what did i get myself into?

[nubee]

I bought a small 10 gallon tank for my room and now I'm finding I did everything backwards. I bought my fish yesterday (9 guppies and 1 cleaner - who I found dead today) and I just bought my first book today. I setup my tank according to the directions and let it sit for about 4 days before buying my fish. Now I have 1 dead fish, my males are losing their color and I have no idea how to help them out!! I changed about a thrid of the water but I don't know it this is enough. I have a heater and a filter, but do I need more? I asked the guy at the shop where I bought my fish if I needed a water tester or a air filter and he said no - but now I really don't know. I feel like such a jackass for not doing my homework before I bought these poor fish. If anyone has any advise I could really use it!

[Figstr822]

The first mistake was adding more than 1 fish after only 4 days. The tank needs to cycle. I recommend you check this board for info on the cycling process. It takes about a month for a FW tank to cycle. Also, a 10 is a very small tank and can't support many fish. Small tanks are also harder to maintain than larger tanks. Larger tanks are more forgiving if something happens and the water goes a bit out of whack. In a small tank, if something goes wrong, the water goes way out of whack. If you can, I would recommend getting a larger tank - a 30 gal at a minumum.

[tendar]

nubee

Is this a fresh water tank you setup. I am guessing so from the guppy fish you bought?

[nubee]

Thanks so much for the reply. I guess I should have just gotten some feeders to cycle the tank first - live and learn I guess.

Update - My males are all dying, and my females are ok. But, on the other hand, one of my females had her first fry! 11 in all. So I must say I am very happy right now.

Hopefully some day I'll have enough experiance to have a reef tank (they are all so beautiful on this site!) Thanks for the help again - and good luck with your babies (the fish, of course)

[RUSS]

WHEN I SET UP MY TANK 3 MONTHS AGO I LEEEEARNED THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE MY LAST TANK WHICH WAS 6 YEARS AGO
I SET UP A 55 GAL SALT WATER TANK AND HAD NICE FISH IN IN IT A WEEK LATER
THE GUY AT THE SALT WATER PLACE ADVISED ME SET UP THE TANK USING LIVE SAND THAT THEY NOW SELL, SOME LIVE ROCK AND I ADDED THIS CHEMICAL THEY HAVE CALLED CYCLE WHICH CAN BE USED FOR SALT OR FRESH WATER ,MY TANK CYCLED IN A WEEK, NO LIE, COOLEST AND FAST, NEVER SEEN THAT BEFORE, I PUT IN A WEEK LATER A DOG PUFFER-CLOWN FISH AND A NASO TANG ANLL AT THE SAME TIME, A WEEK LATTER I ADDED A PANTHER GROUPER AND A SAIL FIN TANG, THERE DOING GREAT, WATER WATER A NEVER BEEN SO STABLE LIKE IT IS NOW