My Son Loves Sharks….. And Here We Are

So, my son just turned 7yrs old Easter this year, and since he loves everything shark, I decided it would be a good idea for him to wake up to real sharks in his room. Went out, bought the 10gal tank set up Walmart has, and added a water heater, filter, air bubbles , some plastic plants , gravel and a few little items like rocks… nothing too fancy given this is my first tank as well… please bare with me, as this is very new to me.

we have in this tank
3x red fin sharks
1x sucker fish (algae)
3 little barbs I believe that's what they were called.

I filled with tap water, then used conditioner, checked ph levels with dipstick and everything is ok or normal range, yet the water is cloudy. I have one little barb hanging out by the filter by himself while all the others seem to be swimming and getting along fine. should I be worried about him ? is there something I should be doing outside of what the box told me?

Thanks for the help in advance…

 

So, my son just turned 7yrs old Easter this year, and since he loves everything shark, I decided it would be a good idea for him to wake up to real sharks in his room. Went out, bought the 10gal tank set up Walmart has, and added a water heater, filter, air bubbles , some plastic plants , gravel and a few little items like rocks… nothing too fancy given this is my first tank as well… please bare with me, as this is very new to me.

we have in this tank
3x red fin sharks
1x sucker fish (algae)
3 little barbs I believe that's what they were called.

I filled with tap water, then used conditioner, checked ph levels with dipstick and everything is ok or normal range, yet the water is cloudy. I have one little barb hanging out by the filter by himself while all the others seem to be swimming and getting along fine. should I be worried about him ? is there something I should be doing outside of what the box told me?

Thanks for the help in advance…

Do you know of the nitrogen cycle? This could be why the barb is separating himself (they generally do this if they aren't feeling well)

 

Do you know of the nitrogen cycle? This could be why the barb is separating himself (they generally do this if they aren't feeling well)

I don't even know what that is …. ??? Do you know what or where to buy to do this testing ?

 

So, my son just turned 7yrs old Easter this year, and since he loves everything shark, I decided it would be a good idea for him to wake up to real sharks in his room. Went out, bought the 10gal tank set up Walmart has, and added a water heater, filter, air bubbles , some plastic plants , gravel and a few little items like rocks… nothing too fancy given this is my first tank as well… please bare with me, as this is very new to me.

we have in this tank
3x red fin sharks
1x sucker fish (algae)
3 little barbs I believe that's what they were called.

I filled with tap water, then used conditioner, checked ph levels with dipstick and everything is ok or normal range, yet the water is cloudy. I have one little barb hanging out by the filter by himself while all the others seem to be swimming and getting along fine. should I be worried about him ? is there something I should be doing outside of what the box told me?

Thanks for the help in advance…

That is WAYYYYYY to many fish, and the sharks, they can grow up to 6in in length. You're better off re-homing the fish, and getting a betta named shark. The idea itself is awesome, just those fish will get too big. You can try to get 6 cory catfish in there, they look pretty shark like!

 

Unfortunately non of those fish are appropriate for a 10. Rainbow sharks are recommended in a 55+. If its a bristlenose pleco 29+ if its a common 75+

 

That is WAYYYYYY to many fish, and the sharks, they can grow up to 6in in length. You're better off re-homing the fish, and getting a betta named shark. The idea itself is awesome, just those fish will get too big. You can try to get 6 cory catfish in there, they look pretty shark like!

the darn walmart guy said they would be fine … UGH ! Looks like I'll be buying more tanks sooner than later. Thanks for the heads up on that

 

OOF, this is a bad predicament to be in. Rehome the sharks unfortunately otherwise they will die of stunting and the nitrogen cycle hasn’t even been done. These barbs also need to be in 5 or more groups and might be too big for your tank.

 

Darlene80 did you already buy the fish

 

if you want a red tail/rainbow shark, maybe look into getting a 55-90g. And only house one. They will fight amongst each other. Also read up in the nitrogen cycle.

 

Unfortunately non of those fish are appropriate for a 10. Rainbow sharks are recommended in a 55+. If its a bristlenose pleco 29+ if its a common 75+

no, that's not it….

 

Try to rehome all of the fish ASAP.

If Walmart says that, never trust them for fish stuff ever.

Try to find people in your area that have suitable home for the fish.

DO NOT RETURN THE FISH TO WALMART.

 

Darlene80 did you already buy the fish

I did. I always was under the impression fish were "easy" pets….. Boy was I wrong.

Try to rehome all of the fish ASAP.

If Walmart says that, never trust them for fish stuff ever.

Try to find people in your area that have suitable home for the fish.

DO NOT RETURN THE FISH TO WALMART.

I would never return a pet, especially to walmart. I kind of feel like I freed them in some way. I just felt bad for all of them

 

Whats not it?

no, that's not it….

