Hi

[dave_g]

First off Hi all,

I have just bought a second-hand tank and have a few questions. The tank is around 75 litres and has the filter and heater built in at the back. Currently there are two fish (the same) around 2.5", and six fish (stripy ones) between 1" and 1.5", and eight fish (bluey green and red) under an inch. It isn't planted. I'm not sure what they all are but there is pics below if anyone can help with that. When I moved it I had to empty the tank fully but didn't wash anything off so hopefully levels in the water will level out. I'm going to get a testing kit tommorow.

Can anyone advise me on how large my fish might get and how many fish I could get? I'm quite keen to get a small catfish and maybe a shark. Any suggestions? Obviously I wont be getting any fish until the tank settles a bit.

Cheers

Dave

Tank
Fish_1
Fish_2
Fish_3

Also I noticed there are around 30 small snails (5mm), theyre climbing the glass.

Are these a problem or should I leave them?

Dave

 

[Melarn]

i would say fish 1 is rainbow fish....fish 2 is neon tetra.....fish 3 is zebra denio.....im new at this so please tell me if im wrong i think of this as a sort of test lol

 

[n3ont3tra]

The tank looks pretty good..
For the fish:
The first pic looks like a rainbowfish... I'm not totally sure what kind, I've never seen one like it before. Does this look like it to you?
http/www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Di...cfm?pCatId=1056
The second fish is definately a neon tetra. They are peaceful schooling fish that get to about 1.5 inches. Very pretty.
The third is a zebra danio. A very active and peaceful schooling fish. Grows to about 2 inches.

I would remove the rainbowfish because they can get pretty large if they are that type. Also, they need to be in a slightly larger group and there's not enough room in your tank. If you remove the rainbows, you could probably get a group of bottom dwelling fish, like corydoras.

About the snails: They reproduce VERY VERY quickly. I started with one... I have hundreds in a week. You can manually remove them but try not to squish them. They aren't bad, they're just a little bit unsightly.

 

[fishy91]

it looks like you have a school of zebra danios and neon tetras and 2 rainbow fish. 75 litres is about 20 gallons if im correct? unless you plan to get a larger tank a cat fish or a shark will out grow 20 gallons, depending on which shark, bala shark or rainbow shark are both equaly aggressive and will bully the other fish.

 

[n3ont3tra]

Ah I missed that part. fishy is right, most sharks will outgrow the tank. You could get a group of small catfish such as corydoras, though. There is many different kinds to choose from.

 

[dave_g]

i would say fish 1 is rainbow fish....fish 2 is neon tetra.....fish 3 is zebra denio.....im new at this so please tell me if im wrong i think of this as a sort of test lol

Thanks for that,

Definetly right with the tetras and the danios, not too sure on the other one.

There is probably more like 50 or 60 snails which have worked out of the gravel and are climbing the tank now!!

 

[n3ont3tra]

They won't harm anything.. they eat leftover food, so try to cut back on feeding a little bit.

 

[dave_g]

The tank looks pretty good..
For the fish:
The first pic looks like a rainbowfish... I'm not totally sure what kind, I've never seen one like it before. Does this look like it to you?
[URL="http/www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Di...cfm?pCatId=1056"]http/www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Di...cfm?pCatId=1056[/URL]

Thanks for responses,

The link is close but mine have red tails and turquise fins top and bottom. Going to get rid of the snails then because there are loads. I guess I will find something for that at my lfs.

I was thinking about removing the rainbows then. So maybe then I could get 4 corydoras?
I would ideally like to add some more colour if possible...any ideas??

Dave

 

[n3ont3tra]

More neons?

For the rainbowfish, I'm starting to think they were dyed... It's definately some kind of rainbowfish, but I've never seen anything like that one... The way there is faint yellow striped that are prefectly straight just doesn't look normal to me...

 

[dave_g]

More neons?

For the rainbowfish, I'm starting to think they were dyed... It's definately some kind of rainbowfish, but I've never seen anything like that one... The way there is faint yellow striped that are prefectly straight just doesn't look normal to me...

I went to my LFS today to see what fish took my fancy. I identified the rainbow fish as yellow rainbows straight away. They had identical ones to mine. Not really too sure why they're called 'yellow' cos mine and the ones in the shop are silvery with a hint of turquise with red tail fins.

Think I want to add - 3 Peppered corys
- 2 xray tetras
- 2 ember tetras
- 2 glowlight tetras

What does everyone think? Will I be at or close to my fish limit with these?
I also wondered about planting the tank but I assume its too late now?

Thanks

Dave

 

[n3ont3tra]

Tetras like to be in groups of at elast six, so I would only pick one type of tetra, and get a bigger group for it. They won't school with other tetras. The peppered cories are great, but maybe you should get a few more.

So you would have one school of tetras, a school of zebra danios, and a group of cories.

Also, it's never too late to plant your tank.
Try to get low light plants such as java fern, java moss, and anubias.

 

[dave_g]

Tetras like to be in groups of at elast six, so I would only pick one type of tetra, and get a bigger group for it. They won't school with other tetras. The peppered cories are great, but maybe you should get a few more.

So you would have one school of tetras, a school of zebra danios, and a group of cories.

Also, it's never too late to plant your tank.
Try to get low light plants such as java fern, java moss, and anubias.

Oh OK, that shows how much the attendant in my LFS knows. He said 2 or 3 corys would be OK, and also that all tetra would school - no matter what type. Also is there any shrimp or snail which are worth looking at?

My substrate is gravel, 2-3mm across, will the plants root OK in this? Will I need any light mods

Dave

 

[n3ont3tra]

If you just have a normal strip light that comes with the tank, it will be fine for the plants I listed.

For the shrimp, there's amano shrimp, cherry shrimp, and ghost shrimp. They are the most common and they are easy to find. Good scavengers and fun to watch.

There's a lot of kinds of snails, but most decorative ones need a pH of at least 7.2. My favorite is apple snails. They eat leftover food.

 

[dave_g]

OK so I got the testing kit today finally and have tested the water, readings are as follows:

PH 7-7.5
Ammonia - 0mg/litre
Nitrite - 0.1mg/litre
Nitrate - 5mg/litre

After reading the books witht the kit I think this is alright for a matured tank bearing in mind that I have replaced all the water 2 days ago. All fish seem very happy anyway. Gonna test it again on Friday (week after move) and see what readings are. Should I plan to change some water after a week or leave it to settle. Will I know when to change water by a high Nitrate content?

I also got a couple of plants today and got the horrible plastic ones out, Got one Alternanthera Lilacina and one Nomaphila Stricta. Not really sure about them but my LFS recommended them as being easy to keep, so hopefully be OK. I also added some Plantamin plant additive to the water. Now thinking I might want another couple but need to see how fast these will grow.

How long should I wait before maybe adding some corys? Thinking about 4 peppered ones. I'm looking for someone to take my yellow rainbows as well (anyone in the midlands UK wants em??).

Will post some pics soon when all the gravel and bits have settled down

cheers

Dave

 

[n3ont3tra]

You're readings are pretty good, but there shouldn't be any nitrites. I would test every day until they get to zero. If they go over 0.25ppm then do a water change.

I think a lot of people do water changes at least every two weeks, regardless of nitrates. It's a good habit to get into.

A. Lilicina is one of the easiest red plants to keep, but they still need a little more light than what you have to keep algae away, from my experience. The second plant should be pretty good. I've never had it but I've heard they do well in low light. I would stop with the plantamin because it's not really needed and it's more likely to cause algae. If you want some kind of fertilizer, try root tabs. I would wait at least two weeks after ammonia and nitrite are zero for cories because they are delicate fish.