I have tears from lauging so hard....

 

Poor guy..He def. did NOT like the tank cleaning..I used the self siphon gravel vaccum and was going for a few minutes just fine..then he just started freaking out..and so did I. the hose went from my bucket straight onto my computer monitor (D'OH). then i changed 50% of the water..and he didnt move at all for like an hour. i thought i killed him. now that its all done he seems happy to have a freshly cleaned tank. Ill reward him with some tasty goldfish! (ill make sure they live for atleast 2 weeks first) going to buy some tomorrow and put in a spare tank.

 

He likes Pepperidge Farm Goldfish too? I think the pizza flavor is my favorite.

 

Holy sheeiiiitt, piranha, that is a GREAT IDEA! I want one now, I'm so jealous!!!

 

Partial water changes

PARTIAL water changes.

Make sure you're only changing 1/3 of the water or less on evry water change, and that you do it often.
that way you remove just enough toxins from the water, but still give tha cleaning bacteria a chance to develop. If you change too much water at the same time, you're forcing the "new tank sysdrome" to re start itself all over again

Get a water testing kit and check the ammonia, nitrites and nitrate levels at least evry 2 days for the first month or so.

(Ammonia WILL Kill your fish, nitrite, and nitrate is what the bacteria will turn the ammonia into, which is not as harmful to the fish)

I gave my sister a 50 Gal tank fior her B-day, and currently have a 180 Gal tank at home. I'll post pictures later, to include of my filtering setup.

 

Go buy 'CYCLE' at the store, it is a bottle of bacteria that will seed your tank to get the nitrogen cycle to happen quicker, usually it takes two months, cycle will speed it up. You tank will become toxic if you haven't cycled it with cheap fish for a few months.

Read this:
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php

buy this:
http://www.aquariumguys.com/cycle8oz.html