Good afternoon

[Kirsty90]

Hi all. My name is kirsty and my I kept (and bred) livebearers when I was much longer.
I have recently returned to fish keeping when my partner returned home one day with a huge 4ft aquarium (300l) with fish already in it which someone had given him the opportunity to re-home.

After doing my research I have had to re-home some of the fish from the tank as they were incompatible with the other fish that were in there.

I am also pretty sure one of the platy is pregnant so have set up a separate breeder tank and popped her in there.
I have added pics of both tanks.
I'm here for research purposes tips and advice and general fishy chit chat

 

[Slaphppy7]

Good morning (here, anyway)....welcome to TFF

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Welcome!

That's a real nice looking tank and good size as well.

 

[Kirsty90]

Welcome!

That's a real nice looking tank and good size as well.

I've had to do some work as what we got initially wasn't up to standard for me. There were no live plants and very very minimal rock/wood and places to hide should any of the fish want it. I'm quite pleased but think there's more work to be done yet

 

[FishHobby99]

Hi all. My name is kirsty and my I kept (and bred) livebearers when I was much longer.
I have recently returned to fish keeping when my partner returned home one day with a huge 4ft aquarium (300l) with fish already in it which someone had given him the opportunity to re-home.

After doing my research I have had to re-home some of the fish from the tank as they were incompatible with the other fish that were in there.

I am also pretty sure one of the platy is pregnant so have set up a separate breeder tank and popped her in there.
I have added pics of both tanks.
I'm here for research purposes tips and advice and general fishy chit chat

Nice looking tanks & welcome to TFF!

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

The fish in the spare tank looks like a swordtail rather than a platy. Not that it matters much, they both breed the same.

It looks like you have a young Melanotaenia boesemani rainbowfish in the big tank. These fish do best in groups of 8 or more and like water that has a pH above 7.0 and a GH around 200+ppm. They also require plant matter in their diet and about half the food they eat should be plant based.

Angelfish come from water with a pH below 7.0 and a GH below 100ppm.

-----
What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate 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).

 

[Kirsty90]

I bought a pH test kit recently and I get about a 6.2 on that, although it does go up with a water change to about 6.8. The other things I don't know about. Just looked on water companies website and can't find the information so will take a sample to my local store tomorrow and update you with the results once I've been. Thanks

 

[Essjay]

Is your water company Welsh Water/Dwr Cymru?

If it is, enter your postcode in the box about half way down this page

Drinking water quality | Dwr Cymru Welsh Water

Help and advice on the quality of your drink water and any problems that could arise.

www.dwrcymru.com

That will take you to a map with the words "water quality" in the top menu. Clicking/tapping on that should produce a box with the your hardness in words. This water company doesn't give numbers.

Then look at the table here

Hardness - words vs numbers

We always say to look on your water provider's website for hardness, and to ignore any words, look for a number. These are UK water company definitions of hardness compared to what we consider to be hard, soft and middling in fish keeping. Always look for numbers :) dH ppm Water company...

www.fishforums.net

This will tell you what your hardness band is in numbers.

 

[Kirsty90]

Yes I am with Welsh water. Thanks for the directions... I'll have a go in a min

 

[Kirsty90]

 

[Kirsty90]

Is your water company Welsh Water/Dwr Cymru?

If it is, enter your postcode in the box about half way down this page

Drinking water quality | Dwr Cymru Welsh Water

Help and advice on the quality of your drink water and any problems that could arise.

www.dwrcymru.com

That will take you to a map with the words "water quality" in the top menu. Clocking/tapping on that should produce a box with the your hardness in words. This water company doesn't give numbers.

Then look at the table here

Hardness - words vs numbers

We always say to look on your water provider's website for hardness, and to ignore any words, look for a number. These are UK water company definitions of hardness compared to what we consider to be hard, soft and middling in fish keeping. Always look for numbers :) dH ppm Water company...

www.fishforums.net

This will tell you what your hardness band is in numbers.

I've attached an image from them and it also states the word "soft"

 

[Essjay]

In water company speak, soft means in the band 0 to 50 ppm and 0 to 2.8 dH. The actual number doesn't matter here, the whole of that band is what we would call very soft.

I notice in your various posts that you have livebearers. Unfortunately, your water is way too soft for them long term

 

[Kirsty90]

In water company speak, soft means in the band 0 to 50 ppm and 0 to 2.8 dH. The actual number doesn't matter here, the whole of that band is what we would call very soft.

I notice in your various posts that you have livebearers. Unfortunately, your water is way too soft for them long term

These are things I am trying to discover as I say I kind of got this tank and its inhabitants thrust upon me so trying to figure out what I have and what is best for them all. Thankyou very much

 

[wgoldfarb]

Welcome to the forum. I'm quite new myself here, but acclimating quickly!

I've had to do some work as what we got initially wasn't up to standard for me.

The tank looks awesome already! As someone with zero aquascaping skills, I'm very eager to see what else you do with it.

 

[Kirsty90]

Welcome to the forum. I'm quite new myself here, but acclimating quickly!


The tank looks awesome already! As someone with zero aquascaping skills, I'm very eager to see what else you do with it.

Me either and as I say it was kinda thrust upon me and learning as I go lol. I just pop bits in and experiment around with what I think looks ok. I do prefer real plants to fake ones though and the fish seem to as well.