Am I doing this right??

[Birtz]

Hi,

I’m Becki and I’m very new to tropical fish! We’ve recently got a 54l tank (h37cm, w33cm, d62cm) and it has been up and running for about 2.5 weeks now. This is a new hobby for myself and our young sons to enjoy so I really really want to get this right as we sadly lost a Molly yesterday and our 5 year old was heart broken!

Naively we followed the advice of P@H and decided to do fish-in cycling after 24 hours, with 4 male mollies and 4 snails (2 red spotted and 2 zebra). 3 of the snails didn’t make it past 3 days and we sadly lost our first fish yesterday after 15 days. After reading up quite a bit I got advice from a local aquatics centre who have regularly been testing our water which is high in nitrite. They’ve advised that we cut feeding to once every other day and do at least a 10% water change daily. I’ve been using dechlorinator and have also put in8 bacterial balls over the last couple of weeks at their advice. Yesterday I did a 50% water change and put 4 balls in as I was advised and now I’m paranoid that that is what killed the fish and I’m worried about doing this again? I’m also worried that the other fish are now at risk, although they seem okay so far.

So my most urgent question is about saving the mollies and snail that we currently have. My plan is to keep doing the 10% changes daily with dechlorinator and feeding every other day. The shop suggested that I did another 50% water change on Friday but I’m now wary of doing this?

Going forward our plan for stocking a community tank is to get guppies next, then corydoras (maybe Pygmy?), possibly African dwarf frogs, tetra and possibly something else. This is with advice from the aquatics centre, does this sound okay? If so what numbers of each should we go for? I know corydoras and tetras like larger groups and we’d ideally like at least 3 male guppies.

In case It’s relevant, we’re just outside of Bristol so apparently our water is quite good (??), we currently have plastic plants and gravel but we have added real floating plants, we’ve got a filter and heater and we’ve also added an air stone. We’ve also got several fish safe ornaments for the fish to hide in/explore.

Apologies for the rambling post and many thanks in advance for advice - I’ve been confusing myself googling everything about tropical fish and the advice can be very contradictory!

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum Your start in the hobby is like many but don't worry it does get easier!

Don't be afraid of doing water changes, right now your filter sounds like it is growing bacteria to deal with ammonia and nitrite but extra water changes will help keep them at a safe level. 50% is best to aim for as thats how you really dilute things in a tank, think about how much water you would have to add to a glass of orange juice before it went clear. I'd also recommend getting an API master test kit so you can test your own water when you need to, they are about £25 and will last years even if you use it every day for a few weeks.

Fish wise, do you know if you have hard or soft water? Its best to keep fish from water as close to your tap water as possible. If you are not sure check your water companies website (if the results make no sense share them here and we can help you).

For me Mollies are a bit big for a 54ltr tank, they can get upto 4 inches and they are quite a boisterous fish. I'd have probably gone for Platies as they are smaller, bit more chill but same sort of colours. Both of these fish also need hardwater though so just an indicator for your next steps.

In terms of your decor, sand is always a better substrate than gravel as it allows you to keep a broader range of fish like the Cories you mentioned. Same with real plants vs artificial, there are real benefits to live plants in an aquarium where as plastic plants are not bad but just kind of neutral in what they add to a tank other than aesthetically (which is always important though )

Wills

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

10% water changes are useless and leave 90% of the bad stuff behind. If you want to do water changes, do big water changes.

If you change 25% of the water, you leave 75% of the bad stuff behind.
If you change 50% of the water, you leave 50% of the bad stuff behind.
If you change 75% of the water, you leave 25% of the bad stuff behind.

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If you are doing a fish in cycle, just reduce feeding to 2-3 times a week (don't worry the fish won't starve), and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding. The big water change will dilute any ammonia produced by the food. After the filter has established (in 4-6 weeks), you can feed the fish once a day and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate once a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

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You can buy bottles of liquid filter bacteria supplement from most pet shops or online. I recommend adding a double dose every day for a week and then pour the remaining contents into the tank. Try to add the supplement near the filter intake so the bacteria get drawn into the filter where they belong.

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What sort of filter is in the tank?
Did the shop tell you how to clean the filter?

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Don't keep frogs with fish. It never works out well. Frogs are much more intolerant of poor water quality than fish are, and frogs won't take medications used to treat fish. In addition to that, frogs will eat small fish, shrimp and snails.

If you want frogs, get a separate tank for them and keep frogs in one tank and fish in another.

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Don't get any more fish until the filter has cycled and you know what the water chemistry is.

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, most tetras, barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

 

[Birtz]

Hi welcome to the forum Your start in the hobby is like many but don't worry it does get easier!

