Newbie

[Extremefencer]

Hi Guys,
 
I am new to this forum and pretty new to the tropical fish world. So Hello!!
 
Bought our son a 63L tank for his birthday last September and have since caught the bug!!
 
Decided to join this forum after reading the thread where people confessed to mistakes made. I identified with a few of them, with one, still an issue.
 
I will be honest. Unfortunately, our enthusiasm for this hobby has resulted in a community tank with a "slight" overstock issue. At the moment, there is no cause for concern. All the fish seem to be pretty happy with one another and we have had them all for at least 10 weeks as a group.
 
1 Blue Turk discus
1m 1f German Blue Ram
1m 1f dwarf gourami
2 platy
4 guppies
1m 1f killifish
1 rocket panchax
3 scissor rasbora
5 harlequin rasbora
1 peppered cory
1 albino cory dora
ruby shark
kuhli loach
 
(yeah, I know, I know!!

).
 
I perform a 15% or so water change every 2 days and they seem to accept that ok.
 
They are all quite small fish but appreciate that may be due to the tank and also their young age.
 
Fortunately, we have 2 back up plans for when the fish start to trip over each other. I am investing in a 300L + tank in the very near future. Looking forward to that. I suppose I'd get it sooner if we didn't keep buying fish!! The plan is to take a few of the fish out of my sons tank and place them into the new larger tank when set up.
 The other is that my brother already has a 300L tank up and running with loads of space. We have already re-homed 3 angels, who were original residents of the new tank, when it became apparent, even to my inexperienced view, they had outgrown the tank.
 
They are a nice mix of top, middle, bottom swimmers.
 
Got a few questions that I would appreciate some input:
 
How often should the filter be cleaned out? I read 6-8 weeks??
How often should the carbon be replaced?
Do brine shrimp carry possible parasites?
Do fish become familiar with their surrounding? i.e. is it a bad idea to change ornaments/plants around?
Why don't guppies stay still long enough so I can get a decent photo of them!! (that one a joke)
 
feedback welcome (I'm ready for the backlash, but the LFS is very enticing!!!)
 
thanks
 
Ex
 

 

[Extremefencer]

And I know you guys like photos, so here you go.....
 
We are also open to suggestions for any fish that may be suitable tank mates for what we already have when we open the large tank. We have some ideas (we call it the "Fwish list")

 

[BerryAttack]

welcome, 
you are overstocked for a 16 gallon
discus become huge, are schooling fish and need to be in groups min of 3, but recommended in 6 to spread aggression and are very finicky to chemicals in water. need a minimum of 65 gallons. would rehome this fish.
don't know anything on the rocket panchax, someone who knows more about them will help you out
the kuhli loach is a schooling fish, need a min of 3 in a min of 20 gallons ( same substrate is recommended) they grow to 5 inches. would rehome
the ruby shark needs a long tank (because of activity) they need IMO a 60 gallon long, and will grow to 5 inches, would rehome
the scissor rasbora group of 3 good, tank is to small, need a min of 20 gallons and gets 3 inches.
rams need a min of 20 gallons. you have a male and female in the tank, when they pair up they will most likely try to kill everything in the tank... just so you know.
the cories need to be in a min of groups of 3, better 6 and no schooling fish should be kept on their own. 3 min of their own species. IMO i would rehome the albino and bump up the other number.
 
the filter should be cleaned once a month (always depending on bio load and never clean with tap water or you'll have to recycle the whole thing again.)
i don't have carbon in my tanks, and should IMO only be used to remove meds out of the water, besides that, if proper maintenance there isn't any need for it.. just to waste money
all live food has the potential to carry parasites, dried it better to limit risk.
fish will (depending on species) make territory, as the ram you have it'll make territory and become aggressive to keep it that way.
 
 
don't take this the wrong way, your having fun, which is good. but stop buying fish and read, read, read and read some more. when you have become experienced you'll understand why. 
try to get your other tank up and running so you can rehome the fish in there or rehome it somewhere else.

