NEW 33 GALLON! SENSORY OVERLOAD! NEED HELP!!

[bluepacific]

I'm so excited! I just bought a new 33 gallon aquarium! It's cycling right now... full spectrum flourescent lighting... and that nice "oatmeal" coloured silicone sand. I spent about 2 hours landscaping it this morning and I'm finally happy with it.

My Gosh, I have no idea what to do with it! LOL I want and Oscar, tetras, platties, gouramies, catfish, my pleco...
What the heck can I mix and not mix? I consulted that fish book but everything it tells me NOT to mix, I know people have been successful in cohabitating.

Any suggestions? It's going to be 100% planted!

 

[CFC]

For a start forget the Oscar,the tank isnt big enough to keep one in and if it were it would eat all the other fish.
Tetras and livebearers (platties) dont mix (although im sure that a torrent of people will now say that they have kepy theirs together for years) They like totally different water conditions,live bearers like a little salt and tetras will die from it.
What catfish are you thinking of? A 33g is fine for corys and some of the other small cats but some catfish can get HUGE.
What pleco do you have?The common plecos will get too big for the tank but many of the smaller l number plecs will be fine.
Gouramis will be fine as long as there are no nippy or aggressive tankmates.

 

[bluepacific]

Hi cat fish crazy!

Thanks for your input... I sadly wasn't able to make it online before my husband and I went to the petshop to get the fish, so we followed the advice of the man we deal with (who has several aquariums himself).
What I've got are 3 fancy tailed guppies; my pleco (now 5" but this guy said the shop would trade them in if he got too big); 3 dwarf blue gouramis; 4 glowlight tetras, 3 mollies, 3 tiny freshwater frogs, and 3 platties.
All of them get along fine actually! I've been closely watching them now for a few days and there aren't any problems. I'm happy about that.

Basically what you said about the Oscar was right... I just got caught up in the excitement of it all.. I was going to just get one Oscar until he go too big (at which time I would've gotten a larger aquarium) but I was told they eat a lot and can be costly to keep. Yeah, I re-read my posting and I should've mentioned that I wasn't sure if I wanted a cichlid tank or just a tropical tank.
Anyways, I really like what I've got for now. It's a nice mix, and everyone's "happy" in the aquarium. They're so relaxing to watch...

Thanks again!

 

[kevin007]

sounds wicked

 

[bluepacific]

Well here's an update!

I went and got 3 more of those neat balloon mollies for the single one I had gotten (he was lonely)... I got another orange one, a white one, and this black one.
Within a day, this black molly terrorized all my guppies (biting their tails - now all of them are dead) and the orange molly as well as a platty!

Is this the case, or perhaps are these fish just weak? Did something happen? Because at the same time, I also added a cartridge to my filter that eliminates ammonia. One guy also explained to me why I should use waste eliminator and cycle simultaneously in my aquariums... though I had my water tested prior to buying fish, and everything was 100% fine. I questioned that... he mentioned as it was a new aquarium it was needful to have this bacteria in my aquarium because it probably wasn't present.
He said to add it daily for the first week, but after one day and seeing what was going on with fish dying and that molly harrassing them, I didn't add more. I didn't know which of the two had caused the problems... it's been about 5 days now and my last guppy died this morning. The one that died last night had it's tail eaten off by the molly (I witnessed it)...

I'm not adding the cycle and waste eliminator any more; the other fish are so far ok... and that little black molly now resides with Omelette in the 10 gallon (who I KNOW won't put up with it's crap)

Is anyone maybe able to further educate me on these two items? "Cycle" and "Waste Eliminator"?
Thanks so much!

 

[cichlid_freak]

I know that cycle is a product that has beneficial bacteria in it. But, you already have some of this in natural water. The only purpose of cycle is to "jump-start" the cycling process. But, if you think about it, when you need millions of bacteria, what difference is a few hundred going to make, especially if you have to pay for them?

I don't know anything about "waste eleminator." But, I either assume it is another product including the same stuff as cycle or it is some kind of ammonia or nitrIte remover. Hopefully someone knows of or about this product.

I don't believe in chemicals. Medicines are OK occasionally, and only when absolutly necessary. I really don't like using any of them. I recently stopped using carbon, and my fish love me for it. I just use poly-fiber fill in my filters. It is expensive at LFS's, but 20 oz. bag at Wal-mart is just 1.95 in the fabrics department. I haven't used this yet, since I still have the "good stuff" from the LFS, and I'm researching if it has any chemical addatives.

 

[Pondlady]

Sounds like you're moving a little fast there! Did you just set up the tank on the 7th? If so, you've almost reached the max number of fish already. That's a pretty big load to put on a brand new tank. Slow down a little and watch your parameters for a few weeks.

 

[superman]

Your ammonia eliminating media can actually hurt your good bacteria that you are trying to get to grow and thrive to keep your water within healthy parameters. You need ammonia for your bacteria to live, and without the ammonia, your tank will stay in the infant stages of establishing a good bacteria colony. I would take the ammonia eliminating media out, and give the tank some more cycle, and you should be ok in the long run. It is yet to bee seen if your tank may cycle again because of the quick stocking and ammonia eliminating media. I am eager to see how things go, I hope for the best for you!!

 

[FeelingFishy]

Just go get some bio spira! tank will be cycled in 2 days! , I have used in in 2 of my tanks! works great i will be useing it on the 3rd! O make sure it is kept in the fridge, and that it was in one where you bought it from