From: uriw@media.mit.edu (Uri Wilensky)
Subject: Former Complete Beginner still needs some help
Organization: MIT Media Laboratory
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 00:06:13 GMT

	

	I want to thank everybody who responded to my list of
questions. With your help I am no longer a complete beginner. I have read
the FAQ and 2 recommended fish books.
	But, I've still got more questions.
	First though, I'll post a summary of the answers I got. At the
very end of this message are my new questions.

	To remind you, I was the one who wrote the following:

> 	I am a complete beginner to the fish world.
> 
> 	I was given the following setup.
> 	10 gallon freshwater tank
> 	aquaclear 150 filtering system
> 	whisper 100 aerator
> 	50 watt heater
> 	15 watt (Alp) flourescent aquarium light
> 	some gravel
> 
> 	I ran the tank with filter and no fish for 2 weeks. The
> temperature is ~75F.
> 	3 weeks ago, I went to the local pet store and came home with 5 fish
> recommended by the storekeeper:
> 	1 M betta
> 	1 F betta
> 	2 neon tetras
> 	1  (julian?) catfish
> 
> 	I have a few questions I would greatly appreciate answers to:

	Most respondents told me that my local store was untrustworthy.
I now believe this to be true. My dealer admitted to not knowing
hardly anything about fish. Many also said that the male betta would
attack the female. This has not happened. My dealer is so incompetent
though that I'm beginning to doubt that my alleged female betta is
truly a betta. She doesn't look at all like the male. The only reason
I have to think she is a betta is the dealer's word. My books have no
pictures of of female bettas so I just don't know.

> 1) how many hours should the light be on for? Does it matter if they
> are continuous or not? The tank receives some indirect sunlight. How
> should that affect the equation? Also, since I am at home mostly at
> night, is it reasonable to have the light on only at night? Once I
> have a light schedule, is it important to keep it consistent?

	Consensus was to keep the light on continuously for 12 - 15
hours a day and use a timer to regulate this schedule. I bought a
timer and have been leaving the 15 watt light on for 14 hours daily.


> 2) my local pet store did not sell test kits for nitrites or hardness.
> I've got kits for ammonia and ph. Do I need the others to keep the
> fish healthy?

	Most said I did not need any additional kits. I'm tempted to
get a nitrate testing kit.
 
> 3) what is a good plant to add to this mix?
	Most frequent suggestions were for java moss and java fern.
My local stores did not have any. I got 2 amazon swords (recommended
by 2 people) and 1 white xx (waxy symmetrical plant not in any of the
books - looks a bit like some spider plants) . Some people told me I
don't have enough light for plants.

> 4) 3 days ago, one of the neons died. The storekeeper said the fish
> did not appear to have been sick, said it was just "one of those
> things", and recommended I replace him with 2 other neons plus a "white
> cloud" and a "head and tail light". I did what he said. I've noticed
> that the latter two are not eating. Are they not happy with the mix?
> It seems like the bettas don't let them get any food. Should I return
> them? Feed them differently?

	Most people said that the tank had probably not cycled. Since
I don't have a nitrate kit, I could only test ammonia. It has been at
absolute zero (according to my kit) every day for the last 2 weeks.
I've also tested ph and it has been between 6.8 and 7.0.  So, I'm not
sure if it cycled or not. One respondent suggested I might have missed
the ammonia spike, since I didn't test on the day the neon died. The
minnow and tetra have begun eating.

> 5) I notice that the neons sometimes lose all of their red color.
> Often, before I feed them in the morning, they are white with a bit of
> blue. They regain their vivid red color after an hour or so. Is this normal?

	This was a bit controversial. Quite a few repondents thought
this indicated a problem with the water. However, I have become
convinced that this is a natural phenomenon for these fish.


	Here are my new questions:


1) Has my tank definitely cycled by now? It is 5 weeks since I got
fish, and ammonia has been zero since I began testing two or three
weeks ago. Ph has remained between 6.8 and 7.0. I'd like to add some
more neons (as may folks suggested). Is it safe now?

2) Where can I get a nitrate testing kit? What's a good brand. Neither
of the two stores in my town (a suburb of Boston) have nitrate testing
kits. One said they could order one for me for $20. Do I really need
to pay that much?

3) Any Bostonian out there who can recommend a reasonable fish store
in Cambridge or nw suburbs?

4) The day after I got my first plants, thick bubble clusters began to appear
on the water surface. What are these? Could they be the betta bubble
nests I've read about?

5) Are female bettas radically less finned than the males? Could a
female betta look like an orange sunburst plattie (which I'm beginning
to suspect my alleged "betta" is) as my dealer says?

6) In the last week (since I got my timer) brownish looking algae has
settled on my bottom ornaments and on the leaves of the plants (though
strangely, it's worst on the one plastic plant). Is this bad stuff? I
can't seem to get a good answer from the books. They both suggest that
this may be because there's not enough light (15 watts for 14 hours)
and because there's too much light. What should I do? Buy an algae
eater as my unknowledgeable dealer recommends? get a stronger light?
use light for less hours daily? get more plants? All of these seem to
be recommended in some place or other of the books. I'm confused.

7) Several people have suggested I vacuum my gravel. My dealer has not
heard of this. How should I do this? Is it really necessary?

8) From day one, my "head and tail light" (or "glow light" a kind of
tetra) has swum in place twitching its body about 90% of the time.
None of the other fish do this. At first I thought it was sick, but
now that it's been a few weeks and it seems to be ok, eating
reasonably well (though it eats by darting to the surface amazingly
quickly grabbing a bite then diving back)


9) If I do add more neons to the tank: is it really necessary to keep them
in a temporary tank for 2 weeks before introducing them to the main
tank? if so, will a goldfish bowl do? What setup should I have in
place for the temporary tank? heater required? filter? what kind?




			That's a bufferfull
			Thanks again for all your help

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