My First Ever Fish Tank!

[dafrnhm]

Has been up and running for about a month now, still a few things I wanna do but I'm leaving it as it for a couple of months so it can settle down.

Tell me what you think or what you think I could do to improve it. I would like to add some invertebrate but not sure which yet, I would like shrimp but I don't know what they need as in plants etc. Most of the things I like would eat the snails.

All real plants.

Tank holds:
8 or 9 Mollies + 5 molly fry.
3 Gourami
1 Guppy
3 Apple Snails
2 Cardinal Tetras
3 Unknown fish (need id)

Unsure on what else to add, would like to get a couple more snails and some other crawlers for the bottom, maybe a couple more fish.

My Favourite fish.



The transparent molly thing I bought.



My preggers molly, when do you think she is gonna drop??



The other transparent molly, also could somebody ID the other fish in the photo.



My other gourami.

 

[dalethewhale]

I would say your "transparent molly" is a glassfish
Not sure about the one you wanted Id'ing... maybe a rainbow?
Also you definitely need more cardinals, 6 at a minimum.

 

[fluttermoth]

I've got a horrible feeling that those 'transparant molly things' are, in fact, dyed Indian glassfish, Chanda ranga. Please don't get anymore of them, but some more undyed ones would be nice; they are a shoaling species.

The other one is some kind of rainbow I think, again a species that likes to be in groups.

Or your cardinals would look much better in a bigger shoal.

By the way; I think that plant in front of the head, the pink and green one, in non-aquatic, so you might want to take it out

Edit; Forgot to say! It's a very nice looking tank, btw; it'll be even better when the plants grow in a bit

 

[minnnt]

I like your tank, very nice! The bubbler ornament isn't to my liking, but if you like it then that's good. You do realise that your pregnant Molly is actually a Balloon Molly don't you? I would agree with Dale, your transparent fish is a Glass Fish, which i believe is a brackish water fish which means it should be in slightly salty water to be at it's best. The other fish is a rainbow of some sort i think.

 

[dalethewhale]

They are dyed! i agree with fluttermoth

You'r tank is really nice though
Some amano shrimp would be nice, i have 7 in my tank and my fish totally ignore them and they're relatively hardy and im sure they'd be fine with your snails

 

[fluttermoth]

I disagree that the glassfish like brackish water. I don't think they're found in it in the wild. They do like the water quite hard and a bit alkaline though, I agree there, but then so do the mollies. Do you know your hardness and pH OP?

 

[KittyKat]

+1, 1 dyed Chanda ranga and 1 normal glass fish. Please do not buy any more, the practice of dying them is cruel, approximately 5-20% survive as far as the shops, and very few live full lifespans.

Cardinals and glassfish are both schooling, so each group should have at least 6 individuals.

 

[minnnt]

Glass fish are recommended for slightly brackish setups...

Regards to the Cardinals, they seem to be lacking a bit in colouration, is it just because of the camera and lighting? I would be aiming for a group of at least 8, probably more in a tank that size.

http/fish.mongabay.com/species/Chanda_ranga.html

 

[dafrnhm]

Thanks for all the posts, your right, it is a Chanda ranga. They were in the molly tank at my LFS, I shall be returning these tomorrow by the sounds of it.

I am aware it is a ballon molly, she has already had fry and she is still getting bigger so I'm expecting more soon hopefully.

In regards to the water hardness, my water is pretty hard, I can't remember it exactly but the guppies didn't seem to like it. My PH is 7.0

I do like the rainbow fish though, they are pretty active, if they are a schooling fish I'll get more if I see them, they always fly round the tank together.

And the non-aquatic plant, are you sure about that? It seems to be growing ok. Can it cause harm to the tank because I quite like it and would rather not remove it.

What sort of plants could I add for shrimp or is it ok the way it is? I have some java moss but when I try to put it in the tank it just falls apart and floats around.

 

[minnnt]

Try tying the moss to something such as some bog wood. Fish are usually pregnant for about a month so countback from when the others were dropped and see where you are at.

And the plant in question is Fittonia albivenis and isn't aquatic. It may start to rot and breakdown which will release ammonia into your water which is poisenous to fish.

 

[KittyKat]

Many tropical plants like that, spend a few months underwater every year, so are capable of surviving in the short term. Once they start rotting, they can cause ammonia problems.

 

[dafrnhm]

I have removed the plants now anyway. Don't really want anything in my tank that could cause a problem.

I have just returned the dyed glass fish, I told the guy he sold them to me as mollies and there not, he said "I know, I didn't sell them to you as mollies because they are tetra's." lol. 1. They were in the molly tank, 2. your a liar, and 3. there no tetra's knobhead. He took them back anyway and I exchanged them for some more rainbowfish.

Tank now stands at:

3 Gourami
8 or 9 mollies + Fry
1 Guppy
3 Apple Snails
2 Blue Emperor Tetra - I thought these were cardinal but I was wrong.
8 Rainbowfish

Thanks for all the help, its really appreciated. I just want happy fish.

 

[minnnt]

I thought they were emperors that's why I mentioned the red on three cardinals.

 

[KittyKat]

You should try to get the emperor numbers to at least 6, if the tank will take them