Tank Upgrade...Stat!

Ten days after my ten gallon had been fully setup, I came home to find Adler missing.

I moved my large house decoration and found her dead.  Fancies can be in cold water, gradually.  Adler had been in a pet store whose water was kept in the lower to mid seventies. My water was in the high sixties. I believe the cold water and new tank syndrome lead to her demise.

The cloudy water in my ten gallon was gone by the end of week three but my soul survivor seemed to be bored and not nearly as active as he use to be.

I decided I wanted to go with fancies and knew I needed a bigger tank.  I ended up purchasing a 36 gallon Aqueon Bow Front kit (included a filter rated for 40 gallons, a heater, hood, and lights).  I used the gravel from my ten gallon tank and added a five pound bag of gravel to my newest tank. I also used the same air bubble wand and air pump (which failed as it was only rated for ten gallons. I ended up purchasing a two valve air pump rated for up to 60 gallons).  I set this tank up and cycled it with QuickStart for a week before acclimating Watson to the new tank. The heater was set in the low seventies. 

In hind sight, I would have let the tank go a month with fishless cycling as four days later I had new tank syndrome again, although not as severe. It takes anywhere from four to six weeks for a new tank to be completely cycled. I found the best way to know if your tank is truly cycled is by testing the water for Amonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates.  In a perfectly cycled tank, Amonia and Nitrite levels should remain at 0 ppm.

A week passed before I brought home an orange and white fantail, who would become to be known as Sparrow three months later. Sparrow and Watson seemed to hit it off even though Sparrow was slower moving than Watson.   Watson loved having more space. I thought, finally my boys are doing good.

Then I became even more addicted. I saw an orange and black fantail at the pet store when I purchased Sparrow and really wanted him. I resisted for a week before my will power subsided.  I told myself that I would go to the store and see if he was still there. He was, and I ended up purchasing him. 

Worried about the biological load on my 36 gallon tank with my one filter rated for 40 gallons and now three fish, I purchased a cheap Marineland filter rated for 25 gallons to be run in conjunction with my other filter to give my tank additional filtration.  Each of my fish was under 1.5 inches with Jack (the orange and black fantail) being the largest closely followed by Watson.

I saw a RIP decoration at the store and purchased it in memory of Holmes and Adler.