New to TFF, saying hello!

[FishForTanksNotBellies]

Hello! My name is Jamie Adams, and I come from a little town called Plymouth in Wisconsin. My boyfriend and I recently got into the fish hobby, after we seen a sickly fish swimming in Lake Michigan. Since then, we have found ourselves having Mollies, Goldfish, Gourami's, Snails, and Shrimp!
2 Dwarf Flame Gourami's
2 Dalmation Mollies
1 Creamsicle Mollie
1 Gold Dust Mollie
2 Black Moores
1 Red Oranda
2 "Lambchop" Rasboras
2 Tetras
4 Ghost Shrimp
1 Bamboo Shrimp
11 Red Cherry Shrimp (Shout Out to Flip Aquatics for sending these beauties)
The Dalmatian Mollies and Gold Dust have already had a brood too! (Sadly we only have 1 left, but he's doing awesome!)
My favorite fish however I do not have, that would be the Vampire Tetra. In time, I plan to get one for myself.
What about you guys? What do you have? What's your favorite fish?

 

[FishForTanksNotBellies]

RIP to one of the RCS

 

[fluttermoth]

Welcome to the forum

I hate to start on a negative not, but you might have some serious issues in the making...

Are all these fish in the same tank?

 

[FishForTanksNotBellies]

Welcome to the forum

I hate to start on a negative not, but you might have some serious issues in the making...

Are all these fish in the same tank?

That they are not, The Goldfish are kept in a 20 long bare bottom tank. We're planning on putting our Red Oranda into a pond this upcoming summer since he's the largest. The Creamsicle is in her own 20 gal long, she's aggressive towards the others. But she seems to be enjoying her own tank. We had her in the 20 gal Hex, but it didn't work. The Dwarf Flame Gourami's are with the Dalmatians, Gold Dust, Bamboo Shrimp, and Ghost Shrimp inside the 20 gal Hex. Dimentions are 18 3/4 Length 16 1/4 Width. They've got plenty of plants, and hiding area's also. When the Fry gets larger, it'll be placed into a 10 gal to grow out. The tetras, Rasbora's and Red Cherries are in a 10 gal with tons of plants. So far, everything's been doing pretty well. Other than the Creamsicle being aggressive towards her other tank mates, but since we've placed her into her own tank everyone's been a bunch happier

 

[FishForTanksNotBellies]

That they are not, The Goldfish are kept in a 20 long bare bottom tank. We're planning on putting our Red Oranda into a pond this upcoming summer since he's the largest. The Creamsicle is in her own 20 gal long, she's aggressive towards the others. But she seems to be enjoying her own tank. We had her in the 20 gal Hex, but it didn't work. The Dwarf Flame Gourami's are with the Dalmatians, Gold Dust, Bamboo Shrimp, and Ghost Shrimp inside the 20 gal Hex. Dimentions are 18 3/4 Length 16 1/4 Width. They've got plenty of plants, and hiding area's also. When the Fry gets larger, it'll be placed into a 10 gal to grow out. The tetras, Rasbora's and Red Cherries are in a 10 gal with tons of plants. So far, everything's been doing pretty well. Other than the Creamsicle being aggressive towards her other tank mates, but since we've placed her into her own tank everyone's been a bunch happier

We've also got two other 20 gal talls in the garage, but they're currently empty.

 

[fluttermoth]

Oh, thank goodness! You had me worried there

I will just point out that most tetras need to be a shoal of at least six, of their own species; and they prefer soft water, whilst your livebearers really need it much harder; depending on your local water, one or other groups isn't going to do so well.

Be very careful getting a vampire tetra; there are a few different species sold under that name, and some, like Hydrolycus scomberoides get to well over a foot long. Even the smaller ones, like Cynodon Gibbus can reach that size, so you would need a very large tank.

 

[fish boi]

That they are not, The Goldfish are kept in a 20 long bare bottom tank. We're planning on putting our Red Oranda into a pond this upcoming summer since he's the largest. The Creamsicle is in her own 20 gal long, she's aggressive towards the others. But she seems to be enjoying her own tank. We had her in the 20 gal Hex, but it didn't work. The Dwarf Flame Gourami's are with the Dalmatians, Gold Dust, Bamboo Shrimp, and Ghost Shrimp inside the 20 gal Hex. Dimentions are 18 3/4 Length 16 1/4 Width. They've got plenty of plants, and hiding area's also. When the Fry gets larger, it'll be placed into a 10 gal to grow out. The tetras, Rasbora's and Red Cherries are in a 10 gal with tons of plants. So far, everything's been doing pretty well. Other than the Creamsicle being aggressive towards her other tank mates, but since we've placed her into her own tank everyone's been a bunch happier

you could send us a picture of the vampire tetras so we could possible determine the species

 

[fluttermoth]

you could send us a picture of the vampire tetras so we could possible determine the species

The OP is only thinking of getting one.

 

[FishForTanksNotBellies]

Since I'm still new in the hobby, I wasn't planning on getting a Vampire Tetra for a while. I would prefer at least getting a 150 gallon for it when the time comes. I specifically want a Hydrolycos Scomberoides, but I need to do a lot more research before getting it. And, thank you for informing me about the tetra's I currently have. Since I have those two extra 20 gallons, I'll most likely place them as species tanks. Would you suggest I get a water softener when I move them? I got them from my LFS, which also has hard water. They've been really well since we've got them, they're schooling with the Rasbora's which I didn't expect.

 

[fish boi]

The OP is only thinking of getting one.

ops

 

[Essjay]

I would not use a water softener. Most of these just swap the 'hard' minerals (mainly calcium and magnesium) for 'soft' minerals, which makes softened water unlike anything that occurs in nature and not suitable for fish.
The best way to reduce hardness is to mix tap water with pure water such as reverse osmosis (RO) water. Hardness is a linear measure, meaning that using a 50:50 mix of RO and tap halves the hardness. If you go down this route you would need to have some RO water on hand at all times in case an emergency water change was ever needed.

It is possible for shops to keep fish in the 'wrong' hardness because they won't be there long.

 

[fluttermoth]

Before you even think about trying to change your water, you should find out exactly how hard it is; the information will be on your supplier's website. You'll need to find the numbers, and what scale they're using to measure it with.

Only then will we be able to judge whether it, or your stocking, need adjusting in any way.

Shoaling fish will group up with other species of shoaling fish in 'desperation', if there aren't enough of their own kind to shoal with, but it's not ideal; their own species is always, always better, as different species often don't 'speak the same language', if you know what I mean