Newbie to fish & forums

[JennJenn]

I have found myself without a job for the first time ever in my life To keep my sanity I decided I needed to do something that I truly enjoy, take on a hobby. My mom kept Oscars and silver dollars while we were growing up and although we weren't allowed to feed them or even close to the tank, I really enjoyed watching them. My daughter keeps cichlids & plecos and I can stare at them for hours when visiting. That has all lead me here. I decided I too would keep fish. I did a lot of reading before I even purchased a tank (nerd). I decided I would start with a 20 gallon tank. Big enough I could keep a couple species and to start a community tank which interested me most. I decided to join so that I could ask questions and share experiences with people that enjoy fish and are happy to share their advice and expertise. During my research and google questions as I got started I found this forum and the people on it to be most informing (helpful), without some of the rude & judgemental comments I see else where. Thank you for having me!

 

[snork6]

Welcome to TFF! Glad to have you here!

What kinds of fish are you thinking about stocking your tank with?

and I assume sense you've done your research you know how to cycle your tank before adding fish?

 

[Baker]

Welcome Jen,

A twenty gallon is my favorite sized tank for the reason you listed above as well as the fact that it's minimally intrusive. You can do a ton of different things with a 20 gallon, you just need to decide on some basics before we can share our opinions or help with the style tank you're going for.
What kind of fish do you want to keep? Marine, temperate or tropical? marine tanks can be fascinating but they are much more expensive and require a lot more maintenance and knowledge of chemistry.
Do you want to keep plants? Plants IMO create a much more beautiful and natural look but cannot be kept with certain fish species. They can be quite simple to care for but you will want to invest in some basics like fertilizer to get the best effect possible.
What kind of fish do you want to keep? Nano fish are a lot smaller but you can create larger communities in a 20 gallon with inks like celestial pearl danios than you can with something like barbs or silver dollars. While fish like White Cloud Mountain minnows require different temperatures and parameters than cichlids.
Certain fish species are more aggressive than others, while this doesn't mean you can't make a community out of aggressive fish, it does mean that you can't just throw some platys in a cichlid tank.
Compile a list of some of your favorite looking fish and do some basic research to see what kind of environment they need and I'd be glad to offer some more in depth suggestions.

 

[JennJenn]

Welcome to TFF! Glad to have you here!

What kinds of fish are you thinking about stocking your tank with?

and I assume sense you've done your research you know how to cycle your tank before adding fish?

Welcome to TFF! Glad to have you here!

What kinds of fish are you thinking about stocking your tank with?

and I assume sense you've done your research you know how to cycle your tank before adding fish?

Yes I chose to do the fishless cycle. I had a fall back and added the fish to quickly to close together. So basically as the LFS informed, I am basically back at square one doing a fish in cycle just not as bad off as most. 3 Mollys, 3 Platys, 2 Gouramis & 3 peppered corys.

 

[JennJenn]

Welcome Jen,

A twenty gallon is my favorite sized tank for the reason you listed above as well as the fact that it's minimally intrusive. You can do a ton of different things with a 20 gallon, you just need to decide on some basics before we can share our opinions or help with the style tank you're going for.
What kind of fish do you want to keep? Marine, temperate or tropical? marine tanks can be fascinating but they are much more expensive and require a lot more maintenance and knowledge of chemistry.
Do you want to keep plants? Plants IMO create a much more beautiful and natural look but cannot be kept with certain fish species. They can be quite simple to care for but you will want to invest in some basics like fertilizer to get the best effect possible.
What kind of fish do you want to keep? Nano fish are a lot smaller but you can create larger communities in a 20 gallon with inks like celestial pearl danios than you can with something like barbs or silver dollars. While fish like White Cloud Mountain minnows require different temperatures and parameters than cichlids.
Certain fish species are more aggressive than others, while this doesn't mean you can't make a community out of aggressive fish, it does mean that you can't just throw some platys in a cichlid tank.
Compile a list of some of your favorite looking fish and do some basic research to see what kind of environment they need and I'd be glad to offer some more in depth suggestions.

I'm a little further along. I have a planted tank and have decided to keep peaceful non-aggressive or even semi-aggressive fish until I have way more experience. For the same reason I have decided to go with tropical temp tank. I currently have 3 platy, 3 Dalmatian mollys, 2 Gourami & 3 peppered corys. I have actually started cycling a second tank so that I can move them around as they get larger as they may get a little crowed. Right now everyone seems to be pretty happy. At first they all scattered when I got close to the tank and went into their various hiding places. They all associate me with food now and come right to the front of the tank when I am near. They are all so cool and I am extremely attached, is that strange? My Frenchie enjoys watching them as much as I do.

