Which Is The Best Fish To Put In New Tank First

[Paradese]

Thanks for all your comments guys!! and Im a she by the way lol

I'm planning to get my first fishes today. I did also hear that tetras were water sensitive this is why i thought it would be 'safer' to go with danios but i do prefer neons and thats what i wanted originally but though the danios were a less risky choice for my first fish.

I think i will take your advice and ask in my local store what is sucessful in our water type although i have used water safe guard to clean the water so any harmful chemicals should be removed now.

it really is a hard decision to make.....

 

[dwarfgourami]

You need to read up on cycling a tank as an urgent priority! Excellent pinned topics above. Once you add fish to a tank, they will be adding harmful chemicals of their own in the shape of ammonia, and the dechlorinator won't do anything about that. Eventually beneficial bacteria will grow that will convert this into nitrites (also harmful) and then into nitrates (harmless), but this process is completed the fish are basically swimming in toxins. This is why only a few fish are recommended to start a tank- and neons are certainly not among them. To cycle a tank you need c. 1 inch of fish/gallon of water. You need to keep a careful eye on ammonia and nitrites (buy a test kit and test daily) and be prepared to do partial water changes (with dechlorinated water) whenever they go up above 0.5 ppm.

However, it has been discovered that the whole process can be simulated by adding drops of liquid ammonia (the stuff you use for cleaning) to the tank and not adding the fish until the bacteria have grown; this is known as the fishless cycle. It takes a few weeks, which means you have to be patient until you add fish, but it saves wear and tear on the fish.

If you've already bought your fish, then obviously you can;'t do a fishless cycle, so you need to concentrate on keeping ammonia and nitrites under control, and not add more fish for the next 4-6 weeks.

 

[MaNkiND]

He said he already cycled the tank, so dont worry about that. Yes, neons are very delicate fish, but you have to remeber if you put danios in it. Lets say about 6 you probaly would be able to add 1-2 more fish and since danios are very active i woulndt reccomend it. Go for the fish that you want, dont think of the "easier fish to maintain" idea. Once you choose your fish you will automatically take care of them. Tetras can survive and are hardy so keep that in mind.

 

[Asmp41]

You need to read up on cycling a tank as an urgent priority! Excellent pinned topics above. Once you add fish to a tank, they will be adding harmful chemicals of their own in the shape of ammonia, and the dechlorinator won't do anything about that. Eventually beneficial bacteria will grow that will convert this into nitrites (also harmful) and then into nitrates (harmless), but this process is completed the fish are basically swimming in toxins. This is why only a few fish are recommended to start a tank- and neons are certainly not among them. To cycle a tank you need c. 1 inch of fish/gallon of water. You need to keep a careful eye on ammonia and nitrites (buy a test kit and test daily) and be prepared to do partial water changes (with dechlorinated water) whenever they go up above 0.5 ppm.

However, it has been discovered that the whole process can be simulated by adding drops of liquid ammonia (the stuff you use for cleaning) to the tank and not adding the fish until the bacteria have grown; this is known as the fishless cycle. It takes a few weeks, which means you have to be patient until you add fish, but it saves wear and tear on the fish.

If you've already bought your fish, then obviously you can;'t do a fishless cycle, so you need to concentrate on keeping ammonia and nitrites under control, and not add more fish for the next 4-6 weeks.

Recommended here and the all survive in hard water. All the lfs here recommend them.

 

[adam98150]

Have you completed a fishless cycle? If so, your choice.

If not? the tetras are very sensitive fish and wont' survive a cycle, but zebra danios usually make it.

Its true that the tetras are sensitive fish, but can still survive a cycle if cared for properly.I started off with five neons to start my cycle, and they managed to get through it with no signs of stress.

 

[dwarfgourami]

The problem with neons is that they are massproduced. Now and then you may well come across a batch of fish with something resembling their original strength and fitness, but sadly this can no longer be relied on. This is why they are not usually recommended for cycling; it's rather a gamble. Same reason guppies are no longer recommended; there are hardy guppies out there, but also an awful lot that are not.

 

[adam98150]

Yeah mine were also very small when i got them, and still managed to survive.

 

[Asmp41]

I still believe and maybe wrong but fish live in different conditions once bred in captivity etc. The Ph of Hertford is not the same as in West Lothian Scotland. I am not a fish but now just take a bath have a cup of tea in these areas and you'll find out for yourself.
I also think different areas use different gravel at the botom plus bog wood etc change things too.
Some Neons and most in my area survive but I cannot keep Platies(sp) for the life of me they all get white spot and they have never got on yet my mate in scotland cannot keep neons and has bred her Platies.
In the lfs Aquararium by Interpet they say Black Mollies p41 Gina Sandford.
It depends also if you want to keep livebearers afterwards.
Neons are plentiful, cheap and inexpensive and can be bred in your tank.So those would not be a bad choice rather than say something that is expensive and cannot be reproduced etc.
I didn't lose them but for some it can be fatal. Hope your choice does well.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I still believe and maybe wrong but fish live in different conditions once bred in captivity etc. The Ph of Hertford is not the same as in West Lothian Scotland. I am not a fish but now just take a bath have a cup of tea in these areas and you'll find out for yourself.
I also think different areas use different gravel at the botom plus bog wood etc change things too.
Some Neons and most in my area survive but I cannot keep Platies(sp) for the life of me they all get white spot and they have never got on yet my mate in scotland cannot keep neons and has bred her Platies.
In the lfs Aquararium by Interpet they say Black Mollies p41 Gina Sandford.
It depends also if you want to keep livebearers afterwards.
Neons are plentiful, cheap and inexpensive and can be bred in your tank.So those would not be a bad choice rather than say something that is expensive and cannot be reproduced etc.
I didn't lose them but for some it can be fatal. Hope your choice does well.

