Hello! New Here, Would Like Some Advice.

[fishypps]

Hiya! We inherited a 50litre established tank from our neighbour in December, it has 4 neons (which were hers), 4 (we think male) guppies which we have had since about a week after we got the tank and a panda garra that we have had for 3 weeks. I think the tank has been set up for about a year but im not convinced that the owner did any maintenance as i had to buy the water treatments, a syphon etc etc.
It has 3 live plants, some fine gravel, a bridge ornament and another small ornament, it has a built in filtration system, strip light and water pump.
It had a 50+% water change in december due to having to empty half to move it and i have been doing 20-30% changes and "vacuuming" the gravel every couple of weeks.
Any advice on what else i can do do make the fish happy would be appreciated. We are yet to test the water as i havent got a kit but will do soon!

Is there anything else that we can add to the tank fish-wise? Unsure about how many more we can have but the tank looks quite empty at present!

My guppies are quite agressive withe eachother, is that normal?

I have never seen my neons fight but there has been lots of nipping at eachother in the past few days, is this normal?

I don't like my gravel, would it disturb my tank too much to change it? and how would i go about it?

I think that's it for now, thanks!

Here's a pic: http/imageshack.us/photo/my-images/861/dscf0172o.jpg/ it wont let me post the image :\

 

[the_lock_man]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

THe first thing you need to do is to test the water, and make sure that ammonia and nitrite levels are 0 - that could be what's causing the neons to nip each other. Once you've established that your toxin levels are under control, I would suggest increasing the number of neons to 8, they are a shoaling fish, in the wild they live in groups of 00s and 000s, so they feel happier in groups. This may also reduce the nipping.

Guppies are boisterous little blighters, so yes that is normal.

I changed my gravel for black sand just before Christmas. It's perfectly feasible. First prepare the new substrate by washing it thoroughly. Switch off filter pump and heater. Get a bucket, fill it with tank water. Get a second bucket and fill that with tank water too. Put the filter media (sponges, ceramics, etc.) in one bucket. Drain the tank until it's relatively easy to catch the fish, then catch the fish, and put them in the other bucket. Remove the ornaments and then remove the old substrate.

Put the new substrate in, put in an upturned plate or saucer and pour new, warmed, dechlorinated water onto the plate (so that the water going in doesn't disturb the new substrate), until the tank is half full. Remove the plate. Continue to refill. Replace the filter media Turn on the heater and pump. Replace the fish.

It took me about 4 hours to do (although I spent a good hour giving the tank a good clean whilst empty, and I also had to remove my main substrate from a bed of plant substrate, which made life awkward).

 

[Gidge]

Hey there, welcome to the forum!

It had a 50+% water change in december due to having to empty half to move it and i have been doing 20-30% changes and "vacuuming" the gravel every couple of weeks.

It sounds like you have been doing a great job maintaining this tank. With a small bioload in there, your water changes have been sufficient. (I think so anyway)

Is there anything else that we can add to the tank fish-wise? Unsure about how many more we can have but the tank looks quite empty at present!

I would certainly up the number of neons, they are a schooling fish, and like to be in groups no less then 6 or 8. Maybe get 6 more to make 10 and see how you go?

My guppies are quite agressive withe eachother, is that normal?

I'm not sure about the guppies, I haven't kept them since I was a kid. But if they are all male, it could possibly be that they're having a go at each other because there are no females, if you catch my drift? haha. But if you do plan on getting some females, be prepared for babies and lots of them.
I could be wrong about this behaviour, I'm sure someone will come correct me if I am indeed wrong.

I don't like my gravel, would it disturb my tank too much to change it? and how would i go about it?

