Noob Question About Community Tanks

[LouiseRat]

Hi myself and my husband have just got our first ever tank it is a juwel rekard 120

We bought 3 pineapple swordtails - 1 male and 2 females yesyerday

We are really confused as to what fish to purchase next , as we dont want to knowingly put any of the fish we own in danger .
Some people recommend an algae eater such as a catfish , pleco etc but we have also heard they get big and eat fish
we dont want any harm to come to the fish , and are a little confused as to whether to get one or not , and at which point do we introduce it to the tank.

We think hopefully thursday , we will get a pair of gourami's but are still unsure

 

[Chri$]

Hi
Ok, so did you do a fishless cycle before you bought your swordtails or are you cycling the tank with them?

 

[LouiseRat]

we are cycling the tank with the fish

 

[diademhill]

we are cycling the tank with the fish

In that case you don't add any more fish until the cycle is complete.
Instead of buying more fish you need test kits to monitor the cycle & a big bottle of dechlorinatoer as you'll be doing lots of water changes.
With care you may be able to add more fish in four to six weeks. If you add fish before then they may well die

Search for cycling & I hope you like water changing.

 

[dwarfgourami]

As diademhill has just pointed out, buying fish isn't something you'll be doing just now- but when you do, there are small catfish you could get if that is what you want.

A bristlenose plec (ancistrus) would be fine in that tank. They eat algae, but it would probably want its diet supplemented with some shop-bought catfish food.

Corydoras are very entertaining fish, though they won't algae- you will need to feed them catfish tablets and they will also scavenge uneaten food. Schooling fish, so you need at least three.

What you want to avoid is:

Common plec (and be wary of any plec that cannot definitely be identified)

Sailfin plec

Chinese Algae Eater aka Golden Algae Eater aka Golden Sucking Loach

 

[LouiseRat]

As diademhill has just pointed out, buying fish isn't something you'll be doing just now- but when you do, there are small catfish you could get if that is what you want.

A bristlenose plec (ancistrus) would be fine in that tank. They eat algae, but it would probably want its diet supplemented with some shop-bought catfish food.

Corydoras are very entertaining fish, though they won't algae- you will need to feed them catfish tablets and they will also scavenge uneaten food. Schooling fish, so you need at least three.

What you want to avoid is:

Common plec (and be wary of any plec that cannot definitely be identified)

Sailfin plec

Chinese Algae Eater aka Golden Algae Eater aka Golden Sucking Loach

thanks for the info , will leave it 3-4 weeks till we get any more fish , we bought a testing kit when we bought the tank , its the tetra one with 40 tests , and we have been doing that along with 60% water changes since we bought the tank

 

[BigIan]

60% seems a bit steep i`d lower it to 25% two or three times a week, when you see the amonia start to rise then do a water change....

 

[LouiseRat]

cool will do thanks ian