My fish don't live very long.?

Question

I have a 10 gallon tank i got my 4 year old nephew. I clean it and change the filters But the fish die. What type of fish are better to have for a kid? The Ghost died, the upside down catfish die=d as well.

Answer 1

Upside down cats are touchy fish, as are the couple varieties of ghosts I can think of offhand. There are a few things you can do to improve your success, however.

How are you cleaning the tank? Some people think cleaner is better, but if the tank is cleaned too thoroughly, you actually destroy the good bacteria, and the tank has to cycle all over again. You should be changing about 25% of the water every two weeks. If things are looking bad before then, the fish are most likely overcrowded or overfed. The best way to do your water change is with a gravel vacuum, which will clean the waste from the bottom of the tank without disturbing your gravel. The inside can be wiped down if you've got some algae growth. I always change my filter on an off week from the water change, as well. This way I don't disturb as much of the biological filtration at once.

Guppies used to be an excellent choice for a beginning fish, however from what I’ve seen, it seems inbreeding has weakened many. But if you can find some healthy specimens, they are lively and there is a wide variety to choose from. Danios are excellent hardy fish, as are Glo-fish, which have been genetically altered from the danio to be a bright fluorescent orange/pink color. Stay away from painted glass fish… they are actually injected with a dye, which won’t last, and does weaken them. Cory cats are great, most varieties are easy. Neon Tetras are another touchy fish, a great alternative is the glolight tetra.

If you’d rather go with fewer, bigger fish, dwarf gouramis and blue paradise gouramis can be an excellent choice. I wouldn’t put more than 3, with no other fish in the tank. Or, you could have a small school of tiger barbs on their own.

As for where you get your fish… the importance isn’t the store you purchase them from, it is the person helping you. Wal-mart tends to throw people into departments with little or no training, however they do have some employees who keep fish on their own and are excellent at what they do. Same goes for any big chain… including the pet stores. They may have more training, but it kinda depends on what the person has actually learned. Your best bet is to ask questions. Ask if the person helping you has fish of their own at home. If they’re excited about it, have kept fish for years, chances are they know what they are doing, and will want you to have good experience too. If they’ve never had fish of their own, they are going by what they read in their training material, or what they’ve been told; they aren’t going to notice signs of disease in the store tanks, and won’t be nearly as concerned with what they sell to you.

As for the answerer complaining about Wal-Mart fish… someone who knows what they are doing is most likely going to be honest and tell you when it is not a good idea to buy particular fish, regardless of where they work! I’m not saying Wal-Mart (or any other store for that matter) never has sick fish. It happens, unfortunately. Any store selling fish has overcrowded and very stressful conditions for the fish (why is it every kid that walks by feels the need to see how hard they can pound on the tanks?) What I am saying is don’t have the kid from cosmetics covering a lunch come help you, don’t go into the pet store and have their newest “fish expert” help you. Ask questions and get someone with actual experience help you. They’ll be your best resource for assistance in correctly stocking the tank, as well… there are just so many variables we can’t know helping you here!

Answer 2

How often are you changing the filter media? Over changing it will not allow the tank to cycle. The purpose of filters is to grow benificial bacteria. The main type changes ammonia (principal fish waste) into nitrite and the next changes nitrite into nitrate. Study up on the nitrogen cycle in tanks. You can cycle a tank with hardy small fish or fishless cycle with ammonia and test kits or use a product such as biospira (this is the one that actually works per fish hobbyist forums other bottled/canned bacteria may or may not work) and add your full fish load.

Do you have a tank heater and a thermometer? You will need to have 72-75f for most tropical fish.

When stocking fish always take into consideration their final adult size. You could have 10 guppies but only two upside down cats and the black ghost was to big for that tank.

Also consider diet. Specifically, you say the BGK died...they are strict carnivores who prefer live feeds and may be eventually trained onto pellet or frozen feeds. A lot of these guys starve to death. Go to your shop research the type of fish you like then research it on the internet to make sure it is acceptable to a 10 gallon tank.

Also consider the source of the fish. If you see lots of dead fish in a shop don't buy there odds are the other fish are sick.

Also already mentioned by others is the tap water....Tap water can contain chlorine or chloramines. Chlorine can be gassed off or treated with sodium thiosulfate. Chloramine can only be treated with chemicals. If you use well water make sure you get some aeration into it before introducing it to the tank.

Once you get the inhabitants picked and the tank is cycled you should do a 20% water change once a week. A full water change can cause temperature and pH changes that may/will kill some fish species.

You should test your water once a week to make sure the water is in good order. Ammonia should measure 0, nitrite should measure 0, and nitrate should be less than 25 ppm. You will need to read on KH and pH and how they are realated. Very basic, if your buffering is to low (kh) your pH may crash and kill your fish.

