ER9

i'm a total begginer and

i just started my tank last week. its a 30 gallon tank. after cycling it i bought 6 assorted small danios and had them for 3 days. last night i bought 4 more zebras (adults) on impulse and 3 cloud danios (white cloud minows). when i got home and released them into the tank i immediately had one of those uh-oh moments and knew i bought way to many fish already. i'm a total begginer at this.

i want to add a few more colorfull fish, at least one beta (larger breeds) a few tetras and maybe a couple more minnows. (these are awesome fish)so i need to thin out my population of 13 fish down to 8. i called a local aquarium shop i have been going to and he was happy to take the fish from me so they will get a new home but my question is...most of the fish i want to get rid of i bought last night. would it be better to take a chance stressing them out for the return trip and return them today to save more stress on the ones i want to keep? the larger zebras i got are rather aggresive and are stressing out the entire tank of fish. the minnows...one small zebra (i will keep) and 4 small danios are extremely peacefull fish but since adding the zebras...all **** has broken loose.

thanks.

Morph

i'm no expert but i find it a tad hard to believe you bought your tank last week and it cycled in just one week??

ER9

i used Bio Spira on sunday and added the danios on monday at the advice of the guy of the fish store to keep the cycle going. ammonia, nitrates and nitrites are all fine.

capekate

If you used the bio-spira.. then I would say your tank is cycled!

~ kate

Barbrella

Do you mean your nitrite and ammonia levels are zero? Only then is your tank cycled.

I'm not sure if you mean "betta", but that's not a good idea. Many types of fish will nip their fins and male bettas are too slow to get their fair share of food.

Also, one zebra won't be happy alone since they are schooling fish.

If you want larger, more colourful and peaceful fish I"m told that Dwarf Rainbowfish are a good choice!

ER9

thanks for the suggestions. i guess its not 100% cycled then and i misuderstood the full meaning of the term. NH is stable at .25ish NO2 @ .50 and NO3 @2.5ish.

im in the process of replacing 25% of the water over the course of the day with treated water that has gone through rev. osmosis from the fish store and i'm adding Prime as well. i was having trouble lowering the pH. so these levels should drop a bit.

thanks for the advice on the betta. i was very unsure about adding one and was going to ask on the betta forums before adding him.

as for the zebra....he is small and is schooling with the other 4 small danios and actually the minnows will occasionally school with them as well although they dont always seem to be able to keep up with them. he seems to be the same temperment but i will watch him very closely now and try to add a couple more if necessary. i think i'm learning to watch fish in the aquariums at the store before just asking for any. it seems they all have their own temperments which i didnt realize.

King_Snuggles

wow a fellow chemist.

ER9

lol...not quite....thats what it said on the little tester card.

Blub

Hi

I'd just leave them in there.
Its best not to stress them - as several tank moves in a few days is a potential killer!

The Betta is not a good idea. The Danios and Minnows would probably tear his fins to bits - and he would hide all the time - and not really last out.

Don't worry about pH. Those liquids you can buy just temporarily lower it - ending up wit ha pH going up and down; let me assure you that would be disaster!

One Zebra would be the saddest thing in the world. They are a schooling fish who NEED to be kept in groups of 6 or more. (Although 5 will do for now.)

I recommend you wait about 3 weeks - them add 3 WCMM's and 3 More zebras. Then, wait 2 weeks and add 8 GlowLight tetras, Cherry barbs or Harlequin rasboras. After that - I'd say the tank is stocked.

ER9

thanks HH....i ended up returning them the next day after that post. my other concern at the time was that i'm not through my nitrogen cycle yet. i though i was but realizing it wasn't over i figured removing them would lessen the bio load in my tank and help lower ammonia and nitrates.

as of now i have three spotted danios, three white clouds and my zebra. the zebra schools with the spotted danios some times but he definately spends most time by himself. i am definately going to add more as you suggested. the zebras are very attractive fish. also adding more minnows. i'm quickly growing fond of these fish.

as for the betta....i have decided to not get him because of exactly the reason you mentioned. i was thinking instead of adding one dwarf gourami. i'd really love to have one large, colorfull alpha fish in the tank, maybe a second (different species) more submisive fish to add color and the rest my smaller schooling fish.

i looked at the rainbow fish but to be honest i'm not very fond of them. i would prefer a gourami. wondering if you all think he would suffer the same fate as a betta? i heard they can be a bit shy.

Blub

Hi again!

Well, gouramis would fare slightly better. However - it depend s what kjind of gourami. Now you told me - I think 3 more spotted danios would be a very good idea. Don't worry with other fish. Schoolers are very nice - especcialy when there are lots. Also, leave out the idea of Glowlight tetras, Cherry babrs or harlequins. It would be stocked like that anyway.