Sandra the fish rookie Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 Okay fishie folks.. I might be over reacting.. but wanted to more seasoned fish keepers if there is something I should say or if I should just "shut it". Here it goes. A friend of mine has a 20 G high tank that I believe is not properly cycled (she has set it up June 30th). She has about 6 live plants she added on July 3rd. She bought fish this weekend. Here is where it gets sticky folks.. these fish were all in the same tank at the LFS so she got all of them. she sent me a picture and my heart skipped a bit.. she has peacock cichlid, johanni cichlid, a flowerhorn, an Oscar and a pink Parrot fish. I very innocently asked her what the sales person told her about the fish and she said and I quote "the lady was knowledgeable about fish and said they would be fine together" That they would grow 3-6 inches. She wanted to get a bigger tank anyways because she wants more cichlids and she wants discus. She just sent me a picture of her chemistry Nitrates 20, Ammonia 1.0, Nitrites 0, PH 7.3. She said she over fed them and did a 20% water change. Her fish experience was taking care of 1 single gold fish for her brother, that she NEVER did chemistry on, but just did 30% water changes every week. What would you do? I don't want to break her spirit, I too am a new fish keeper and have ZERO right to say anything at all. At the same time I don't want her to have the heart break that I did before I found the forum. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 I would offer to help her, then wait for her to ask for help. It might be off putting to her to interject uninvited opinions. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 @DaveO Thanks! she reached out for help to read the chemistry and plants.. so I will just wait for now. I have seen what some FB groups can be like and just be down right mean. I would never be like that.. which is why I also suggested she join here 🙂 for all cool things fish! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 Telling her about this forum was great advice. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT_ Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 I know very little about all of those fish but it sounds like she didn't skimp on starter fish. Maybe casually share stories of your failures, people can more receptive to that (though they can also ignore the lessons too). Since she's testing that's a good sign. Maybe have a secret rescue plan ready if something goes sideways, though you probably don't want to end up adopting that many fish if things go really bad and she gives up. She has nitrates and no nitrite so it sounds like the bacteria just need to grow out to keep up with the new load. I'd see if you can get her to do half feedings for a week or two. On the plus side if things work out it sounds like she'll have a beautiful tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griznatch Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 That oscar is going to get huge. When it gets larger will most likely bully the other fish if not eat or kill them. Not to mention what it'll do to the plants. Mine got over 15 inches, so it'll outgrow that 29 high very soon. No experience on the other cichlids, I'm guessing they are not gonna get along. Good move suggesting she sign up on here, I echo your sentiments on facebook groups for this hobby. I'm hoping she can get those fish back to the store she got them at, and soon. The heartache and stress of having fish die or beat the heck out of each other, can cause some new to the hobby to just throw in the towel... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 unless she seeded the tank from something else, it most certainly is not "cycled". thankfully she added plants, that will help a good bit, and hopefully they came out of an established aquarium. that would be really helpful as they would then have a bunch of good bacteria on them. now in my opinion, it wont be long and she is going to need a much much bigger tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott P. Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 If it were me I would say something for sure. If she is truly a friend she shouldn't get offended. Bad thing is if she doesn't do something quick the fish probably won't make it very long. That's a hard way to learn. If it were me and I was doing what she did, I would want you to set me straight. Some people really don't like to be corrected though. Good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaurieinIA Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 I would go ahead and say something, though you cannot control her response. Also, if she took your advice and joined the forum, she’s likely going to see this thread and will know your opinion of the situation anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 @LaurieinIA I recommended she join .. fingers crossed she does. We work together too.. I was going to just send her the fish profiles so she can have an idea of how large the flowerhorn and Oscar will possibly get. More as an FYI... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 On 7/6/2021 at 1:55 PM, Sandra the fish rookie said: Okay fishie folks.. I might be over reacting.. but wanted to more seasoned fish keepers if there is something I should say or if I should just "shut it". Here it goes. A friend of mine has a 20 G high tank that I believe is not properly cycled (she has set it up June 30th). She has about 6 live plants she added on July 3rd. She bought fish this weekend. Here is where it gets sticky folks.. these fish were all in the same tank at the LFS so she got all of them. she sent me a picture and my heart skipped a bit.. she has peacock cichlid, johanni cichlid, a flowerhorn, an Oscar and a pink Parrot fish. I very innocently asked her what the sales person told her about the fish and she said and I quote "the lady was knowledgeable about fish and said they would be fine together" That they would grow 3-6 inches. She wanted to get a bigger tank anyways because she wants more cichlids and she wants discus. She just sent me a picture of her chemistry Nitrates 20, Ammonia 1.0, Nitrites 0, PH 