New Tank

[donald110]

hello

just got a new tank, its 165 litre, I want a community tank but struggling to work out what fish and how many. there so much conflicting information.

I do want guppies and mollies in my tank, but what else and how many.

thank you

 

[jameshunter63]

if you have guppies make sure you have a breeding tank cus these things really do breed like rabbits!! exoect at least one pregnant all the time. i used to owbn them but got bored of them so moved to a small fish community tank of tetras, barbs etc. To be honest, you can keep pretty much anything with guppies and mollies, just make sure their not fin nippers as that will seriously stress your guppies out, so stay clear of barbs as many are fin nippers. what id say is wander down the LFS and have a look around, if anythinbg catches your eye ask the staff, and if in dowt come back here and ask the forum if the fish your looking at are suitable.
Also please remember to cycle the tank before stocking or you will 90% get many deaths.
good luck

 

[james_fish]

You can have a group of up to 20 Guppies if you want, but that will limit how many other fish you could have. You must stock your tank slowly and build up to you MSL.

Once your tank is cycled maybe you could start of with 6 Guppies. 2 Males and 4 Females. Then add 4-6 Mollies and see where you stand then, then report back here. As for the breeeding if you do want the extra fish, buy a seperate breeding tank in which you can house the baby fry until they reach a decent size. Alternatively you could leave the fry in there and maybe 90% will be eaten by the adult fish.

I'll just write up a potential stocking for your tank in the long run.

• 
  6 Guppys
  6 Mollies
  6 Oto Catfish
  2 Honey Gourami
  10 Cardinal Tetra

Alternatively

• 
  6 Guppys
  6 Corydoras Catfish
  6 Zebra Danio
  10 Cardinal Tetra

Just to give you an idea, it will depend on your filtration aswell.

Oh, and to the forum.

James.

 

[donald110]

i am still waiting for my filter to arrive, but its a Interpet Internal Power Filter PF4, is that any good, thank you for advice given so far.

 

[Rainbow67]

hello

just got a new tank, its 165 litre, I want a community tank but struggling to work out what fish and how many. there so much conflicting information.

I do want guppies and mollies in my tank, but what else and how many.

thank you

Well first off, as I am sure you have been advised, make sure your tank is fully cycled before adding your main fish choices.
Your local Fish shop should be able to help you here, telling you the best way to cycle your tank, and they should also provide a free water testing service which will allow you to know when your tank has fully cycled.
This may take some weeks so you have to be patient.

Once you do have your fully cyled tank then VERY gradually add fish......i.e don't think that once the tank has ben cycled then you can go mad with the fish purchases!....again your Local fish shop can advise you here.
A common newbie mistake, is to over feed your fish, this usually leads to quick demise of you new purchased!
If a fish is fed too much then not only will the uneaten food rot in your tank but also the fish will create more waste, so that creates a double whammy in itself.

Fish need very little food to thrive, so don't ever think that your fish will ever starve......many fish can go without food for up to 2 weeks without any adverse effects.

Most Fish food manufacturers will adsvise feeding once or twice a day, I myself feed only one a day, as this cuts down the risk of overfeeding and excess pollution, and I've kept fish succcessfully for about 14 years now.
Also I employ at least one "fast" day each week where I don't feed any food at all.

Keeping fish is a learning experience and casualties are almost inevitable.
What will go with your mollies and guppies?
Well see which fish take your fancy at the fish shop then pick the brains of the most knowelegable fish shop staff (you'll soon learn which ones know their fish and which ones don't!) as to whether they would be suitable tank mates, also don't forget to ask "how big" will the fish get.
Some one inch juvenile fish may turn out to become 12 inch monsters ( eg common catfish) so makes sure you do ask this size question!

Good luck!

 

[waterdrop]

Welcome to our beginners section Donald!

The discussion you are having is a skill we refer to as developing a stocking list. In my mind it comes about 4th or so in the priority order of things a beginner should focus on. Prior to that comes the selection and setup of equipment, the all-important education about the Nitrogen Cycle and the work you will do to develop a working "Biofilter" (which is needed prior to introducing any fish, ideally) and the learning of some skills about "gravel-clean-water-changes" which can be important both in cycling and in the regular maintenance of your running aquarium.

One thing you can do right away is to begin reading 3 articles in our Beginners Resource Center: The Nitrogen Cycle, the Fishless Cycle and the Fish-In Cycle. These will give you some background from which to ask questions. The filter you mention has indeed raised some questions in past threads I've noticed, so it may be good to find some members who have them and learn more about the weaknesses of the filter (I'm not knowledgeable about it or I would try to help.) Its also surprising to beginners that the media supplied by the filter manufacturers and sold in the shops is not always what hobbyists prefer to use. Most commonly, chemical media like carbon and zeolite is not preferred for normal long-term use but instead is saved for optional situations.

~~waterdrop~~