sea monkeys in tank gravel?

LeahK

LeahK

AC Members
Jul 5, 2007
972
1
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Iowa
Hi everyone,
Please forgive me for the laundry list of questions I'm about to post. I've got fish I inherited 2 months ago from a friend who was moving, and I've no idea whether I'm helping or harming them. I've never owned fish before, but she assured me it was easy... She had 2 goldfish and 2 gourami living in separate tanks; now, with me, they all live in one 10-gallon tank, and everyone seems to get along ok. The yellow gourami had some fuzz on it (which my friend said was its "normal growth") but I recently treated the tank with Maracyn, and the fuzz is better. Then, today, the blue gourami seemed stuck on the bottom of the tank; he tried to get up when I gave them their food, but he couldn't. I reached in and helped him up with my hand, and this actually seemed to help revive him. He's swimming ok now. But my friend told me not to feel bad if this one dies, because he's over 4 years old. Today, after worrying that he's going downhill, I decided to use the vacuum thing to clean the tank. My friend said she does this every 3 months, but I've been reading online and I see that some people do it much more frequently. (Although I've got a 20-gal filter for a 10-gal tank, so the water is very clean.) So anyway, I vacuumed up in the gravel, reducing the tank water to half, then refilled with bottled water, and added a teaspoon of Start Right. And, finally, leading to the issue that caused me to post today, when I looked in the bucket that I vacuumed the water into, there were little sea-monkey-looking-things in there. Like little shrimp, but really really tiny. I hate killing things, so my first impulse was to put them back in the tank, but is that ok? Do they hurt anything, or do they just hang out and probably get eaten as snacks by the fish? My friend used about half old tank water from the fishes' former tanks when setting up the new tank at my house, so I'm guessing the shrimp came from there, or from some live plants I bought for the tank. I know I have a snail in there that came from those plants. Is the snail ok to keep around? Again sorry for all these questions, but any advice on the gourami health issues, the sea monkeys, and snail would be greatly appreciated. And lastly, I see in these forums that people are always talking about ammonia, nitrate levels, etc, and I don't really know what all that's about. Should I test my tank, and what am I looking for if I do? Thanks so much for helping me out.
 
kill the snails, you sometimes get pesticides with plants for LFS.
secondly the shrimp are probably from feeding her old fish unless... are they alive because shrimp are salt water and can live up to 12 hours in tropical water. so if they are alive idk, i would probably take a picture to see if they are actually shrimp...
lukee
 
The golfish and gourami can't live together, they both have very different needs. The goldfish will need a much much larger tank than a 10 gallon and prefer cooler water than the gouramis.
 
Not to mention the gourami are likely to bully the goldies to death in such a small tank.
 
And that because the tank has double the filtration, it doesn't mean you can go longer on the water changes. That being said, if you are going to start trying to get on the correct path, you will need to get a bigger tank for the goldies and start making your water changes slowly. I would go as far as to say 5%-10% every 4 days.
Next issue is the goldfish. You don't indicate what kind of goldfish they are and this is an issue because the rounded bodied goldfish have different needs than the streamlined ones. The streamlined ones or ones that look like feeders need a lot of room due to their nature, their bioload, and their growth. The can grow anywhere from 1 to 2 feet if allowed. The smallest tank for them, I would go as far as to say a 75 gallon would make it nice and roomy for them though they are probably better off in a pond of someone you know, not a wild one.

The rouded bodied ones can go to a more limited tank because of their slower movements and smaller more compacted bodies, however, I would go with nothing less than a 30 gallon at the very least for 2 of them.
 
LeahK said:
Hi everyone,
Please forgive me for the laundry list of questions I'm about to post. I've got fish I inherited 2 months ago from a friend who was moving, and I've no idea whether I'm helping or harming them. I've never owned fish before, but she assured me it was easy... She had 2 goldfish and 2 gourami living in separate tanks; now, with me, they all live in one 10-gallon tank, and everyone seems to get along ok. The yellow gourami had some fuzz on it (which my friend said was its "normal growth") but I recently treated the tank with Maracyn, and the fuzz is better. Then, today, the blue gourami seemed stuck on the bottom of the tank; he tried to get up when I gave them their food, but he couldn't. I reached in and helped him up with my hand, and this actually seemed to help revive him. He's swimming ok now. But my friend told me not to feel bad if this one dies, because he's over 4 years old. Today, after worrying that he's going downhill, I decided to use the vacuum thing to clean the tank. My friend said she does this every 3 months, but I've been reading online and I see that some people do it much more frequently. (Although I've got a 20-gal filter for a 10-gal tank, so the water is very clean.) So anyway, I vacuumed up in the gravel, reducing the tank water to half, then refilled with bottled water, and added a teaspoon of Start Right. And, finally, leading to the issue that caused me to post today, when I looked in the bucket that I vacuumed the water into, there were little sea-monkey-looking-things in there. Like little shrimp, but really really tiny. I hate killing things, so my first impulse was to put them back in the tank, but is that ok? Do they hurt anything, or do they just hang out and probably get eaten as snacks by the fish? My friend used about half old tank water from the fishes' former tanks when setting up the new tank at my house, so I'm guessing the shrimp came from there, or from some live plants I bought for the tank. I know I have a snail in there that came from those plants. Is the snail ok to keep around? Again sorry for all these questions, but any advice on the gourami health issues, the sea monkeys, and snail would be greatly appreciated. And lastly, I see in these forums that people are always talking about ammonia, nitrate levels, etc, and I don't really know what all that's about. Should I test my tank, and what am I looking for if I do? Thanks so much for helping me out.
Click to expand...

:welcome: to AC!!!

Wow.... Good for you for trying to do right by the fish! A couple things (all meant constructively). The Gourami & Goldfish can't live together. They may seem fine, but they have completely different water requirements. They may be ok for awhile, but their lifespans may be shortened and you don't seem like one that would think that's ok. I'd say to choose either and take the others to your local fish shop (LFS). As far as the filter goes, you can't have enough. Ignore the "rated" values. The only limit is the current (Gourami like fairly "stagnant" water). If you really want happy fish get a liquid test kit and do water changes! Once a week with replacement water treated with Prime. You're off to a great start by being here. There are alot of folks much more experienced than I am that freely give great advice. Best of luck to you and your fishies!
 
Well, the "shrimp" are definitely alive. They're darting around in the bucket I vacuumed the water into. They must have been in the tank for at least 6 weeks if they came with the plants, and for about 2 months if they came with the old tank water. So, whatever they are, they must be freshwater creatures. Maybe some kind of bug? I tried taking a photo, but they're too little to see.
As for the gourami and goldfish living together, they've been ok so far--they each eat their own food, not each other's, and they don't fight. As for the temperature for the goldfish, how would I regulate it? I live in Hawaii and have no air conditioning, but the temperature here is mild all year long. But, this 4-fish-in-one-tank-thing is sort of an issue for me--I have a very small apartment with no room for 2 tanks (thus switch to the 10-gallon one), and I told my friend initially that I didn't want these fish, because I have neither the room nor the monetary resources to adequately take care of them (broke grad student, that's me). But now I've got them, and I want to do the best I can. Would you advise me to try and give the gourami to someone else, who can put them in their own tank? Both gourami are over 4 years old, and like I said, as of this morning the blue one seems to be passing away. He's laying on his side on the bottom of the tank. It's kind of sad, and I'm not sure if maybe I shouldn't try to find a better home for them all, since I can't afford another tank. What do you think?
 
I agree, they will suffer in a 10 gallon.
 
:iagree:

Goldfish require colder water and in your situation, the Gourami would be the better "keepers".
 
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