Don't be afraid of doing water changes, right now your filter sounds like it is growing bacteria to deal with ammonia and nitrite but extra water changes will help keep them at a safe level. 50% is best to aim for as thats how you really dilute things in a tank, think about how much water you would have to add to a glass of orange juice before it went clear. I'd also recommend getting an API master test kit so you can test your own water when you need to, they are about £25 and will last years even if you use it every day for a few weeks.

Fish wise, do you know if you have hard or soft water? Its best to keep fish from water as close to your tap water as possible. If you are not sure check your water companies website (if the results make no sense share them here and we can help you).

For me Mollies are a bit big for a 54ltr tank, they can get upto 4 inches and they are quite a boisterous fish. I'd have probably gone for Platies as they are smaller, bit more chill but same sort of colours. Both of these fish also need hardwater though so just an indicator for your next steps.

In terms of your decor, sand is always a better substrate than gravel as it allows you to keep a broader range of fish like the Cories you mentioned. Same with real plants vs artificial, there are real benefits to live plants in an aquarium where as plastic plants are not bad but just kind of neutral in what they add to a tank other than aesthetically (which is always important though )

Wills

Hi Wills,

Thank you so much for your reply. We’re in a hard water area, so that’s a relief for the mollies! I did read after getting the mollies that the tank might be a bit small, I am a bit worried about that. The boys are very attached to them now (me too!) so hopefully we can adjust who we add so that they can stay?

Thank you for the advice with water changes. Is it safe to just do a 50% change straight off or is it better to do it over a few hours? I read about osmotic shock after the fish died and I’m worried that’s what happened to our ironically named Lucky? Also, should I aim for 50% a day and a bacteria ball at the moment or is that too drastic for the remaining fish and snail? I’m currently scooping the water out with a jug as the vacuum we got wasn’t very good, is that okay to do it that way? The aquatics centre said it was but I just want to double check? I’m planning on getting an API testing kit but that’s another minefield! I’m going back to the aquatic centre at the weekend and they sell one so I think I’ll get one there unless there are any good ones I can get online that you know of?

I’m definitely up for adding in real plants and changing the gravel. Is that possible now we’ve got fish in the tank? We put the floating plants in which seem to be working well, is it worth adding more?

Thank you again for your time helping us!

Becki

 

[Wills]

Hi Wills,

Thank you so much for your reply. We’re in a hard water area, so that’s a relief for the mollies! I did read after getting the mollies that the tank might be a bit small, I am a bit worried about that. The boys are very attached to them now (me too!) so hopefully we can adjust who we add so that they can stay?

Thank you for the advice with water changes. Is it safe to just do a 50% change straight off or is it better to do it over a few hours? I read about osmotic shock after the fish died and I’m worried that’s what happened to our ironically named Lucky? Also, should I aim for 50% a day and a bacteria ball at the moment or is that too drastic for the remaining fish and snail? I’m currently scooping the water out with a jug as the vacuum we got wasn’t very good, is that okay to do it that way? The aquatics centre said it was but I just want to double check? I’m planning on getting an API testing kit but that’s another minefield! I’m going back to the aquatic centre at the weekend and they sell one so I think I’ll get one there unless there are any good ones I can get online that you know of?

I’m definitely up for adding in real plants and changing the gravel. Is that possible now we’ve got fish in the tank? We put the floating plants in which seem to be working well, is it worth adding more?

Thank you again for your time helping us!

Becki

Hi Becki, no probs at all

Good news on your hard water for the Mollies, I have hard water too and it can be tough as a lot of fish come from soft water but there are some stunning fish that do well in hard water. Any Livebearers like Guppies, Endlers, Platies etc, some small rasbora species like Emerald, Galaxy and Rummy Nose Rasbora are all really colourful and would do well in your tank. Rainbow fish are an other good choice things like Dwarf Neon, Kamaka and Forktail Rainbows are all nice. Bottom dwellers are a bit harder to find in this size tank but depending on choice of tank mate small Synodontis Catfish are a good choice like Polli or Petricola. Oil Catfish can be a good option too and a few relatives like Orca Cats and Ninjas but they are a bit rare. But lets get everything else stable before we think about more fish

The Mollys are a bit big for this tank, a general rule of thumb is a tanks length should be 6x the adult length and 2x wide so if you think of a 4 inch or 10cm Molly how would it fare in your tank? A second rule of thumb is inch per US gallon which is super vague but easy way to add things up in your head, so with 4 mollies you have 16 inches of adult fish in a 14 gallon tank so at some point if you want to keep the Mollys I would start to think about a bigger tank, probably about 125 litres or 29 gallons as a minimum - a Fluval Roma 125 would be a good example.

