interesting stock for a 20L

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Fishbert

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 10, 2011
197
1
16
New York
hey guys.. so my girlfriends brother has always wanted some fish and when i moved in i brought mine over so he went out and bought a 20 gallon. i helped him out with a hood, a light and other necessities but he has awful luck with fish.

first he bought a peacock eel, he didn't cycle his water so i put him into my 125 while the parameters got better. he perked right up, but escaped two days later and died on the floor while i was at work.

then i gave him some guppies to help speed up his tank and both of them died as well.

then about a week later after having his water tested he bought a convict cichlid, then he took two of my black skirt tetras and a rainbow shark to put in there, he ended up giving the tetras back because they were bullying the convict who died shortly after.

i gave him 2 crayfish and they were doing fine but he gave them back. he just started over with 2 mollies, a plecco and the rainbow shark. the shark ate the plecco and then got terrible ick and died, not the mollies have it and in treating them as best as i can hoping for the best. theres also a couple mystery snails in there.

what can i suggest he get to turn his luck around? its real cool to live with someone else that likes fish, he just needs a little success before he gives uop the hobby.. and suggestions would be really appreciated, and sorry for such a long story aha
 
Quit letting him buy incompatible fish. Sanitize tank with bleach, cycle it, and buy compatible fish from a reputable source.
 
yea its more or less petco or petsmart around here so idk how reputable any of these fish are going to be but ill deffinetly try and lend a hand in helping him research his next purchase. can you shed some more light on bleaching the tank? ive never had a run in like he has and wouldn't know what ratio to add or anything
 
To Cycle his tank, why not put his filter on one of your tanks for a month or so? That way, his tank will be cycled and he can put fish in his tank right before switching his filter back onto his tank.
Make sure he is actually feeding the Mystery Snails. Zucchini, Romaine Lettuce, and Algae Wafers are all good. Convicts + Snails is a bad mix. Make sure he gets something that will not pick at/kill the snails.
There is not many cichlids that are good for a 20 gallon, maybe since he is new to fish keeping, he should keep it simple with Mollies, Platies, or a school of Tetras.
 
yea the mollies that he has seemed to be doing alright but there tied in a battle with ick now from the shark, and i suspect the guppies only died from the un-cycled water. i turned his filter off when i treated the ick but i haven't taken it out of the tank, i assume its full of ick already and wouldnt want to jeopardize my stock if it wasn't imperative that i did so, that would have been a good idea thou. i gave him some of my water to start off with but he only wanted a little since he had to lug it up two flights of stairs
 
5 gallons is not enough for most of the fish you mentioned. I suggest trying smaller species like only tetras. I wouldn't do cichlids, mollies, sharks, or plecos.
 
Your tank water won't help cycle his tank. Do you have a spare 10 gallon? If not, he should buy one as a quarantine tank for when he buys new fish. He could use the 10 gal filter on your tank for a month or so, then put it on his 20 for a few weeks, then once he's ready to get more fish, put it back on the 10. That way the Mollies can stay in his tank, and there is no risk of your fish getting ich. To treat the ich, I would buy some ich meds, and up the temp to 86 degrees.
 
Why doesn't he use a couple of the smaller barbs for cycling as barbs are hardier than tetras, try cherry or odesa barbs.
 
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