Need Help With Sit Up Of Tank

[jgilley84]

ok im going to be doing a livebearer tank with mollies, platties and guppies it will be a 30 gal tank. my ? is well i have a few. 1st what should i use as substrate. 2nd how should i sit it up like what plants and all that are good with the type of fish i want to keep. 3rd how many of each should i get and how many of each sex. plz any help will be great im going this weekend to get the stuff to sit it up and im going to run it for a week before i put anything in there

 

[dzsigmond217]

Being a newbie myself perhaps I sound a bit silly but.....
Do you have mature media to put in the tank? Running the tank for a week will not be enough time for it to cycle and this could cause all your fish to DIE..dead..bite the big one etc. etc. etc. Sorry. It's almost 3am so I'm a little tired . Is this your first time with tropical fish? Some more info on how much info you know! Good luck other wise!!

 

[jgilley84]

Being a newbie myself perhaps I sound a bit silly but.....
Do you have mature media to put in the tank? Running the tank for a week will not be enough time for it to cycle and this could cause all your fish to DIE..dead..bite the big one etc. etc. etc. Sorry. It's almost 3am so I'm a little tired . Is this your first time with tropical fish? Some more info on how much info you know! Good luck other wise!!

i have had a 10 gal tank for a year or so so no im not really new but i dont know what you mean when you say Do i have mature media to put in the tank? i got the tank and everything to run it from a buddy so what are you talking about

 

[jgilley84]

guys it might be 2 to 3 weeks before i put any fish in it so is that long enough

 

[Colin_T]

Running the tank for a week will not be enough time for it to cycle and this could cause all your fish to DIE..dead..bite the big one etc. etc. etc. Sorry. It's almost 3am so I'm a little tired .

LOL, such varied terms for death

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for jgilley84
mature media is filter material from a filter that is currently running and has been for at least several months. The mature filter media/ material has beneficial bacteria in it that keep the water clean. If you can add some mature media to the new tank the filters will develop quicker and you will have less problems with ammonia and nitrite developing in the tank and stressing or killing the fish.
If you don't have any mature media to add to the new tank then the tank will have to develop the bacteria over a course of a month or so.

If you got the tank from a friend and it was set up and running when you got it. And you emptied the water out, transfered it home and set it back up straight away the filters should be ok. However if the tank has dried out or the pumps have been turned off for more than a few hours, chances are the good filter bacteria will be dead and you will have to start the filtration cycle from scratch.

To set the tank up just use any sort f aquarium gravel or sand. the choice is yours depending on the filter. If the filter is an undergravel filter, (plastic plates that sit under the gravel) then you will need course aquarium gravel. If the filter is a sponge or power filter then you can use sand or gravel.

Floating plants like water sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides) are good for livebearers. But most true aquatic plants will be fine. Most people have tall plants at the back and shorter plants on the side and front. Your choice as to how you want it decorated.

As to what numbers of fish. If you want to breed them get females and don't bother about males. Female livebearers are just about always pregnant when you buy them. They also carry sperm packets and can have multiple batches of young without a male being present. The males will pester hell out of the females as well. If you do want a male get 1 and keep him in a seperate tank. When the females are no longer producing any young (6-12 months time) you can put him in with them for a couple of weeks. Then take him back out.

Mollies, platies and Guppies generally don't eat their young. Swordtails will eat their own and other fish's young.

 

[jgilley84]

thanks man any one have any pics as i want to get some ideas

 

[newfishy]

Mollies, platies and Guppies generally don't eat their young. Swordtails will eat their own and other fish's young.

heck, I have a lot of plants and hiding spaces in my tank and I havent had any fry last more then 2-3 days in the open.

Im not picking a fight or anything, just some fish are different then even others of their own species.

 

[Colin_T]

Mollies, platies and Guppies generally don't eat their young. Swordtails will eat their own and other fish's young.

heck, I have a lot of plants and hiding spaces in my tank and I havent had any fry last more then 2-3 days in the open.
Im not picking a fight or anything, just some fish are different then even others of their own species.

That's fair enough. I have noticed that depending on where you live the fish behave differently. For example in Perth many people keep livebearers and don't have any problems with them eating their young. Yet almost everyone I have spoken to in the UK says they do. Its the same with cichlids, plenty of people in the UK say their cichlids (certain species) are peaceful and yet most of the ones here are real nasty (the same species as mentioned by the UK hobbiests).
I'm just wondering if its to do with locally bred fish populations that are being produced. Maybe the Australians are breeding more agressive cichlids and less agro livebearers and the opposite is true for other countries.

 

[sunpirate2u]

The ratio is 2-3 females a male.

 

[jgilley84]

thanks guys keep the info coming any one have pics off there tanks so i can get some ideas of how to sit mine up

 

[jgilley84]

no one

 

[Colin_T]

can't put picks on this site coz of silly issues about space. Not impressed.

 

[BlackSwords11]

The normal pebbles you find at a pet store would be just fine and I like artificial plants best because they require little to no maintanence.

 

[Juice]

The normal pebbles you find at a pet store would be just fine and I like artificial plants best because they require little to no maintanence.

I think real ones require less maintainence actually, I had an artificial plant that always grew brown algae. I have a plant or 2 now (live plants) and they are great looking, they look very clean and I don't even need to do anything with it, sometimes they pop out of the gravel but I can just put it back.