Few Questions - From A New Fishkeeper!

[CMartino]

Hey all!

Thanks for taking the time to read my thread, basically I have purchased a 28L AquaStart 320 fish tank with a 25w heater and also an airpump + filter. I have set the tank up with some chlorine remover, ammonia remover and some SafeStart. I had the water tested by a local pet shop and they confirmed the water was of a perfect level with 0 ammonia and 7.4Ph levels with no nitrates.

I currently have 8 guppies in the tank and this is the limit of what I'm adding for space reasons, so basically I have two questions in total and I will supply pictures in order to help explain.


I have two male guppies and six female and basically my issue is the orange male I have seems to spend all his time sitting above the filter just below the water line, when I add a pinch of food to the water he does come and eat it however. Any ideas why? (he doesn't appear to be getting bullied though)

http/puu.sh/1vYRQ

My second question is a few of the guppies in the tank are pregnant (don't panic I'm making preparations to obtain a second tank for the fry), some more so obviously than others and I'm finding it hard to tell how long in the pregnancy they are for as to when I should add them to the breading box, they are both pretty swollen in comparison to the size of their body and I read on the internet I'm supposed to see the fri's eyes inside the mother however I cannot I can only see a large black area to her rear here is pictures of the pregnant guppies:

http/puu.sh/1vYUs

http/puu.sh/1vYUN

http/puu.sh/1vYUZ

Sorry if the pictures aren't brilliant - I will try get some better snaps today, thanks for your time!

- Chris

 

[the_lock_man]

Am I right in assuming that you set up the tank, ran it for a week or so, had the water tested and popped in the fish? If not, what did you do?

My initial thought is that the fish is suffering from the most common mistake people make - an uncycled filter. If I'm right, then the reason the water had 0ppm ammonia is that there was nothing in the tank to make ammonia. And therefore nothing to produce the bacteria responsible for removing the ammonia and consequent nitrite. Have a read of the stuff in the clickable link in my signature.

As regards how far along in the pregnancy, there is a topic pinned at the top of this section of the forum, which shows a molly in all stages of pregnancy - this will give you a bit more info.

 

[CMartino]

Am I right in assuming that you set up the tank, ran it for a week or so, had the water tested and popped in the fish? If not, what did you do?

My initial thought is that the fish is suffering from the most common mistake people make - an uncycled filter. If I'm right, then the reason the water had 0ppm ammonia is that there was nothing in the tank to make ammonia. And therefore nothing to produce the bacteria responsible for removing the ammonia and consequent nitrite. Have a read of the stuff in the clickable link in my signature.

As regards how far along in the pregnancy, there is a topic pinned at the top of this section of the forum, which shows a molly in all stages of pregnancy - this will give you a bit more info.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, initially the tank had been running since last Saturday but since I was a beginner I panicked when the water turned cloudy when there was no fish in there and changed it on the Monday - not knowing this was part of the cycle process. So I purchased my fish Wednesday and added them to the tank complete with some good bacteria, chlorine control and half a cap full of AM ammonia or something that I obtained from the pet shop for £7.99.

So far the fish have been more than happy, exploring, excrement is of a natural brownish colour, none have died and all is well, the male seems less active than what he used to be before I added the additional fish.

Also do fish tend to wind down at night in terms of activity as now (6PM) they seem to be less active, pregnant ones laying around etc?

 

[phoenixgsd]

So I purchased my fish Wednesday and added them to the tank complete with some good bacteria, chlorine control and half a cap full of AM ammonia or something that I obtained from the pet shop for £7.99.

have a read of the link in my signature it explains cycling, you are fish in cycling in a small tank which basicaly means, large daily water changes are needed, you will need a water based test kit, the API master kit is a good cheap one widely available, all you need are a test kit and dechlorinator you dont really need the gimmicky filter starter stuff, its debatable if they work anyway, please correct me if i read this wrong but you say, you added half a cap full of AM ammonia? are you saying you added ammonia to a tank with fish in?

