FishProfiles.com Message Forums

If that filter strainer is on (some people leave them off) and the tank is relatively new, I would not say that it's the filter's fault, but the water. Test it; the ammonia or nitrites may be poisoning your fish so that they do not have enough strength to swim away from the filter. If this is the case, you should do a water change to lower these levels.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Walmart gave me free replacements and they have been alive since monday. I am not sure if one is pregnant or just fat b/c i can't tell male from female. They are black skirt tetras. The one I thinkis pregnant has an anal fin is short/narrow and the dorsal fin is smallish. the other fish has a longer billow anal fin and a longer dorsal fin. are they both males or what?I am confused????

Oh and I fixed my filter by putting a piece of duct tape over the hole in the intake ind poked a hole in it to cut down on suction power.
Necessity is the mother of all invention

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-07-01 16:11][/span]

[font color="#008000"]If I'm thinking of the right fish.

Which, I'm sure I am, since they look just like the WCMM pictures I've seen.

But most of them are dead, as it is a "feeder" tank




Crispy[/font]

You get them as feeders? Here, they go for about 2 bucks a piece.

[font color="#008000"]Yes, Walmart sometimes sells fish.

It really depends on which store you go to.

White Clouds are a good idea, but I usually find them as "feeder" fish at my LFS, so if they are "feeders" in her area, it might not be a good idea to get some because of the possible diseases.




Crsipy[/font]

First, before we get into any details---Walmart sells fish?!?!

NO2=trite NO3=trate

Why not just get some white clouds? They're cheap, hardy, heaterless, and best of all, you don't need to scrap the fish you use for cycling. Just cycle with 3, then once the cycle is done, up the school to 8, and you're good to go. Personally, for my ten gal (which holds a small fig 8), I use a penguin mini. It's, IMO, a powerful filter, and very reliable, too. It even claims to treat ammonia on contact, and I've been given no reason to doubt this as of yet.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Klee 2004-07-01 01:42][/span]

well, in the logbooks and my aquarium books, it says nitrIte is NO2, and it says so also on the test kits.




Crispy

OK, just did a search.
I found NO2 refered to as two different things. Here's a couple links. NO2.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/NUTRIENTS/info/NO3+NO2.html
no2.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.epa.gov/iaq/no2.html

"...NO2 (nitrIte)..."


And all these years I thought NO2 stood for Nitrogen dioxide.

I'd recommend getting a hardier fish than a tetra. They do best in tanks that are mature. I'd get some guppies, like you said earlier. If you just get males, you won't have the baby problem, now would you?

Then, if you want to, after you are done cycling, you could get some female guppies and let them breed. The parents will eat most of the babies and the strongest will survive. The fry will live off of crushed flakes, and (so I've heard) will do just fine.

I only have a 10 gallon, and it's re-cycling because I completely tore it down and cleaned it out. Right now, I have 2 ottos and a lemon tetra in there. The ottos are doing just fine, but my tetra is very stressed. The tetra's arn't very NO2 (nitrIte) resistant, so they don't do as well. Also, ANY fish store other than that Wal-Mart will be better; the other stores know what they are doing. Maybe there is a Petsmart or Petco around? Those would (in my opinion) would much better dealers.





Crispy

[span class="edited"][Edited by Crispy 2004-06-29 13:07][/span]

hello again.
well one of my tetras is dead this morning. I guess he was just too weak from being in that icky walmart aquarium. the other one is doing ok. the ammonia level is at safe on my test kit. must have just been too much for the little guy. I'm going to get another fish today to keep the other tetra company till my tankis done cycling then I'll get some moreI'm hooked even though my fish keep dying.

I just put a sponge on the filter suction thing and put in some plastic plants and a bigger cave. I reconditioned the water and got two black skirt tetras. I had to get them from walmart b/c none of the other stores had any.weird huh? Their fins are a little messed up but nothing else appears wrong with them.

So what is in the tank now?

You could put female bettas together. There are some that are brightly colored like the males. There are also other species related to the betta that can work in the tank.

so I have decided to give it another go. What would be a small, very hardy(e.g. difficult to harm)fish for a ten gallon. I am not allowed to have a bigger tank in my dorm because of possible water damage if the tank breaks. I would like something pretty like guppies but they breed so fast that I would be overrun and not know what to do with all the babies!!!! I want something that is active during the day so I can have something to watch instead of do my homework!!!! any suggestions. I like tetras and mollies, too. I just need something that I can get at a place like petsmart. I do not like to look of my lfs. the tanks are almost green and the people are not friendly or helpful.

I wish I could put my bettas in there together. I had three walmart brand bettas but my stepmom killed my red one while I was at my moms for a few days. She didn't feed it even though I left a note on her mirror to explain how to do it. She said the bloodworms looked gross]:|

Test strips are not always accurate, buy a master test kit.

thanks crispy.

Don't give up!

You just need a little education on the Nitrogen Cycle. (also, I recommend the AquaClear Mini, it has flow control and does a GREAT job of filtration)



Here it is in a nutshell (mods, fix me if I am wrong on something)


Fish produce a chemical very deadly for fish called Ammonia.
Fish produce Ammonia by
1)Respiration
2)Waste

The cycle occurs when Nitrifying bacteria set themselves up in the tank. The first set will convert Ammonia to NitrIte (a toxin, but less deadly). You will know this is happening when you see (use a test kit, get one for Ammonia, NitrIte, NitrAte, and pH) the Ammonia raise and drop down to 0 ppm (parts per million).

Then, the next set of Nirtifying Bacteria will set themselves up, converting NitrIte into NitrAte (a non-deadly, if kept in low levels, substance that is in almost every established tank). You will see this happening when the NitrIte levels peak and drop. NitrAte can be reduced by doing partial water changes weekly (or bi-weekly).



Hope this helps, and whatever you do DON'T GIVE UP!!! This is a GREAT hobby if you just get through this!!







Crispy[/font]




[span class="edited"][Edited by Callatya 2004-06-28 05:16][/span]

[span class="edited"][Edited by Crispy 2004-06-28 22:07][/span]

The wounded fish died just a few minutes after I posted that last thing. All I could do was flush him after he died. I had turned the filter off for about ten minutes to give him a break. I went over to check on him and he was dead. Well I guess that my betta wasn't attacking the filter just trying to get away. The current pushed him all over the place. I give up on fish for a while. I am just going to let my plants grow and then I'll try fish again.

BTW if that fish missing fins is still alive, id treat it with melafix and salt.