Tank set up for 6 weeks now

[Olivia G200]

Hello, wondering if anyone can help? We have had our tank set up now for 6 weeks, we’ve had a few hiccups along the way but have researched and solved them eventually. We have a community tank and we’ve changed the plants/deco a bit because there wasn’t much hiding areas in the tank for the fish but after changing bits around our fish now seem really spooked. We did it over 4 hours ago now and some fish have come out and are exploring a little but some are still in the corner and are swimming into the glass. We don’t know if they will settle or if there’s something more we can do. Thankyou

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

And your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, GH and KH levels are..?
What is the size of the tank, how is it set up and what fish are in there, please?

 

[Olivia G200]

We have been daily dip testing, we had an ammonia spike 2 weeks ago but it’s been settled now at 0 over the past 7 days. PH 6.8-7.0, GH is high as we have local GH in the tap water but have added dechlorinator and have spoken to our local fish store and they have clarified that shouldn’t be an issue. The tank is 30L, it has a filter with bio-media, an airstone and live plants. We have 3 guppys, 2 platys, 2 tetras and 2 corydora catfish. They all seemed settled and happy previously before we started messing with the surroundings.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

We have been daily dip testing, we had an ammonia spike 2 weeks ago but it’s been settled now at 0 over the past 7 days. PH 6.8-7.0, GH is high as we have local GH in the tap water but have added dechlorinator and have spoken to our local fish store and they have clarified that shouldn’t be an issue. The tank is 30L, it has a filter with bio-media, an airstone and live plants. We have 3 guppys, 2 platys, 2 tetras and 2 corydora catfish. They all seemed settled and happy previously before we started messing with the surroundings.

All sounds good enough to me...your fish will probably settle overnight, if not before.

The fish in my two tanks are well used to me messing, because of repeated water changes and trimming of plants, so they now rarely seem to panic and just take me as a part of the strange lives.
I suppose it might also help that they associate me with food.

 

[Olivia G200]

Perfect, Thankyou so much for your reply, we feel better now we haven’t done much messing since we got them so we must’ve just spooked them a little bit. Thank you again!

 

[FishHobby99]

Hello, wondering if anyone can help? We have had our tank set up now for 6 weeks, we’ve had a few hiccups along the way but have researched and solved them eventually. We have a community tank and we’ve changed the plants/deco a bit because there wasn’t much hiding areas in the tank for the fish but after changing bits around our fish now seem really spooked. We did it over 4 hours ago now and some fish have come out and are exploring a little but some are still in the corner and are swimming into the glass. We don’t know if they will settle or if there’s something more we can do. Thankyou

Give it a little time. They‘ll be fine soon.

 

[Olivia G200]

Give it a little time. They‘ll be fine soon.

Thank you so much! They are now absolutely fine and seem to be loving the new environment

 

[fishyfun&fans]

Over time my fish have got used to me sticking the syphon in cleaning bits taking filters out having low water levels occasionally etc

some of them come and nibble on my fingers it’s quite funny

Eventually the fish will get used to you and they won’t be in the slightest bothered about a bit of tank work as they’ll know your doing it for them

Even in the pitch black darkness if I walk up to the tank and say hi they mostly all come to the front

that old tale we are all told of them only having a 2 second memory-it’s total rubbish in my oppinion

they actually have a very high intelligence Level but there intelligence only stretches to behaviours that they deem needed for there survival and nothing much else

when they realise your integral to there survival they’ll stop being bothered/intimidated by your presence in the tank

call it there way of friendship and accepting you by allowing themselves to act like your not there(obviously they would rather you weren’t there unless you were feeding them but there chill with you being there)

this doesn’t mean to say they want to be stroked and want direct attention(although this can be the case with some larger species of Catfish and various others) I don’t advocate stroking fish though lol

Note for @Obsessed with fish -just a bit of knowledge you could learn here

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

they actually have a very high intelligence but there intelligent in behaviours that they deem needed for there survival and nothing much else

We sometimes forget that fish are as varied as mammals, birds, molluscs, etc..
Some fish have genuine intelligence, whilst others could easily be described as intellectually challenged and the rest are somewhere in between.

 

[FishHobby99]

Over time my fish have got used to me sticking the syphon in cleaning bits taking filters out having low water levels occasionally etc

some of them come and nibble on my fingers it’s quite funny

Eventually the fish will get used to you and they won’t be in the slightest bothered about a bit of tank work as they’ll know your doing it for them

Even in the pitch black darkness if I walk up to the tank and say hi they mostly all come to the front

that old tale we are all told of them only having a 2 second memory-it’s total rubbish in my oppinion

they actually have a very high intelligence Level but there intelligence only stretches to behaviours that they deem needed for there survival and nothing much else

when they realise your integral to there survival they’ll stop being bothered/intimidated by your presence in the tank

this doesn’t mean to say they want to be stroked and want direct attention(although this can be the case with some larger species of Catfish and various others) I don’t advocate stroking fish though lol

But that singer said: They say goldfish have no memory so the little plastic castle is a surprise every time.

My fish congregate at the glass whenever any human approaches, expecting a hand out. Very endearin.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Welcome to the forum

The tank is 30L, it has a filter with bio-media, an airstone and live plants. We have 3 guppys, 2 platys, 2 tetras and 2 corydora catfish.

Sorry but can I double check that your tank is 30L. What are the dimensions of the tank?

If so then I'm afraid that your tank is very overstocked and none of these fish should really be kept in a tank of this size. I'm not saying this to put you off or anything but be aware that with this stocking in a 30L tank you will have problems.

Going through your stocking list:
X3 Guppies.
These are very active fish that grow up to 2 inches long. Personally I wouldn't want to keep them in a tank less than 2ft long.
Do you know the sexes of them? If you have a mix of male and female you will end up with a lot of babies. If you have more males than females you will probably have issues with the female getting stressed out.

X2 Platys
Similar to Guppies. If you have a male and a female you will end up with a lot of babies. Also a male with only 1 female will probably end up harassing that female a lot.

X2 Tetras
Without knowing the exact speciesI can't be speicific but generally almost all tetras need to be kept in a large group (6 min, but ideally over 10). A 30L tank cannot support a group this size.

X 2 Cory's
Same as the tetras, without knowing species I can;t give specifics but normally they need a large group again (5+, ideally 10+) and your tank doesn't have enough space to support that.

Sorry I really don't want to put a downer on things for you but this stocking list will cause you problems later on.

 

[fishyfun&fans]

Also may I add that you can be slightly overstocked if you allow for water changes more often use an oversize filter and keep on top of Tank & Filter maintenance

but too much strain on the filter from the bioload(too many fish in this case) will eventually cause problems like @xxBarneyxx mentioned

So my first statement becomes even more important the more overstocked you are although by this time(high bioload you really should be buying a bigger tank or re-homing a few fish)