 

[JennJenn]

Damn, that's actually pretty overstocked in my opinion. Hopefully frequent water changes will get hem all through it alive

Yeah, realizing that and have started a second tank to move everyone around as they grow. The Gouramis are dwarf so they are pretty small still at this point. I do frequent water changes at this point in time. Learning and fixing now as I go along and researching more before any changes are made. I will not be acquiring and new species or fish until I have 2 large tanks to replace these smaller two but that will be much further down the road.

 

[AnnAlfie]

I have found myself without a job for the first time ever in my life To keep my sanity I decided I needed to do something that I truly enjoy, take on a hobby. My mom kept Oscars and silver dollars while we were growing up and although we weren't allowed to feed them or even close to the tank, I really enjoyed watching them. My daughter keeps cichlids & plecos and I can stare at them for hours when visiting. That has all lead me here. I decided I too would keep fish. I did a lot of reading before I even purchased a tank (nerd). I decided I would start with a 20 gallon tank. Big enough I could keep a couple species and to start a community tank which interested me most. I decided to join so that I could ask questions and share experiences with people that enjoy fish and are happy to share their advice and expertise. During my research and google questions as I got started I found this forum and the people on it to be most informing (helpful), without some of the rude & judgemental comments I see else where. Thank you for having me!

Your situation sounds like myself a few years ago. My dad always kept a tropical tank and marine tank and I always loved to watch them as a kid. When I was 8 I thought I would help out and clean his tropical tank. needless to say, I learned at a young age that I can't just take water out and put tap water in. My dad was very forgiving . Fish are very rewarding. I have a tropical tank (community) and a cold water tank (goldfish). Having a fish tank really does help with ones sanity. I find keeping fish very therapeutic. Best of luck with everything and keep us posted

 

[JennJenn]

Your situation sounds like myself a few years ago. My dad always kept a tropical tank and marine tank and I always loved to watch them as a kid. When I was 8 I thought I would help out and clean his tropical tank. needless to say, I learned at a young age that I can't just take water out and put tap water in. My dad was very forgiving . Fish are very rewarding. I have a tropical tank (community) and a cold water tank (goldfish). Having a fish tank really does help with ones sanity. I find keeping fish very therapeutic. Best of luck with everything and keep us posted

Thank you as I know I'll need it. Thank god it was your dads tank, I don't think anyone else would of been so forgiving! Live and learn. I am keeping a tropical community tank of peaceful fish and cycling another currently as I think the fish I currently have will need a bit more room from reading post in this forum, so informative. Down the road I will cycle those out for larger ones. Loving this hobby I really am, but I definitely have a lot to learn still and probably always will. Currently dealing with a bit of a crash from adding fish to close together but I found a really great aquarium & fish store in my area and they are walking me through stuff almost on the daily right now and getting things back to normal slowly but surely. My fish all seem to be happy & healthy for the time being. I don't think I've watched tv in months, the fish are much more enjoyable! Very cool, it's like everyone of them has their own personality if that makes any sense.

 

[AnnAlfie]

Thank you as I know I'll need it. Thank god it was your dads tank, I don't think anyone else would of been so forgiving! Live and learn. I am keeping a tropical community tank of peaceful fish and cycling another currently as I think the fish I currently have will need a bit more room from reading post in this forum, so informative. Down the road I will cycle those out for larger ones. Loving this hobby I really am, but I definitely have a lot to learn still and probably always will. Currently dealing with a bit of a crash from adding fish to close together but I found a really great aquarium & fish store in my area and they are walking me through stuff almost on the daily right now and getting things back to normal slowly but surely. My fish all seem to be happy & healthy for the time being. I don't think I've watched tv in months, the fish are much more enjoyable! Very cool, it's like everyone of them has their own personality if that makes any sense.

I think a lot of people make mistakes when it comes to fish. I know I've had my fair share of mishaps. It's like you said, you keep learning. . You are dead right. They really do have their own little personalities. Feeding them is so much fun. Piggies lol. It's so hard to deny them sometimes but I have to ignore them. I think they would eat allday if you let them.

 

[JennJenn]

I think a lot of people make mistakes when it comes to fish. I know I've had my fair share of mishaps. It's like you said, you keep learning. . You are dead right. They really do have their own little personalities. Feeding them is so much fun. Piggies lol. It's so hard to deny them sometimes but I have to ignore them. I think they would eat allday if you let them.

