Hi fish lovers!

[pragmatic]

My name is Charlene and I'm new to this forum. Ever since I was a kid I've been fascinated by fish but never kept anything more than a betta. Now that I'm in college, I decided it would be fun to dive into the hobby myself. In November of 2018 I started my first aquarium, a 50 gallon freshwater tank. Soon after I also started a 25 gallon aquarium.

I'm excited to meet you all and to learn more about fishkeeping!

 

[Guppylover3x]

My name is Charlene and I'm new to this forum. Ever since I was a kid I've been fascinated by fish but never kept anything more than a betta. Now that I'm in college, I decided it would be fun to dive into the hobby myself. In November of 2018 I started my first aquarium, a 50 gallon freshwater tank. Soon after I also started a 25 gallon aquarium.

I'm excited to meet you all and to learn more about fishkeeping!

Hello and welcome to the forum
There’s lots of nice people here and so much to learn.

 

[fishperson100]

Welcome! Good luck on your tank! What fish are you keeping (or planning to keep) in it?

 

[pragmatic]

Welcome! Good luck on your tank! What fish are you keeping (or planning to keep) in it?

Thanks! This is my current setup:

50 gal long (48" x 12.5" x 19"), Marineland 350 Bio Wheel:
2 koi angelfish
1 German blue ram
1 dalmatian molly
3 julii corydoras
1 bamboo shrimp
6 lemon tetra

25 gal (29.5" x 12.5" x 16"), Marineland 200 Bio Wheel:
11 guppies
3 platys
1 German blue ram
2 ghost shrimp

I actually just posted a question in the Tropical Discussion forum about my angelfish. They have been laying eggs but I can't tell if they're both female or 1 female and 1 male.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

What is the GH (general hardness) and pH of your water supply. This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

------------------------
Have you tried putting your blue rams together instead of having 1 in each tank?
If they get along you would have more space in the smaller tank for the guppies and platies. You could then set up the small tank with hard water for livebearers, and have tetras, angels and other soft water fishes in the bigger tank.

You should get 3 more Julii catfish so you have a group of 6. They prefer to be in groups.

------------------------
You can get round/ cylindrical sponges for some types of internal power filter. These cylindrical sponges have a hole through the centre of them and usually fit over the intake strainer of external power filter and provide additional filtration as well as helping stop small fish and shrimp being sucked into the filter.

 

[pragmatic]

Hello and welcome to the forum
There’s lots of nice people here and so much to learn.

Hi and welcome to the forum

What is the GH (general hardness) and pH of your water supply. This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

------------------------
Have you tried putting your blue rams together instead of having 1 in each tank?
If they get along you would have more space in the smaller tank for the guppies and platies. You could then set up the small tank with hard water for livebearers, and have tetras, angels and other soft water fishes in the bigger tank.

You should get 3 more Julii catfish so you have a group of 6. They prefer to be in groups.

------------------------
You can get round/ cylindrical sponges for some types of internal power filter. These cylindrical sponges have a hole through the centre of them and usually fit over the intake strainer of external power filter and provide additional filtration as well as helping stop small fish and shrimp being sucked into the filter.

I have the API test kit. It says my pH is 8.0. I'll look into figuring out my GH level.

I have purchased 8 corys over the past few months but only 3 remain. These are the only fish I have lost so far. I've been reading and it seems like they prefer softer water, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to be changing the ph of my tank as I've heard it's better to have a constant ph. Should I get driftwood?

I purchased both rams together and fully intended on housing them both in the 50 gal. However, the more dominant male was constantly harassing the other male and it was stressing me out too much to watch (and I'm sure the ram!) so I had to separate them.

 

[Colin_T]

It's preferable not to change the pH unless you can guarantee it is stabile afterwards, and this can be hard to do when lowering it.

Driftwood is unlikely to change the pH but it can turn the water yellow from tannins released by the wood. Tannins are harmless and nothing to worry about.

Angelfish, rams, Corydoas and tetras normally occur in soft water with a GH below 150ppm.
Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies) naturally occur in harder water with a GH around 200 (250ppm for mollies).

---------------------
Gotcha on the rams fighting. If you want a pr (male & female) of rams, buy a group of 6-10 and put them together in a tank. Let them pr off naturally and then move that pr to another tank or remove the other fish. Alternatively, see if 2 fish have paired up at the pet shop and get them.

If you're not interested in breeding them, just leave it as is.