newfishlover

hey i am new to fish lore.I have had a ten gallon tank for about a year and a half with albino frog and pictus cat fish and have also a rope fish for several months until my frog decided to try and eat my pictus but i saved him and took the frog out and had to buy a bigger tank.I've had it set up for 5 days now and added a snail, a blue lobster,2 african dwarf frogs, 6 neon tetras and all have been happy and healthy the past few days. i have been reading and have heard horror stories about blue lobsters destroying tanks and rope fish escaping and eating other fish but i don't have that problem.I don't know much about water pH and stuff like that and i am also wondering if its has only been a few days could my fish get sick soon and die?

ShaynaB

Welcome to Fishlore! You've come to the right place!

Here's an article on the nitrogen cycle:

http://www.fishlore.com/Articles/TheNitrogenCycle.htm

That should point you in the right direction about water quality and such.

I'd suggest getting a water test kit to see what your numbers are and doing water changes!

agabr123

first things first, do you have a test kit (my recommendation would be API freshwater master test kit, a little more expensive but MUCH better than paper strips)? and do you have a de chlorinator (i personally use Prime, but stress coat + works too)?

definitely read the link that ShaynaB provided, it will help you understand exactly what is going on in your fish tank. since you're not cycled you will need to do 50% water changes daily with dechlorinator in order to prevent your fish from getting ammonia/nitrite poisoning, as even very low levels of those can be very toxic to your fish (which is why the test kit is so important). once you have 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and 5-20ppm nitrate then your tank will be cycled, and you can switch to just weekly water changes and gravel vacuums.

as long as you do water changes like i've suggested then your fish should make it through the cycle alright

good luck and welcome!

Lucy

Welcome to Fish Lore
Blue lobsters are so pretty. I love their color.
I'd be very afraid for your frogs with the lobster. They spend quite a bit of time on the bottom of the tank and could quickly be snatched up by a claw.
They're also very sensitive to water conditions.
Good advice from the posters above me.

newfishlover

thank you all. i did read the info shayna suggested and it was very helpful. i used start right with allantoin water conditioner and dechlorinator.

navyscuba

Welcome to Fishlore. Well by all means you have come to the right place to look for advise. There's a lot of knowledge here. Prime is lot better than Stres coat plus it last longer. $$$$. Well good luck.

newfishlover

ok so i just went to the store and bought water test strips it says that my water is very hard,my ph is 8.4 and alkkalinity(kh) PPM is high. my fish are still fine, active and eating good. also nitrate is in the 20 range and nitrite is 0. so what do i do to fix the hardness , ph and alkalinity? is that harmful to them? they seem fine so far.

Butterfly

As long as your fish are eating and active you don't need to "fix" anything. they are probably used to the water from being at the LFS(assuming they have the same water you do)Using all kinds of chemicals to change your water causes much fluctuations in pH and hardness which can be stressful for your fish. Along with stress comes disease.
The test strips are notorious for being incorrect and not reliable. The liquid freshwater tests from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals is excellent and generally recommended.
Welcome to fishLore
carol

AlyeskaGirl

Welcome! You have a Rope Fish! Very cool! I have a Senegal Bichir. Except I dont have mine in with Tetras! They will become a snack when he gets bigger, since they are meat eatters. How big is he?

newfishlover

don't know exactly how big he is but not a baby and has never went after any fish at all the only thing i have seen him eat are bloodworms and doesn't seem to like anything else. and thanks to carol for the info, very helpful.

Mike19

Welcome, seems like the above posters have put you on the right track.

Mike

shellbell4ever

Welcome to Fishlore