grammies

Question
I HOPE I AM SPELLING THIS CORRECTLY. I HAVE 2 LARGE GRAMMIES' LEFT IN
MY 150 GALLON TANK. THE TANK WAS HERE WHEN WE MOVED IN. IT WAS
BUILT INTO THE WALL. ORIGINALLY THE TANK HAD A LARGE VARIETY OF
FRESH WATER FISH. SINCE WE HAVE MOVED IN ALL OF THE OTHER FISH HAVE
DIED EXCEPT THE TWO GRAMMIES. THEY HAVE GROWN TO THE SIZE OF
APPROXIMATELY 12 TO 15 INCHES EACH. BECAUSE I THOUGHT MY HUSBAND
WAS OVERFEEDING THEM. I BANNED HIM FROM THE FISHTANK AND CALLED
IN SOME PROFESSIONALS. THEY HAVE BEEN ATTEMPTING TO GET THE WATER
PH CORRECTED OVER THE LAST FOUR MONTHS. THIS LAST VISIT THEY SAID
THAT WE REALLY NEED TO GET THE GROMMIES OUT OF THE TANK AND
START OVER THEY ALSO SAID THE FISH ARE STRESSED BECAUSE THEY DON'T
REALLY HAVE ENOUGH ROOM AND THEY REALLY NEED A MUCH LARGER
TANK. NOT KNOWING TOO MUCH ABOUT FISH. I WOULD LIKE YOUR OPINION.
I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM STARTING OVER AND MY HUSBAND HAS FINALLY
AGREED. BUT WHAT DO WE DO WITH THESE 2 HUGE FISH. WILL THESE FISH
SURVIVE IN A COY POND?
THANKS
KATHY

Answer
Hi Kathy
Lol, at first I thought, why am I getting a grandma question, that's what my kids called my mom :)  It's GOURAMIS.  Wow you're lucky, that sounds so neat to have a tank built into the wall.  I've considered doing that before at my old house, but never got too motivated to actually do it.  And, it's a large tank you have, so that's good.  Let me post a picture for you, this is most likely what type the fish is:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=968

Now....I have a few problems with what those professionals are telling you and what they're doing.  First, that size tank is more then large enough for those 2 fish.  You have enough room in that large tank to add a quite a few more fish as well, not necessarily large fish like that, but definitely smaller to medium(6 inch) sized fish.  If you want to keep them, I would!  No need to start over, really that makes no sense at all.  I wouldn't recommend putting them in a pond with koi.  

The second problem, they shouldn't be messing with the ph.  Most fish will do just fine in a ph range of 6.0-8.0 with no problems.  The only time I'd recommend adjusting ph, is if you're keeping sensitive fish like discus, angels, German rams.  And being new to the hobby, I wouldn't recommend you start out keeping those types of fish.  I would start researching online(and I"ll post some links for you) about everything and anything to do with caring for fish, and drop the professionals.  The problem that happens when you start altering ph, if it's done correctly, the ph will crash or shoot back up to where it was originally-causing ph shock or death to the fish.  Tell them to just leave the ph alone.  I don't know why pet stores and some people insist on altering ph......

For feeding the fish, I recommend once a day, what the fish will eat in 5 minutes.  Then scoop out any leftovers.

Some things you should get, if you don't have them already, a good test kit.  There's 2 kinds, a liquid dropper and a dipstick.  The liquid kind is much more accurate and better.  API makes one, and it tests the water for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and ph.  Another thing, for that size tank I'd recommend getting a gravel vacuum called a Python for water changes.  It hooks up to the sink, and the suction sucks the water and debri in the gravel/substrate out into the sink.  Then, when it's time to fill it back up, you flip the nozzle and it adds the water directly from the tap back into the tank.  

If you're on city water, you'll also need to pick up some dechlorinator to remove chlorine and chloramines from the tap water.  I use and recommend a product called Prime by Seachem.  It's about 9.00 a bottle, but a bottle lasts for 2500 gallons worth of changes.  There's other products that work as well, but that's the best value for the money.  

I usually recommend for a normally stocked tank, changing out about 25% of the water once a week.  Weekly water changes are important to do, because you're helping to remove toxins(ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates)and help to dilute them as well, and the water changes add needed minerals the fish need back into the water.  With your size tank, I'd say the 20-25% range once a week is good.

Here's some links to start.  This first one talks about cycling a fish tank.  This really doesn't apply to you, because your tank is set up and established.  But, it's important to know the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate process because it falls into with doing the weekly water changes and monitoring those levels.  9 times out of 10, when there's a problem with fish being sick or fish dying, it's due to water quality.

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/startupcycle/Step_5_The_Cycle.htm

It sounds like a lot of work to keep up a fish tank, but once you understand everything involved, it's not that big of a deal really.  So don't get intimidated or discouraged.  Just takes some patience.  I have 8 tanks now and a small pond, and I change the water out once a week, takes me about an hour.  And most of that time is chasing the dogs or my daughter away from the tubes so water doesn't end up everywhere :)  Here's some more links, most are fish forums.  Just read through, most have sections for those new to fish tanks and fish.  You usually need to register there to ask a question, and they're all reliable, no spam emails get sent.  And also feel free to ask me or other experts here a question anytime!  I've been keeping fish for about 8 years now, made lots of mistakes in the beginning....I just did a lot of reading and that's where I learned everything I know, and still learning more everyday.  Also, another piece of advice, there's lots of good pet stores out there, but unfortunately there's a lot that aren't that great and will give you poor advice or very misguided advice.  I'd recommend if you have a question, ask here or somewhere else online before buying anything fish related.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/

http://www.aquariumboard.com/

On this site, on the left there's more topics and there's a search box at the type.  

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/maintenance/Maintenance.htm

And also just do a search on google or whatever, type in fish tank care, or something like that.  There's lots of info out there, and again, you can always ask here too!

Hope that helps!  Let me know if you have more questions.

Christy