Just Babblin' Need 'new Fish' Advice :0)

[embeh]

Hi All,

I went on holiday last week for a few days, and returned home to find that 3 of my fish were dead

I thought i had everything planned, used holiday sticks fish food, set the light on timer (which we checked for 1 day before we went to make sure it would work) and the worst thing happened, the timer on the light broke at some point cos when we got back in the day when the light should have been on it was off! Our poor fishies had had no light and 3 were dead. The filter was full of gunk and it was just disaster!


I feel really bad, and have shed a few tears, especially as one of them we'd had for nearlly a year and was our last 'original'. I wish I had taken them round to my friends house so they would have kept an eye on them and made sure they had light and enough food etc.

I have 3 fish left, 1 x albino cory (Wanda), 1 x Pot Bellied Molly (Molly) and 1 x Guppy (Sorbet). I am obviously wanting to replace the fish, and have corrected the water quality and checked levels etc. Everything is ready to introduce some new fish into the group, although my tank is only big enough for 5/6 fish, so basically my question is......... what do you suggest? I'd really like another catfish for definite, and I think the Guppy probably isn't supposed to be on its own........can anyone make any suggestions?

I promise I will never leave them home alone again!

All help appreciated, thanks you guys

 

[Neo8223]

Hi All,

I went on holiday last week for a few days, and returned home to find that 3 of my fish were dead

I thought i had everything planned, used holiday sticks fish food, set the light on timer (which we checked for 1 day before we went to make sure it would work) and the worst thing happened, the timer on the light broke at some point cos when we got back in the day when the light should have been on it was off! Our poor fishies had had no light and 3 were dead. The filter was full of gunk and it was just disaster!


I feel really bad, and have shed a few tears, especially as one of them we'd had for nearlly a year and was our last 'original'. I wish I had taken them round to my friends house so they would have kept an eye on them and made sure they had light and enough food etc.

I have 3 fish left, 1 x albino cory (Wanda), 1 x Pot Bellied Molly (Molly) and 1 x Guppy (Sorbet). I am obviously wanting to replace the fish, and have corrected the water quality and checked levels etc. Everything is ready to introduce some new fish into the group, although my tank is only big enough for 5/6 fish, so basically my question is......... what do you suggest? I'd really like another catfish for definite, and I think the Guppy probably isn't supposed to be on its own........can anyone make any suggestions?

I promise I will never leave them home alone again!

All help appreciated, thanks you guys

Sorry for your loss. My first fish died within 3 days of getting them all neon tetras, 12 of em. Neon tetra disease (its not infectious to any other fish) I was sooo young and i cried my eyes out!

3 days without propper lighting isnt enough to kill em 2bh. my light once packed in and i dint replace it till a week later. (when i was like 12 years old)

As for fish, i dont really like catfish so i dont know many off the top of my head but:
2 more guppys minimum. if you want to breed then 2 females, 1 male. If not, then all 3 of the same sex. (hard water prefered)
2 more mollys minimum, same scenario (bit of salt i believe)
3 swordtails - same scenario. But get all males if you dont want to breed. Its not un-common for the dominent female to change sex if theres no male present. (happened to me once and saved me a trip down my lfs)(hardwater)
6 neon tetras or more. They shoal really nicely and normally theres a deal on for 12 for the price of 6.(soft water recomended)
6 Glowlight tetras or more. Shoal really nicely but there arent many deals on.(softwater recomended)
4 silver hatchets. They shoal really nicely too but make sure you have a lid with no gaps. I once lost one through a gap of about 1/2 cm. Went to feed the fish and this 1 had a nice big sun tan and was pretty crisp.(completely forgotten what water)

ooh 1 catfish u might like is a Leopard Corydoras. Grows to 7.5cm max and practically leaves everything else alone. Its a good fish to employee as a cleaner too. Likes to have a tank mate but can live without one (dont know what water)

The neon and glowlight combination look really nice but make sure your tank is big enough to hold all these fish Also creep up at night and the fish float around the place, it looks well funny!

Hope this helped

 

[dwarfgourami]

Sorry to hear about your loss. Agree with previous posters that it won't have been the lack of light that killed your fish. More likely the holiday sticks messing up the water.
What you buy obviously depends on the size of tank. I would see about getting 2 more corys (albino or bronze, as being same species) if you have the room. As for the guppy, it depends on the space and the sex. If it is a female, I'd say get another one. If a male, get 4 more males if you have the room, or 2 females if you have the room (for them+ fry) - if you don't have the room, leave it.

 

[embeh]

Thanks so much to both of you for your advice,

We're in a hard water area, so i think we'll look at introducing a couple more guppy's (male), as they are so beautiful aren't they. I'm definitely sticking to same sex, i would love to have fry but we just don't have the room at the minute for another tank. Maybe when we move?

I think we'll go for another albino and a bronze cory too, definitely would like more bottom feeders, i love them. I have thrown the holiday sticks away, and my friend has agreed to fishsit the next time we go away!

Thanks again for your help, it is great to know there is somewhere to turn for friendly advice,

Em :0)