Beginner Fish Keeper With 100 Litre Tank

[Vail3r]

Well hello,

I have been reading on here for a few weeks now and have been finding lots of useful info.

I did not manage to do a fishless cycle as obviously I made the mistake of listening to the LFS, but I have read on here and understand everything so I don't need any help with that as of yet!!

Only fish I currently have are 4 Guppies.

Now I did have 2 shrimps, one small fire shrimp and a glass shrimp BUT I went in the LFS and they had some crabs, and they told me everything would be great so I bought one as it looks so amazingly cool.. Anyway it ate the glass shrimp.. Whoops!


So am I right in thinking that it's possibly going to eat the other one and possibly the fish when they sleep? They guy in the LFS said if I feed it then it wont be interested in anything else in the tank.


I also got given 2 golden clams from a friend and they have just buried themselves in the gravel, and I am worried about them passing away and me not knowing and causing a large ammonia spike??


Thanks for any help in advance The forum has been very useful so far!

 

[XeroTolerance]

to the forums. I don't know about the crab or clams because I have no experience with that. Just watch out because if the crab can reach the guppies there is a chance that it will attack. If it was a fast moving fish like a neon I would tell you not to worry, but guppies do tend to be a little on the slower side.

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Pretty much a rule, no crabs or clams. Crabs can be kept, but only in dedicaed setups, same with clams

 

[Blubble37]

will your lfs take your stock in for a few weeks? this would be benificial as a fishless cycle is much safer than a fish in one. If not then good luck with the fish in cycle mate. You may want to get a few more fish than 4 guppies, that would stop the tank from looking kinda empty. once you get your pm privalledges i will pm you as to some suggested stock.

Good luck and

Blubble-37

 

[Vail3r]

I don't think they would, they have been in for 3 weeks now anyway but ammonia levels have been very low I assume its due to only having the 4 fish in? What do I have to do to get PM's, Is it a certain number of posts?

Anyway here are a few pictures:

I really want to keep the crab as I like it so much but have seen it take a grab at a fish so I don't think it can stay, what would be the smallest tank I could get to keep him in?

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Most crabs also require land, otherwise they will drown eventually

 

[Fishy friend2]

like fiddler crabs dont they need a half filled tank and it will have bracckinsh water where they can go and then some land were they can hang out

 

[Blubble37]

after about 5 posts you get your PM privalegges

 

[CrazyAirborne]

crabs and clams are the new fad in pet stores.


Clams will definitely not make it. they need very specific feeding routines. and im pretty sure the crabs wont make it very long either. have a search around the forum and u will see these questions answered by more knowledgeable people.

 

[Tizer]

Crabs really require a small amount of salt to survive/grow healthy, most responsible shops wont sell them to people creating a community tank. Also they will nip any fish, no matter what its size if they feel like it. So simply put, they are best avoided. clams...i have no idea about, but cant really see the attraction of them...

if you are now in a fish in cycle, just ensure you keep up the water changes, even with a small number of fish, the ammonia still builds up fast if you filter isnt dealing with it. gluck

 

[Blubble37]

=1 on tizer, the crab will become aggressive towards the other fishies.

Clams i am not sure about but i don't see they could do much harm, they do need specialist food though.

You could eat the crab lol

 

[Vail3r]

Well the LFS told me the crab would be fine fully submerged and in my tank with the other fish, obviously a load of crap. I suppose I should have learnt my lesson in listening to them when he told me to stop doing water changes because it will take the bacteria out and I should use ammolock LOL.

Anyway I might go in and see if they will take the crab back, I really do like it and was thinking of getting a small tank for it but I wanted a nano shrimp tank before I had the crab too so I will end up with 2 extra tanks so i don't think I will bother.

Think I might bin the clams they are just disappearing into the gravel.

Re: The water changes, I have been doing small ones but the ammonia really isn't building up. Just done one now any its not even dark enough to be 0.25mg/l the last water change was a few days ago now.

I am using the Tetra test kit btw.

 

[Tizer]

ah ok, having a test kit is basic step 01 in fish keeping.

As long as the ammonia stays below 0.25ppm you will be ok, just test daily and use your own judgement. if it reads 0.5ppm then you know a 50% water change will lower it to 0.25ppm, so ideally you would do an 80% change to give you a little time for it to rise again to 0.25ppm, if you get by drift.

 

[Blubble37]

just one q tizer, how the living bleep did you come across a pokemon coloured cat?

To be honest vail3r, you chose just about the right tank size, 100 litres will give you a stable environment for your fish with lots of choice for fish to choose from!

 

[Tizer]

Cant remember, it was on some Japanese site i stubled across, they are not exactly high up there with animal welfare, but it did amuse me Could be photoshopped though.