 

I did. I always was under the impression fish were "easy" pets….. Boy was I wrong.

Look, even as a beginner, not to be demanding, always do your research before getting an animal. No animal is easy, and it is your responsibility for the rest of its life. Maybe you could find one of us fishlore people near you and give it to them.

 

I did. I always was under the impression fish were "easy" pets….. Boy was I wrong.

Its okay, you are hitting the same rocky start most beginners get into, luckily you haven't lost any fish before you decided to start learning more about better care for your fish.
The reason the sharks are difficult (even if they don't get terribly big) is because they are aggressive and territorial, mostly just to other fish shaped like them.
Your algae eater, is it by chance a chinese algae eater? (they can be holy terrors to be honest, I would definitely try to get it out of the tank asap). If you have to return the fish to walmart that is what you have to do, we won't get mean over not being able to find a home for the fish but we will do our best to help you along without confusing you too much.
If you can find a pet store around you that will take in the fish you can't house that would be the best option (you likely won't get anything in return for handing them over to give you fair warning).
The barbs need to be in a larger group, but the tank being uncycled likely is causing issues for them (specifically the one hiding).
If you want to keep most of your current fish a 40-55 is the best size without breaking the budget too badly (just on craigslist or offerup to see if anyone around you can give you a good deal).

 

They can be easy to take care of once the tank is properly set up, cycled, and appropriately stocked. But you can't throw fish in a small without planning/researching anything and expect it to be easy. Do research. Ask questions here. We're here to help But getting fish should be like getting any other pet - do proper research.

Don't listen to most store employees - they don't usually know anything, and their main goal is to sell you things. If the fish die, they get to sell you more fish.

In order to house all of those fish properly, you'd need 3 tanks of at least 4 ft long, 55 gal each (unless the algae eating fish is a common pleco or a Chinese algae eater, then you'd bigger tanks). I would also rehome all of these guys and get something like a single betta or a few male guppies. They're easier to take care of, and won't require a larger tank. I'm sure your son will like the colors of the guppies.

 

Your best option is to rehome them by giving them to a friend and doing research on starting a 10 gallon community tank as well as the nitrogen cycle. If you really want to buy a 55 gallon, that is up to you.

 

Look, even as a beginner, not to be demanding, always do your research before getting an animal. No animal is easy, and it is your responsibility for the rest of its life. Maybe you could find one of us fishlore people near you and give it to them.

while you are 100% right I should have done my research, I won't be giving the fish away… I wouldn't give a puppy back because it chewed my shoe because I didn't give him a toy .. I won't be giving my fish away either… I will however be consulting the local store aquarium and have them come out and show me what needs to be done, vs how many more tanks I need, or whatever. But Thank you for your bluntness.. I do appreciate that actually. !

 

Trust your local mom and pop shops, the big box stores hire employees that are looking for a little more money to help them in college. Do your research. Ask your lfs employees questions or fishlore as that is what we are here for. I’ll admit it is all an experience that was learned the hard way.

 

Seriouslyfish and planetcatfish are great resources.

 

while you are 100% right I should have done my research, I won't be giving the fish away… I wouldn't give a puppy back because it chewed my shoe because I didn't give him a toy .. I won't be giving my fish away either… I will however be consulting the local store aquarium and have them come out and show me what needs to be done, vs how many more tanks I need, or whatever. But Thank you for your bluntness.. I do appreciate that actually. !

thank you, at the tender age of 13 and as a beginner I am pleased to hear that. I recommend a 80 gal tank for those fish, because red fins grow up to 6 in, but occasionally grow up to 8 in!

 

That is WAYYYYYY to many fish, and the sharks, they can grow up to 6in in length. You're better off re-homing the fish, and getting a betta named shark. The idea itself is awesome, just those fish will get too big. You can try to get 6 cory catfish in there, they look pretty shark like!

Not in a 10 gallon. Corydoras can get to be 4 inches long. Pygmies might do okay, but they are highly active for such a small tank.

 

Poor guy/gal just wanted to give his/her kid a great bday present. He/she didn't know. He/she will fix it. I swear I do not post half my questions or observations here because I might be yelled at or ridiculed because I did not know or I am somehow torturing my fish on purpose. I hope he loves the fish and that you get it fixed to where they are happy and comfortable fish. Darlene80 please tell your son Happy Birthday for me.

 

I'm sorry you are having a rocky start in fish keeping! This forum is a great source of information. I've been on Fishlore for a number of years and have learned so much!! A properly stocked aquarium is such a neat thing, and pretty easy to care for once you get it established.

In a nutshell, this is the nitrogen cycle: Your fish pee and poop, producing ammonia. Decaying fish food also produces ammonia. Ammonia is very toxic to fish. Fortunately there is a species of beneficial bacteria (BB) that converts ammonia into nitrite. However nitrite is also very bad for fish. But there is a second species of BB that converts nitrite into nitrate. Nitrate is not harmful to fish in low concentrations. Regular weekly partial water changes will keep your nitrate levels from getting too high.