I personally love the look of white sand. I'm not sure where you are located, but you can even get black sand, if thats the avenue you wish to take. You can just use play sand, it is relatively cheap. When using sand, you need to wash it thoroughly over and over again, to get any fine bits and dirt out which will end up in your tank.
I'm not sure if this is the correct way to do it, but this is how I have done it; I would take your fish out, and put them in a container with the heater to keep the temperature up. Take out 90% of the water, and place the sand in. When filling it back up with water, you can place a plate ontop of the sand and pour the water gently onto that, this prevents the sand from getting blasted everywhere!
Fill it back up, plug it all in, let it settle for a little bit, and re introduce you're fish. Sand is much easier to clean also, all of the poo and 'gunk' floats on top of it, and is super easy to siphon it off!


In adding more fish, you may want to do more frequent water changes. Usually the rule of thumb is 25% per week. Because you are adding more fish, you will be increasing the bioload, therefore making your tank grubbier faster!

 

[Gidge]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

THe first thing you need to do is to test the water, and make sure that ammonia and nitrite levels are 0 - that could be what's causing the neons to nip each other. Once you've established that your toxin levels are under control, I would suggest increasing the number of neons to 8, they are a shoaling fish, in the wild they live in groups of 00s and 000s, so they feel happier in groups. This may also reduce the nipping.

Guppies are boisterous little blighters, so yes that is normal.

I changed my gravel for black sand just before Christmas. It's perfectly feasible. First prepare the new substrate by washing it thoroughly. Switch off filter pump and heater. Get a bucket, fill it with tank water. Get a second bucket and fill that with tank water too. Put the filter media (sponges, ceramics, etc.) in one bucket. Drain the tank until it's relatively easy to catch the fish, then catch the fish, and put them in the other bucket. Remove the ornaments and then remove the old substrate.

Put the new substrate in, put in an upturned plate or saucer and pour new, warmed, dechlorinated water onto the plate (so that the water going in doesn't disturb the new substrate), until the tank is half full. Remove the plate. Continue to refill. Replace the filter media Turn on the heater and pump. Replace the fish.

It took me about 4 hours to do (although I spent a good hour giving the tank a good clean whilst empty, and I also had to remove my main substrate from a bed of plant substrate, which made life awkward).

We posted at the same time haha

 

[fishypps]

Thanking you! Testing kit will have to wait till i get paid but will be top priority when i do Would other tetras not school with the Neons? I quite fancy some different types lol, also, the neons that i have are quite big in comparrisson to the ones you would but from a shop, does that matter?

i don't want sand as i heard it can go smelly, i just want different gravel as the stuff in the tank is lime green and blue and it isnt what i would choose, i would like natural or black with neon flecks! lol I think i need more plants and more fish.

Is there need for an air pump/air stone?

"I changed my gravel for black sand just before Christmas. It's perfectly feasible. First prepare the new substrate by washing it thoroughly. Switch off filter pump and heater. Get a bucket, fill it with tank water. Get a second bucket and fill that with tank water too. Put the filter media (sponges, ceramics, etc.) in one bucket. Drain the tank until it's relatively easy to catch the fish, then catch the fish, and put them in the other bucket. Remove the ornaments and then remove the old substrate." - Will the fish be okay just in a bucket for however long it takes without a heater?

"Put the new substrate in, put in an upturned plate or saucer and pour new, warmed, dechlorinated water onto the plate (so that the water going in doesn't disturb the new substrate), until the tank is half full. Remove the plate. Continue to refill. Replace the filter media Turn on the heater and pump. Replace the fish."- Do you mean a 100% water change then?! Is that adviseable?

 

[Gidge]

Thanking you! Testing kit will have to wait till i get paid but will be top priority when i do Would other tetras not school with the Neons? I quite fancy some different types lol, also, the neons that i have are quite big in comparrisson to the ones you would but from a shop, does that matter?

i don't want sand as i heard it can go smelly, i just want different gravel as the stuff in the tank is lime green and blue and it isnt what i would choose, i would like natural or black with neon flecks! lol I think i need more plants and more fish.

Is there need for an air pump/air stone?

