Hi, New Tropic Keeper With Questions

[alex the bear]

Hi to all,

My name is Alex, I live in Plymouth UK and I am brand new (started about 4 months ago) to the fish keeping world and I am already well and truly addicted

I apologize now if I waffle a bit this is the only forum I have ever joined. Good one to start on by the looks of things

I got my first tank from eBay; an Aquaone ar-850 (which is 165ltr/ 33gal) and instantly filled it with 8 red eye tetras, 3 wagtail platys and 3 opaline gouramis. Within 2 weeks I had also added 2 dwarf gouramis, 5 glowlight tetras and a black red tailed shark! Any experienced fish keeper will instantly know this was un-wise, as now do I

As you can imagine within a day or so of feeding them twice a day! the water turned to an almost completely opaque cloudyness. At this point I went to a new (highly recommended) lfs for some advise and a water check. Thier first question was "how many dead fish have you had" because my ammonia was so high, luckily none and still the case "YES!!!" I had to do 30-50% water changes for probably over a month before the ammonia levels reached zero and now after doing 40% changes once a week for a couple of months I think and very much hope have a happy tank

I suppose the point I'm trying to make is to all other noobies is to do your research first and DON'T OVER STOCK! I did and it took a lot of hard work (and water) to correct.

Anyhow so now all is running well, my set up includes;
tetratec ex700 filter to help the over head built in one the tank already had
rena air pump and small air stone

2 java fern
1 other plant (tall stalks with Lilly pad type leaves)
3 medium size pieces of bog wood
2 3" moss balls (look fantastic)
Thinking of getting more plants as I think my dwarf is pregnant and I know they use plants as part of thier bubble nests, if so which plants?

6 assorted platy
6 zebra danios
6 blue/ turquoise rainbow
2 opaline gourami (male+female)
2 dwarf gourami (male+female)
1 common/ sailfin plec (young)
4 glowlight tetras
4 torpedo barb (young)
Am I over stocked?

I am feeding all every other day, alternating between frozen dafina and tubiflex one day and tetramin crisp with a couple of algae waffers the next, every day I put in a slice of cucumber
Is this ok?

Last water check showed
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ph 7.6- 7.8
Is th Ph a little high?

I realise that the torpedoes and the pleco will need to be re-housed into at least a 4ft when they start to get big and have already eyed up getting rid of the wife and kids to make room

I have got a few fish keeping books but if you know of some essentials please tell

And I think that's it, thank you for reading and I'm really looking forward to growing my knowledge base and being a good fish keeper

Alex the (non fish eating) bear lol

 

[AdamHawk]

Sounds like your learning well, why not post a few pictures of your tank up!?

 

[the_lock_man]

I think you probably are overstocked somewhat, but I'm not the best person to answer - there are plenty of others that will help you better.

Your pH is fine, exactly the same as mine. Many people overly concern themselves with pH - the only time pH is a problem is if there is a significant change over a short period. Even where fish are naturally found in a specific pH water, if they are acclimatised correctly to your water, they will live happily ever after.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

 

[alex the bear]

Thanks lock man, just found out that the female dwarf isn't pregnant but has a bacterial infection of sorts so quick water change and then will be treating with eSHa 2000? Recommended by lfs

And there was me thinking everything was fine

Hi Adam how would I go about that?

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi alex; welcome to the forum; I'm in Launceston

It sounds like you're doing pretty well, but If I could just make a couple of points?

The sailfin will eventually hit two foot or so, so will need a massive tank. If your LFs (which does sound good; which one is it? My mum and me are always looking for good shops to visit) will take it off you, I'd swap it for something more suitable; a bristlenose would go well in your tank.

It's very unusual for tanks to have zero nitrate; are you sure you're shaking the bottles enough? Nitrate tests are notorious for giving false results if the indicator precipitates out in the bottle; especially the API one.

I haven't used eSHa 2000 myself, but their medicines do come highly recommended.

Hope your gourami gets well soon; some water wisteria (Indian fern) left to float is good for bubble nests.

 

[alex the bear]

Hiya fluttermouth,

Thanks for your reply.

I did know that the sailfin gets big and I'm already getting bits in place for a large tank for it and the torpedoes. Iv been told that they do take some time to reach thier full size, he's only a few inches at most now.

Iv been to every fish store within Plymouth and the one iv been most impressed with is Emperor tropicals in manadon. They have given me some excellent advise and have always got a wide range of healthy stock. Another decent one iv been to was a shop in the garden center complex between saltash and hatt although iv never bought anything from them thier tanks are very well looked after and the staff were helpful. Anywhere you could recommend as I'm always looking for tanks to oogle lol

Iv just been to emperor and picked up some specific bacterial medicine so I'm hoping that will do the job but while I was there I got them to double check my water test and your right, my nitrate is at around 20ppm which is normal and acceptable apparently?

Iv been doing some research on external filters for the next tank and I'm thinking of a couple of ef1400's from all pond solutions? Ideally id get 2 tetratec 1200's but thier quite a bit more expensive not sure really any thoughts?

Thanks again
Alex

Fluttermoth sorry

 

[fluttermoth]

Ah, I like emperor tropicals too; great shop. The new Maidenhead Aquatics is good as well if you haven't been there yet.

Yes, nitrate of 20ppm is fine; it's only when it creeps up into the hundreds (which it shouldn't do if you're doing good maintenance) that it begins to be a concern.

I bought the 1400 one first too, but when I came to upgrade my next tank they were out of stock, so I went for the 2000lph model and I'd really recommend that one; well worth the extra £20 or so if you can possibly manage it; they're a really nice filter (especially with the re-designed pump unit); I've got three now!

 

[alex the bear]

That's excellent thanks flutter, its nice to get some proper feedback from someone I know is real

Just to keep you updated the dwarf died this morning she was looking really bad (eyes really sticking out and scales all rough) so it was probably for the best.

Any ideas what could of caused this?

Just been looking through the other threads and found the specific dwarf gourami illness one which explained everything god this forum is a useful place

 

[colleen0309]

Good morning and welcome! Looks like you are off to a good start! Sorry your gourami didn't make it.

 

[alex the bear]

Good morning and welcome! Looks like you are off to a good start! Sorry your gourami didn't make it.

Hi, yes been having lots of fun wondering round all the various fish stores looking at so many fish we want in the future at the rate wer going we'll need our own store lol

I'm gutted about the gourami but having read the emergencies pages about them its reassuring to know that I didn't do anything wrong to cause its death.

Think my final addition to this current tank will be some corys, 6 peppered or bronze not sure just yet.

 

[alex the bear]

Ah, I like emperor tropicals too; great shop. The new Maidenhead Aquatics is good as well if you haven't been there yet.

Just been up to Maidenhead and its great up there, they've got fantastic stock and I love thier big tank, very envious

 

[laura120381]

hi alex,

welcome to the forum. sorry to hear about your gourami...was her abdomen swollen? i was thinking maybe dropsy but i am not really the best one for advice on diseases...there are many others on here much more knowledgable than me. it is great that you have been doing some research...its always good to see people who are serious about keeping fish...and keeping them well. i have had fish for quite a few years now but am still constantly learning and i too am relatively new to the forum. so far i have found it to be very informative and the people very experienced. think we have definitely come to the right place!! good luck with your tank and i hope to see some pics soon,

L