Hey there, new fish tank owner here, just got my first 20 gallon freshwater tank!

Not to be a total downer but I am already having problems (this is a lot harder than I thought it would be!). Right now I am having two problems that I'm hoping you all will be able to help me with. First and foremost, I made the mistake of reading the pamphlet that came with my Top Fin brand aquarium, which told me the cycle for a new tank is only a single day. After some research, I now realize it is a few weeks to get the biofilter started, and I've already now bought, and inadvertantly killed, some fish. If I had known, I would have just added ammonia manually until the biofilter started. I've been adding bacteria, but I dont want any more fish to die, so what can I do to speed up the process?

Second, of my four remaining fish (I have two eclipse catfish, one pleco, and one angelfish), my angelfish is having problems of its own. Today I found it is missing an entire fin :(. It wasn't missing before two days ago, and now its acting quite strangely. Here is a picture.
imm . io / ag4s (without the spaces)

Only the stub of the fin remains. I know they grow back but given the situation, would it be more humane just to euthanize him? He just swims in circles for five minutes, then lays on his side for five minutes, over and over until he gets stuck on the side of the filter intake and I have to pull him off. Poor guy...

Welcome, I'm a noob myself but I'm learning and this place is GREAT for answering questions. From what I've gathered, theres not much you can do to speed the process up...and you are supposed to have very hardy fish in there to begin the process. I'm not an expert but I dont think angelfish are considered very hardy. I hope you can fix him/her up though, poor thing!

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

You are going to have to take the 2 Eclipse Catfish back! They get huge and are semi-aggressive. (I mean huge!) And if it's a common Pleco you have, you'll have to take that back as well, because it will grow over 12" in length!

Once you've taken those 3 fish back to the store, you can start a fishless cycle, by manually adding ammonia. (Once the Angel is out of the tank of course.)

Angelfish are not suitable for a 20g tank. They need a 29g tank at minimum! I'm not sure if he's going to make it. You could put him in a quarantine tank where there's less water current and maybe add a bit of aquarium salt and raise the temp' a little bit. Other than that.... he's probably going to die from the stress of losing a fin and being in an un cycled tank.

I know you're new, and there's a lot to learn, so don't give up, but please, please PLEASE, research they type of fish that you can have in a 20g tank. (You can't fit as many in as you think you can.) Also research the adult size of the fish and whether or not they need to be in a group. Do NOT consider research as asking the people at Petsmart/Walmart, etc... if a fish is ok for your tank! They usually have NO clue what they're talking about and are just there to make money. Check out numerous websites on the type of fish you are looking at, ask people here on this forum about them, and even get a few books about tropical fish. Once you've checked out multiple sources, you can safely and responsibly make a decision as to whether you have the right sized tank and filtration system to properly house the fish that you want.

There's no way to rush the cycling of a tank, but fishless cycling tends to be a bit quicker, and you don't risk the health and lives of any fish.

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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

I did make the mistake of asking the petsmart people :(, they were the ones that recommended the eclipse and the pleco and the angelfish. What a mistake on my part. Do you have a recommendation on a website that is a little more accurate for research?

Also, as an update on the angelfish, he died over the course of last night. Its sad, but its probably for the best, because he REALLY wasn't doing well.

I think it is probably past the 2 week return limit on the catfish and pleco, but I will see if I can give them away on craigslist to a better home

In the meantime, did you happen to get a test kit to test your water? I am sure if you did at least a 25% water change now it would help things out.

I do have a text kit, and I'm doing weekly 25% water changes at the moment