Hello From Scotland :)

[Ny82]

Hi everyone I just joined the forum as I viewed a thread about pets at home selling platys as cold water fish. I have a cold water tank and went to get some minnows for it and the guy said the platys will be better as first fish (my tank has been set up for about a week)
Now I am worried that the platy-which I believe are the green variatus will be dead by the morning. They are yellow, with black scales on the top and red tails. One seems to be bigger than the other. I have enclosed a pic.
Will they be ok?
Thanks

[RIMG]http/i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa466/TiggsGTI/322408_276659979038048_100000821445826_714792_529933271_o.jpg[/RIMG]

 

[rob158]

Welcome to the forum,

have a look at this thread,
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/303077-is-there-such-a-thing-as-cold-water-platys/

this may also help in the care of them ,
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/46309-platy/

 

[Ny82]

Welcome to the forum,

have a look at this thread,
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/303077-is-there-such-a-thing-as-cold-water-platys/

this may also help in the care of them ,
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/46309-platy/

Thanks very much for the reply that clears it up somewhat. Are they normally shy? They were darting about following each other and suddenly for the past hour or so the tank looks empty. They are hiding behind the plants and wont come out! I probably sound like an over protective parent but I used to have neon tetras and they were amazing to watch. These seem to be quite shy. Maybe just adapting to the tank?

 

[pyrofishtoo]

They look great in the photo! It takes a while for the fish to become accustom to their new surroundings. Imagine swimming around when suddenly a big something or other comes up to the glass and sticks their eyeball to the glass. Scares the daylights out of you so you hide. Eventually, they will know that the big eyeball means food...

 

[minnnt]

Hello and welcome to the forum. The Platies look great. It is true that they can be Temperate fish, so should be fine.

Also, the large variegated plant that you have is not aquatic and will start to rot. Take it out and put it on your windowsil instead. It is Dracaena (sp?)

 

[Ny82]

They look great in the photo! It takes a while for the fish to become accustom to their new surroundings. Imagine swimming around when suddenly a big something or other comes up to the glass and sticks their eyeball to the glass. Scares the daylights out of you so you hide. Eventually, they will know that the big eyeball means food...

Haha yeah I can imagine. They always seem to do it when my 2 year old suddenly remembers they are there...
I used to have a big tank with angel fish but was sick of them constantly dying so thought nope I am just getting cold water it's a lot easier. I didn't want goldfish I heard they grow really big although I was convinced it was only in ponds. So I just have a 30 litre tank. I was pretty disappointed at the lack of selection for cold water fish, I was advised I could have a group of 4 minnows and 2 platys for my tank size, but I think I will just have the 2 platys in here so it gives them a lot of room to swim around. They really like the live plants I have, i'm not a fan of plastic plants anyway. Now that I think about it I was wondering why he told me to get tropical fish flakes

Hello and welcome to the forum. The Platies look great. It is true that they can be Temperate fish, so should be fine.

Also, the large variegated plant that you have is not aquatic and will start to rot. Take it out and put it on your windowsil instead. It is Dracaena (sp?)

Hello sorry I missed your post as I was replying to the previous one. I don't know what the plants are sorry I bought them from pets at home they were all submerged in water. If you can tell me which one it is I will take it out thanks

 

[biohazard156]

Hiya! Welcome to the forum!

Sadly, some shops will give some less than desirable advice just to make a sale The plant which is white and green at the front is the one you should remove. There are lots of nice plants that are completely aquatic that you could use, but that one won't last sadly.

Did you set up the tank with some mature filter media? If not, your tank will not be cycled and you will have to keep on top of checking your water and doing lots of water changes as you will now be in a "fish in cycle" which is not ideal for the fish but since there are only two, you might get away with lots of water changes..

 

[Ny82]

Hiya! Welcome to the forum!

Sadly, some shops will give some less than desirable advice just to make a sale The plant which is white and green at the front is the one you should remove. There are lots of nice plants that are completely aquatic that you could use, but that one won't last sadly.

Did you set up the tank with some mature filter media? If not, your tank will not be cycled and you will have to keep on top of checking your water and doing lots of water changes as you will now be in a "fish in cycle" which is not ideal for the fish but since there are only two, you might get away with lots of water changes..

Thanks, I googled the plant and found out which one it was lol. I will take it out.
I am using the filter it came with it sticks to the side of the tank. It has 2 filter pads in it. What else do I need?

 

[biohazard156]

If the tank and filter were brand new and never used, then you will not have any bacteria living in it to help break down the waste that your fish produce.

