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I plan to buy a few feeder fish very soon (by the end of the week) for the kids and I don't want to drown them like I did the last feeder fish. : /

So what do I do? Obviously I can't just put them in separate toppleware containers with faucet water, 'cause I've learned from that mistake. Do I use distilled water? Or was it not acclamating the fish that killed them?

And when I'm done cleaning the tank, which I also have to do by the end of the week, do I wait about 24 hours before I put the fish back in?

By the way, I plan on getting Pleco, guppies, and maybe some rosy reds. I don't know if these fish are more or less sensitive to tap water.

Edit: Also, instead of posting another thread, one of my turtles is getting heavy and sinking the dock if she lays on it. I don't want her to get shell rot...what should I do?

I brought home 3 rosy reds yesterday and put them in tap water. I let the bag float in the water so they'd be the same temp., but that was it. One was dead this morning but that may have been from the rough car trip. The other two were fine... until I put them in the turtle tank. Now one's in Petri's tummy and the other one is probably having a panic attack.
You should be able to put the fish in the tank right away. The turtles are in it, right?
For the dock... get something bigger/stronger/floatier. I have a plastic shower organizer with a rock on it. The only problem I have is that it doesn't level itself with the water, so I have to watch for evaporation.

I do the same thing with my feeder fish, although I've not gotten any in awhile. They've had a buddy since this summer so I'm not going out and buying more when they won't even try to catch the one that's in there. I just acclimate them to the water temp and in they go.

For the turtle dock, you need a larger one. There are a number of them out there commerically, or you can browse through the photo gallery for ones that others have made.

With my fish, in the tank they go with the turtle. And when I cleaned the tank last week. I took some water out of the tank, caught the fish, and put them in their old water. After I got done finishing up the tank, and filling it with new water, I dumped that old water and the fish back into the tank as well (it wasn't much old water..just enough for the fish to move in) and none have died.

I purchased the largest Zoomed dock and it sank when my RES went on it. I went with a home-made basking area (pvc pipe and ceramic tiles) and it has worked out pretty well. There should be some pics of it in the Gallery.

All right...maybe those fish had just been sensitive, I guess. They were those little feeder fish that the people at the pet store scoop up and shove in a little bag for you. : /

But I think I'll end up making my own dock. I know what measurements I need and such, and I don't think a commercial dock will cut it.

Thanks!

I leave my fish in the tank when I do my cleaning. Instead of trying to catch the guppies, which would take me forever, I just make sure to leave enough water in there that they will be ok. With fish, it is my understanding that you shouldn't do 100% water changes anyway, so at least they are keeping some of the same water.