aw76

Hi all,

Here's my situation....

went to a house party the other night where the tenants were moving out and thus getting rid of all their stuff...i ended up going home with a 10g aquarium in the wee hours of the morning,...

not having had fish before and being surrounded by drunks and others who obviously knew nothing about fish tanks, im sure you can imagine i didnt exactly do everything that is required when moving a tank (with fish) and setting it up again....

the tank had 2 cory catfish, 1 red molly, 2 zebra danios

heres what i did: (i did do some quick internet research for a few tips, but not enough!)

-drained about 80% of the water (and stupidly put it down the drain)

-moved the tank with fish in it to my house

-next morning i put the fish into a glass jar while i cleaned the aquarium thoroughly (garden hose and scraper, no soap)

-filled the tank back up with dechlorinated tap water, and added the 20%ish or so of the old water as well

-rinsed the rocks and plastic sponge like filter, and changed the carbon filter

-reintroduced the fish into the tank -- everyone appeared happy

then i decided i needed bulbs for the lights, and some live plants , so i headed to the pet store for those two items only....as can imagine, i ended up coming home with some plants, the bulbs, AND a male and female siamese fighting fish, a male and female molly....

i added the plants and floated the bags to acclimatize temp before adding the fish (not the water they came in)...

was so interesting and cool to watch the dynamics and relationships in the aquarium unfold.....im hooked!!!so wicked....but now i have been doing some research into things, and have just done some water tests, and am a bit freaked out by the possibility that my seemingly wonderful tank (they all seem to be doing great) may be in jeopardy...

my ammonia level is at about .30 ish
nitrate - about 20
nitrite - not sure, the colour looks tan, which is not similar to any of the chart colours? almost looks like the 0 colour for the nitrate chart, but not exactly
hardness - 120
alkalinity - 180ish
and pH of 8.4

my water temp was about 26, but today is really warm, so is at about 28 right now...

i have done some reading on cycling and stuff now, and it is evident that i should have read that first before going balls out at the fish store....

what can i do now, to try and help these little guys from dying in a possible toxic environment?

please help, in only 2 days i have grown so attached to these lil guys, i think i will be traumatized if they start floatin......

thanks in advance for any suggestions or help.....

signed,
overeager idiot

Lucy

Welcome to Fish Lore

Many of us started out making mistakes so don't worry about it.
Unfortunatly a male and female betta cannot live together. Some one is going to end up hurt or killed.
Here's some info about Betta Care
It would be a good idea to seperate them and get them tanks of their own 5g tanks asap. Like now.
Most bettas won't tolerate tank mates especially in such a small tank.
The other fish should be ok in the 10g but your mollys should have a ratio of 1 male to 3 females otherwise the female will get harassed by the males.
The danios are schooling fish and do better in groups. Unfortunatly, you don't really have room for more fish.

What kind of test kit are you using?
You should also read about
The Nitrogen Cycle. It'll give you a good idea of what's going on with your water chemistry.

sirdarksol

Welcome to Fishlore!
While the circumstances of my first tank are quite a bit different, my actions were the same.

First of all, separate the bettas ("fighting fish") immediately. Males and females do not get along, even during breeding time, and will eventually tear each other apart. In addition, the bettas will be targets to many of the other fish (their long fins are attractive to fin nippers)
I'd suggest returning all of the recent buys, or getting a couple of tanks to split things up.

To keep the fish alive while cycling, frequent partial water changes will be helpful, as will using a product like Prime, Ultimate, or a combination of Novaqua+ and Amquel+.

Tetra Safe Start will give a huge boost to the cycle, to the point of pretty much instantly cycling the tank.

aw76

thanks to you both for the replies.....

upon further study it would appear that all my mollys are male,so 3 of them,....2 of them are buddied up, and they are pretty accepting and tolerant of the original molly , though he does just sorta hang out on his own for the most part....the male betta has stopped harrassing the lone molly and they even hangout within inches of each other for minutes of a time, without any signs of aggression...

the female betta just hides in the plant now, to stay away from the male....the male doesnt seem to be that aggressive towards any of them any more....is that just a temporary laziness to be aggressive, or is it possible hes just realised that this is the situation hes in and hes gonna accept it?

i dont really want to start having extra tanks for each of the bettas, as i just dont have room for them....if i can find the receipt, i am gonna try to take them back to the pet store and complain loudly....basically what the guy told me there complete opposite to the info i have gotten since....i explained to him the exact scenario of my tank, and he said i could get a male betta and a female, and that the male would just follow the female around all day....made it sound like a pair of lovebirds.....i told him i wasnt sure about the sex of my molly, so i will wait before gettin another.,..he said, just get a male and female pair, and then it will work out.....turns out that would be bunk advice even if he had given me a female and a male, but my friend checked them out today and figures they are both males....

beyond those pieces of bad advice, he also never mentioned anything about adding those fish so soon after me restarting the tank and whatnot...all in all, the guy must not have know from butter, and i am pretty mad at him, which is a shame because he seemed to be so nice, knowledgable and helpful....

brutal!

so...
i have been watching them for hours a day, absolutely mesmerized....it would seem as tho other than the male/female bettas not gettin along, but mostly stayin away from each other (tho the female often seems to be tryin to get his attention) the whole tank as an overall unit is pretty content with things....is that a sign that i can leave things be for awhile and see if they change, or as you have reccommended, immediate action is necessary?

thanks again for your advice,
stu

aquarist48

Welcome to Fish Lore Stu. Lots of great information here and friendly people. Best of luck with your tank and fish. We love pictures around here if you have the time and the means.

Lucy

She shouldn't have to hide. She should have a tank to herself so she can swim around without the stress of a male betta or other fish.

It's a disaster waiting to happen. You can't watch the fish 24 hours a day. When things go wrong, it's going to happen quickly.
Maybe not today maybe not tomorrow but one day you'll look and someone is going to be tore up or dead.

I'm sorry you were given wrong info and I understand you don't want a bunch of tanks, but you really should do the right thing for these fish before something happens.

aw76

well i seperated the male betta out for the time being, so it wont be a major menace ....sounds like the female is gonna hafta go as well....

will check the water again tonight when i get home from work to see where the levels are at....likely go get some of that prime stuff to deal with the ammonia levels...

thanks