 

[Animal Lover 2000]

you almost never see the eyes in gupps but you have normal gravid spot
dont worry bout that worry uboutt his

Am I right in assuming that you set up the tank, ran it for a week or so, had the water tested and popped in the fish? If not, what did you do?

My initial thought is that the fish is suffering from the most common mistake people make - an uncycled filter. If I'm right, then the reason the water had 0ppm ammonia is that there was nothing in the tank to make ammonia. And therefore nothing to produce the bacteria responsible for removing the ammonia and consequent nitrite. Have a read of the stuff in the clickable link in my signature.

 

[CMartino]

So I purchased my fish Wednesday and added them to the tank complete with some good bacteria, chlorine control and half a cap full of AM ammonia or something that I obtained from the pet shop for £7.99.

have a read of the link in my signature it explains cycling, you are fish in cycling in a small tank which basicaly means, large daily water changes are needed, you will need a water based test kit, the API master kit is a good cheap one widely available, all you need are a test kit and dechlorinator you dont really need the gimmicky filter starter stuff, its debatable if they work anyway, please correct me if i read this wrong but you say, you added half a cap full of AM ammonia? are you saying you added ammonia to a tank with fish in?

AM Ammonia is the name of the substance I obtained from the pet shop to remove ammonia to the tank and was very effective in doing so. Also with regards to the water issues, I'm supposed to change a percentage of the tank water per day? Isn't that bad for the fish?

 

[OldMan47]

Changing water every day is what will allow your fish to survive until you get the tank's filter cycled. Fish, rotting fish food, decaying bits of dead plants and lots of other organics produce ammonia which is deadly. Ammonia is converted to nitrites once the cycle has gotten under way but nitrite can also be deadly. Eventually the filter will have enough ammonia processors and nitrite processors to take care of your fish but until that happens water changes are the key to fish survival. As long as you dechlorinate the new water and get a reasonavble temperature match, you could change 90% of the water every day with no harm to the fish. Whenever I have water issues, I do exactly that and the fish always bounce right back.

 

[CMartino]

Changing water every day is what will allow your fish to survive until you get the tank's filter cycled. Fish, rotting fish food, decaying bits of dead plants and lots of other organics produce ammonia which is deadly. Ammonia is converted to nitrites once the cycle has gotten under way but nitrite can also be deadly. Eventually the filter will have enough ammonia processors and nitrite processors to take care of your fish but until that happens water changes are the key to fish survival. As long as you dechlorinate the new water and get a reasonavble temperature match, you could change 90% of the water every day with no harm to the fish. Whenever I have water issues, I do exactly that and the fish always bounce right back.

I've changed the water today (25%) and replaced the water with fresh dechlorinated water that I had matched the identical tank temperature with (28C). Should I be changing the water weekly now of about 25%? Also another question is when should I go about adding my females to the breading tank I'm worried in case I miss her birthing?

 

[fluttermoth]

Unless you can test the water yourself for ammonia, every day, it's best to be on the safe side and change as much water as you can.

When you have test kits for ammonia and nitrite, you might be able to cut back on the water changes, but there's no way of knowing without testing.

I wouldn't put the females in breeder boxes. You don't have space in a tank that size to be able to raise fry; more than enough will probably survive anyway. Really it would be best if you could get rid of the females and just have six or seven males.

 

[CMartino]

Unless you can test the water yourself for ammonia, every day, it's best to be on the safe side and change as much water as you can.

When you have test kits for ammonia and nitrite, you might be able to cut back on the water changes, but there's no way of knowing without testing.

I wouldn't put the females in breeder boxes. You don't have space in a tank that size to be able to raise fry; more than enough will probably survive anyway. Really it would be best if you could get rid of the females and just have six or seven males.

I'm purchasing a new tank in about a weeks time that's about 3x the size of my AquaOne so raising the fry shouldn't be an issue - with regards to the male hanging around he has became more active since changing a portion of the water thanks for the advice!

Just curious now with the pregnant female, she appears to be hanging around deep in the live plants and I've searched this and everything is pointing me in the direction that she is ready to birth.