OMG, you too! With the spike and getting things back on track I was told not to feed for 2 days, nobody will die she said as I was probably over feeding anyways. It is literally killing me, everytime I walk over to check everyone out they all meet me at the glass like little soldiers. I swear I hear them saying "feed us mom". But sticking to the plan as they have a beautiful store, fish, single aquariums (no sharing of water like the generic big box pet stores). Looking at her fish I think she knows what she's talking about, so I'm just sitting on my hands for now. she also gave me like 4 litres of biological matter to wrap around my filter and have it suck all the matter up. Hopefully this will get me back on track a little sooner.

 

[AnnAlfie]

OMG, you too! With the spike and getting things back on track I was told not to feed for 2 days, nobody will die she said as I was probably over feeding anyways. It is literally killing me, everytime I walk over to check everyone out they all meet me at the glass like little soldiers. I swear I hear them saying "feed us mom". But sticking to the plan as they have a beautiful store, fish, single aquariums (no sharing of water like the generic big box pet stores). Looking at her fish I think she knows what she's talking about, so I'm just sitting on my hands for now. she also gave me like 4 litres of biological matter to wrap around my filter and have it suck all the matter up. Hopefully this will get me back on track a little sooner.

Lol. I'm not the only one. They make me feel so guilty. I have a great little hand pump gravel vacuum and a variety of different things in my filter. First layer is 3 type of sponge. The second layer is ceramics and then activated carbon on that. Water is always excellent. I clean the filter system once every 3 weeks and do water changes every 5 days. I only need to do the gravel vacuuming once a month. I have less poopy varieties in my tank now. When I first had my tropical fish, I had sun platies, and while they are beautiful, they are very poopy lol. There is 1 sun platy left. He must be a very old man in fishy years lol.

 

[AnnAlfie]

Lol. I'm not the only one. They make me feel so guilty. I have a great little hand pump gravel vacuum and a variety of different things in my filter. First layer is 3 type of sponge. The second layer is ceramics and then activated carbon on that. Water is always excellent. I clean the filter system once every 3 weeks and do water changes every 5 days. I only need to do the gravel vacuuming once a month. I have less poopy varieties in my tank now. When I first had my tropical fish, I had sun platies, and while they are beautiful, they are very poopy lol. There is 1 sun platy left. He must be a very old man in fishy years lol.

I've uploaded a pic of my sun platy. He's a very old man lol

 

[JennJenn]

Lol. I'm not the only one. They make me feel so guilty. I have a great little hand pump gravel vacuum and a variety of different things in my filter. First layer is 3 type of sponge. The second layer is ceramics and then activated carbon on that. Water is always excellent. I clean the filter system once every 3 weeks and do water changes every 5 days. I only need to do the gravel vacuuming once a month. I have less poopy varieties in my tank now. When I first had my tropical fish, I had sun platies, and while they are beautiful, they are very poopy lol. There is 1 sun platy left. He must be a very old man in fishy years lol.

That sounds like the matter in mine as well but I'm pretty sure my sponge has only 2parts. I think its called the FLUVAL C3, does that sound right? I'd have to go look at the box. Their is an extra little liner that goes in this tray just above that ceramic matter, maybe that's part 3. Not quite sure.

 

[JennJenn]

I've uploaded a pic of my sun platy. He's a very old man lol

Boy he looks like a burnt orange, pretty. You mentioned the poop factor. I have plats, mollys, gourami & pepper corys. Do they all poop a lot? What do you have that is low pooping. I don't think i'd see this convo anywhere else

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The fish require far less food than most fish keepers realize. And in a fish in cycle, more food means extra ammonia. They need to be fed, but minimally. Without feeding them they can be more susceptible to ammonia poisoning, but feeding too much just makes for more ammonia. It's a gentle balance. I'd suggest feeding minimally... super tiny pinch... every other day.

There is another consideration which no one else seems to have mentioned... the fish you have are best kept separately. The mollies and plates are fish that prefer harder water conditions, meanwhile the gourami and cories prefer softer water. As you are cycling multiple tanks at the moment, I'd recommend planning to split them, and then building stocking plans around those. It is easier to harden water than to soften it, but it can be done as well.


What are the tap water conditions you are dealing with...
pH (after sitting out for 24 hours)?
kH?
gH?

These will determine what will need to be done to get the water a little more in line with the stock. In general, the advice is to keep fish that match your water conditions. Messing with water chemistry can get tough, but I'm thinking a very minor tweak, one way or the other should be all that is necessary to align your tap to your stock.




Oh and welcome to the forum.