The BB live in your filter media. With a brand new tank and filter you won't have any BB at first. Do you know any friends who have an established aquarium? If they could give you some of the media from their filter, then you could put that media in your filter and jump start your cycle. There are also several good bottled bacteria products (BB in a bottle) that can help (Stability and Tetra Safe Start are two that people here have used with success). If you want to use them, let us know and someone can tell you exactly how to use them.

A good water conditioner is Prime. You will also want to get an API Freshwater Master Test Kit. It is much more accurate than test strips and will last for a very long time. You use the test kit to test for pH , ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. It is essential to be able to test for these things to know what's going on in your tank.

Once your BB colony is established in your filter, your water test will show 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite and some nitrate (less than 20 is good). Then your tank is considered "cycled". You never want to change your filter media because you would be throwing away your BB! Instead, when you do a water change, rinse your filter media out in the used tank water to remove debris. Then put it back in the filter. Only rinse your filter media in used tank water or in conditioned water (tap water with Prime added). NEVER rinse your filter media in tap water. The chlorine in tap water will kill your BB.

I hope you didn't feel attacked here!! I have found most people on this forum to be friendly and helpful, many have loads of experience in fish keeping that they are eager to share.

 

I'm sorry you are having a rocky start in fish keeping! This forum is a great source of information. I've been on Fishlore for a number of years and have learned so much!! A properly stocked aquarium is such a neat thing, and pretty easy to care for once you get it established.

In a nutshell, this is the nitrogen cycle: Your fish pee and poop, producing ammonia. Decaying fish food also produces ammonia. Ammonia is very toxic to fish. Fortunately there is a species of beneficial bacteria (BB) that converts ammonia into nitrite. However nitrite is also very bad for fish. But there is a second species of BB that converts nitrite into nitrate. Nitrate is not harmful to fish in low concentrations. Regular weekly partial water changes will keep your nitrate levels from getting too high.

The BB live in your filter media. With a brand new tank and filter you won't have any BB at first. Do you know any friends who have an established aquarium? If they could give you some of the media from their filter, then you could put that media in your filter and jump start your cycle. There are also several good bottled bacteria products (BB in a bottle) that can help (Stability and Tetra Safe Start are two that people here have used with success). If you want to use them, let us know and someone can tell you exactly how to use them.

A good water conditioner is Prime. You will also want to get an API Freshwater Master Test Kit. It is much more accurate than test strips and will last for a very long time. You use the test kit to test for pH , ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. It is essential to be able to test for these things to know what's going on in your tank.

Once your BB colony is established in your filter, your water test will show 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite and some nitrate (less than 20 is good). Then your tank is considered "cycled". You never want to change your filter media because you would be throwing away your BB! Instead, when you do a water change, rinse your filter media out in the used tank water to remove debris. Then put it back in the filter. Only rinse your filter media in used tank water or in conditioned water (tap water with Prime added). NEVER rinse your filter media in tap water. The chlorine in tap water will kill your BB.

I hope you didn't feel attacked here!! I have found most people on this forum to be friendly and helpful, many have loads of experience in fish keeping that they are eager to share.

I loved your description of the nitrogen cycle, simple yet very informative!
A lot of beginners have been in your shoes OP. Coming to this forum sooner rather than later will definitely benefit you and the fish, making the "fish-in cycle" much easier and smoother.

Three things I would recommend for a fish in cycle. Seachem Prime to condition the water. It removes harmful chemicals like chlorine and chloramine but also renders low levels of ammonia and nitrite less harmful to your fish. Seachem stability is used alongside prime and jump starts your cycle by adding beneficial bacteria to your water (you can also use Tetra Safestart plus, it accomplishes the same thing as Stability. You will need to read instructions carefully, with that production add and it and leave it for at least 7 days.) The last thing is an API freshwater master test kit. This will tell you your pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels and be a major help for water change indicators and other things.

 

Poor guy/gal just wanted to give his/her kid a great bday present. He/she didn't know. He/she will fix it. I swear I do not post half my questions or observations here because I might be yelled at or ridiculed because I did not know or I am somehow torturing my fish on purpose. I hope he loves the fish and that you get it fixed to where they are happy and comfortable fish. Darlene80 please tell your son Happy Birthday for me.

Me too!!

 

Darlene80

Friendly suggestion here, you can always run your ideas by us and start up new threads etc..

I would not trust the fish store for much, as friendly as they may be they have fish to turnover and keep sales going...

Once you hit 50 posts you can use buy, sell, and trade here on fishlore as well. There are also tons of tips around here to save money for common things you may end up needing.

