weeman90

hello i have a 55 gallon tank. i got it used from my grandfather. i set it up, everything is used except some tubing and new plants. i got the water tested and they said it was high in ammonia and nitrate or nitrite for get which one. they told me to get 6 goldfish to get tank cycled. i also bought some ammonia detox. im just wondering how long i should wait to have my water tested again. im hoping soon i can start getting fish i want in the tank. i know i really want to get some bala sharks and ghost shrimp. if you have any comments on other good fish that will work with those please add to my thread thnks

Tony G.

Welcome to Fishlore!

Here is a very helpful link to get you started.
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

Showing ammonia and nitrites means you are going through your cycle. If you can, before you buy the goldfish, just add flake food to it. This will decompose and cause ammonia. So your bacteria can feed on the ammonia. You wont have to add fish yet, this will stress them out, cause disease and even kill them.

Lucy

Hi Welcome to FishLore
Before advising what kind of fish, you really have to get the tank cycled.
Are there fish in the tank now?

aquarist48

Hello WeeMan and Welcome to Fish Lore. The link given to you by Tony on the nitrogen cycle is "crucial" to fish keeping. Check it out and when you have questions by all means ask. Using fish to cycle your tank is not recommended on this site by any means. Sometimes it happens though simply because others may not know better. Here is another link that will help you, 4 different ways to cycle your tank "without" the use of fish:
Four Methods of Fish Less Cycling

Congrats on getting the new tank!
Best wishes and keep us posted.
Ken

dee34

hi weeman welcome to fishlore

Nutter

Hello Weeman, welcome to the site.

I agree with the others on here. You really need to get the cycling done first before you add any fish. Seeing as you have the ability to do a fishless cycle on the tank you really should take advantage of that. If you absolutley have to add fish to cycle the tank, then do not use golfish. Especially feeder goldfish. They can be notorious disease carriers at times.
Your far better off picking some hardy fish to start the cycle that you like & want to keep & get a bottle of Tetra Safe Start to use as well. (Remembered this time Ken)
Whoever told you that you need a certain number of fish to cycle the tank obviously doesn't know any better. Adding X-number of fish will only cycle the tank to the bio-load of wastes that those fish produce. If you then added more fish the tank would start doing a mini cycle all over again. If you were to lessen the bio-load by having less fish, then some of the bacteria would die off.
Better off doing a fishless cycle. There's some very useful info in the link that Ken has provided to you there that should help you along the way.

peacemaker92

WELCOME TO FISHLORE!

Everyone's got you covered Good luck and hope to see photos soon!

weeman90

i started the tank let it run for a week then went to pet store and got water tested and thats when they said ammonia and stuff was high and told me to get the 6 goldfish. one fish has died since then. those are the only fish i have in the tank. i purchased some ammonia detox and put recommended ammount in. the tank has been running for 2 weeks now. havent got water tested again yet. was planning on doing it this coming week sometime. i will keep questions about stocking fish to myself for now until i know my water is safe for fish. have any comments please leave one thank you

Blub

By all means ask about what to stock now - just don't get them yet! You'll be ready for when you can get fish that way.
I reccomend you get your own water test kit - much easier and reliable than the store. Get a liquid one though, test strips produce inaccurate results.

Nutter

Blub's right Weeman. Ask the questions now so you will be armed with the (hopefully), right infomation before you get your fish. Your far better off doing the questions & research before you get the fish than after. That way you can avoid many of the potential mistakes instead of trying to correct them. I've got twenty tanks & counting & been keeping fish for about 8-9yrs now & I still ask stocking questions befre I stock a tank. Even just something as simple as a general community.

weeman90

ok well i want to put some bala sharks in my tank and maybe some ghost shrimp. are those 2 compatible. and have any other suggestions of fish to put with them?

Nutter

I would tend to think the Balas will make short work of the shrimp. The shrimp do sometimes eat baby fish but anything that gets big enough to fit the shrimp in it's mouth will eat it.
Check out the sites profile on them here:
http://www.fishlore.com/profile-ghostshrimp.htm

I would tend to think you would need either smaller fish or larger shrimp. I'm sure other members that have more experience with shrimp will be able to help you out in this regard.

Blub

Balas will get much, much too big. They are hyperactive fish that get over a foot long and need to school! They will probably eat the shrimp, as well. This all adds up to a minimum tank size of about 100gal! There are other sharks though - the Red Tailed Black shark and Rainbow Shark are popular. They might eat shrimp though. If you want to keep shrimp - why not look at small schoolers like tetras, rasboras, danios and barbs?

weeman90

i like the way sharks look. was just wondering about any invertibres to put in, i like watching the shrimp eat. maybe would like to get a blue crawfish. if you have any suggestion of good fish to put together with any ofthe ones id like to use please give me suggestions of group of cool looking fish. i have 55 gallon tank. been trying to put pictures up but its not working.

Nutter

As Blub said the Balas will get way too big to have in a 55gal tank. They get up to about 40cms/15inches & are a shoaling fish so you would need 4-6 of them to make them feel comfortale. Far better that you look at the Red Tailed Shark Or Rainbow shark as they are much smaller & are ok to be alone. I wouldn't put a crayfish in any tank containing fish of any description. It would only be a matter of time until the crayfish decides to have a fish dinner. At the very least it will cause some very severe injuries to your fish. Probably not what you want to hear either but this is why it's best to ask now than after you have bought. It will save you lots of heartache & potentially lots of money to.

The Ghost Shrimp would be ok with smaller Tetras & Barbs or you may like to go for fish that are vegetarians & will leave the shrimp alone. You could also look at a slightly larger non-aggressive fish.

For the photos, don't try to resize them. That will just cause you problems if your as bad with computers as I am. I use Microsoft Office Picture Manager, select Edit Pictures, then select Compress. Compress your pics down to Document size. You won't lose any size or resolution & you should be able to load your pics into your postings nice & easy then.

Beth1965

For the photos, don't try to resize them. That will just cause you problems if your as bad with computers as I am. I use Microsoft Office Picture Manager, select Edit Pictures, then select Compress. Compress your pics down to Document size. You won't lose any size or resolution & you should be able to load your pics into your postings nice & easy then.

Or you can go here and downsize your pic:
http://www.picresize.com

Nutter

I've tried that one before Beth, as wel as photobucket & a heap of other image hosting sites. Never work for me. I think it has more to do with the silly man trying to operate my computer than it does the various websites though!

weeman90

i Will Probably gow with tetras and other small fish because i think the shrimp are great to watch. what other small fish would work great with tetras and Ghost shrimp? I think small Will be better because I am a beginner fish keeper