Here is a few pictures for anyone who could give me some advice:

 

[the_lock_man]

Changing water every day is what will allow your fish to survive until you get the tank's filter cycled. Fish, rotting fish food, decaying bits of dead plants and lots of other organics produce ammonia which is deadly. Ammonia is converted to nitrites once the cycle has gotten under way but nitrite can also be deadly. Eventually the filter will have enough ammonia processors and nitrite processors to take care of your fish but until that happens water changes are the key to fish survival. As long as you dechlorinate the new water and get a reasonavble temperature match, you could change 90% of the water every day with no harm to the fish. Whenever I have water issues, I do exactly that and the fish always bounce right back.

I've changed the water today (25%) and replaced the water with fresh dechlorinated water that I had matched the identical tank temperature with (28C). Should I be changing the water weekly now of about 25%? Also another question is when should I go about adding my females to the breading tank I'm worried in case I miss her birthing?

It seems as though you didn't read the link in my signature area that I advised you to. Please trust me when I say that you need to understand what it says, and then act upon what it says.. Please also trust what OldMan and Fluttermoth say - they are both highly experienced fishkeepers, and I have benefitted from advice from both of them in the past. They are saying exactly what I am saying. You have to protect the fish in your tank by doing large water changes, until such time as the filter has produced enough bacteria to neutralise the ammonia and nitrite without help from you. Until that time, weekly water changes will not be enough to protect your fish.

Please forget about the fry for now. If your water is as bad as I suspect it is, the fry won't survive for more than a day or so anyway.

 

[CMartino]

Changing water every day is what will allow your fish to survive until you get the tank's filter cycled. Fish, rotting fish food, decaying bits of dead plants and lots of other organics produce ammonia which is deadly. Ammonia is converted to nitrites once the cycle has gotten under way but nitrite can also be deadly. Eventually the filter will have enough ammonia processors and nitrite processors to take care of your fish but until that happens water changes are the key to fish survival. As long as you dechlorinate the new water and get a reasonavble temperature match, you could change 90% of the water every day with no harm to the fish. Whenever I have water issues, I do exactly that and the fish always bounce right back.

I've changed the water today (25%) and replaced the water with fresh dechlorinated water that I had matched the identical tank temperature with (28C). Should I be changing the water weekly now of about 25%? Also another question is when should I go about adding my females to the breading tank I'm worried in case I miss her birthing?

It seems as though you didn't read the link in my signature area that I advised you to. Please trust me when I say that you need to understand what it says, and then act upon what it says.. Please also trust what OldMan and Fluttermoth say - they are both highly experienced fishkeepers, and I have benefitted from advice from both of them in the past. They are saying exactly what I am saying. You have to protect the fish in your tank by doing large water changes, until such time as the filter has produced enough bacteria to neutralise the ammonia and nitrite without help from you. Until that time, weekly water changes will not be enough to protect your fish.

Please forget about the fry for now. If your water is as bad as I suspect it is, the fry won't survive for more than a day or so anyway.

I purchased a test kit and have been doing regular 25% water changes and the levels according to the kit are of perfect levels.

On another note - my guppy had 8 healthy fry

Edit: Also to update everyone concerned about space issues, I've purchased a 25 gallon tank, does anyone have some advice on setting it up, how long it should be ran in for and what wattage heater I would need?

Thanks!

 

[noor]

Changing water every day is what will allow your fish to survive until you get the tank's filter cycled. Fish, rotting fish food, decaying bits of dead plants and lots of other organics produce ammonia which is deadly. Ammonia is converted to nitrites once the cycle has gotten under way but nitrite can also be deadly. Eventually the filter will have enough ammonia processors and nitrite processors to take care of your fish but until that happens water changes are the key to fish survival. As long as you dechlorinate the new water and get a reasonavble temperature match, you could change 90% of the water every day with no harm to the fish. Whenever I have water issues, I do exactly that and the fish always bounce right back.

I really like this statement from OldMan47. This is indeed a sincere reply.