then 1 one of the tetras died. i have done my own
tests for nitrite and amonia which seem ok. have done water changes of
about 5l from a 35l tank. what am i doing wrong?

I was told to feed the fish only 3 times aweek and as such so far they
have only had two feeds - they seem to eat it really quickly when i do
feed them - am i not feeding them enough perhaps? (they only get
literally a couple of flakes).

any thoughts ?

thanks

Not necessarily wrong unless you are having major problems. One dead
fish in a new tank is not something you did wrong.

However, I sure do things different than you have been advised
regarding feeding (I will ignore the 2 weeks without fish, time
wasted, but over).

I feed my fish twice daily. One rule of thumb I have read is feed
what the fish can eat in 2 minutes. With so few fish in the tank it
wouldn't take many flakes each time.

I gather you mean 5 litres from a 35 litre tank, but you don't say
over what time period. I do 20% changes twice weekly. I have read
others do changes once a week, some once a month. Part of the final
answer must include your filtration. I clean my filters only when the
water is mostly going over the overflow and not through the filter
media. This is easy to see during a water change.

Lots of things to consider in each tank setup. Keep asking questions.

I hope you will not let our troll keep you from posting.

dick

"froggo" wrote in message
oups.com...
hi, i have just got my first tropical fish aquarium. set it up two
weeks before adding any fish and took the water sample to shop, the
advised it was ok - a little high on the nitrite side but nothing to
worry about too much.

i have a small tank so started with 3 guppys and 4 tetras. all was
well for 3 days and then 1 one of the tetras died. i have done my own
tests for nitrite and amonia which seem ok. have done water changes of
about 5l from a 35l tank. what am i doing wrong?

I was told to feed the fish only 3 times aweek and as such so far they
have only had two feeds - they seem to eat it really quickly when i do
feed them - am i not feeding them enough perhaps? (they only get
literally a couple of flakes).

any thoughts ?

thanks



Tough question but here's my take. Guppies and Tetras don't work well
together. Guppies are slow swimming live bearers, tetras are fast swimming
baby eaters and fin biters. Now this doesn't mean that they'll never work
out or self destruct, but it's just not a great combo. Also keep in mind
that fish are not like refrigerators or air conditioners that you plug in
and they go for 20 years. Sometimes these little guys just die. They need to
eat at least once a day. I would feed them tiny amounts several times a day.


--

JK Sinrod
www.sinrodstudios.com
www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com