New hobby

[Martymc01]

Hi I am new to the tropical fish hobby and finding my way, currently only have a few mollys, neon tetra and a sucker loach. I hope to build on this and hopefully get some knowledge from the folks on here.
So any ideas don't be afraid to send me it on

 

[Fish4dawin]

How many neon tetras do you have? How big is the tank? And what are the dimensions? Ok by the way if it is a common pleco and it is in less than 100 gallons then you will have to replace it as it'll get giant in a tank smaller than that. Also what is the pH and GH?

 

[mcordelia]

Hi @Martymc01 ! welcome to TFF, we are glad to have you!

You will receive tons of advice (more if you ask ) which is good, but sometimes some advice may be tough to swallow and that's also ok the beauty of this hobby is that we all find our way, and much of it is the journey, because with fish, I feel like the journey is never complete haha!

 

[Fish4dawin]

Hi @Martymc01 ! welcome to TFF, we are glad to have you!

You will receive tons of advice (more if you ask ) which is good, but sometimes some advice may be tough to swallow and that's also ok the beauty of this hobby is that we all find our way, and much of it is the journey, because with fish, I feel like the journey is never complete haha!

That is very true @mcordelia

 

[AJE]

Hi I am new to the tropical fish hobby and finding my way, currently only have a few mollys, neon tetra and a sucker loach. I hope to build on this and hopefully get some knowledge from the folks on here.
So any ideas don't be afraid to send me it on

Hi welcome, Nice to meet you

 

[Martymc01]

How many neon tetras do you have? How big is the tank? And what are the dimensions? Ok by the way if it is a common pleco and it is in less than 100 gallons then you will have to replace it as it'll get giant in a tank smaller than that. Also what is the pH and GH?

Hi there and thanks for the response, I have only 6 tetra and 3 mollys plus the loach in a 54 litre tank.. The advice from my pet store was that these are all OK for starting and all will get along

 

[Fish4dawin]

Hi there and thanks for the response, I have only 6 tetra and 3 mollys plus the loach in a 54 litre tank.. The advice from my pet store was that these are all OK for starting and all will get along

That is true regarding the mollys and tetras. What does the sucking loach look like? Can I see a picture of it please?

 

[Fish4dawin]

If it's an ancistrus then you should be fine. However it is better to be safe than sorry as if it is a common pleco or sailfin pleco then it'll need rehoming unfortunately. If that is the case then I'd go with an ancistrus or 4 otocinclus. Other people can help out as well. I'm not a pro but I know a little bit about what fish can be in what size tank

 

[Martymc01]

Thanks again, here is a picture as I am not sure

 

[Martymc01]

That is true regarding the mollys and tetras. What does the sucking loach look like? Can I see a picture of it please?

 

[Fish4dawin]

I do not know what type of loach that is. Maybe one of the moderators could help as I do not know the type of that fish. DId the guy say how big it gets? Considering you only have 6 neon tetras, you could maybe go to the place where you got this loach and maybe pick up a few more neons. Whilst 6 is a good number, maybe up it to 9 or 10 by adding 3-4 more. Whilst you are there you could maybe ask one of the staff what type he is. Unless somebody in the forums knows what he is. Although, regardless if a person replies about the loach I would still pick up 3-4 more neons to go with the other 6. This is just my opinion though I'm just sharing my thoughts

 

[Martymc01]

I do not know what type of loach that is. Maybe one of the moderators could help as I do not know the type of that fish. DId the guy say how big it gets? Considering you only have 6 neon tetras, you could maybe go to the place where you got this loach and maybe pick up a few more neons. Whilst 6 is a good number, maybe up it to 9 or 10 by adding 3-4 more. Whilst you are there you could maybe ask one of the staff what type he is. Unless somebody in the forums knows what he is. Although, regardless if a person replies about the loach I would still pick up 3-4 more neons to go with the other 6. This is just my opinion though I'm just sharing my thoughts

Thanks a million and I do plan on getting more, I was just worried about the snail maybe causing a problem for the fish with disease or something but thanks again and happy fish keeping ?

 

[mcordelia]

Do you know what your water hardness is?
According to seriouslyFish, mollies require water with hardness of at least 267 ppm, while the maximum hardness that neons can tolerate is 215 ppm. This means that neither the molly nor the tetra will be optimally happy in the same tank. That being said, both fish are heavily commercially bred and will likely tolerate water outside their genetically programmed habitat, but when deciding which fish to get more of, I'd probably recommend sticking with the fish that matches your water parameters.

As far as your sucking loach, it looks like a chinese algae eater potentially? I am not an expert so I might have that wrong.

These are the seriouslyfish profiles for your fish, you can look at these pages to determine the water parameters and other needs of the fish (use an online calculator to convert from dH to ppm, since not all profiles report hardness in the same units):

Paracheirodon innesi – Neon Tetra (Hyphessobrycon innesi, Cheirodon innesi) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Poecilia sphenops – Short-finned Molly/Black Molly — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Crossocheilus langei – Siamese Algae Eater (Crossocheilos langei, SAE) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

The GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

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The following link has information about what to do if your fish get sick. It's long and boring but worth a read when you have some spare time.

What to do if your fish gets sick

If your fish ever looks sick or unwell, then the following steps might help. Test the Water and Clean the Tank. Test the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH and write the results down in numbers. Check it for general hardness (GH) and carbonate hardness (KH) too if you can, but...

www.fishforums.net

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If you post pictures of your fish we can tell you what species you have and also tell you the sexes of your mollies.

 

[Martymc01]

Do you know what your water hardness is?
According to seriouslyFish, mollies require water with hardness of at least 267 ppm, while the maximum hardness that neons can tolerate is 215 ppm. This means that neither the molly nor the tetra will be optimally happy in the same tank. That being said, both fish are heavily commercially bred and will likely tolerate water outside their genetically programmed habitat, but when deciding which fish to get more of, I'd probably recommend sticking with the fish that matches your water parameters.

As far as your sucking loach, it looks like a chinese algae eater potentially? I am not an expert so I might have that wrong.

These are the seriouslyfish profiles for your fish, you can look at these pages to determine the water parameters and other needs of the fish (use an online calculator to convert from dH to ppm, since not all profiles report hardness in the same units):

Paracheirodon innesi – Neon Tetra (Hyphessobrycon innesi, Cheirodon innesi) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Poecilia sphenops – Short-finned Molly/Black Molly — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Crossocheilus langei – Siamese Algae Eater (Crossocheilos langei, SAE) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Brilliant information thank you, I will look into this