emergency (first post)

[kizzlerox]

i have never owned any fish.

this morning i was taking my kids to school and i saw that the people who had moved from across the street, had left a 40 gallon tank of fish with the filters and heater and everything by the side of the road. there were live fish in there and its garbage day. none of them are even dead but i think some are not compatable. i moved the tank and stand safely to my home with the help of another neighbor. i have identified the fish as

5 glass catfish i think. might be more, but im nearly positive its 5 (2"-3")
1 flame tail gourami (2.5")
2 tiger barb fish in mediumish
1 golden chinese algae eater (4")

the glass catfish and the barbs are either playing or going after eachother. the algae eater hasnt moved all day till i disturbed him and then he swam like he was insane and looked out of breath after. the gourami is just cruising around but he hates me so he hides if i am not sneaky.

i went and bought tropical flake food and tropical discs as well as frozen blood worms. i also got a better filter since the one they had wasnt moving enough water according to the petsmart guy. it had a fluval 105, but he said i needed a 206.

my questions are.....
1 are these fish ok together?
2 i have a blue light thats like 1/3 the length of the tank. is blue light ok, or should i buy white light or led strip?
3 is the algae eater going to murder everyone tonight?
4 what decor is best? (currently have colums, air treasure chest, 2 small plants, seashell, small castle and all glass smooth pebbles... i bought another bubbler today, another airpump since i didnt realize i had one at the time, a medium pagoda figure and a rock wall of asian soldiers and a large fake plant) i am not sure if they need real plants, some dirt, or less or more things for hiding.

im so tired and im reading all i can but if someone could give me some pointers since a lot of opinions differ it seems. i know these arent fancy fish, but most of the profiles for them call them all difficult fish except the barbs which seem to be kinda jerk fish starting stuff with literally everyone.

thanks

 

[SumoNinja]

I can tell you that at least one of the tiger barbs is gonna be miserable. it's gonna get picked on by the other barb the whole time most likely. they are known to be fin nippers

slow moving fish with long fins, like the gourami wouldn't be recommended with them. it's better to have a group of them (tiger barbs) as they are shoal fish. i'd keep at least a school of 5 or 6 minimum. when in a good size shoal they tend to leave other fish alone but with just the two you have they will get aggressive with each other as well as the other species, like you are already observing.

as far as the algae eater goes, you can get more if they have enough hiding places because they tend to be aggressive toward eachother. keeping it by itself would be fine

if you plan to keep the tiger barbs you should definitely get more of them of similar size. that's my two cents

 

[lardieleftover]

If you changed pump and filter, and ibassume had drained tank to move it you could end up dealing with an ammonia problem because lacking enough beneficial bacteria. If you have the old filter media(sounds like it's probably a cartridge thing) just put it inside the tank/in the new filter. Fish should be an le to pull through. If not, cheap fish anyways

 

[Fat Homer]

First off, good on you for taking the tank in, and then actually spending some time reading up on the fish and actually going out and buying stuff for them...

Okay, regarding the lighting; unless you are going for a tank with live plants, then theoretically any lights will work, since its more for your viewing pleasure than the fishes needs, the only time the bulb color will make a difference might be if you start venturing into color temps of 8000K or up, and leave them on for long periods of time (in which case you may start to see a lot of algae growth)...

Otherwise, in theory, you could even point a desk lamp over your tank and call if a day if you really wanted to...

As for Decor, this will come down to personal preference unless you are going for a very specialized style of tank or fish which absolutely must have a certain type of water... As an example some inverts such as Sulawesi Shrimp require very alkaline water, and may benefit more from having crushed coral in their tank or filters, while if you were to say for with a planted tank, you may need to go with a dirt substrate and slightly more acidic water...

So really, what you have now sounds like it should be okay, unless you personally don't like the look of something, or something is playing up and needs to be replaced...

 

[Jake_Df]

Alright so for 1 those fish are fine together some might be a-holes to each other but there just little petsmart fish who cares. Second any light will do the fish don't care (just not uv, some ppl do that) its more for you. If you go to any pet store and buy a fish light it will cost you 1.5 million dollars for something you can get at home depot for 10$. 3rd the algea eater is just a little fish he wont screw with anybody. if anyones gonna be a jerk itll prob be the gourami. Decor is your choice I prefer natural river bottom setups with smooth stones and only a few plants. don't buy aquarium rocks, go find some outside I promise you there the same.
these fish are not high maintenance they don't care what you put in there tank just go with what looks good and they will find there own spots they like. the algea eater will want a little place to hide. Lastly don't listen to the Petsmart guy he doesn't know a dam thing. Petsmart fact cards will tell you that Paroon sharks only grow to 12" when they really can grow to 4'. They sell goldfish water for $5 a gallon! like its magic water or something. I do most of my fish shopping at home depot. As for the filter I have a 40 gallon pond and ive been using a 10g filter just to circulate water and my fish are fine.
Im also not a millionaire, the things you have bought for your 40 gallon cost more than the things ive bought for my 75 gallon already. that fluval must have run you quite a bit. Don't worry you will have to buy a new one within a year when the noise become unbearable.

If I was you I would have taken the tank and left the fish and water and cheesy décor on the sidewalk.

