Hi!

Im new here, and im also new to the whole aquarium hobby thingie so there is a lot I dont know so...here is my first question (of possible a million to come).

How much do I feed my fish?

I have a 6 gallon tank currently inhabited by 2 Ram cichlids and 3 Dwarf gouramis and I think I may be overfeeding them. I give them flake food 2 times a day, but im not sure about the quantity.

Any help please?

Generally, feed them tiny pinches until they've eaten for a minute or two. I feed my three platies two small pinches of ground flakes twice daily.

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.

Welcome to the site!

I hate to tell you, but you need to see if you can take some of those fish back. You have way too many fish in there. Providing the Dwarfs are all males, they will more than likely kill each other - better to get down to one, but I wouldn't put them in anything less than a 20g. The Rams are not suited for something that small either. All these fish will more than likely be dead inside 2wks. I would suggest 4-5 Neon/Cradinal Tetras and stop there.

How long have you had them? Have you tested for ammonia recently?

That is... disturbing to know considering the guy at the store assured me that they would be fine in that tank.

I´ve had them for 2 weeks actually and nothing has really happened, and no I havent tested for ammonia all I have done in the chemicals department is dechlorinate the water, also because the store guy told me that was all I needed to do.

Crap

So what do I do? Do I take them back?

Take them back and stop listening to that guy at the store, he just wants to sell fish and make money

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SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

Will do.

Thanks for all your help by the way

I have no doubt that eventually you'll start losing them. The Gouramis can breathe air, so maybe that has allowed them to live. I would take them back.

Agreed - sorry for the bad news.

Get a few Fresh Water Tropical Fish books and read up on some fish that you'd like to have. Search the internet as well, and ask people on good forums, such as this one, about any fish you intend to buy. That way, you'll know for sure if you have a suitable aquarium for them.

In a 6g I'd put a Betta and that's about it.... maybe a few snails - if you don't have an overly aggressive betta then the snails eyes and antenna should be ok.

When you do finally bring fish home, make sure the tank has been through the Nitrogen Cycle - you can search that on the forum. Liquid test kits are much better than strip tests. Strip tests are really inaccurate. Acclimate all fish slowly - there's a sticky on the forum about drip acclimation.

As for feeding, once a day is perfectly fine for many fish. I was always paranoid and fed mine twice a day... made for a messy tank. I now do once a day and everyone's still happy and healthy.

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

Haha I actually spoke out loud in disgust at that store clerk for giving you that information! I agree with Holly, if you are serious about getting in the aquarium hobby than learning all the ins and outs of the chemical goings-on in your mini eco-system (your tank) is extremely important. You will have a lot to learn, and unfortunately some things will come from trial and error, but it's important to keep working on it. We all have questions and this is a great place to get feed back.

A male betta would be a beautiful and correct way to start learning to properly care for a fish since they are hardy, cheap, and pretty. If you don't want a singular fish (since male bettas must be kept individually), I think 1-3 neon tetras OR guppies might also work in your small tank. You still wouldn't be able to get very many, but a couple might work.

I feed my fish a medium size pinch of flake food that I grind with my fingers by rubbing them together to make smaller pieces once a day. Then I slowly release the food just below the surface of the water in the current of the filter. I think this makes it more "fun" for the fish as they have to swim around for the food, plus it disperses it throughout the tank so they find some later if they don't get to it immediately. When I had a 10g tank I actually fed them half that amount every other day and they seemed perfectly content.

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IslandRzrbk

35g Planted Freshwater tank - 4 platies, 2 veiled angelfish (juvenile), 1 pictus catfish (juvenile), 1 golden Chinese algae eater (juvenile), 1 candy-striped plecostomas (juvenile), 1 female veiltail betta