Your Thoughts, Ideas Gratefully Accepted

[FoundNemo]

Hey all. Born again newbie here, seeing as I last owned Tropical Fish about 30 years ago, I have a couple of questions I want to throw out to you.
My tank arrives this week, so I have plenty of time before the first inhabitants do. It's a 60L (assuming my maths is up to scratch I make that about 13 gallons?? so should be ideal for the numbers I have in mind.) Once everything has settled down and it is ready to accept the fish I was thinking of adding;

4 x Neon Tetras, then later 4 x Zebra Danios and then finally, 2 x Bettas (female). I don't believe the Bettas would have a problem with the other fish, as they're not as aggressive as the males, but would this set-up be ok? Or would guppies be a better option than Bettas?

And finally.....Shrimps!! Is it necessary to have them in the tank to help with the cleaning. I like the idea of having them, just haven't been able to find out much about them.

Thanks for listening; You can now go back to your normal programs!

 

[bronzecat]

Hi, and welcome back to fish keeping

All sounds good, although two female bettas may fight. Either keep a single female or a group of about 5. They will still bicker but the aggression will be spread out better.

 

[FoundNemo]

Hi, and welcome back to fish keeping

All sounds good, although two female bettas may fight. Either keep a single female or a group of about 5. They will still bicker but the aggression will be spread out better.

Thanks bronzecat. It's exciting to be getting back into it.

I didn't think about the ladies fighting each other, but I should'ave guessed, this is the 21st Century after all!

Maybe 1 is the way to go - I love the idea of having five, but then they'd take up all the room, and I really want those Neons and Danios.

 

[OldMan47]

Hi there FoundNemo and welcome back. I was in the same position you are about 4 years ago so I understand what you are going through. Your stocking level sounds about right but as has been said, 5 betta females is better than 2. Another thing that is probably new to you is what is now called cycling, we called it aging the water back when. It is now done without damaging any fish so there is no need for the 3 or 4 hardy fish that might possibly survive the first few months. The instructions can be found here http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...esource-center/
It takes a little time to get it done right but its nice to know no fish were harmed getting the tank started. The time needed will also give you time to get back up to speed on all the fish that are available now and all the nice new and easy to use equipment that is on the market. I no longer cross my fingers and hope for the best when buying new fish, I know how often I am changing water based on test results so I can predict how much effect a few more fish will have on my water quality. Its kind of reassuring to know in advance that everything will be OK. To me the days of frequent battles with ich are gone. I just don't see it very often at all in my tanks. I have had only one outbreak in 4 years and that was when I set up my female betta tank with several bettas from those little cups they keep them in. I had missed the spots on one female until they settled into my tank. As soon as I saw it I treated with heat and salt and have not seen anything like that since then in any tank.

 

[jacko9901]

i think you should start off with 3-5 zebra or leapord danios to start off the tank maturity. they arehardy and all of them should survive but you may lose a couple of them but i doubt that any of them will die. then after 5-6 weeks you can add the bettas then wait for another 2-3 weeks before you add the neons but get 10 of them to make a nice shoal.

 

[FoundNemo]

Thanks OldMan

Excellent link. The 'Fishless Cycle' was explained to me when I ordered the tank, but I'm pretty sure I would have forgotten something important between then and getting the first inhabitants.

I feel bad for the fish I had in the 70's now!!

 

[OldMan47]

I know how you feel Nemo. When I found out what is known now I felt pretty bad myself.

 

[FoundNemo]

i think you should start off with 3-5 zebra or leapord danios to start off the tank maturity. they arehardy and all of them should survive but you may lose a couple of them but i doubt that any of them will die. then after 5-6 weeks you can add the bettas then wait for another 2-3 weeks before you add the neons but get 10 of them to make a nice shoal.

Thanks Jacko

But I feel that may overcrowd my 60L tank - although I do love the idea of 10 Neons.

3 Zebra, 1 Betta then 10 Neons.

Assuming the 'correct' way of calculating no of fish to tank size ratio is width x length of tank divided by 30 then all is ok....just. If, as I've been told it's divided by 40 then things get crowded.

When I found out what is known now I felt pretty bad myself.

It was a case of just buy the fish and plonk 'em in!! - Shocking!!

 

[SJ2K]

That would be too much, besides 60l is too small for any zebra danios and its a tight squeeze for 10 neons ...Id go for, 6 harlequin rasbora, 1 dwarf gourami and 4-6 corydoras.

 

[FoundNemo]

So...just an update..........

The tank went through its Fishless cycle...a week early!! That did give me the chance to read up a bit more, realise this tank isn't really right for neons, and fall in love with White Clouds.

I've always wanted a community tank with a great school of Neons/Danios/Barbs.......and that will happen...just not in this tank, and getting that 240L Tank will also give me the chance to get rid of that sofa!! - Everyone's a winner...apart from the Missus....she'll have to sit on the floor!

Anyways, back to this tank............

The first fish to call it home were a group of White Clouds (I know some people call them boring....have they ever had them!!??). They may not be 'uber cool' in some peoples eyes, but they will at least forgive my novice mistakes, and live to to set me straight, plus they are just really funny in their antics. They just love to surf in the bubbles from the air pump.

In a week, they've grown twice in size, their colours have come on incredibly (the red of the tail fin and the seemingly 'neon' blue strip on the top fin really show up under the aquarium lighting) - and when they go into poser mode, male testosterone, they seem twice as big. They certainly look impressive with the fins all flared. The ladies as yet seem suitably unimpressed though!.

Added some Gold Clouds today, and even though they are at the moment the size the White Clouds were last week, they give as good as they get - they chase, they get chased, they flare their fins! Boys will be boys.

So here's to the awesome little fish that is a Cloud Mountain Minnow. More fun in a glass box than ITV ever was!!

 

[dwarfgourami]

I agree with you: I think White Clouds look absolutely fantastic! And they may well breed- so that will give you something else to do.

 

[FoundNemo]

I agree with you: I think White Clouds look absolutely fantastic! And they may well breed- so that will give you something else to do.

And there I was worrying that the Gold Clouds were a lot smaller than the Whites when I added them. Two hours later, and a Gold is already 'showing off' to a female White Cloud!!....and she seems to like it.

Looks like I'll be buying that small tank from Wilkinsons this week after all! (For the price they make an excellent hospital tank....although in this case could be a breeding tank!!)

And just as an after thought - I was looking through the White Clouds last week (after I got them home, they had settled down, and I put the aquarium light on) when I realised one of them had no tail fins! I hadn't noticed in the shop, as they were all swimming around, and didn't notice even when I got home - it was only several hours later. There was no bleeding, no fins in the bag, and certainly no signs of a wound on the back of the fish. Is it possible he was born without fins? To be honest, I only noticed because he was swimming in a jerky motion, ie, he swims using his body, rather than the fluid swish/flick a tail gives you, and yet, he's one of the quickest fish in the tank! And he more than makes up for the lack of tail fins with his others! When I noticed it I kept an eye on him, thinking he may get bullied for being a 'runt', but he definitely holds his own. He chases the so called 'Daddy' of the tank, and the ladies seem to have a soft spot for him!

I could'ave taken him back to the shop, but I know they would have just replaced him and squished him, so I know he's better off where he is - just wondering if anyone else has had the same experience? And in case you're wondering, his colouring has come on the best, so I assume he's healthy.....And yup...I call him Nemo. I'm sad!!