Tank Maintainance

[Chris #]

Well my aquarium has had fish in it for one week now!!!

I've already got 5 fry making a bid for adulthood and my plants are growinglike crazy!!!


The trick is to keep it this way......... My water tests a the moment show a pH of 7.5 and 0 Nitrate/Nitrite

The tank is 144l and I have 12 guppies and one small Red Tail Shark in there.......

My plan for the tank is to let the guppies breed and slowly stock the tank that way..... I might introduce other types of fish but not for a long time yet.

1. How many fish can I have in here?

2. How often should I change the water at the moment bearing in mind the low stocking level?

3. The filter is a 1000l/hour Cannister filter - how often should I rinse it at the moment and how often should I change the media?

4. are there any steps I can take now to control algae?

Apologies for all the questions I just want to make sure I get it right!!!!

 

[doresy]

Let guppies slowly stock your tank

Guppies don't do it slowly, they don't even know the meaning of the word!

Every 3 weeks the sound of about 30-40 tiny splashing fins which even after 'natural consumption' (or better known as cannibalism) still leaves you with a mess.

Not taking the michael......I done it too

 

[Chris #]

it's Ok I can see the funny side - the first one gave birth in less than 24hrs after she arrived!!!


So................... am I making a mistake here?

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

The tank maint guide:
http/www.fishforums.net/Step-by-step-Gui...ce-t171045.html

As for guppies...they often come from the pet store already pregnant. And yes they breed like mad. Whether or not you want to deal with the resulting fry is up to you. Once you put in some other tank mates however, some culling will occur.

 

[Puffdaddy]

I'm a little concerned about your nitrates showing a reading of zero. Have you cycled the tank or was your plan to cycle the tank with the fish you have stocked? Usually a tank showing 0 nitrates is not cycled. Established tanks always show at least a couple ppm of nitrates. I could be wrong but your Red Tail Shark my become quite a terror in your tank as well. As for your Q's 1. your could get approx. 30 guppies in there. 2. You should always do at least 25% once a week. 3. Only rinse off the media if it is restricting water flow (always in old tank water not tap), I only change the filter media when it starts to fall apart. 4. Yes don't over feed the fish, keep tank out of direct sun light, leave lights on 8-10 hrs. max.

 

[doresy]

Yeah hi, sorry about the earlier humour

Not only do guppies mostly arrive pregnant but the can store sperm for up to 6 months (I think) so they can get pregnant again and again without even a male being in the tank!
Further to this then the dads will start 'pairing' with his off-spring (yuk) producing inferior strain and so on. Also your other stock will start over feeding on the fry.

To breed any fish needs care and understanding to be done properly.

After my first 40 fry appeared I captured them in a breeding net while cycling a new small tank (see signiture). I then offered the females up for adoption on these forums. The fry will be moved on when big enough, I may keep a few if they are males to go back in main tank.

That is the end of my breeding program but wait I will then have a fully matured 34ltr going spare so what am I going to put in it Sorry to hijack your post but.........suggestions please for something different (not a betta though)

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Further to this then the dads will start 'pairing' with his off-spring (yuk) producing inferior strain and so on.

In fish breeding it's not uncommon for people to breed siblings together to produce specific color strains. It usually takes several generations for "bad genes" to cause weaknesses, and people tend to have far less guilt issues culling fish than they do furry animals like puppies or kittens.

 

[Chris #]

Thanks for all the great replies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The tank maint guide:
http/www.fishforums.net/Step-by-step-Gui...ce-t171045.html

As for guppies...they often come from the pet store already pregnant. And yes they breed like mad. Whether or not you want to deal with the resulting fry is up to you. Once you put in some other tank mates however, some culling will occur.

Hi Puffdaddy,

The tank has only been running two weeks so yes it will still be cycling....... to be more accurate the levels are <0.3mg/l. The fish in there are happy and are not showing signs of stress. I wont be adding any more for at least a month....

Yeah hi, sorry about the earlier humour

Don't be you made me laugh

How do you control your breeding rate?


(I can feel some more humour coming on here )

people tend to have far less guilt issues culling fish than they do furry animals like puppies or kittens.

This is a good point and one I've taken action on.

I've spoken to my local Aquarist and he'll take them off my hands and give me a little credit in the shop......

Also I'm going to keep introducing new males and females from time to time........

The tank maint guide:
http/www.fishforums.net/Step-by-step-Gui...ce-t171045.html

As for guppies...they often come from the pet store already pregnant. And yes they breed like mad. Whether or not you want to deal with the resulting fry is up to you. Once you put in some other tank mates however, some culling will occur.

Thanks for the link thats really useful.

What tank mates would you recommend?

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Tank is approx 38 gallons sooo...

I'm partial to a few specific SA cichlids in community tanks...
Apistogramma (1 pair or trio) (will be aggressive when spawning)
Keyhole Cichlids (1 pair) (supposedly non-aggressive when spawning)

Although I'm not a fan of angels you could get a pair as long as the tank is over 12" high.

Trio of smaller gouramis (1 male / 2 female)

Note that just about anything you put in that tank (including the guppies) will attempt to eat the guppy fry. If you want surviving fry you may have to remove the mothers to a separate fry tank a few days before she is due (if you want a higher survival rate). Or you can plant java moss in your tank to give the fry a place to hide (survival of the fittest).

 

[Chris #]

Tank is approx 38 gallons sooo...

I'm partial to a few specific SA cichlids in community tanks...
Apistogramma (1 pair or trio) (will be aggressive when spawning)
Keyhole Cichlids (1 pair) (supposedly non-aggressive when spawning)

Although I'm not a fan of angels you could get a pair as long as the tank is over 12" high.

Trio of smaller gouramis (1 male / 2 female)

Note that just about anything you put in that tank (including the guppies) will attempt to eat the guppy fry. If you want surviving fry you may have to remove the mothers to a separate fry tank a few days before she is due (if you want a higher survival rate). Or you can plant java moss in your tank to give the fry a place to hide (survival of the fittest).

Thanks!!!!

I'm not a fan of Angels (tank is 18" high) either but I love Gouramis and I'll look into Keyhole Cichlids as they sound interesting.