Fish Tank Advice?

[matts mom]

So the kids are over at the grandparents place and tell them they want fish....anyone else see where this is going?

It started out with an old (cracked)tank dad got at a yard sale, a hood that didn't fit properly, and a filter no store sells anymore......Then i come home one day to find water on the cabinet, and I have to run out for  a new tank....so these fish are going into a 10gallon for now until I can get a bigger one, because I can't afford to just spend that kind of money without warning*sigh*. 

Well I got a nice 20 gallon yesterday, and put the fish in there in kind of a hurry, since I don't have room for two tanks, and wanted the second one out of the way ASAP, but it's occurred to me(too late) that I maybe should have let it sit for a bit and set up balanced levels or something before dumping in the fish.....Good thing they came out of the pond.

Well that mistake out of the way, does anyone have any advice on maintaining a tank, and keeping it clean. I'd prefer not to use chemicals, since Matt knocks the top off the filtration system to drink out of it

My other question is, what to feed an algae eater when the tank is clean? will it just eat the fish food?

 

[luvmyparker]

I had a 10 gallon for a while..I didn't use chemicals. Once a week, I'd just use a gravel vacuum and do a 10% water change at the same time. I didn't have an algae eater, so I used a magnetic glass cleaner...but you can get Algae Wafers to feed them. They sell them at pet stores and even Walmart.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I had a similar fish tank beginning.  We didn't have Mooch & Noodles and I desperately wanted a pet. I mentioned it to MIL while on vacation at her house and came home with a small tank and things.  Ended up buying a 10 gallon and everything to go with it except the decorations and thermometer that were part of the one MIL sent. 

I no longer have the tank; but we kept it up for probably 7 years or so.  I always had an algae eater.  If there was no algae to eat in the tank I just fed him algae chips.  He got to be so big for my tank that he couldn't reach spots.  Cleaning up his droppings was great fun.  I honestly don't miss the tank; but DD and the cats loved it while we had it.

 

[Winchester]

Our algae eater was called Alfie and he scarfed things up from the sides and bottom of the tank. We had some neon tetras and some other fish that I don't remember anymore. I just remember Alfie. DS and I used to sit and watch Alfie "clean" the sides of the tank.

Got the fish tank when a friend of mine decided to move out of his apartment. He gave me his old fish tank and his old plant light. Alfie came with the tank and he lived for quite a while. Grow quite large, too, as I recall. We just fed fish food, but I don't remember what it was anymore. I remember that we didn't use chemicals, even though that was B.C. (Before Cats).

I've been thinking for about the last year or so that I wouldn't mind having an small aquarium in my office at work. But it can be an expense and I'm not sure I want to go there yet. One of my co-workers has an enormous salt-water aquarium in his basement...the thing is just huge!

 

[matts mom]

Thanks for all the answers, especially the ones regarding the algae eater. I have heard that they grow quite fast, but I'm not sure how fast is fast lol. I've had him/her about a month and a half I think and he's almost 2inches now, and pretty skinny. But the tank was quite clean too, given that the filter was a 5-15gallon filter on a 10gallon tank. It may not hold up quite as well on the 20gallon tank, I can see having to put in another filter fairly soon if I can't find replacement cartidges for the filter that came with the tank.

  On the impressive side, it cleaned up the murky water after the move, in about16hours and after 20 the tank is looking almost as clean as the 10gallon did

I'll have to change the new filter again soon though after all the gunk that got stirred up and filtered out..

 

[Willowy]

The biggest mistake people make with a new tank is keeping it TOO clean. Read up on the nitrogen cycle, "cycling a fish tank" would probably get the best Google search results. The beneficial bacteria are extremely important. Did you put the old gravel and filter media in the new tank? If so, that will definitely help it stabilize faster.

What kind of fish? How many?

While going without chemicals seems like a nice idea, most municipal water companies now use chloramine, and that just doesn't go away without using a chloramine remover.

 

[matts mom]

The biggest mistake people make with a new tank is keeping it TOO clean. Read up on the nitrogen cycle, "cycling a fish tank" would probably get the best Google search results. The beneficial bacteria are extremely important. Did you put the old gravel and filter media in the new tank? If so, that will definitely help it stabilize faster.

What kind of fish? How many?

While going without chemicals seems like a nice idea, most municipal water companies now use chloramine, and that just doesn't go away without using a chloramine remover.

Yes, since I was going from a 10 to a 20gallon, I decided it would be good to put everything from the old to the new. they took all of their water, gravel and decorations, and even the filtration system(although I had to toss the carbon filter which was in really rough shape, I still have the biofilter)

I have two golfish, comets I think, which my dad pulled out of his pond at the end of last season and gave the kids for Christmas. One is about 4 inches, the other is 3.  I also have an algae eater, 2 1/2 inches long, which I picked up from Petsmart so that each of the kids could have their own fish

I added a little water conditioner when I put in the new water, because I figured tap water untreated wouldn't be good for them, but that's the only thing I've added

 

[Willowy]

What kind of filter? You might be able to find media for it online.

The goldfish will get too big for a 20g eventually, but at least you can return them to the pond and swap them for new babies. It can be hard to find a home for a massive goldfish if you don't know anybody with a pond! Some kinds of algae eaters get huge and some don't, so IDK how big he'll get.

 

[dejolane]

I would love to have a fish tank done by that show called Tanked. Those guys are great.

 

[matts mom]

What kind of filter? You might be able to find media for it online.

The goldfish will get too big for a 20g eventually, but at least you can return them to the pond and swap them for new babies. It can be hard to find a home for a massive goldfish if you don't know anybody with a pond! Some kinds of algae eaters get huge and some don't, so IDK how big he'll get.

I'm not sure the model, but it's by Tetra, which I believe petsmart sells that brand. I might be able to find media there, but I'll probably get a whole new filter so that I know exactly what I'm dealing with. ..

The algae eater has dissappeared, so I guess that's not a problem anymore. I checked the entire tank and he's gone, so I can only assume that he died from stress and the goldfish ate him. I did warn the kids of the possibility of having to put the goldies back in the pond.......I'd honestly prefer it myself, I'd drop back to the 10 gallon and get a Beta for them...much nicer looking fish