# Restarting Tank



## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

I know I haven't been here for a while, but my account on my own forum got hacked so I came here, plus there are a bunch of people here compared to my site. I have a 20 Gallon tank with some fish in it. I am going to give the fish to my cousin and start re-doing the tank. What are some interesting fish I could put in there? Also what are the care specifications of them? I was thinking of getting a crayfish or some dwarf puffers.


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

How about a pair of convicts, Firemouths, Sajica, Rainbow cichlids, etc.?

Breeding cichlids is a very rewarding experience, and the parenting behavior is awesome to watch.

Or you could always go to the salty side.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

I could keep cichlids in a 20 Gallon tank? What are their care needs?


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

Clean water. Very hardy fish. Here, let me dig up some profiles for you...

The quintessential, Convicts- http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=132

Firemouths- http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=65

Sajica- http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=134

Rainbow Cichlids- http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=91

There are a bunch of others that would work too, these are just the most common ones. Keep your water clear and they will thrive. Decorate the tank as you see fit, but real plants will be eaten. You may want to get 3-4 and wait for a pair to form, then remove the others.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

I checked the cichlids out and they all need hard water qnd I have soft water and I dont know how to make it hard


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

THey dont need hard water.... these are central american cichlids. They will do fine in whatever your water is. pH anywhere from 6.5-8 will be fine, and dont even CHECK your hardness.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

oh, okay. That's good.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

My dad said I can't reset my whole tank but tomorrow I was thinking I could leave the sand and everything in the tank but move all the stuff around, add some new fish and do a 100% water change. But my question is: Will that cause a mini cycle?


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

If there has not been any source of ammonia in the tank then it will likely cause a cycle. If there has been an ammonia source then it may and it may not. I would watch it closely regardless but you can treat it as a cycled tank if its had a source.


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## Clerk (Nov 22, 2006)

The main thing you want to avoid is the bacteria in the filter dying off. If possible, do your water change while the fish you have are still in it. Make sure the temp is right. Attempt to move them out, and your new fish within an hour or so.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

What are some ammonia sources? Would leaving in my decorations work? Because I have sand in right now but it is argonite, I wanted to switch back to gravel but instead of taking the sand out just put gravel ontop so I still have my old substrate so i do not cause a mini cycle because I have read that some people do that... Also i was going to leave my driftwood hides/caves and plants in and add some new ones. So will it still cause a mini cycle?


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

Could I keep a red tail shark in my tank? Would I have to remove any of my fish? How big do they get? I might sell all my fish and get some new ones soon, if I can persuade my dad but is a 20G sufficient for them? Should they be kept alone? How many hides do they like and how do they like their planting?


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

Dont get the red tail. If you get a pair of cichlids that should be the only fish in the tank, with maybe a few small, fast things. Also, I would take the aragonite out, It raises pH quite a bit. I didnt know you had arag in there. I would get that out and do a large water change to reset pH.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

How big do they get? Yeah someone told me a while ago that argonite raises the pH but they said it will be fine. But when I am allowed to re-do my tank (possibly next weekend or the coming wednesday) I think I will switch from argonite to gravel because there is only argonite at my local petsmart. I think I will get some bright gravel but how do they like their tanks planted and how many hiding places do they like? Also does petsmart take other peoples fish for free or buy them? Also how hard are convicts to find? They sell assorted cichlids at my Local petsmart so will I just have to go by coloring? Also should I only get one because they might not know the gender because if I were to get two how big of a chance is there to be a mix up in gender?


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

If I were you, I'd get a breeding pair of kribensis cichlids 

They're so pretty, and fun to watch.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

Yeah but I would have to go to big als to get a pair and it is like 30 minutes away from me and my dad wont take me.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Ammonia sources means food for the bacteria. So keeping the gravel and decorations and filter from your other tanks is not enough on its own. That only keeps the bacteria, but not the food for the bacteria. You need fish producing waste, pure ammonia, or other food sources (even putting flakes in the tank despite not having fish in there will feed the bacteria as the flakes rot). You can also hang a shrimp prawn from the store in there inside panty hose (to contain the mess), that will provide food for the bacteria. If you have gone more than a day or so without a food source, you can bet that your bacteria have gone kaput, start your cycle over.


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

^ good post.

And dont get bright gravel >.<

Get brown or black... much more natural. And you really cant plant cichlid tanks of any kind, but if you get some fake plants they wont mind. They will shred real plants to shreds.

And all the fish I listed get 5-6" max.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

I think you might have mis-understood. I still have my fish in the tank. I will be re-doing the tank soon. What I will be doing is taking my fish and giving them to someone. Then I will not clean the tank yet so I can leave the waste and food for ammonia in there to survive on. I will then buy 2 convict cichlids and replace the sand and use gravel add some plants and hides etc. Also I will buy a new filter. So i have not started YET. I will probably start on wednesday or tomorrow because I am sick so I might be able to do this all tomorrow. Will petsmart take my fish in?


