FlakeyBiscuit3.14
Mostly New Member
I just recently got my very first fish tank, and I have a couple questions that I was hoping you guys would be able to help me answer. I have been trying to research fish stuff like crazy, as I am very excited about my new pets!! Also, sorry if this is kind of a long message, but I figured the more details the better!
I have two main issues that I would appreciate your guys' advice on. One is about the health of one of my guppies, who got his fins nipped, and the second is simply on how to stock my tank,
So, my current situation is as follows: I purchased the Tetra 10 gallon starter kit about a week and half ago and got everything all set up with the filter, heater, bubbler, decorations (no live plants, all plastic/silk) etc. I added the AquaSafe dechlorinater and SafeStart bacteria at set up. I then waited 3 days to make sure that the temperature was stable (76 degrees F) and that everything was settled in the tank and (partially?) cycled. I then bought two guppies, both male, one blue cobra and one orange fancy. They seemed to be doing fine, except that the blue guppy kept crowding the orange one and the orange one kept nipping at the blue one to go away. Because of this, a few days later, I bought a third male guppy, a yellow cobra. This seemed to fix the problem. The blue guppy now hung out with the orange one only half the time, cause he now had a new yellow buddy. Then just a couple days ago, the orange guppy kept chasing and nipping at both the yellow and blue, seemingly bullying them. Then when I came home later that day and checked on them, the orange guppy, who had been the aggressor, had two nips taken out of his tail fin and was swimming at the top kind of funny. The blue and yellow have been fine and haven't been picking on him any more since that I have seen, but the orange one has not been swimming around normally and has barely been eating even a single bite in these few days. His fin doesn't seem to infected that I can tell, but I can tell he's not doing well. He has been pooping but it has been clear in color and not the normal brown. I'm not real sure what to do for him. I know that they sell products to help heal nipped fins and prevent infection, but is it worth it to use it? I'd prefer to not add too many chemicals to my tank. I have read online to perform water changes to make sure that there are low toxin levels bothering them, but my test strips show 0 (or at least very low) nitrates and nitrites. But that is my first and main concern right now.
Secondly, I am very excited about my new tank and want to fill it with tons of fun fish, but I want to make sure that the fish I get are happy and healthy. My plan was to get all male guppies and a few cory cats for my tank. The more I read, though, the more I'm wondering if the cory cats will be okay in my tank. As I said, I have a 10 gallon tank. The water is very stable at 76 degrees. I have well water at home, so my water is very hard and the pH is high. I've read not to use the chemical pH stabilizers, so I've just left the pH be. It WAS all the way up at about 8.6 when I first set up the tank...which I know is extremely high. But it has gone down without any meddling from me, and has now stayed at a stable 8.0 for a week. I know that that is still very high, but my guppies seemed fine up until the nipping incident. But I have read that cory cats don't do well with the higher pH's... I'm thinking that if I do get cory cats, I will definitely get pygmy cory's, so that I can get a few for a small school. But will the hard water and pH be too big of an issue to keep any cats at all? If it is okay, can I have 5 males guppies and 4 pygmy cory cats happily in a 10G? How long do I have to wait before my tank is stable enough to add the cats?
Thank you so much for any and all advice!!!
I attached a photo of my tank with the three guppies in it. There are plenty of hiding spots I feel like, but my guppies don't seem to use them.
I have two main issues that I would appreciate your guys' advice on. One is about the health of one of my guppies, who got his fins nipped, and the second is simply on how to stock my tank,
So, my current situation is as follows: I purchased the Tetra 10 gallon starter kit about a week and half ago and got everything all set up with the filter, heater, bubbler, decorations (no live plants, all plastic/silk) etc. I added the AquaSafe dechlorinater and SafeStart bacteria at set up. I then waited 3 days to make sure that the temperature was stable (76 degrees F) and that everything was settled in the tank and (partially?) cycled. I then bought two guppies, both male, one blue cobra and one orange fancy. They seemed to be doing fine, except that the blue guppy kept crowding the orange one and the orange one kept nipping at the blue one to go away. Because of this, a few days later, I bought a third male guppy, a yellow cobra. This seemed to fix the problem. The blue guppy now hung out with the orange one only half the time, cause he now had a new yellow buddy. Then just a couple days ago, the orange guppy kept chasing and nipping at both the yellow and blue, seemingly bullying them. Then when I came home later that day and checked on them, the orange guppy, who had been the aggressor, had two nips taken out of his tail fin and was swimming at the top kind of funny. The blue and yellow have been fine and haven't been picking on him any more since that I have seen, but the orange one has not been swimming around normally and has barely been eating even a single bite in these few days. His fin doesn't seem to infected that I can tell, but I can tell he's not doing well. He has been pooping but it has been clear in color and not the normal brown. I'm not real sure what to do for him. I know that they sell products to help heal nipped fins and prevent infection, but is it worth it to use it? I'd prefer to not add too many chemicals to my tank. I have read online to perform water changes to make sure that there are low toxin levels bothering them, but my test strips show 0 (or at least very low) nitrates and nitrites. But that is my first and main concern right now.
Secondly, I am very excited about my new tank and want to fill it with tons of fun fish, but I want to make sure that the fish I get are happy and healthy. My plan was to get all male guppies and a few cory cats for my tank. The more I read, though, the more I'm wondering if the cory cats will be okay in my tank. As I said, I have a 10 gallon tank. The water is very stable at 76 degrees. I have well water at home, so my water is very hard and the pH is high. I've read not to use the chemical pH stabilizers, so I've just left the pH be. It WAS all the way up at about 8.6 when I first set up the tank...which I know is extremely high. But it has gone down without any meddling from me, and has now stayed at a stable 8.0 for a week. I know that that is still very high, but my guppies seemed fine up until the nipping incident. But I have read that cory cats don't do well with the higher pH's... I'm thinking that if I do get cory cats, I will definitely get pygmy cory's, so that I can get a few for a small school. But will the hard water and pH be too big of an issue to keep any cats at all? If it is okay, can I have 5 males guppies and 4 pygmy cory cats happily in a 10G? How long do I have to wait before my tank is stable enough to add the cats?
Thank you so much for any and all advice!!!
I attached a photo of my tank with the three guppies in it. There are plenty of hiding spots I feel like, but my guppies don't seem to use them.
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/164214-corys-in-hard-water-with-high-ph/
