New Tank Set Up

[joshuaedgington]

Your tank is not cycled - read the link ive already given you and fast! Get yourself a liquid API testing kit and test your water on a daily basis - this is very important if you want to keep any of your fish alive! The good bacteria that will break down the toxins in your tank will take 6 to 8 weeks to grow before your tank will be safe and healthy for the fish! Until then you will need to be doing daily water changes to keep the toxins diluted enough not to harm the fish.

Forget anything the shop has told you cos its all rubbish! Some shops will tell you anything as they dont care about fish just profit! Dont add any more fish until your tank has fully cycled (all info in link)and keep feeding to a bare minimum until it is!

Good luck!

yes yes thank you, you seem like you could be of help...

my ph is 7.1 so just over 7, so no danger of mixing fish that prefer SLIGHTLY acidic or alkaline.but no fish that like things very acidic or alkaline. i know i know i am cyling my tank and wont add anything for a while! im just looking for suggestions. i phoned where i bought the catfish and they wont take it back so dunno where to give it away/sell it but im looking to get rid of it as well as the sword i think

so in the FUTURE when i do come to stocking it, what would you suggest i put in? i'd like i mix of fish, perhaps shrimp/snail/frog/crabs too? what is appropiate as many fish as i can safely put in? good combinations and what order? i should add i wont be adding anything for a while! im going to get it up to 5 neons, but thats all i know. can you help?

 

[Gilli]

Neons need to be kept in groups of no less than 6

For a 45 L tank you should have roughly 24 inches of fish based on 1" of fish per 12 sq." of surface area - The true adult size of the fish must be used in the calculation. As you already have about 9 inches of fish with what you have that leaves you 15 inches of fish space left which wont go far if you are going to add more neons.

As for what fish to stock it with you will need community fish. You can keep cherry or ammano shrimp in a community tank , but should you need to dose the tank with meds you will have to take them out as most meds contain copper which would kill them. Also shrimp need a nitrite and ammonia free tank as they are very sensitive to water conditions - bad water quality will also kill them. Frogs and crabs im afraid i cant help you with as ive never kept them as I dont think its a very good idea to mix with fish.

I find the best thing to do is go to your local fish shops with a pad and pen and jot down the names of all those you like the look of. Then come home and look them up on the internet to see if they are community fish, how big they will grow how many of its own kind it should be kept with, its needs, what to feed etc etc. This way you dont buy fish that are unsitable and you also dont look through fish books, set your heart on a certain fish and find no one stocks it! You will have plenty of time to do your research before your tank is ready for more stock.

 

[fluffycabbage]

It seems like you want far more fish than your tank will allow - either get a bigger tank or adjust to the fact that you cant have everything you want You've had a lot of advice on here from people who know a LOT about fishkeeping - its up to you whether you take the advice or not. But one thing to remember, is that you are ultimately responsible for the care of those fish, and if you cant care for them adequately, then you shouldnt have them.

I have only recently started keeping fish, and have asked question after question after question on here, and everyone has been helpful. I have taken everyones advice, because i know that they know so much more than me. I am responsible for my fish, and so want to do the best for them. I dont dive in, because i know even a small error could result in the death of a/many fish.

Just take your time - it wont hurt to wait while you get a good variety of advice from everywhere - oh and dont take your lfs's advice as gospel, theyre only there to sell, not to care

 

[joshuaedgington]

45 ltr planted tank
6 green neons
1 golden apple snail
3 endler live bearers
3 guppy/platy
3 pencil fish
4 shrimp


or
6 green neons
1 golden apple snail
3 endler live bearers
3 guppy/platy
10 shrimp



what do you think?


my tank has successfully cycled and sword and glass cat gone.


any advice on maintence apart from water changes and using stuff such as tetra safe?

 

[Carlovel1]

What is the pH of your tank?

 

[joshuaedgington]

PH is 7.1

 

[Carlovel1]

Green Neon Tetra and some species of Pencilfish -Needs pH of 4.0 to 6.5. It will usually fail to thrive at a pH above neutral.

What species of Pencilfish do you want too keep?

 

[joshuaedgington]

i initially thought dwarf pencil fish cause the name suggests they would be smaller. but there are ruby/coral/red ones which are much nicer and actually grow smaller

except for that ph worry, which thanks for informing me. will the other fish be alright? and is the stocking level ok?

 

[Carlovel1]

Yeah everything else should be fine, if the pH goes under 7.0, the shell on the snail will start to erode and turn white, I didnt know that until it happened!
The Dwarf Pencilfish should be in a group of 5 as these shoal a lot. Peruvian Red Coral Pencilfish are lovely but they are rare in fish shops, where ive seen them they were £10 each and they are only tiny!

 

[joshuaedgington]

keep an eye on my ph with the snail then!! and shoaling with pencil fish yeah i thought some were. well, im getting the guppies endlers and snail first so there might not even be space for the pencil, hopefully there will be though. will think it all through as i go along. thanks for advice

 

[joshuaedgington]

keep an eye on my ph with the snail then!! and shoaling with pencil fish yeah i thought some were. well, im getting the guppies endlers and snail first so there might not even be space for the pencil, hopefully there will be though. will think it all through as i go along. thanks for advice

 

[Carlovel1]