need pacu help bad!!!!!

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

-Chelle

 

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!!!

 

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

 

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

 

Try waiting a few hours and doing another one.

-Chelle

 

i have to do another water change???

 

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

-Chelle

 

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

 

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

 

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?

 

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!

 

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

 

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