I am a very very newbie to tropical fish keeping. I didn't realise I would need to be a bit of a scientist regarding water. I am trying hard to learn.

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Thank you everybody for all your advice. Certainly is a learning curve. My next question is - What do I feed baby fish on. I have just captured 2 babies in a breeding box . Purchased one rather too later I know , didn't know I had a pregnant fish. Now that I caught them what do I feed them with? I have ground up a flake finely, Should I have done that? Now I see I have 3 more babies swimming along the bottom. Help
 
Thank you everybody for all your advice. Certainly is a learning curve. My next question is - What do I feed baby fish on. I have just captured 2 babies in a breeding box . Purchased one rather too later I know , didn't know I had a pregnant fish. Now that I caught them what do I feed them with? I have ground up a flake finely, Should I have done that? Now I see I have 3 more babies swimming along the bottom. Help

If the fry are livebearers, they will be able to take finely powdered flake food. Other fish may need different foods.
 
If the fry are livebearers, they will be able to take finely powdered flake food. Other fish may need different foods.
Thank you Bryon for your prompt reply. Yes they are livebearers and they did seem to eat the minute pieces of flake.
 
Here is the best starting out advice I got when I was a kid. The word "fish" will not help you. There are thousands of fish species, and each species can need different conditions. Always call your fish by their species names - ideally the scientific, Latin name if you want info on them. There are lots of fish under the same English language marketing labels, and what you call a honey gourami (for example) can have totally different needs than what I use the same trade name for. So be specific about fish and plants.

It simplifies life here. If you really need info fast and someone answers "what fish are you talking about", it leaves you hanging and not helped, because no one can help without a clearer question. People here are usually sensitive to the danger of giving bad advice, so we need to focus not to steer you wrong.

As for water, the info you need can be made to look very complex, but it isn't hard. You need to know the hardness of your source water, or the water you use. Then you need to do a little easy legwork and find out what fish and plants are adapted to life in that water. Once you've done that, you are on a roll.
 
I just want to add, make sure you unplug the heater and filter before sticking your hands in the water. I always make sure I’m wearing rubber bottomed shoes when I clean my aquariums too. I do keep the lights plugged in so I can see what I am doing and to make sure I’m not accidentally hurting fish as I vacuum around. If I am cleaning my tiny tank I have to move the light to the side next to the tank as there isn’t enough room above for the light and my arm. Just make sure you can see what you’re doing so you don‘t injure your livestock.
 
Everybody does things their own way in this hobby. There are very few universals.

For example, I always place my heaters horizontally near the the bottoms of tanks. There are several reasons I make this choice:
1. Heated water rises. So the heating part of the heater being lengthwise will emit heat over a greater range. This will move more water up from the bottom part of the tank to the surface. This means heating will be more evenly spread, plus it will help cirulate more water from the bottom towards the surface.
2. The positioning means I can easily lower the tank water by 50 -60% during weekly water changes and never need to disconnect the heaters(s). Over time most of us will forget either to unplug them before we lower the water level or forget to plug them back in afterwards,
3. It is easier to hide heaters behind rocks/wood/plants so they are out of sight in a display type tank.

But as I said at the start, this is my way of doing things and not the only way by any means. I use a canister filter on some of my bigger tanks and this lets me use an inline heater which resides outside the tank and the issues that I deal with for typical in tank heaters do not exist for the inline heaters.

You have just embarked on a journey that can last a lifetime. Keeping fish can be a ton of fun but also some work. It can also be a great learning experience. There are also Aquarium clubs all over the country. But when I clicked on your location I discovered the is and Ely in 3 different states so I cannot point you towards a potential club. These are great resources. They welcome new fish keepers and members enjoy helping them, so if you have such a club near you, I would urge you to attend a meeting.

Most clubs invite new folks to attend a meeting before they join. Most clubs charge nominal dues (mine charges $25/year) but they also hold auctions at their monthly meetings. You will get a chance to buy a lot of neat fish raised by the members and sold for wat less than you might find them in stores or online. More importantly you will learn a ton frompeople who have gone through what you are now. All of started out as newbies :)

edit to add this p.s. Go here and read for help understanding the basic water chemistry: https://fins.actwin.com/aquariafaq.html
Most of the info there id pretty accurate, but some is a bit off, The stuff that may be off a bit is the more advanced stuff and you need not worry about it for what you are doing. But the explanations of the basics you should know are very good. They will give a good starting point from which you can ask questions.

edited for spelling and typos
 
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