Ideas On Fish For My New Tank
- Thread starter daneyuk
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Kelsyann
Fish Fanatic
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You could add some guppies but get all males or you'll be over run with fry. You could also go for a shoal of corys, the peppered variety seem to do well in that size tank. so your stocking would look something like this:
3 x platies
3 x male guppies
5 x peppered cories
Don't forget to add fish slowly, only add one group at a time
3 x platies
3 x male guppies
5 x peppered cories
Don't forget to add fish slowly, only add one group at a time
FishFanatic13
Fish Crazy
well i used to have a 60l but upgraded so i can speak from experiance i used to have some zebra danios which are very active. You could also have some neons tetra for colour.
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
What test kit are you using daney?
Heya and welcome!
Before you add anymore fish, you need to get yourself a water test kit. These kits test for common chemicals found in tanks - some of these chemicals will kill your fish if they get out of hand!
The best test kit to get is probably the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. Shop around a bit. I got mine for about £15. It seems expensive but as it makes the difference between life and death for your fish, it's essential!
Once you have that, you can start testing your water. Once you add fish, test the water every day until it is stable again. You will see three chemicals rise - ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Ammonia and nitrite must have gone back to zero for at least a week before you add new fish. They will rise when you add new fish and you need to do as many water changes (between 10% and 90%) as necessary to get the levels to zero. Keep testing until the levels stay at zero without your help and you see the nitrate levels rise.
This process usually takes at least two weeks - hang in there! It's important to be patient.
Read these resources - they'll really, really help you along.
Cycling your tank
Beginners' Resource Centre
In terms of fish you can add, once the levels of ammonia and nitrite have gone back to zero you should think about adding some hardy fish such as danios, more platys, harlequin rasboras or a pair of small gouramis (dwarves or honey are probably best). Obaviously don't add them all at once! You'd want to add about three or four more small fish, or only two if you get larger ones.
In your tank you don't want to have any aggressive fish (headache for new fish keepers!!) or large fish (3 inches max size is best). There are some bigger fish you could have but these are the exception rather than the rule. Always read up on new fish and get some advice before buying - you don't want to see something pretty in the shop and then realise you have a 2 foot long monster on your hands!
Before you add anymore fish, you need to get yourself a water test kit. These kits test for common chemicals found in tanks - some of these chemicals will kill your fish if they get out of hand!
The best test kit to get is probably the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. Shop around a bit. I got mine for about £15. It seems expensive but as it makes the difference between life and death for your fish, it's essential!
Once you have that, you can start testing your water. Once you add fish, test the water every day until it is stable again. You will see three chemicals rise - ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Ammonia and nitrite must have gone back to zero for at least a week before you add new fish. They will rise when you add new fish and you need to do as many water changes (between 10% and 90%) as necessary to get the levels to zero. Keep testing until the levels stay at zero without your help and you see the nitrate levels rise.
This process usually takes at least two weeks - hang in there! It's important to be patient.
Read these resources - they'll really, really help you along.
Cycling your tank
Beginners' Resource Centre
In terms of fish you can add, once the levels of ammonia and nitrite have gone back to zero you should think about adding some hardy fish such as danios, more platys, harlequin rasboras or a pair of small gouramis (dwarves or honey are probably best). Obaviously don't add them all at once! You'd want to add about three or four more small fish, or only two if you get larger ones.
In your tank you don't want to have any aggressive fish (headache for new fish keepers!!) or large fish (3 inches max size is best). There are some bigger fish you could have but these are the exception rather than the rule. Always read up on new fish and get some advice before buying - you don't want to see something pretty in the shop and then realise you have a 2 foot long monster on your hands!
Welcome to the forum Daney.
I never did see that you have put your new tank and filter through an ammonia cycle. It is important to finish that before you add any fish to the tank, even to replace the ones that you have. The filter that comes with an aquarium is just a piece of hardware that cannot be expected to process ammonia properly. When fish pass water through their gills, they release ammonia into the water along with CO2. That ammonia needs to be removed before it reaches as much as 0.25 ppm. The way we do that in the long term is to develop some bacterial colonies in the filter that can remove the ammonia for us. Until that has happened, we do water changes as much as twice a day to hold down the ammonia levels. Adding any fish to a new tank will mean that you need to do more frequent and larger water changes. Once the bacteria in the filter have been developed, as proven by chemical testing, you can safely follow Kelseyan's advice and add a small number of fish about every 2 weeks until your tank reaches its full stocking level. Please follow the links that Assaye provided to read up on how we go about cycling a tank with fish in it.
I never did see that you have put your new tank and filter through an ammonia cycle. It is important to finish that before you add any fish to the tank, even to replace the ones that you have. The filter that comes with an aquarium is just a piece of hardware that cannot be expected to process ammonia properly. When fish pass water through their gills, they release ammonia into the water along with CO2. That ammonia needs to be removed before it reaches as much as 0.25 ppm. The way we do that in the long term is to develop some bacterial colonies in the filter that can remove the ammonia for us. Until that has happened, we do water changes as much as twice a day to hold down the ammonia levels. Adding any fish to a new tank will mean that you need to do more frequent and larger water changes. Once the bacteria in the filter have been developed, as proven by chemical testing, you can safely follow Kelseyan's advice and add a small number of fish about every 2 weeks until your tank reaches its full stocking level. Please follow the links that Assaye provided to read up on how we go about cycling a tank with fish in it.
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