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

Gourami Swami,

I didn't see your post. Which looks better brown or black gravel? Yeah I don't think I will have any real plants in there but how many fake plants should I have in there? So when I get my convicts I will have to get a male and a female right? I am not sure if my petsmart will be able to tell because they gave me a male molly and a female molly last time when I asked for two males but the female died  So will there be an aggression problem if I have to males?


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

In that case your tank is still cycled  I had no idea it still had fish in it!


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

lol, yeah. This is just an idea. I am hoping to start doing everything tomorrow


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

Does petsmart take in fish?


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

I'm pretty sure they don't. Some Petcos will though, if you say you would like to "donate fish for adoption." Try seeing if they'll turn THAT one down, with all their harping on "Think Adoption First!" At my Petco, we had to accept fish if the owner said they were for adoption. 

Local FS usually are better about it though, and they will usually give you store credit or exchange for a fish. I exchanged a serpae tetra for a black skirt at my LFS.


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## Clerk (Nov 22, 2006)

Petsmarts cannot, although you can occasionally find an employee that will take them in, but I would advise donating them or trading them into a LFS rather then Petco.


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

I agree with Clerk, it's always better to work with your LFS. I only meant that the Petco was an option.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

My local LFS isn't exactly... local. Its about 30 minutes past local


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

Do you think my local petsmart will take them "for adoption" my Petsmart is okay. They keep their tank pretty well and you see the odd dead fish not a lot of them like the normal ones.


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## Clerk (Nov 22, 2006)

By policy Petsmart cannot take them, some PETCO's will. If it is your only option, take them to PETCO, however, 30 mins is not that far away IMO.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

Yeah but my dad wont take me that far away for fish. Also I do not have a petco near me. I live in Canada, I do not think there is one here


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

I'd say DARK brown gravel looks the best, followed by black and light brown.

I also doubt petsmart will take fish in... take them to the "not so local" LFS. Convicts are SUPER easy to sex. Females have a red/orange stomach and males dont.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

Alright, thanks. Yeah I will take them to the not so local LFS this weekend because I have a basketball tournament this weekend so before my game I will sell all my fish to them and get a pair of convicts later that day  And then the next day if there is anything I need I will have another day of basketball games near big als so i can get what ever I need


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

How do I know which light bulb to get for my tank?


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

My light says

Eclipse
Natural Daylight
F15T8 18"
Made in Thailand for Marineland
CE 47A Hg (with a circle around it)


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

Since your not getting live plants it doesnt matter


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

I have live plants, i've had to put my lamp there for my live plant. But I will take it out when I get my cichlids. But also my dad said he wants me to have a light on because when guests come over "it's nice to look at"


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

Would it be okay if I added one convict to my tank with

3 corydoras
6 Black Skirt Tetras
1 Black Molley?


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## Clerk (Nov 22, 2006)

I would probably advise against the skirts, cons can be kept with some robust fish like tiger barbs, rosy barbs, Buenos aries tetra, and so forth. However, those fish need a larger tank. The molly should be fine, you could go with a Central American Biotope, and have the Con with a group of mollies or preferably swordtails would be ideal due to their larger size. They would breed, but the con would take care of any offspring.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

I already have the skirts the molly and the cories though. Do you think if I buy a con tomorrow and I move the skirts into a 5G until the weekend (so I can give them to my LFS) that they would be fine? If they are going to be fine then is it okay if i take out my six skirts and add 1 con, 4 more black mollies (so then I have five) and a few cories?


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

Wait, Arent you going to breed the cons? IMO thats the way to go, the breeding behavior is so cool to watch. If your breeding them you will want to keep tankmates to a minimum. And I would avoid cories, if the cons decide to eat them they could injure themselves on the spines.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

Ok, I will move the cories into the five gallon. Also I cannot breed them, I do not think i have the time or money for that. Plus won't that be waaay too many cons for one tank?


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## mesapod (Aug 18, 2007)

Im sure your not so local fish store would take them in and maybe even give you money.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

yeah they said they do, I am going there on the weekend


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## Guest (Feb 25, 2008)

Please get rid of your other fish before adding more! I would not suggest keeping the Cories in the 5g for long. Its too small for anything other than a Betta or some shrimp. The Cories will not be happy in the 5g so if you can't get rid of them, you'll have to keep them in your 20g and plan your stock around them.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

I was going to give them to my not so local fish store. When I get rid of my fish will a convict and a pleco be a good stock? A bristlenose pleco...


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

Yes... you can get some serpae's, etc. if you wish.


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## ikermalli (Sep 23, 2007)

Just to make sure I understood, I can have just the convict and pleco? The convict and pleco both get to be about 5-6" right?


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