For water changing I use a length of hose (no gravel cleaner attachment) and just start the syphon by sucking it but you can do it in a few different ways. Drain the tank down as fast as it allows and then I use a small pond pump with a hose to refill the tank from a bucket. I use a product called Prime but API do a good range of water conditioners which are a bit better and have less chemicals in.

Local stores are often quite good but there are some absolute shockers out there so always do your own research online. Try to research fish before you buy them - seriouslyfish.com is a great site to read through. Physical shops are really important and the easiest way to learn all the equipment and kit etc but dont be put off online retailers there are loads in the UK now Charterhouse Aquatics, Swell, Horizon Aqutics, Pro Shirmp, Riverwood Aquatics are all really good. For the test kit this is the one to get https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/water-tests/790-api-freshwater-master-test-kit-0317163010341.html liquid test kits are more accurate than the paper strips.

Changing to a sand substrate is well worth doing and I wouldn't hold back in doing it, you would need to wash it well before you do it. Then once its clean put your fish in a bucket of tank water, possibly with the filter and heater and scoop out the gravel and replace with sand.

Live plants are really good to get in especially an early tank like this. Vallis, Limnophilla Sessiflora and Cryptocorynes are good plants to get started (and do well in harder water). You can also grow plants out of the surface in a Riparium style like a Peace Lilly or Monsterra which take a while to develop but really help with water quality.

Quite a bit of info here now so have a read and a bit of a google and let us know what you want to do next

Wills

 

[Birtz]

Hi Becki, no probs at all

Good news on your hard water for the Mollies, I have hard water too and it can be tough as a lot of fish come from soft water but there are some stunning fish that do well in hard water. Any Livebearers like Guppies, Endlers, Platies etc, some small rasbora species like Emerald, Galaxy and Rummy Nose Rasbora are all really colourful and would do well in your tank. Rainbow fish are an other good choice things like Dwarf Neon, Kamaka and Forktail Rainbows are all nice. Bottom dwellers are a bit harder to find in this size tank but depending on choice of tank mate small Synodontis Catfish are a good choice like Polli or Petricola. Oil Catfish can be a good option too and a few relatives like Orca Cats and Ninjas but they are a bit rare. But lets get everything else stable before we think about more fish

The Mollys are a bit big for this tank, a general rule of thumb is a tanks length should be 6x the adult length and 2x wide so if you think of a 4 inch or 10cm Molly how would it fare in your tank? A second rule of thumb is inch per US gallon which is super vague but easy way to add things up in your head, so with 4 mollies you have 16 inches of adult fish in a 14 gallon tank so at some point if you want to keep the Mollys I would start to think about a bigger tank, probably about 125 litres or 29 gallons as a minimum - a Fluval Roma 125 would be a good example.

For water changing I use a length of hose (no gravel cleaner attachment) and just start the syphon by sucking it but you can do it in a few different ways. Drain the tank down as fast as it allows and then I use a small pond pump with a hose to refill the tank from a bucket. I use a product called Prime but API do a good range of water conditioners which are a bit better and have less chemicals in.

Local stores are often quite good but there are some absolute shockers out there so always do your own research online. Try to research fish before you buy them - seriouslyfish.com is a great site to read through. Physical shops are really important and the easiest way to learn all the equipment and kit etc but dont be put off online retailers there are loads in the UK now Charterhouse Aquatics, Swell, Horizon Aqutics, Pro Shirmp, Riverwood Aquatics are all really good. For the test kit this is the one to get https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/water-tests/790-api-freshwater-master-test-kit-0317163010341.html liquid test kits are more accurate than the paper strips.

Changing to a sand substrate is well worth doing and I wouldn't hold back in doing it, you would need to wash it well before you do it. Then once its clean put your fish in a bucket of tank water, possibly with the filter and heater and scoop out the gravel and replace with sand.

Live plants are really good to get in especially an early tank like this. Vallis, Limnophilla Sessiflora and Cryptocorynes are good plants to get started (and do well in harder water). You can also grow plants out of the surface in a Riparium style like a Peace Lilly or Monsterra which take a while to develop but really help with water quality.

Quite a bit of info here now so have a read and a bit of a google and let us know what you want to do next

Wills

That’s brilliant, thank you so much! I’ll have a look into those types of fish. It’s only the three mollies we’ve got now but I guess that the measurement of tank size still suggests it’s a bit on the small size for the three of them?

I’m heading out in a sec so I’ll have a closer read through again of your suggestions when I get back and order the testing kit too, thank you.

Becki