# Got the ten with an occupant!



## treasuresandstuff (Mar 28, 2010)

Well, we got the ten and it CAME with a single female swordtail. Looks to have been bred, has large black spot in lower belly.

I'm not sure what to do about this.

Also the filter came empty! No media at all not even the black sponge like thing. What do I do?

I will be browsing ebay for a bit then going to bed, I hope someone can help


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## dave in Iliamna (Aug 15, 2009)

I am not quite sure what the issue is. Do you not want the fish? If you don't want the fish quite often you can give them to the local fish store.
As for the filter I would be tempted to get a new one.


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## treasuresandstuff (Mar 28, 2010)

Oh so you regularly set up tanks with fish in them from the day they are setup? 

The story that came with the fish was that it was given to them in a betta bowl with no heat no filter and the other fish in the bowl (a male sword) was dead. So they gave the female sword to us with the tank figuring it would help us get started. They say they never had the black plastic sponge part of the filter, it did not have it when they got it a few years ago.

Yes I know I need to replace the filter. I wanted advice on how to keep the fish alive until I could. I'm not sure I am in the right place here. This is nothing like the forum I am in for my snakes, I was welcomed and treated warmly there. Here I get blown off and treated like my posts are stupid. At least that is how it feels to me


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## treasuresandstuff (Mar 28, 2010)

I'm sorry that was harsh, I got upset. It happens. Its just I thought you were not supposed to put fish in a new tank (it would be new as it has not been used in years) until it has cycled. Its been setup for 2 days and has a fish in it. I had no choice but to put the fish in it. It ould have died in the ziplock bag they had it in to bring it to us. I'm going to go find the Poor Folks fish forum cause this seems more suited to people who make money in the 6 digits each year.


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## ladyonyx (Apr 20, 2009)

I'm sorry you feel that way Katherine. Not getting the answers you need can be frustrating.
To get back to your question, yes it is not the best thing to have a fish in a non-cycled tank. I absolutely do not advocate cycling a tank with fish because I think it is a lot of unnecessary stress. But, you were given the tank and a fish already, so just make the best of it! If you don't have an ammonia test kit, I'd recommend getting one so you can monitor your levels and make sure they aren't getting toxic. There's a product called 
Cycle that introduces beneficial bacteria to your setup to reduce fish stress during the cycling process; I'd get some of that too. Plants help absorb nitrogen-based compounds like nitrate, so adding plants during cycling is good too. And I'd just get a new filter; it would probably be easier. I think the AquaClear (my favorite brand of HOB filters) for your size tank is about $15 and well worth the money.

In short, I'd go to the store, get an ammonia test kit, some test strips so you can monitor nitrite and nitrate (or you could bring water samples to your LFS, they usually do free water testing), a new filter (AquaClear if you can), Cycle, and some gravel substrate if you don't have any yet. I'll send you some plants today (java moss and hornwort which are both great for cycling). Ask your fish store if they'd give you some used filter media that you could seed your tank with; you can put their media in your filter and that helps beef up the bilological filtration.

Please ask as many questions as you like and I'll do my best to answer them. I'm glad to hear you're doing everything you can to keep this fish alive.


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## treasuresandstuff (Mar 28, 2010)

Thank you for your very nice post. Perhaps I am being too quick to judge. It is frustrating especially since people at my husbands work are now trying to give us their unwanted fish too. He has already been forced to bring home 3 ghost shrimp and a male guppy. They had brought them to work and threatened to flush them if he did not take them.

We get paid the 12th. I will look at a new filter. I should have some pellia by friday, and I am getting some Java Moss from a nice person I met on the plant sell or trade section. I'm going to back off, read alot and maybe ask questions about different equipment for a while. I will check how much the amonia test kit is at walmart (not the best I know but its a start).

If anyone knows of any good sites that have catalogs for fish stuff I can order catalogs and save up money to get better stuff that way.


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## dave in Iliamna (Aug 15, 2009)

I am sorry I had not intended to treat you like you were stupid. I just did not understand what was going on and was trying to get more information.

I had assumed that you had purchased a used tank and when you went to pick it up it had a fish in it. It was clearly a mistaken assumption and I appologise.


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## ladyonyx (Apr 20, 2009)

Yeah, that tends to happen with fish. People don't realize how much work they can be and don't know how to take care of them. That's how some of us wind up with large random assortments of fish.....

As far as catalogs go, Drs. Foster and Smith online is fantastic


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## A Fish Guy (Apr 17, 2010)

I could set you up , but we probably live miles apart.........

I would suggest..........popping for a filter and heater , if you are serious about keeping fish....or still Try one of the "FreeCycle.org" options..............probably someone in your area that will give away some supplies.
Craigslist !!


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## treasuresandstuff (Mar 28, 2010)

Being low end income sucks especially when one is a stay at home mom/artist. That would be me. It makes more sense for us to live on one income since my income would only pay someone else to do what I do now for free.

I got the missing media for the filter I have now so it will stretch a bit. I have java moss and pellia in the tank with a package I have to pick up at the PO tomorrow that should have several more kinds of plants for the tank.

Current occupents are 3 ghost shrimp, 1 male guppy, and 1 female sword. The guppy and sword seem to ignore each other so I don't think I will see any crossbred babies any time soon.

The heater the tank came with keeps it at a steady 78 F, I still want to upgrade the filter. The one I want costs $40. I'm working on raising the money. Ebay sucks though, the fees take almost all the money. So I am looking at other venues to sell handmade items, CL won't work. Some reason everything I ever post on my CL gets flagged. Anyone have any ideas?

They were out of test kits when I went to the store, but I will keep looking as I know this is a very big necessity. I checked online and I can't do the ammounts I found after including shipping. I really did not want to have any fish until this tank was cycled, propperly set up and I had pleanty of test kits to last a while  

I am doing the best I can so please bear with me. I am serious or I would not be asking questions. I would just toss water in, fish and feed whenever.


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## logansmomma1228 (May 2, 2010)

If anyone knows of any good sites that have catalogs for fish stuff I can order catalogs and save up money to get better stuff that way.[/quote]



Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums is a pretty good site, that is where i learned a lot about different kinds of fish. plus you can order them and anything else you need for your tank. good luck!


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