Setting Up My New Tank

[Georgie]

Hi everyone
i have been keeping fish for years but not always succesful. to be quite honest when i got my first 2ft tank 4 years ago i just put the types of fish that the pet shops told me to in it and let them do there own thing!

i got out of fish keeping so i could concentrate on breeding my mice (i specalize in long caot rex) but kept my 3 fancy goldfish tanks running coz i love them but have decided i cant stay out of it any longer, and this time i want to do it properly!!!

around 3 months ago i set up my 2ft tank once again, but i did a big mistake......... i stocked up with to many fish to fast causing very bad nitrite levels and a guppy disease to cycle through my tank (no one i know can identify the problem) .
last week i went out and bought a 3ft tank (150 litres, can anyone tell me how many gallons that is?) and i want to do it right!
iam seeking oppinions on
* how long to leave the tank b4 putting fish in ?
* what type of gravel , i love the look of very fine almost sand but is this suitable?
* could the fish currently living in my 2ft be carrying a disease ?
and anything else ANYONE can help me with!!!

sorry for all the questions but i do not want to go through all the stress and tears of losing my fish again and not being able to control my levels
i currently have left in my 2ft
* 2x 8cm male bristlenose, 1x female molly, 1x female guppy,2x bumble bee gobys and 3 neons!!!
thanks in advance everyone and as i said any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

* how long to leave the tank b4 putting fish in ?
* what type of gravel , i love the look of very fine almost sand but is this suitable?
* could the fish currently living in my 2ft be carrying a disease ?
and anything else ANYONE can help me with!!!

good to see you getting back in the habit and doing it properly.

firstly, your best bet is to do a fishless cycle before adding any fish, there's loads of good threads here have a read of them.

you can have sand if you want. howvere you MUST get play sand, used for childrens sand pits etc, buildres sand has all sorts of things added and it's a very bad idea to put it in your tank. Get yourself to a garden centre and a few bags of play sand will cost you next to nothing. Wash it very thoroughly then add it to the tank, then start your cycle.

it's possible they're still carrying disease, need a bit more info before we could tell. When did you last have a death? How have you treated the tank? Are any of the remaining fish still displaying signs of illness (loss of colour, white spots, rubbing on plats/decor, red patches on they're body, white cotton like growth, damaged fins, lethargic, lying on the substrate..... i could go on, but you get the jist!).

Good thing is it's take you about 3-5 weeks to cycle the tank ready for fish, thats plenty of tiem to at least work out if they are carrying diseases and hopefully cure them.

 

[Georgie]

ok thankyou so much!
in regards to the disease it started showing firstly on the guppys (my males only) they would lose a patch of scales on there back maybe 1/4 - 1/2 cm long, to see it properly u would really need to look closely on some. then it spread on to the females and then on to my mollies and platys it has reciently moved on to the neons even though my water conditions are as near to perfect as i can possibly get them. the only fish un affected to my knowledge are the bristlenose and the gobys.
my last death was yesterday my last dalmation molly. i have treated them with melafix, pimefix, multi cure, triple sulfa and ick away.(not all at once ) not sure if u have the same products as we do over here
thanks for the tip on the sand i would not have known
Cheers,
Georgie

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ok thankyou so much!
in regards to the disease it started showing firstly on the guppys (my males only) they would lose a patch of scales on there back maybe 1/4 - 1/2 cm long, to see it properly u would really need to look closely on some. then it spread on to the females and then on to my mollies and platys it has reciently moved on to the neons even though my water conditions are as near to perfect as i can possibly get them. the only fish un affected to my knowledge are the bristlenose and the gobys.
my last death was yesterday my last dalmation molly. i have treated them with melafix, pimefix, multi cure, triple sulfa and ick away.(not all at once ) not sure if u have the same products as we do over here
thanks for the tip on the sand i would not have known
Cheers,
Georgie

hmmm not sure what to suggest re the disease, doesn't sound like anything I've come across. Post in the emergencies section about it. There's a few people on here who are experts re diseases they'll be able to help more then I can.

 

[Chri$]

(150 litres, can anyone tell me how many gallons that is?)

150 litres = 32.995 imperial gallons = 39.673 US gallons

 

[Georgie]

thankyou