 

Welcome to Fishlore,
I am sorry that it started this way for you and your kid. You wanted to do a great thing for your kid and that is awesome.
Most of the times pet store employees don't know much and some times they don't know anything at all and give people bad advise.
I hope you don't get discouraged about this hobby as it is very pleasant and rewarding.

Most people want the best for you as a fishkeeper and the best for the fish as pets. Some may come out as rude, but as I said, they are trying to help you have a good time and a good start. I know some things can be said in a nicer way, but don't take it personal and again, do not be discouraged. You will learn a lot here.

 

I loved your description of the nitrogen cycle, simple yet very informative!
A lot of beginners have been in your shoes OP. Coming to this forum sooner rather than later will definitely benefit you and the fish, making the "fish-in cycle" much easier and smoother.

Three things I would recommend for a fish in cycle. Seachem Prime to condition the water. It removes harmful chemicals like chlorine and chloramine but also renders low levels of ammonia and nitrite less harmful to your fish. Seachem stability is used alongside prime and jump starts your cycle by adding beneficial bacteria to your water (you can also use Tetra Safestart plus, it accomplishes the same thing as Stability. You will need to read instructions carefully, with that production add and it and leave it for at least 7 days.) The last thing is an API freshwater master test kit. This will tell you your pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels and be a major help for water change indicators and other things.

Only one addition to this comment. I am pretty sure you can not use Tetra safe start along with Prime, the prime messes with the TSS. If you decide to use Seachem Prime, also use Seachem Stability. It worked perfect for me when I was in similar shoes as you last year.

 

The sharks will fight when they get mature, should only have one shark and that needs a bigger a tank.

Have you got the tank and the fish the same day?

You will need to keep doing water changes as the tank needs to cycle.

 

Only one addition to this comment. I am pretty sure you can not use Tetra safe start along with Prime, the prime messes with the TSS. If you decide to use Seachem Prime, also use Seachem Stability. It worked perfect for me when I was in similar shoes as you last year.

I was under that same impression but fishlorian VIP members have fought me tooth and nail saying it can be done. So I stopped quoting that because I did not want to start a riot. Totally agree though. Stability and Prime in conjunction with each is, in my opinion, a better method that is safer for the fish than just the TSS route.

 

I was under that same impression but fishlorian VIP members have fought me tooth and nail saying it can be done. So I stopped quoting that because I did not want to start a riot. Totally agree though. Stability and Prime in conjunction with each is, in my opinion, a better method that is safer for the fish than just the TSS route.

It can be done with prime, you just have to follow the directions on the back to insure the bacteria the best chance. (It states on the bottle to wait 24hrs after using any dechlorinator to add bacteria.) But prime and stability are from the same company so designed to be used together (tss is a once go, stability allows you to do water changes and add bacteria back in without being affected by prime (I mean you can add more tss if you have to do water changes, I know some people aren't lucky enough to have zero across the board or 0,0, <20 water to work with).

 

Not in a 10 gallon. Corydoras can get to be 4 inches long. Pygmies might do okay, but they are highly active for such a small tank.

I meant pygmies, guess I forgot to mention it, thanks for correcting me!

 

Poor guy/gal just wanted to give his/her kid a great bday present. He/she didn't know. He/she will fix it. I swear I do not post half my questions or observations here because I might be yelled at or ridiculed because I did not know or I am somehow torturing my fish on purpose. I hope he loves the fish and that you get it fixed to where they are happy and comfortable fish. Darlene80 please tell your son Happy Birthday for me.

THANK YOU ...and I will !

The sharks will fight when they get mature, should only have one shark and that needs a bigger a tank.

Have you got the tank and the fish the same day?

You will need to keep doing water changes as the tank needs to cycle.

sharks are all we have left as the other ones died. They seemed to keep going to the filter for some reason , then the next day , they were on the bottom of the tank.
I did not..... We filled up the tank on Saturday Morning, and added fish Sunday Night

 

So how many gallons is your tank now @Darlene80 I’m excited to hear about your setup

 

Darlene80

Friendly suggestion here, you can always run your ideas by us and start up new threads etc..

I would not trust the fish store for much, as friendly as they may be they have fish to turnover and keep sales going...

Once you hit 50 posts you can use buy, sell, and trade here on fishlore as well. There are also tons of tips around here to save money for common things you may end up needing.

I so agree with this. Even though I done some research I let the guy at pet shop persuade me that three dwarf Gouramis in 8 gallon tank with 3 rice fish and two snails is a good idea. plus they started breeding and now one month in the hobby I even got a fry in breeding box in there. The situation is fixed now, I started on another bigger tank, but my point is, rather ask these good people here if not sure or before any final decision, not the pet shop people. ✌️

 

Yes try one of those small kinda hidden exotic fish stores there are lots.They can give you you all the info you need but please don't go to chain stores.