nynicks22

Hi everyone if anyone can help or give suggestions please do! A friend bought my 3yr old daughter a one gallon fish tank http://www.petco.com/product/102313/...arium-Kit.aspx that is the website if anyone wants to look at the tank but it basically has an air filter it just pumps bubbles. anyway we added 3 fish into it (sorry newbie here so i do not know the names of the fish) but after about a day the water was smelling VERY bad and it was looking VERY gloomy so the next day(today) i changed the water and cleaned the rocks and tank out including the filter and added new water from my sink and added the fish. About an hr later i go to feed the fish and one is dead already and the other two look as if they are slowly dying EX: floating only ontop of water, not moving when i tap glass or put my finger in water. So i was just wondering what could have gone wrong They are fed 2-3 times a day when i changed the water they sat in the sink in water. someone please help for future reference?!?!?!?!??!

Chief_waterchanger

Newbie mistakes, no worries, most people made them. As long as you are willing to correct the mistakes you are still a good person.

http://www.fishlore.com/WaterChemistry.htm
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

You do know to use dechlorinator in the water if you are on a municipality water supply? (on well water there is no chlorine in the water, but cities and towns add it to their water to combat bacteria, I think.)

You also overstocked the tank. There are not 3 fish that I can think of that would do okay in a 1 gallon tank, infact there aren't any fish commonly kept in the freshwater fishkeeping hobby that would be okay in a 1 gallon. Bettas are recommended for a 2.5 or larger and even the small fish that one could work, are schooling fish and need 5-6 or more of themselves in a tank, so they wouldn't work.

There may be some snails or shrimp you could try in the tank...

Sorry to have all the bad news, but atleast you know now.

(The fish probably died because it was low quality, if you got the fish from any of the chain stores they are notorious for having poor quality fish that die quickly, sometimes even in pristine conditions.)

Jhn

If you can I would recommend at least a 10 gallon tank.

sirdarksol

Welcome to Fishlore.
Sorry about your bad experience. If pet stores were more responsible, they would have helped you through the process and this wouldn't have happened.

The info that CWC gave you is excellent, as are the articles he posted.

Blub

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore.

Unfortunately, a 1g tank is too small for fish to live in. The general guideline is 1g of water per adult inch of fish. That combined with the tank not being cycled is what caused the problems. You were smelling ammonia and the fish got ammonia poisoning. If you treat the water with a tap water conditioner called Prime, it would help the 2 fish that are left, but they really need a bigger tank. (1 drop per gallon of it treats the water, so you'll want an empty dropper bottle that you can find in the travel supplies area of stores like Target.)

The links CWC posted give you good startup information that the pet stores neglect to - especially the chain affectionately known as "deathco".

King_Snuggles

I have four ghost shrimp (three now I think they ate one of them) and they are the same if not more active than my fish. I really like them, they have a small bioload so I would say you can add 2-3 of them. (after the tank is cycled)

angelfish220

you could put a live plant in there and a pretty drift wood little stick and some shrimp and then you have a mini tank that would work and look cool

nynicks22

Thank you everyone so much for your responses! I will definitely try the shrimps in the tank instead of fish..it is just a one gallon for my daughter in the future we would like to get a bigger one though..also yes i do know that is a sucky tank now i wish i would have looked at the reviews before i even opened it & the ppl at the store definitely gave me the wrong information they said the 3 fish are perfect for the tank and shrimp would die and they also said the tank was a great starter tank...ha how wrong r they oh and one more thing i did find the receipt with the names of the fish: Molly Marble 2", Guppy-Male, and a Glofish-Electric G..Well thank you again for all the replys i will def look at the websites you all posted and read the beginners guide and def look a little more before we decide to buy more fish!

Chief_waterchanger

Down the road, when you decide to get a larger tank for yourself, remember the larger the mass of water the easier it is to maintain chemical balance. So a 10g is better than a 1g, a 55g is better than a 10g, and a 120g is better than the 55g.

COBettaCouple

It stinks how they lie at the stores, but they want to move those tiny tanks and they make more money off of customers having fish die.

lovemyfroggies

1 gallon is to small for any fish. It's better for the fish and easier for you to have a 5 or ten gallon tank. Smaller isn't always. If you read a lot of articles on this forum you would learn a lot instead of relaying on the store clerks who sometimes give you bad advice.

joshthefisherman

i would recomend a 20 gallon i think it is the best begginer size and it gives you a pretty good selection of fish also the bigger the tank the easier to care for if you decide to upgrade to a bigger tank i would most definately suggest Zebra danios as a first fish very hardy

MedicBiker

That was great gesture that your friend made. I wonder if you could drain it and return it, though. For $10 more Wal-Mart has a 10g "complete set-up". You will need to add a heater and gravel, but you would at least be able to keep fish in it.

Blub