Answer 3

are you cycling the tank first? if not see the link bellow on how to properly cylce your tank without harming any fish.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article14.html

a 10gallon is a good sized tank for tropicals, but if the 4yr old is taking care of the fish tropicals aren't the greatest idea, they tend to be not very hearty. I'll list some good ideas bellow, but I highly recommend getting a 20 or 30 gallon tank and getting 1 or 2 goldfish. while goldfish care isn't as easy as throwing them ina bowl, it's not very hard and they're a lot heartier than tropicals. however I won't get into the details of how you can provide a healthy hoem for a goldfish here, if you think you'd like to get goldfish intead email me on yahoo at originalcatastrophequeen and I'll give you the basics of goldfish care

as for the tropicals, I'd suggest:
a few cory cats, I prefer the albinos. maybe 3 or 4.
site about corys: http://www.elmersaquarium.com/10cat_cory.htm
and maybe 4 guppies
http://www.elmersaquarium.com/10guppy.htm
and 1 mystery snail. only 1 and only a mystery snail.

corys are quite fun to watch and guppies are very colorful, so a 4yr old would probably love both types. be sure to cylce you tank first! also, if you're doing full water changes, stop. there is good bacteria in the tank that gets flushed away when you do this, also the filter shouldn't be clean very much because it also contains bacteria. what should be done is 20% water changes once a week by using a turkey baster to suck the water out from the bottom where the rocks and waste is. and changing the filter cartridge if you have a typical filter.

*also, to the person above me, 9 months is NOT a long life for a betta. in good conditions they can live for up to 10yrs, 5 is average for good conditions though. they live short lives when people put them in unheated bowls and rarely clean them.

Answer 4

walmart is having 700 stores shut down their fish sections because they can't take care of their animals. They are taking responsibility. In WI walmart supplies good quality fish. Don't generalize. Any store is capable of selling good or bad fish.

That said. you are overstocking the tank. Ghost knife and upside down cats don't belong in a 10 gallon tank, regardless of the fact that you are buying them as babies. You need to read up on the tank cycling process and get a test kit for the water. Then buy some appropriate sized fish for the tank.

Answer 5

you'd be very fortunate if something will stay in a bowl for 6 months. kept suited, fish will stay for years. A suited kept Betta can, and could, stay a contented, healthful 5 or extra years! the reason human beings imagine fish are short-lived is because stated human beings do no study and kill their fish, then ignorantly blame the fish! in case you opt for to dedicate to preserving a fish for years, bypass to a e book keep or library and get some newbie's aquarium preserving books. the way in which to look after them suited, then take the steps to achieve this. purely a unmarried Betta can stay in a small tank. a suitable Betta tank is a minimum of five gallons with a hood, heater, and gentle clear out. Do-able in any dorm room. A heater and gentle clear out are musts! Bettas are tropical and do not do properly in chilly water. that is going to finally weaken their immune gadget, they receives sick and die. Any and all fish must have filters. Bettas want gentle filters (at the same time with a sponge clear out) because they could't stand fairly some turbulence of their tanks. i wish I have cleared that up for you. sturdy luck.

Answer 6

others have covered the cycling problem and water quality issues. as they've said, changing filters is a bad idea as it kills off beneficial bacteria, which in turn throws water quality off balance, and then fish suffer and die.

below i've added a link that is super handy, it's a stocking guide for fish suitable for a 10 gallon tank, tried and tested by experienced fishkeepers!

the ghost, which was i suspect a black ghost knife? he needs a 75-100 gallon tank really, NOT a 10 gallon!

Answer 7

make sure you have a good filter and air supply with carbon in the ducts always keep chlorine remover in before you put in the fish i would try african cychlids they are very hearty fish they can grow big depending on tank size the only thing with them is they are agressive and you cant put any other kind of fish with them other than clown loaches and ocasamus's(sucker fish) they also keep your tank cleaner there are many different varieties of cychlids but for the most part they all get along if you get a breeding pair of convicts they make an intresting pet they are territorial though so they need a fish house and if they have babies you need to seperate them or they will get eaten i only change my water every 3 months my tank stays spot less they are low maintnance make sure your nephew doesnt put any thing in there hes not supposed to the main cause of death to fish is over feeding which probably happened

Answer 8

I would recomend getting Goldfish. You didnt say whether it is tropical or coldwater butt Goldfish are really easy to keep ( just feed them clean them and love them!) They live for years with no problems and are realy friendly so your nephew would be happy. If it is a tropical tank I would say Red Tail Black sharks. They can live with goldfish too (my dads did but unfortunatly the goldfish was about 8 years old and nearly and foot long AND hungry so it ate them) If you buy new fish this wont happen though this was only because of the alarming size difference and because it was tubbsie's tank for many years before fred fred and fred came along!!! So I'd say common goldfish or red tail black sharks.

Answer 9

Are you treating the water with dechlore? Most of the time it's just and inbalance in the water. Get a water tester at the pet store.
The best fish to get are guppies, cat fish, mollies, swordtails, and red tailed black sharks. Most are live bearers, and are very hardy fish. They can live through almost anything.
Good luck

Answer 10

Are you making sure that you add a neutralizer to the water? Tap water contaisn chlorine and other chemicals that are hazardous to fish. You need to add something like AquaSage to the water during any change.