Cycle A New Tank With Gold Fish?

[lilmisshertz]

Here's a couple of pictures of my old/new tanks.

Old tank:

New tank:

Clown loach in new tank:

Hi there, If the picture you named "sailfin" and the first picture here where you are showing your OLD TANK is the fish you mean
(red/orange in colour) I think thats actually a sailfin molly. They grow on average 2-4inches(5-10cm), so I wouldn't worry about it getting
too big If I'm not mistaken, they are a fish that prefers a little salt in their water, although you have to be aware that other fish you
have in the tank may not require this. Thats why many people say to keep them in a tank as an only species, but that preference differs
for different people. As they are livebearers they will breed very readily which usually results in many fry! (Although most get eaten if not seperated)
How many of this species (the ones you called sailfins) do you have?

Heres a picture of a sailfin molly....does it match yours in appearance(not nessessarily colour )
sailfin molly

 

[lilmisshertz]

Another possibility may be the topsail platy?
They grow to around 5cm, so again not a big fish
platy
about platy - more photos

 

[restricted_alchemy]

Here's a couple of pictures of my old/new tanks.

Old tank:

New tank:

Clown loach in new tank:

Hi there, If the picture you named "sailfin" and the first picture here where you are showing your OLD TANK is the fish you mean
(red/orange in colour) I think thats actually a sailfin molly. They grow on average 2-4inches(5-10cm), so I wouldn't worry about it getting
too big If I'm not mistaken, they are a fish that prefers a little salt in their water, although you have to be aware that other fish you
have in the tank may not require this. Thats why many people say to keep them in a tank as an only species, but that preference differs
for different people. As they are livebearers they will breed very readily which usually results in many fry! (Although most get eaten if not seperated)
How many of this species (the ones you called sailfins) do you have?

Heres a picture of a sailfin molly....does it match yours in appearance(not nessessarily colour )
sailfin molly

I have two of those fish. It does look a lot like the one in the link, but the dorsal fin doesn't join the tail fin like that. Looking through my book and the internet I actually think it might be a platy, because it looks exactly the same as this:

I was told they might bread. Are platys livebearers too?

 

[lilmisshertz]

Here's a couple of pictures of my old/new tanks.

Old tank:

New tank:

Clown loach in new tank:

Hi there, If the picture you named "sailfin" and the first picture here where you are showing your OLD TANK is the fish you mean
(red/orange in colour) I think thats actually a sailfin molly. They grow on average 2-4inches(5-10cm), so I wouldn't worry about it getting
too big If I'm not mistaken, they are a fish that prefers a little salt in their water, although you have to be aware that other fish you
have in the tank may not require this. Thats why many people say to keep them in a tank as an only species, but that preference differs
for different people. As they are livebearers they will breed very readily which usually results in many fry! (Although most get eaten if not seperated)
How many of this species (the ones you called sailfins) do you have?

Heres a picture of a sailfin molly....does it match yours in appearance(not nessessarily colour )
sailfin molly

I have two of those fish. It does look a lot like the one in the link, but the dorsal fin doesn't join the tail fin like that. Looking through my book and the internet I actually think it might be a platy, because it looks exactly the same as this:

I was told they might bread. Are platys livebearers too?

I thought it was either the molly or platy I'm glad i could help.
Yes they are livebearers also, very easy to breed too! They should get no bigger than 2.5 inches.
I say they are easy to breed, presuming you have a male and female! hahaha

this is what ive discovered from www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

If you want to breed them, keep a single male alongside four or five females and plant the aquarium with bushy plants such as Water wisteria or Cabomba, so the fry have somewhere to hide. Avoid the temptation to buy a breeding trap. Platies are too big for these, in my opinion, and often get stressed. Get a separate aquarium and put the female in that, if you think she needs to be removed from the main aquarium.
If you don't want to breed them, don't buy any females. Platies can store packets of sperm, called spermatozeugmata, in the folds of their uterus and can fertilise several batches of eggs from a single spawning. As a result, that single female platy you purchase could go on to give birth to several batches of fry, each containing 20-50 offspring.

distinquish male from female:
Males are smaller than females when adult and have a distinctive anal fin common to many livebearing fishes in the Poeciliidae family. This "gonopodium" is used for internally fertilising the female.

Hope this helps!