New to fish keeping and need help!!

[Charles Hodge]

Hey, first time posting anywhere like this so not sure how it works but will try! I have never keep fish before (other than a tiny tank my son had) but I had the opportunity to take on a tank because a friend could care for it, and really didnt care for it!!! I have over 10 years experience with reptiles but none with fish lol.

So I took on a what I believe is a 120l tank from my maths and was already stocked with fish!! When I got the tank ther was barely an inch of water in there and had 2 goramis, 6 mollies (1 is huge), a bristle nose, a rather big common plec and another tiny plec. The water was almost black and I'm shocked any of the fish were alive with the way there were transported.

I'm (kinda) aware of the tank cycle so I had a massive bucket set up in the bath room for 2 day before I got the tank, i had a filter running and was feeding it for the 2 day. As soon as I got the tank I bagged up all the fish and cleaned the tank. I then keep the inch of dirty water and filled it half way with the water I was cycling, did the decor and got filter and heater going (same media as was in the tank previously) and got the fish acclimated and in the tank.

I left it 24 hours half full because I thought the fish had enough stress for one day, then filled the rest of the way and added prime as it's all I have. I have order the test kits for water ph, nitrate etc.

Has been 24hr since full all the way and fish seem happy, other than 1 little Mollie that I'm guessing got bashed about while being transported as he can only swim upright!

So, I have no idea what species any of the fish are or how big they will get? Want to know if the gorami are dwaft or not? Want to know if the tank is overstocked? One of the goramis tail and fins are red at the tips, is this normal? I know that the common plec will get to big for this tank but when do I need to think about moving him? Just want to give them a good life!!!

Any reply is greatly appreciated, can provide pictures of everything if needed

 

[Charles Hodge]

Here is the tank

 

[seangee]

Hi and

In case you haven't already found it here is a link to the cycling process https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

A few things you should be aware of:

1. The beneficial bacteria live in the filter media and on tank surfaces, not in the water. You effectively have an uncycled tank and ammonia and later nitrite levels are going to rise rapidly. Both of these substances are poisonous to fish. If you don't already have test kits for these I suggest you get some ASAP. Liquid tests are recommended but be aware that the strip tests will not measure ammonia - they are also not terribly accurate.
2. Keep using the prime. It does detoxify ammonia and nitrite but is only effective for 24 hours. Any time you have a reading above 0 for either substance you should do a 75% water change. Until you have these tests you should do a 75% water change at least every day. Don't worry about getting the temperature exact, anywhere close is good enough. Don't clean your filter for the next 6-8 weeks.
3. Feed very sparingly. Every other day or twice a week is enough and only as much as the fish will eat in a minute. Remove any uneaten food after this.
4. Get some floating plants such as water sprite or frogbit and put these into your tank. These fast growing plants will use up ammonia and help out with the process.

That's a start. There are a couple of issues with your stocking but right now we need to focus on keeping those fish alive. Specifically plecs can get very large so in the long term are not suited to this tank. Photos would help us identify the species. Also the plecs and gouramis need soft(ish) water while the mollies need very hard water, so you would not expect them to be in the same tank. If you can get the hardness of your water we can advise better for the long term. The number we are interested in is GH. We need the number and the unit because there are a few different measures about. The info may be available on your water suppliers website, or you could take a sample to a local fish store to test.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Did I understand that you used the same filter media that was already in the tank. If so, did it remain wet the whole time? If so, the media may deed the filter and get a cycle. That is, if the media stayed wet and wasn’t cleaned in chlorine.