Stocking Advice For A Newbie

[its_greg]

Hi all,
I am completely new to fish keeping and was hoping for some advice.

I have recently recieved a Juwel Rekord 60 tank from a friend of a friend. It hadn't been looked after too carefully of late however, and came with a broken filter and broken bulb, a single dead plant, and, amazingly, 4 living fish!

So, I have replaced the bulb, and replaced the juwel compact filter with a fluval2 internal. I have planted up the tank and added a piece of bogwood and some additional gravel. I took a sample of the water to my local shop and they said that the quality was good. I am running it at 25°C(77°F). Also, having been set up for two weeks, I have done a 30% water change.

The tank is stocked with 1xCommon Pleco, 2xSerpae Tetra, 1xWhite Skirt Tetra. The Tetra's stay fairly near the bottom and one of the Serpae's nips at the other two, particularly when I feed them. I have been told the fish are fairly old, but I'm not sure how old.

I was hoping someone more experienced could advise on what fish would be best to add to this tank. The Tetra's seem fairly lethargic, although they have been a little more active since the filter has been on. I don't want to have a problem with them nipping any new additions.

Also, how often would a water change be advisable in this setup?

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum, best piece of advice at present is for you to get an API test kit to determine what your water stats are, not saying the LFS is lying but sometimes best to know your self. Next step is to rehome the plec, its a common newbie fish for tanks this size but in reality they get to over a foot long and will grow to 18 inches in a year quite easily.... The tetras you have are known for being nippy and fast so the nipping is normal for them but can be problematic for you as an aquarist as it will affect the fish you keep with them. They also need to be in groups of 6 so 6 serpae and 6 white skirt.

If they are acting lethargic I am guessing that you will have high levels of ammonia and/or nitrite and thats what you need to work out whats going on with, as it will mean lots of water changes to keep the fish alive and healthy for now but it will calm down and after a few weeks you will be able to do water changes of about 30% once per week and that will be a good way to do things

Wills

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, agree with Wills completely. Many of us like and use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, with ammonia, nitrite(NO2), pH and nitrate(NO3) tests. While you are getting supplies we should consider whether you have a gravel-cleaning siphon. If you have a sand substrate you only need a siphon tube but if gravel you'll need a siphon tube with a gravel-cleaning cylinder at one end. Often the will be the tool needed most when one has acquired a tank where the maintenance has lapsed for a while.

Also, if maintenance has lapsed a lot, we may need to worry about "old tank syndrome" which is where heavy metals and other things have built up over time very slowly and the tropical fish have become acclimated to them. If one does a large water change in this case, the shock may harm the fish. If you got the tank from a friend, it would be great if you could convince him/her that you aren't being judgemental in the least but just need to know how long its been since the last water change and how often they were done if that is known.

~~waterdrop~~
ps. Welcome to the beginners section!

 

[its_greg]

Thanks for the quick replies.

So the lethargy in the tetra's is most likely due to water quality and not that they are in too smaller group?

I was thinking that getting a test kit would be best so I can monitor the quality myself. I should say also that when the fish were moved there was completely fresh water added to the tank. The plants i've added have been growing very well, not sure if thats a good or bad indication?!

How often should I change the water in the meantime, assuming i do have a ammonia/nitrite buildup? Also, do I need a water conditioner? I am using water straight from the mains at the moment.

I will hold off getting any new stock until im sure of the water quality. When I do come to getting new stock, I think I will add more tetra's of the same type as you suggest. Would 6 of each be too many for a tank my size?

 

[Wills]

Eeek yes you need water conditioner the chlorine in the water will be chemically burning your fish along with killing off your bacteria in the filter. I would recommend using API stress coat as the water conditioner but any product works fine.

Once you have that and the water test kits I would start doing daily 50% water changes. However since your only going to be left with 3 tetras I would perhaps rehome them along with the plec to the LFS and then start a fishless cycle with pure ammonia - this also gives you time to consider your stocking. Off the top of my head I cant remember how much water the reckford holds I dont think its only 60 liters though is it? Still a decent sized tank with interesting options for you. If your interested the the fishless cycle have a read of the article in the begginers resource section

Wills

 

[its_greg]

Ok, so I have just got home and tested the water. They only had the 6in1 test strips, but these gave me the following readings:

Nitrite 0 mg/l
Nitrate 25-50 mg/l
GH 16[sup]2[/sup]d
KH 15[sup]2[/sup]d
pH 8.2
Chlorine 0

I have realised that the anti-slime product that came with the tank is actually dechlorinating the added water as well, so thats a relief. The strips didn't test ammonia, but I guess if nitrite is low, but there are nitrates, ammonia isn't likely to be a problem?

These didn't seem as bad as I had expected. I will do another water change this evening to try and bring the nitrate down, and I have got myself a gravel siphon to try and clean that up a bit.

I guess the pH and water hardness are a bit high? Should I worry about these?

I'm wondering whether the fish being old, coupled to small numbers may be the reason for their lethargy.

Be really grateful to hear people's feedback.

 

[Wills]

Ah right okay yeah you are probs right about the ammonia if you have nitrates I think but if you can get the liquid drip tests as the strips are often inacurate.

The ph is pretty high and I think you will need to take this into account when you stock the tank. Again you might be right the high ph and low numbers might affect them.

Wills

 

[its_greg]

I have managed to rehome all the fish and they are going this evening. This means I have the opportunity to restock from fresh so your recommendations would be most welcome. The tank capacity is approx 54 liters (which i think is near enough 12 gallons)

I tested the nitrate levels again this morning after the 50% change, and they looked to be down and are only marginally higher than in the tap water.

As for the pH, I've tested the tap water and this is the source of the hardness and high pH. I've got some bogwood and plants in the tank, and so they may bring it down over time. These test strips aren't great though, and so it may not be as bad as I think.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Some fish that immediately come to mind for that gH and pH (although you could lower the tap water pH buy using a carbon dioxide system, but these aren't cheap, although they would allow you more real plant options depending on lighting and fertilisation)
Smaller Rainbows (Neon Dwarf; Forktail Blue-Eye; Threadfin)
OR
A few small Tanganyikan shell dwellers

I have a 54litre Juwel tank as my quarantine tank, currently being used by my six Pearl Danios. www.aqadvisor.com suggests that as fully grown adults (~5.5cm), these six would leave very little spare stocking space for anything else. Now bare in mind aqadvisor is still a work in progress and experienced fish keepers aften claim to be overstocked according to the utility, which can be down to things like dense planting of fast growing plants and large regular water changes amongst other factors, but it gives us a good ballpark for making fish keeping enjoyable for both us and the fish we look after.

 

[OldMan47]

The addition that immediately comes to mind is some pure ammonia to get your tank cycled. After that happens is plenty soon enough to think of adding any fish. You will indeed need to test for ammonia and test strips are notoriously inaccurate on almost anything. The liquid type tests seem a bit expensive at most fish shops but can be obtained at a reasonable price on line.