Fish produce ammonia, ammonia is toxic to fish so you need your filter to act as the "cleaner" for these products.

Cycle is ammonia broken down into nitrite (still toxic), nitrIte broken down into NitrAte (less toxic and is managed with water changes)

The ideal way to "cycle" your tank to get it ready for fish would be to add pure ammonia to the tank, measure the water daily until the bacteria have established themselves in the filter sponges to be able to break down these toxic compounds reliably and make it safe for fish.

A week of just water and no fish will not have allowed any bacteria to colonise your sponges so the addition of fish is going to kick start this process. It's not ideal to do it this way as your fish will be swimming in their own waste and it will be poisoning them until your filter matures (which can take weeks).

There are many topics on how to cycle your tank, have a wee read and since you only have two fish, hopefully you can keep thewater clean enough with regular water changes

 

[Ny82]

If the tank and filter were brand new and never used, then you will not have any bacteria living in it to help break down the waste that your fish produce.

Fish produce ammonia, ammonia is toxic to fish so you need your filter to act as the "cleaner" for these products.

Cycle is ammonia broken down into nitrite (still toxic), nitrIte broken down into NitrAte (less toxic and is managed with water changes)

The ideal way to "cycle" your tank to get it ready for fish would be to add pure ammonia to the tank, measure the water daily until the bacteria have established themselves in the filter sponges to be able to break down these toxic compounds reliably and make it safe for fish.

A week of just water and no fish will not have allowed any bacteria to colonise your sponges so the addition of fish is going to kick start this process. It's not ideal to do it this way as your fish will be swimming in their own waste and it will be poisoning them until your filter matures (which can take weeks).

There are many topics on how to cycle your tank, have a wee read and since you only have two fish, hopefully you can keep thewater clean enough with regular water changes

Thanks very much for the useful info. I had no idea I had to do this. I will change the water regularly then to make sure it's clean. I will get some ammonia aswell. I have removed the plant in question and the fish have been up to the top of the tank thinking they were getting fed! They are back in hiding now.

 

[minnnt]

On the plus side, you have 2 very hardy fish, so with a little care they should come out of the other side of it ok. Have a look for threads about fish-in cycle as unfortunately this is what you are now going to have to do. Water changes daily will probably be needed until your filter builds up bacteria to deal with the ammonia produced by your fish. I would go to your LFS and get a few handfuls of Hygrophilia and Cabomba as these will help to use up excess amounts of nutrients so will take a little bit of the heat off of your fish.

 

[Ny82]

On the plus side, you have 2 very hardy fish, so with a little care they should come out of the other side of it ok. Have a look for threads about fish-in cycle as unfortunately this is what you are now going to have to do. Water changes daily will probably be needed until your filter builds up bacteria to deal with the ammonia produced by your fish. I would go to your LFS and get a few handfuls of Hygrophilia and Cabomba as these will help to use up excess amounts of nutrients so will take a little bit of the heat off of your fish.

I will get some of them aswell then. I think that big bushy plant I have in the tank is cabomba.
I also have another question. Sorry if I come across as stupid but the smaller one seems to have fuller fins, and a square one underneath before the tail but the bigger one doesn't have this and I thought maybe it's missing. The bigger one also has more vibrant colour. Is the smaller one maybe a baby?

 

[minnnt]

Your plants look like twisted vallis and cabomba.

Male livebearers have a modified anal fin called a gonopodium. Essentially a penis. If you are noticing differences between them then it sounds like you have a male and female.

 

[Ny82]

Your plants look like twisted vallis and cabomba.

Male livebearers have a modified anal fin called a gonopodium. Essentially a penis. If you are noticing differences between them then it sounds like you have a male and female.

Yeah the cabomba seems to break easily and needs to be picked out of the filter. The small delicate branches are stuck in it. I moved it to the other corner of the tank after taking the non water plant out and it just breaks so easily.
The smaller fish has a square shaped fin underneath near the tail. It's been sitting on the gravel under the plant for quite a while. It comes out when the bigger one comes out.
The larger one has a skinny fin close to its body. It's not as square or full as the other one. That one is more confident and has been swimming close to the front of the tank but when that one comes out the other one comes out. They follow each other then go back to their safe place.

 

[minnnt]

It sounds like a confidence issue, but the uncycled media won't be helping. You should do 50% water changes for a few days.

Do you have a test kit?

Do you know anyone with a fish tank? If so ask them for a small chunk of their media from their filter. A 1/3 of their media would help you and your fish immensely!

Here is a couple of pictures of a male and female Platy. Notice the gonopodium on the male.