Ive never seen other tetra's school with neons. So I'm going to go with no, no they won't haha. I had another look at your pic, as I thought then maybe your neon's were cardinals, but they are definately neons. They do grow remember. The ones at the shops are probably just younger. They will soon catch up.

I've never ever had smelly sand. I've had smelly gravel. But completely up to you. Pure black gravel would look great against the neons

I've heard the air stones are useless (someone correct me if I'm wrong) But I have always had them.

 

[fishypps]

Yes they are definately neons Thanks for your advice! I have just been looking online at shrimps.. would they work with the fish i have at the moment? Will get some more neons too

 

[Gidge]

Yes they are definately neons Thanks for your advice! I have just been looking online at shrimps.. would they work with the fish i have at the moment? Will get some more neons too

I honestly have NO clue about shrimp. I'm guessing they would though? I don't see why not, it's not like the neons or guppies would eat them.

 

[fish+peace]

I would definitely check you water conditions 1st then you know where you are at. I've just recently changed my gravel on a 97 litre tank and what i did was syphon most of the water out into a 60 litre storage tub then stick the heater, filer and fish in there so i could tend to the tank at my leisure (check for cracks 1st boxes as these tubs are prone to cracking if banged about)

I think its easier to underestimate the beneficial bacteria contained in the gravel and by changing it you are relying on the filter alone so definitely don't clean out the filter whilst your doing this. Personally i would keep 3/4 of the tank water.

I never got those brightly coloured gravels - let the fish do the colour

Good luck with the change and choose wisely

 

[the_lock_man]

Thanking you! Testing kit will have to wait till i get paid but will be top priority when i do Would other tetras not school with the Neons? I quite fancy some different types lol, also, the neons that i have are quite big in comparrisson to the ones you would but from a shop, does that matter?

i don't want sand as i heard it can go smelly, i just want different gravel as the stuff in the tank is lime green and blue and it isnt what i would choose, i would like natural or black with neon flecks! lol I think i need more plants and more fish.

Is there need for an air pump/air stone?

"I changed my gravel for black sand just before Christmas. It's perfectly feasible. First prepare the new substrate by washing it thoroughly. Switch off filter pump and heater. Get a bucket, fill it with tank water. Get a second bucket and fill that with tank water too. Put the filter media (sponges, ceramics, etc.) in one bucket. Drain the tank until it's relatively easy to catch the fish, then catch the fish, and put them in the other bucket. Remove the ornaments and then remove the old substrate." - Will the fish be okay just in a bucket for however long it takes without a heater?

"Put the new substrate in, put in an upturned plate or saucer and pour new, warmed, dechlorinated water onto the plate (so that the water going in doesn't disturb the new substrate), until the tank is half full. Remove the plate. Continue to refill. Replace the filter media Turn on the heater and pump. Replace the fish."- Do you mean a 100% water change then?! Is that adviseable?

Generally speaking, shoaling fish will only shoal with others of their species - I have occasionally read reports of cardinals and neons shoaling, but then they are VERY similar. In my view, tanks look better with more numbers of less species, and I really love a properly planted tank, so yes go for more plants. In relation to fish, your view may differ from mine, but if you upped the neons to 6, you could get 6 of another small shoaling species, something like a Celestial Pearl Danio.

Air stones do very little to oxygenate the water, compared with the filter output at the water surface, but if you like the look of them, there's no reason not to have one.

When I changed my gravel, I did do a 100% water change, there's no reason not to, there's no reason to definitely do so - it's just what worked for me. I could easily have put the water that had the filter media stored in it back in. I didn't with the fish bucket's water, because that water hadn't been filtered, and would therefore have a relatively high concentration of ammonia in it. I didn't have the number of buckets needed to keep 3/4 of the water.

Obviously, it's a job you want to complete in as short a period as possible, to minimise the effects of the fish being kept in an unheated, unfiltered bucket, but they will be fine for a few hours.