You have a good point, in that neons and livebearers have different ph preferences. If you are successfully breeding neons, then clearly your water must be quite soft and acidic, which will definitely work in favour of tetras. Most people find it quite difficult to breed neons in home aquaria. (I wouldn't say there is a lot of skill involved in breeding platies, most of us find it harder to stop them breeding!).

However, for most people cycling a tank the crucial point is not ph, but how good the fish is at coping with raised levels of ammonia and nitrites. This is where neons often (not always) struggle, due partly to genetic problems.

Ordinary aquarium gravel should not affect the water stats, and bogwood IME makes some difference but not an enormous amount.

 

[Asmp41]

I still believe and maybe wrong but fish live in different conditions once bred in captivity etc. The Ph of Hertford is not the same as in West Lothian Scotland. I am not a fish but now just take a bath have a cup of tea in these areas and you'll find out for yourself.
I also think different areas use different gravel at the botom plus bog wood etc change things too.
Some Neons and most in my area survive but I cannot keep Platies(sp) for the life of me they all get white spot and they have never got on yet my mate in scotland cannot keep neons and has bred her Platies.
In the lfs Aquararium by Interpet they say Black Mollies p41 Gina Sandford.
It depends also if you want to keep livebearers afterwards.
Neons are plentiful, cheap and inexpensive and can be bred in your tank.So those would not be a bad choice rather than say something that is expensive and cannot be reproduced etc.
I didn't lose them but for some it can be fatal. Hope your choice does well.

You have a good point, in that neons and livebearers have different ph preferences. If you are successfully breeding neons, then clearly your water must be quite soft and acidic, which will definitely work in favour of tetras. Most people find it quite difficult to breed neons in home aquaria. (I wouldn't say there is a lot of skill involved in breeding platies, most of us find it harder to stop them breeding!).

However, for most people cycling a tank the crucial point is not ph, but how good the fish is at coping with raised levels of ammonia and nitrites. This is where neons often (not always) struggle, due partly to genetic problems.

Ordinary aquarium gravel should not affect the water stats, and bogwood IME makes some difference but not an enormous amount.

OkayI think we are getting into a debate that well you'll win from experience.
We have hard water here definately too hard to keep neons.
So they cycle our tanks great. another taboo.
To get my Ph down I am told use Bogwood etc and watch the gravel too as this changes things.

Despite that I am Quoting me saying
"What in your particuliar area works may not in another and can go against the rule".
I guess our Neons are tough to stand the water in the first place.
I also thought that if Ph levels were different it altered the Ammonia levels. I have no Chemistry byond school o'level so out of my qualifications to explain.

Guys I am no expert only saying what works here for me in my hometown. The books says black mollies and well I can't keep those a day never mind a week ? Why I have tried twice and both died.
They dont like good water only bad? schooling fish dead on the way home ??


Have fun the guy who is choosing the fish for his cycle as you can see it can cause a debate but hey I repeat ignore my two pennyworth read what all have to say research and it is a to me a bit of trial and error even for the best of us.

 

[dwarfgourami]

You're not the only one who's finding black mollies hard to keep, Aspm41; I gave up on them years ago. White spot, white spot and more white spot. I always thought it was because I was living in a soft water area at the time, possibly the individuals I bought may even have been bred in brackish, but nobody told me at the time. Though there is no guaranteeing I'd do better in the hard waters of southern England- I've lost my nerve to try!

It is true (apparently) that ammonia is made more toxic in hard water, but any cycling tank is going to have unhealthy amounts of ammonia- which is why my choice is always going to be the little bottle of household ammonia from the chemist rather than any cycling fish. After cycling fishless, there is a vast choice of fish to add to a tank. Most fish are hardy enough to go in without problems.

Have you actually got experience of breeding neons? I'd be quite interested to hear about it, it's one of those things I've read up about, but it sounds quite complicated, and I can't afford the R.O. unit anyway atm.

 

[catfish00]

neons,guppys,and mollies and mabye a clown loach

 

[arobinson1984]

neons,guppys,and mollies and mabye a clown loach

I hope this isn't a stocking suggestion for paradese?

There is no way you can keep a clown loach in a 64L tank! They need 350/400L minimum and grow to around 12"

Also to paradese, can you please state how you cycled your tank?

Andy