# Help!



## Bazinga (Aug 17, 2011)

Ok idk what to do so I just came to this forum because I feel like I can't turst the guy at PetSmart anymore...I have a 10 gallon tank and my fish are doing absolutely horrible. I cycled the tank for 6 weeks and then put some yellow and blue fish in there that are about an inch long. I think they are called sickleys or something? Not sure but man are they aggressive. They constantly harass each other. Is this cause they are new to the tank? I have 4 of each in there. I also have/had beautiful neon tetras. I started with 10 now down to 5 already! I don't know what happened! I felt like this was too much but the employee told me I can have an inch of fish for every inch that the tank is long and wide. So he said I could have 30 inches of fish in there. So what is wrong? I felt I was doing so good...Help!


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## P.senegalus (Aug 18, 2011)

Don't trust that guy anymore. Your tank sounds overcrowded. If you are talking about cichlids when you said sickleys, then they need a bigger aquarium. I'm not to familiar with cichlids but some will eat small fish like neon tetras.


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## chronoboy (Jan 17, 2011)

Well it matters the type of cichlid it is, but I do believe that 10g don't make a good community tank, I think there best used for bettas or a pair of rams or some other smaller fish, if I where to use one for a community tank it would be a planted tetra tank or somthing along that lines but even then it don't give them much room to school around in. 

So if I where you id cut down on your bio load and get rid of two of those cichlids if that is what they are, and deff find out what type they are, you should always research a fish before you buy it, too make sure you are giving it the proper home right now and for years to come, or if you like the fish a lot you could just buy another bigger tank  that's never a bad idea either.


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

Cichlids (with some exceptions) are aggressive fish and african cichlids in particular are not suited for tropical community set ups, or (excluding the shell dwelling species), small tanks.

Cichlid aggression increases as they mature. What they're displaying at 1" is nothing compared to what they're capable of when they're 4" or 5"+.

Return the cichlids or upgrade as chronoboy suggested.


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## Xplosive55 (Aug 19, 2011)

10gallon is very small 2-3fish max unless your speaking about tiny fish who don't grow very big. Cycle for 6 weeks? man these guys are idiot to have told you that-_- they just wanna sell products. you can dechlorinate water by letting it sit, aerate and heat for 24hours but i let it longer to be sure.(be sure the water you add is the same temperature as the tank or add it slowly when doing water changes not to kill the fish). Now for the bacterias u could put hardy fish like guppies or an old sponge off a filter to create the bacteria in the water or buy that biological supplement product at your pet store. after your chlorine is out, you put the bacteria and you should be fine to put your fish in!


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

The cichlids have got to go back. Those things will get significantly larger than the tank will allow. The inch per gallon is shaky at best but even if you go by that it is not in the way you mentioned. It is inch per GALLON which makes 10 inches all you would want in there. 

You want those inches to be the size of adult fish not the tiny ones you have now. The cichlids will get too big and are why you are loosing your neons.

In the 6 weeks you were cycling your tank were you "feeding" it? It would need an ammonia source to help it grow the necessary bacteria. It is a perfectly fine way to cycle a tank. But just turning a filter on and letting it sit there for 6 weeks won't work.


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## Bazinga (Aug 17, 2011)

So first things first I tried to take back the cichlids, i think that is what they are called, but they said they wouldn't give me my money back. So I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with them yet.
About the fish per tank rule. Okay i had heard of the inch per gallon rule however this guy ensured me basically I can have an inch of fish for every inch of the tank in length. Also the guy told me those fish would maybe grow to 2 inches...is that really too big for a 10 gallon???
And I cycled it for six weeks by puting gold fish in there. The guy said they were gonna die but that was the only way to cycle it...I did feel horrible I must say.


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## mpfsr (Jun 22, 2011)

bazinga..."that guy" is very limited in his education..even the 1inch per gallon rule is a joke..would you stick a 10"Oscar in a 10g tank??? I would hope you wouldn't thou the 1 inch per gallon rule say's its OK. The more people try to give our fish proper homes the less these old rules apply. the only real way to insure yourself that your giving your pets the home they need, is to do research. I would go to the fish store find the fish you already have write there names down. Go back home sit in front of the computer and start goggle searching each one. Don't go off 1 web page as many sites still have bad info..if they sell fish on the web site there gonna give you the min. tank size not the size it will be happy in. Also when they use tank size that is for just that fish in most cases. Then you will see for yourself that "that guy" is selling you fish..not helping you have a healthy tank..
There are other ways to cycle tanks without killing fish as "that guy" told you. here is a great link for doing this....
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article14.html
its a good read even if your tank is already cycled and will help you understand the nitrogen cycle.

Then I would find a NEW fish store.. here is another good link for stocking ideas for a 10g tank..http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/forum/index.php?topic=11184.0


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Malawi mbuna are all at least 4" with 6" more common and 8" not unheard of. To say they grow to 2" in 10... Maybe they'll get to 2" before they kill each other. Most should have a four foot long tank and many will outgrow a 55. Everything this jerk has told you is flat wrong. Do not buy another thing from him.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Wow. This guy is really steering you wrong. no matter; we can set you straight.
The old inch per gallon thing is only good for small, skinny fish like neons and danios. Start using bigger fish and everything falls apart.

You can get your tank cycled in two days if you use a product like Tetra SafeStart. It really works. 
Use two filters. One common newbie mistake is to use only one, but then everything crashes when they clean it. Using two lets you clean one each month while leaving the other alone.


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