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

Hi welcome aboard!

As much as i love killifishes and that cobalt blue dwarf, mixing them altogether with a discus spells disaster in a couple more months' time.

 

[AmyStroodle]

Weclome!
I'm new also and having to be schooled on fish that go together and stopped from buying too many fish (Plus too many fish at once) have to say keeping fish is more complicated than I expected!
 
Good luck!

 

[Extremefencer]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Have contacts LFS and they can take back the fish when thinks get a bit silly (well, sillier!).

Just thinking about when I get my large 300L tank. I am thinking about a planted tank but realise I may not be able to nail that in the first go so I might end up going for an artificial one. Question is:

Q. Can you mix the substrates? For example, hAve an area of sand and then gravel of different size in another area?

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi there, Extremefencer, welcome to the forum.
 
I would very strongly recommend you return the unsuitable fish sooner rather than later. Fish kept in tanks that are too small can easily become stunted (where they don't grow properly) and this, in turn, can lead to them developing deformities and long term health issues, so I'm afraid there is cause for concern.
 
There's no reason why you can't have a decent planted tank as beginner. I would suggest you start off with 'low tech' planted set up, which doesn't use high lighting, CO2 or many fertlisers. This is really quite easy, as long as you choose the right plants. There'll be plenty of people who can make plant suggestions, when you come to it
 
You can indeed have areas of different substrates, but most people who've tried it (including myself!) decide in the end it doesn't work. Almost inevitably, the two will get mixed together, by both the fish and your regular maintenance, so it's probably best to go with one, all over substrate. Sand would best, as you have corydoras and loaches.
 
As you your questions;
 
filter cleaning depends on how heavy your stocking is. Heavily stocked tanks will need the filter to be cleaned more often so it doesn't get clogged with 'gunk'. In your set up, with the amount of fish you have, I would be cleaning, or at least checking it, at every water change. Just get the 'gunk' off in some old tank water; do not over clean it (you don't want the media to end up looking like new), or you'll lose too many of your good bacteria, but you don't want the media to get clogged either, which would reduce the surface the bacteria need.
 
I would recommend you dump the carbon altogether and replace it with more biomedia; ceramic rings or a coarse sponge, depending on your filter, which never needs replacing. Carbon really doesn't do anything useful in most set ups; it doesn't remove ammonia, nitrite or nitrate, for instance.
 
Brine shrimp should be completely safe, as there are very, very few parasites that can survive in both salt and freshwater (it's one of the reasons why brine shrimp is so popular, as the risk is so small)
 
Fish do become familiar with their surroundings, yes, but that doesn't mean you can't move things around, if you want to. Wild fish would be very accustomed to having their surroundings change, with floods/droughts, so they will adapt perfectly well. Moving decor around is often recommended; for instance when adding new fish, as it stops the current fish having a territory to defend.
 
Fish are a nightmare to photograph! The best tip I've been given is just to take dozens (or hundreds!) of pictures in a session and keep your fingers crossed that one or two come out okay!

 

[majerah1]

Welcome! 

 

[Extremefencer]

Fluttermoth. Wow.

Thank you for that comprehensive feedback. Not sure I can do it justice in response but you advise WILL be adhered to.

I guess we have been a bit blinkered in our first attempt at keeping fish which is obviously a skill as well as a hobby. Looking forward to smoothing the understanding we have so far. It's not too bad a assumption to say we may have fluked it so far. Better to have a contingency plan in place now Rather than too late.

You have also allayed our fears about a planted tanks. Obviously need to select hardy plants as well as hardy fish to begin with,. Something I wouldn't have considered without your reponse.

Many thanks

Ex
Thanks majerah1

 

[fluttermoth]

I'm sorry, that is a bit of a wall of text now I look back at at 

 
Hope I didn't overwhelm you!

 

[Extremefencer]

Lol, No worries. Its nice to know people are willing to offer good advice.