New To Fish! :d

[MegaPig95]

Hi Everyone...

I just got a tropical bi orb fish tank for Christmas and I currently have 5 fish. I have two female guppy's and I feel that they may be pregnant. Is there anything I can do for them to keep them healthy? And what's the signs of pregnancy.... X

 

[sawickib]

Did you let the tank cycle?
But from the looks of it if your guppies very fat its either pregnant or bloated. Just search google (pregnant guppies) and see if your looks like those.
As for how to keep them healthy no clue I know you dont want them in your filter!

 

[MegaPig95]

Yes... My tank was empty for about 5 days before I put any fish in there. And I used the water conditioner and the biological booster. They both have very dark gravid spots which on some pictures I have seen means that they are pregnant. I don't see how they will be just fat because I haven't been over feeding them. Just twice a day... And no worries, I will look it up on the web

 

[sawickib]

Not sure about the hardiness of guppies but have you tested your water? Ammonia and nitrites should be at 0 so your doing a fish in cycle the bio booster helps but idk I'd do lots of water changes. Every other day maybe I'm not a expert on cycling at all lol

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi MegaPig, welcome to the forum.

I'm afraid running the tank for five days will not have cycled your tank. The bacterial booster is very unlikely to have done any good.

You urgently need to get a set of decent, liquid or tablet based, test kits (not the paper strip kind) so you can monitor the levels of toxins and do the necessary water changes to keep them low enough not to hurt your fish.

If you have a look through the 'Cycle Your Tank' sub-forum, you'll find lots of useful information on cycling.

Then there's the 'Livebearer' sub-forum, which (especially if you look at the pinned topics, right at the top) should answer all your guppy questions (how to tell if they're pregnant and when they might give birth).

 

[MegaPig95]

Thank you sawickib for you comment. I am going to test my water.

Also thank you flutter moth thank you, I am going to buy a test kit this weekend from a fish place I'm going to. And thanks for the advice on what forum to look at

 

[fluttermoth]

You're welcome.
 
I did forget to ask; what size BiOrb do you have, and what are the other fish? BiOrbs can be quite hard to stock, as many of the commonly sold fish either get too big or are too active to be happy living in one.
 
To be on the safe side, until you get some test kits (you need ones for ammonia and nitrite most urgently; ones for nitrate and pH can be bought later on, if the kits are very expensive), I would recommend you change at least 50% of the water, every day. 
 
Make sure the new water is warmed and dechlorinated and that should help your fish stay healthy until you can check the water

 

[MegaPig95]

Mine is the 30 ltr tank. I have 1 male guppy, 2 female guppies and 2 female mollies. I have real plants in my tank and I was told that a water change shouldn't be needed unless the water as extremely dirty, which it isn't. I am going to get a test kit, I was thinking about doing that already, someone also told me I should test the water

 

[fluttermoth]

I'm afraid the mollies are going to get too big for a 30l BiOrb
 
You're quite right not to listen to the person who said water changes aren't necessary. Both ammonia and nitrite are clear, so you can have perfectly clean, crystal clear water that is still lethal to your fish.

 

[MegaPig95]

The mollies were fully grown when I got them. And they aren't to big at all, I was told I can have up to 14 fish in the tank I have got. And I will do water changes, because I've had experience of doing it at college with fish, so I know it needs to be done. And yeah, I know so I am going to test my water at the weekend.

 

[fluttermoth]

However told you you could have 14 fish in a 30l tank is just plain wrong.

There are people who use '1 cm of fish per two litres of water' as a stocking guideline, which would mean you could have 15 cms of fish but you cannot stock a BiOrb as heavily as normal, rectangular tank (due to lack of surface area) and that guideline is not a reliable way of stocking a tank anyway.

A fully grown female molly should be at least 10 cms long, which is not suitable for a 40 cm wide tank, even if it was a normal shaped tank rather than a round one.

 

[MegaPig95]

My tank is very big, it's big enough for a least 10 fish. I'm obviously not going to overstock it, I would never do that. They haven't grown at all since I've had them. They aren't going to grow anymore, they are fully grown.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Mega,
 
Your tank is not 'very big'.  Its actually quite small.  
 
Here are a few resources regarding how big a tank should be for mollies...
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/poecilia-sphenops/
http/badmanstropicalfish.com/stats/livebearer_stats/stats_Poecilia_sphenops.html
http/www.fishchannel.com/fish-species/freshwater-profiles/black-molly-2.aspx
 
Each one recommends a much larger tank than 30L.  The smallest recommends at least a 20 gallon (and this is for the smallest species of molly, there are larger species than the P. schenops), which is ~76L (in other words, more than double your tank).
 
 
If I come off as rude, I apologize, but the information you've been told is very incorrect.

 

[sawickib]

These people arent trying to attack you mega if you fell that way, they are only telling the facts they cant make you do anything but I would take their suggestions wisely I've learned a lot of things from these guys. Everyone here is just to help you and your fish be healthy, and not miserable from neglect or tiny tanks.