 

[Jake_Df]

If you changed pump and filter, and ibassume had drained tank to move it you could end up dealing with an ammonia problem because lacking enough beneficial bacteria. If you have the old filter media(sounds like it's probably a cartridge thing) just put it inside the tank/in the new filter. Fish should be an le to pull through. If not, cheap fish anyways

This is bull, just change the water every now and then. the bacteria will form up eventually but even then who cares? You have a total of $8 worth of fish and I bet youve spent at least 100. I used to have a goldfish in a bowl. Everyday I poured him out into the sink, refilled his bowl, took him in my hand, and threw him back in. that fish lived until I fed him to my Oscar, which is what you should think about getting. The only thing I say you shouldn't cut corners on is water conditioner. goldfish don't always need it but rosy red minnows will die everytime from chlorine.
go to a place that sells pond stuff and get a big thing of it. don't get a little droplet bottle from aquasafe, its the same dam thing.

 

[SumoNinja]

Alright so for 1 those fish are fine together some might be a-holes to each other but there just little petsmart fish who cares.

As for the filter I have a 40 gallon pond and ive been using a 10g filter just to circulate water and my fish are fine.

If I was you I would have taken the tank and left the fish and water and cheesy décor on the sidewalk.

ts is a totally new to keeping fish. although you had some good points, these ^ are probably not the best things to say to someone new to the hobby.

 

[kizzlerox]

If you changed pump and filter, and ibassume had drained tank to move it you could end up dealing with an ammonia problem because lacking enough beneficial bacteria. If you have the old filter media(sounds like it's probably a cartridge thing) just put it inside the tank/in the new filter. Fish should be an le to pull through. If not, cheap fish anyways

i actually just put the whole thing on a furniture dolly and rolled it across the street. i spilled quite a bit of water on the way, but most stayed in. it was on a stand so i honestly wasnt sure how to empty the tank and my neighbor walked over and said lets roll it. lol.

the sponges inside the 105 were so gross and dirty it was insane so i took the whole thing in a box with each kind of media and made the petsmart person come out in the parking lot and look at it so i got the right sponges and what not and he said its cheaper to get the uncut filter stuff and to cut it myself and that the 206 was on clearance and was a better filter for my tank size especially since the glass fish are like $9 each and sensitive about clean water. its funny that they are the most expensive fish they had pretty much but i looked up the prices on ssome of you guys gorgeous fish and plants and wow.... i would sit there with a sponge on a stick nd poke anbody gettiong crazy and make everyone live in harmony. lol

he fluval 206 is on clearance for $54 at petsmart if anyone wants one. i looked it up and thats pretty good. in the box of their stuff, there was a few boxes of biomax, clearmax, ammonia cleaner, zero carb, and a few botttles of bacteria, chlorine cleaner and this yellow add in as well as stress coat and stress zyme or something. i didnt want to ask questions unless i had to but there was so many conflicting things online, i thought id find people like yourselves with rare fish and amazing tanks since i'm sure most of you started with simpler fish like these guys. i know they are just fish, but i am an animal lover and didnt like the idea of them just being thrown away. i eat animals, but they too were not thrown away and left on the curb. seemed so mean so here i am. lol. i'm going to go buy 4 more tiger barbs. hopefully petsmart is okto buy fish since the fish store i know of

 

[xraycer]

You never mentioned, but do you have a heater (and thermometer)? These are all tropical fish and needs the water to be around 76F.

Get rid of half the old tank water and refill it with new water. Make sure the new water coming in is close to the tank's water temp. Unless you have well water, use dechlorinator to neutralize chlorine of new water.

Adding more tiger barbs is a good idea to keep them from getting nippy with others in the tank.

The algae eater should be harmless, but they do become a nuisance as they mature.

Otherwise, the stock should work fine. I would worry about the gourami, if anything, since it'll be the slowest fish in the tank. If it really gets harassed by the TB, put in a plastic plant and let it just float on top. This way the gourami can take refuge in the plant

 

[SumoNinja]

i actually just put the whole thing on a furniture dolly and rolled it across the street. i spilled quite a bit of water on the way, but most stayed in. it was on a stand so i honestly wasnt sure how to empty the tank and my neighbor walked over and said lets roll it. lol.

the sponges inside the 105 were so gross and dirty it was insane so i took the whole thing in a box with each kind of media and made the petsmart person come out in the parking lot and look at it so i got the right sponges and what not and he said its cheaper to get the uncut filter stuff and to cut it myself and that the 206 was on clearance and was a better filter for my tank size especially since the glass fish are like $9 each and sensitive about clean water. its funny that they are the most expensive fish they had pretty much but i looked up the prices on ssome of you guys gorgeous fish and plants and wow.... i would sit there with a sponge on a stick nd poke anbody gettiong crazy and make everyone live in harmony. lol

he fluval 206 is on clearance for $54 at petsmart if anyone wants one. i looked it up and thats pretty good. in the box of their stuff, there was a few boxes of biomax, clearmax, ammonia cleaner, zero carb, and a few botttles of bacteria, chlorine cleaner and this yellow add in as well as stress coat and stress zyme or something. i didnt want to ask questions unless i had to but there was so many conflicting things online, i thought id find people like yourselves with rare fish and amazing tanks since i'm sure most of you started with simpler fish like these guys. i know they are just fish, but i am an animal lover and didnt like the idea of them just being thrown away. i eat animals, but they too were not thrown away and left on the curb. seemed so mean so here i am. lol. i'm going to go buy 4 more tiger barbs. hopefully petsmart is okto buy fish since the fish store i know of

you didn't really want to ask questions?

nonsense dude, ask away, you should never feel that you can't or shouldn't ask as a last resort. ask any question you want whether you think it's stupid or not. there really is no stupid questions for a beginner.

you might get stupid responses but ignore those