I have a 35 gal fish tank that has only 2 little neon fish left in it. they are 3 years old. What type of fish should I now get, that are easy to take care of, and pretty to look at? Do I need to change the water or should I just take a sample to to fish store with me?
2006-09-11 08:59:47 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
I had a bunch of skooling fish, neons, molly's & such..also had a big goldfish, they all died from old age 3 yrs old. I want something other than skooling fish
2006-09-11 09:29:09 · update #1
3 yrs is NOT old age for a goldfish and tetras. Goldfish can live 30 yrs, and neons can live for 6 yrs.
IT is also bad to mix goldfish and tropical fish. GOldfish excrete too much ammonia for tropicals to handle.
Weekly 30 percent partial waterchanges should be done. Making sure to thoroughly vacume the gravel with a siphon and to make sure the new water is dechlorinated and the same temp as the tank water so as not to shock the fish. Thats the cleaning schedule i have on my 4 well established fishtanks.
As far as more fish, i would get more neons, and perhaps some cardinal tetras and some sissortail rasboras and some pristella tetras and some phantom tetras. Also get some live plants or fake plants to offer cover for the fish.
2006-09-11 15:30:42 · answer #1 · answered by lady_crotalus 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should take a sample of the water to the fish store with you. Don't completely change the water as this will cause your tank to cycle again and will most likely kill the neons (they don't survive under poor condition).
As for what fish to get, the pet store should be able to help you, but you want to avoid anything that is aggressive. This means unless you have lots of plant (real or fake) cover in your tank, you should avoid gouramis, large mollies, etc. Guppies are good as are danios. You might look at other tetra as well, since many are from the same area of the country as neons (I think South America). Black skirt, white skirt, Blood Fin, etc. should all get along with your neons. You might also get some more neons since they are schooling fish and do best with three or more.
2006-09-11 09:25:52 · answer #2 · answered by Stephanie H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get a whole bunch of neons, they school very well. maybe add a clown loach, i've always been fond of them. they keep to themselves and eat the crap of the bottom of the tank. or....get a few spotted puffers. they are pretty cool, they have human faces...looks like they are smiling all the time. they will eat the neons, but i think they are very unique fish. i've had several compliments on mine. if you go with the latter, make sure you add some aquarium salt before adding them to the fish tank.
also, i wouldn't change the water unless that is why the fish died. you are better off testing the water yourself. every pet store around here is run by some highschool kid that doesn't know what the hell they are doing.
if the tank has been setup for a while it has all the good bacteria in it that breaks down the ammonia. if you need to change the water, only change 1/4 to 1/3. (assuming the water is not contaminated)
2006-09-11 09:13:52 · answer #3 · answered by toac 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would recommend getting yourself your own water test kit and do your own checks daily. Get the one from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals - it's called "Freshwater Master Test Kit" and can be found out on nextag.com.
As for starting all over agian from scratch - I'd first see how your parameters check out (especialy the pH because you could have OTS - Old Tank Syndrome - and that has a tendency to kill new fish), and go from there.
Tons of articles are out on the net, and tons of research can be done on this without a whole lot of effort.
- Check your water,
- Read up on OTS and Nitrogen Cycling (do searches on fishless cycling)
- stick with other Neon Tetras and Mollies - they are beautiful and all school pretty well in their own groups.
Good luck
2006-09-11 09:18:13 · answer #4 · answered by sly2kusa 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why not keep freshwater crayfish/yabbies. And keep the bright red/Maroon ones as they look better.
I kept them last time when I was young. And they even bred.
Keep a male and female one in the same tank, but have lots of stones and plants for the smaller one to hide as they can be quite territorial and aggresive. To differentiate sex, look under the crayfish where the head joins the body. Male ones have 2 additional short "legs".
You can even take them out of the water for short durations to walk on your palms/hands.
But prepare to change water every few days cause they create a lot of waste/colouration.
Enjoy your hobby.
2006-09-11 19:44:11 · answer #5 · answered by ET+65 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
im assuming since you only have 2 neons left you would like to completely start over...i found african ciclids are easy to take care of and also very cool to look at with all their bright colors..they all have their own personallity and they arent very needed of much more care than regular community fish at all.
2006-09-11 15:21:11 · answer #6 · answered by double b 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
any kind of community fish,they should have them labled in the pet store.you will also need to take a small sample of water for testing
2006-09-11 09:24:49 · answer #7 · answered by cute1 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Start all over, clean the tank. Go to the Fish store and talk to the staff.
2006-09-11 09:02:52 · answer #8 · answered by god knows and sees else Yahoo 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
please check out http://www.forumsvibe.com/betta/index.php?mforum=betta
bettachris on their, has been dealing with fishes for 12 years pro and is more than happy to help anyone who wants help.
2006-09-11 14:42:57 · answer #9 · answered by ballerina_kim 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