HELP!!! I have questions....In need of answers!

[newb]

Re: HELP!!! I have questions....In need of answers!

Basically, yeah. roughly(ballpark figure) what would that cost me?

[Delock]

Re: HELP!!! I have questions....In need of answers!

Hmm

Anywhere from food and drinks to a few hundred.

But you may want to look at some tanks and do it yourself!

[newb]

Re: HELP!!! I have questions....In need of answers!

maybe i will do it myself!!! Im a college student...I dont have that much cash layin around.

[Delock]

Re: HELP!!! I have questions....In need of answers!

[Zulaab]

Re: HELP!!! I have questions....In need of answers!

newb,

I would recommend doing it yourself if you can.
Changing the tank out to a 55/75/90 gallon tank will be the best you can do.  The reason you are seeing continued bacteria bloom is because there high amounts of Ammonia/Nitrites in your tank and the bacteria cannot cope with it all right now.
A Whisper 20 is WAY to small for the kind of fish you have.  I recommend if you go buy another HOB (hang on the back) filter, get a minimum of a Aquaclear 50 for a 20 gallon tank.  It will give you enough filtration, but if you get a 55 get two AC110's.   With a 75 or 90 gallon tank (instead of being 13" deep they are 18" deep) and the 90 is taller than the 75 basically.
You can still use two AC110's but you would better off at that point to get a larger canister filter in there.   There are many to choose between.

On craigslist there are SEVERAL 55/75's (one 90) anywhere from complete to stand+tank.  I would not spend more than $200 for a tank+stand.  What ever you do I would recommend strongly since you have no other tank to work around get a setup without fish included, because there will be fish in there 99% guaranteed you dont want.  When looking for a tank/stand combo hope for the best when it comes to accessories but be ready to spend more money on getting other things for your tank.   IF you decide to go this route, get the tank home and set it up where you want.  Then list here what equipment you got with the setup and the community can tell you quickly what else you need to get.  Many of us potentially have these items for sale and can sell you at a substantial savings over new purchases, and if necessary can tell you where to travel to, to find the best prices for accessories you dont have.  By setting up your tank correctly, the first time you will have much less of the problems you see today.   Several of us have tank and pictures of tanks online which you can look at and see how they are decorated, some have expensive decorations styles and (like me) have a much less expensive way of putting decorations into their tanks and still looks great.

Leslie's pool supply sells their pool filter sand in 50lbs bags...  You will need 1 bag for a 55 and 1.5-2 bags for a 75/90 (2 bags will give you about 2.5-3" substrate layer)

Rocks -- holey rocks are cool, but also take the time to look at Mexican Pebble rocks as it will give you a more natural look of Lake Malawi.  See pictures of Delock's tank or imageekgirl / guy who have a tank setup with Mexican pebble rocks.

For Lake Malawi, look for a filtration system that will do a minimum of 4x tank size for your best results.  I have listed above what I think are good hang on the back filters, but if you exceed a 55 gallon tank I am going to say get at least a canister filter involved because you want the extra flow rates that they give over a hang on the back filter.

Lighting, add lighting that should be calculated as minimum 4x watts per inch tall your tank is.  Good lighting basically double it..  Strong lighting triple it.
(many will tell you a million things but this seems to work well for NON-planted tanks)
Ie 55g tank = 21" tall = 84watts, 75g = 22" tall = 88watts, 90g = 26" tall = 104watts of lighting.
I had 108watts of lighting over my 75 which I found was nice..   I am about to setup a 110 (30" tall) and I will be using 216watts of lighting when set it up.

I know I repeated myself here and I saw you returned the Red Jewel.   Right now until you get another tank up and running dont get more fish.  Once you get a bigger tank get some more fish a week/two weeks later..  Then your fish will have a much easier time adjusting.

Ask questions.. we are here to help you :)
Keep smiling :)
Jesper

[newb]

Re: HELP!!! I have questions....In need of answers!

thank you for your time and help. if i encounter anymore problems I will definately post a forum like this cause it has been very resourceful.  

[Zulaab]

Re: HELP!!! I have questions....In need of answers!

I am glad you like us :)  Please post pictures down the road :)  We all love pictures :)   Again welcome to by far the best forum for Houston Area Freshwater Aquatics :)