7.3. She said she over fed them and did a 20% water change. Her fish experience was taking care of 1 single gold fish for her brother, that she NEVER did chemistry on, but just did 30% water changes every week. What would you do? I don't want to break her spirit, I too am a new fish keeper and have ZERO right to say anything at all. At the same time I don't want her to have the heart break that I did before I found the forum. It would be far kinder to voice your concerns and try to return the fish. The fish might cohabitate now, but as they grow the 20 high will be way to small for a group of fish that tend to be aggressive, and big. This is before she tackles the cycling issues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 Quite frankly, she’s headed for catastrophe. I think you already know this or you wouldn’t be posting. How you approach her is obviously the tricky part. Keep urging her to join here. This is by far the sanest, kindest group I’ve found. Sending her fish profile info is a great choice. This will help her make her own decisions and then make smarter choices once she learns more. I’m not sure what else you can do without risking your friendship. How close are you? Seems like you feel it’s pretty delicate? There are friends that I can be blunt with and others that I have to be very delicate with how I explain. You’ll have to make that call on how you handle it, but seems like you’re doing it very gently so far. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pizzafan Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 Honestly, the internet is a game changer. I had fish as a kid and killed every one of them with ich and overstocking. Who knew? Now, it’s so much easier to figure out how to do things correctly. She will probably come to read about these fish she bought… and will hopefully learn the lesson without needing explicit instruction. Even if there’s a few fatalities this go around, the next ones might be better researched 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 UPDATE: She handled it VERY well. I sent her an email with the details of each fish especially size, temperament and tank requirements. I also sent her all of the websites and YouTube sites I follow (or should I say that most of us follow). I STRONGLY encouraged her to get on the form and subscribe to the Aquarium Co Ops YouTube channel. I also sent her videos from AQO, primetime, KGTropical and Tazawa Tanks with cycling info and species profiles last night. I also sent her a video from Quebec Cichlides (because its my home town of Montreal Quebec) 🙂 I did recommend that she return the flower horn and the Oscar at the very least. She will have the Peacock, Johanni and Parrot left (BTW I personally know NOTHING about the first 2 Cichlids). If she gets a larger tank she can put the Parrot in the larger one. She told me that she wanted Cichlids but I didn't expect her to run out and just buy whatever was all in the same tank at the LFS! I know what its like to watch an empty tank but I had plants and like Cory, enjoyed to watch them so waiting to cycle was not as bad. I also know the heartbreak of losing fish because of not properly cycling a tank and it SUCKS! I know her very well and she knows how I roll.. I am honest and don't sugar coat but I am not an insensitive jerk. Now I have to wait to see what she does. I tried my best for her and the fish. Fingers crossed 🙂 THANK YOU ALL!!! As usual you all ROCK! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaurieinIA Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 On 7/7/2021 at 6:38 AM, Sandra the fish rookie said: I did recommend that she return the flower horn and the Oscar at the very least. She will have the Peacock, Johanni and Parrot left (BTW I personally know NOTHING about the first 2 Cichlids). Glad to hear she took it well! I’m not sure what a Parrot cichlid is, but from Googling it appears to be a South American cichlid that would prefer a lower pH (6.5-7) and softer water than the others, which are African cichlids that like harder water and high pH (7.8-8.6) I know some stores in my area keep pretty much everything in neutral water, so that might be how/why they were all together at the store? I struggled when adding African cichlids to my setup until I figured this out (I was new and didn’t think to ask or to drip acclimate, etc - just floated the bag a while and let them loose) I stopped shopping at those stores and stocked my setup using only one store that kept them at the higher pH - with much better results. mixing the different cichlid types could also be an issue. IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudofish Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 Glad she took the advice well. I'm guessing she didn't realize just how big of a tank she is going to eventually need for the Oscar and Flowerhorn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 On 7/6/2021 at 5:28 PM, Sandra the fish rookie said: @LaurieinIA I recommended she join .. fingers crossed she does. We work together too.. I was going to just send her the fish profiles so she can have an idea of how large the flowerhorn and Oscar will possibly get. More as an FYI... I printed out care sheets for each of the fish my niece got and gave them to her as a gesture of help….she was shocked when she read them and adjusted quickly… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwayne Brown Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 I would suggest that she look into the care requirements for each fish, weather on websites or forums. That way she can come to her own conclusions. Sometimes it's just better to let people try things their own way and fail. When I was younger I had a severely overstocked 5 gallon, it ended badly but I learned from that and it made me a better hobbyist. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 I was thinking the same thing as @Dwayne Brown . I know I’m not the only one who’s tried to keep way to many cichlids in a 29! Many of us have been there, and hopefully she’ll learn fast if she has access to some basic info. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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