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need pacu help bad!!!!!

Discussion in 'Fish and Aquarium - all types' started by willieb18, Apr 6, 2004.

  1. tina1

    tina1 New Member

    Cichlids might kill feeders but probably won't eat them so you'd forever be scooping dead "feeders" out of your tank to keep your water quality acceptable. And generally speaking feeder fish are a bad idea. They don't provide much nutritional value, are generally dirty fish, and can introduce diseases since they aren't kept well at pet stores.
     
  2. Alen

    Alen New Member

    willieb18
    How much did your test kit cost (for everything)? Also did you get it at Wall Mart like u said u were going to or did u get it some other place? I'm asking this because I need one myself and I want an idea of how expensive they are.
     
  3. t_chelle16

    t_chelle16 New Member

    No, africans won't eat feeders (or rather they might, but they shouldn't). In fact there are very few fish that need feeder fish. Most of the time, feeders provide very little nutritional value, are a great way to introduce diseases to your tank, and make the tank water dirty.

    I wouldn't use eating other fish as a criteria for picking a fish.

    -Chelle
     
  4. texasfish

    texasfish New Member

    For water changes and gravel vac, I suggest investing in a PYTHON kit. Probably one of the best purchases I have made in this hobby! Take a look at the following link. Bigals online has great top of the line products at a cheap price. Shipment usually takes about 1 week!

    http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/pro ... ry_id=2937

    Scott
     
  5. willieb18

    willieb18 New Member

    ok the test resuults are in:
    nitrate-20
    nitrite-0
    hardness-0
    alkalinity-40
    pH-6.8
    ammonia-1.0

    well there it is, now any help would be great.

    thanks,
    Willie
     
  6. t_chelle16

    t_chelle16 New Member

    Your ammonia is way too high so that's likely the problem. I suggest doing a couple of large water changes (a 50% change, wait a couple of hours then do another 50% change) to try to get the ammonia down.

    I'm not too familiar with what is an okay reading for hardness, but I don't think 0 is good. You may want to re-test that one.

    -Chelle
     
  7. willieb18

    willieb18 New Member

    my feeder guppy had kids!!!!! i have little guppys everywhere like 10-15 of them
     
  8. t_chelle16

    t_chelle16 New Member

    Congrats. I suggest either putting lots of plants in that tank or separating the fry. Otherwise they'll get eaten by the adults.

    -Chelle
     
  9. willieb18

    willieb18 New Member

    that is the only tank that i have. i didnt know they could have lil ones with out spawn grass or anything. i did a water change it was BAD!!!
     
  10. willieb18

    willieb18 New Member

    i did the 50% water change and my ammonia went down to .50 what else can i do to get it the rest of the way down. my fish it acting a lot better since the water change..
    thanks,
    Willie
     
  11. willieb18

    willieb18 New Member

    i did the 50% water change and my ammonia went down to .50 what else can i do to get it the rest of the way down. my fish it acting a lot better since the water change..
    thanks,
    Willie
     
  12. t_chelle16

    t_chelle16 New Member

    Try waiting a few hours and doing another one.

    -Chelle
     
  13. willieb18

    willieb18 New Member

    i have to do another water change???
     
  14. t_chelle16

    t_chelle16 New Member

    If you want to get the ammonia down quickly, yes.

    -Chelle
     
  15. willieb18

    willieb18 New Member

    so there isn't any thing that i can buy to put in the water?
     
  16. t_chelle16

    t_chelle16 New Member

    I think Amquel will neutralize some ammonia, but in a tank that large, it would take quite a bit to have much of an affect. Plus it's a dechlorinator and I've heard you can overdose on dechlorinator. So if you've already (hopefully) dechlorinated the water when you did the water change, it may not be a good idea to add more. Plus it's best to keep the chemicals you use in a tank to a minimum.

    If the fish is acting alright now and you're planning on getting rid of it anyway, why don't you go ahead and return it to the LFS now? They'll be a lot more likely to take back a 3" fish than they will a 12" fish. And it will be a lot easier on you. Even after the tank finishes cycling, as the fish gets bigger (which it will do very quickly) you'll have to do more & more water changes. I think the best thing would be to go ahead and return the fish, buy some pure ammonia, finish cycling the tank using the fishless method, then stock it with more suitable fish. If you do that you shouldn't have all the problems with poor water quality and the experience will be much more enjoyable for both you and the fish.

    -Chelle
     
  17. willieb18

    willieb18 New Member

    so for my pacu i will need about 300 gallons? how much is it going to cost to get one custom made? if i get an oscar will he do better in my 55 gallon tank?
     
  18. Aqueous

    Aqueous New Member

    In a 55 you should be able to fit one oscar.

    As far as a custom tank goes, I don't know how much the tank alone would cost but I found these sites on custom tanks:

    http://www.planetpet.com/customaquariums.htm
    http://www.myfishtank.com/

    Don't know about their prices though. Here in Canada I've seen a 100 gallon custom tank that costs around CAD$3,000 (with the stand and hood).

    Hope this helps!
     
  19. t_chelle16

    t_chelle16 New Member

    Glass Cages makes a 300 gallon tank (96 x 24 x 31) for $800 and a 405 gallon tank (72 x 36 x 37 - much better IMO) for $1500. Plus you're going to need several hundred dollars worth of filtration.

    Yes, you can keep ONE oscar in a 55 gallon tank. I know you wanted a fish that would devour other fish, but keep in mind that feeders are very bad for oscars. You can, however, feed them things like earthworms, crickets, flies, and a bunch of other insects.

    And I can't remember if you mentioned it or not, but what kind of filter do you have on the 55?

    -Chelle
     
  20. willieb18

    willieb18 New Member

    what about fish other than feeders? my girlfriend's dad sells bait. so i can get minnows (sp) would that work? then i guess i will trade my fish for an oscar. i have a aqua-tech 30-60 i think, it is pretty big. thanks
     

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