And Now There Are Seven

For anyone thinking about getting a fish I recommend researching everything on the computer and DON'T go to Walmart to ask questions. It's not that Walmart didn't have good stuff, it is that the staff isn't well informed. I asked if we should set the tank up and then later get fish, she said no. I asked if 15 fish in this tank would be OK, she said yes. I asked about all the stuff Samantha wanted to put in it (2 plants, ship and castle) and if it was too much, she said no it would be fine. Well my research has shown that you should first set up the tank and then go get fish, no more than 2! After about a month you can add more fish. You shouldn't have too many things inside the tank at first to let the filter work properly. See, everything has something on it which produces ammonia and nitrite, if there is too much ammonia in the water the fish can not release the ammonia that they build in their body, which can kill them. You need to build up the nitrate, the good stuff, to fight the nitrite and ammonia....do I sound scientific yet, I feel like I learned more science in the last couple of days than I did in school. OK, so we had to take 80% of the water out and replace it with good water, we removed half the stuff Samantha wanted in the tank and let it run for a while, then we added the fish. The fish loved the new water and have been swimming like mad in the tank. Now, I hope that the fish make it. We will have to replace 20% of the water every other day for the next 2 weeks. I am thinking that fish are a lot of work and I said I wasn't going to help and here I am doing all this stuff. All I have to say in my defense is that when your baby, OK she is 7 but still my baby, is upset and wants you to save her fish you will do anything to make them happy!!