Abouttina quiao Expertise I can answer all questions about chemistry of water and I would say, I am familiar with almost all diseases of fresh and saltwater fish. I have had my 125 tropical salt and 45 agressive for yrs. I managed a petshop for five years and I am a petcare specialist for a large petchain now. I love my animals. I love this kind of work. Helping people keep their fish sucessfully is so rewarding to me.
Experience I managed a petshop in Bridgeton called Petpourri for about 5 years...I am a petcare specialist for a large pet chain. I have 2 African greys, a Nandey conure,a potbelly pig, 2 rats and a hamster. Oh and did I mention a 125 tropical salt and a 45 agressive salt. I have had brakish and fresh. I am very familiar with disese and chemistry of your tank. I also have 2 senegul chameleons and the anoles that live in the bottom of their 37 high tank. We keep tons of reptiles at the store and keep a couple as pets love them all. I have worked in the pet business for yrs.....along with taking care of all of mine.
Expert: tina quiao Date: 3/30/2008 Subject: are my fish in shock?
Question I bought a 20 gallon tank last week and I filled it Immediately with water and started the tank running. I have a heater and a filter and treated the water. However I did not test the water. A week later i bought two balla sharks and put them into the tank. The water temperature is at 82-84F OR 28-29C and i let them sit in the fish bag in the tank for 2 hours before letting them out to make sure they would not go into shock. However when I let them in they swam right to the bottom and were twitching and acting very funny. Now im afraid they may be in shock anyways. I don't think its nitrate shock as the water is very fresh. I fed them about 4 hours after releasing them into the tank and they ate well. I'm stumped what could be wrong. Do you have any idea what may be wrong?
Answer Kiley, Number one bring the temp down to 76 to 78 degrees. The worst thing to put into a new tank a bala sharks. They are very sensitive. They will probably not make it through your (new tank syndrome) nitrogen cycle. Your tank is way to small for balas. You need at least 55 gallons of water to maintain them. Go get some cheap fish to cycle out your tank. In your size tank I would go with a few semi aggressive like silver dollars or gouramis or tropical community fish. Good Luck, Tina
