New To Fish Keeping And Need Some Advice

[majerah1]

Welcome! Good on you for getting started the right way and joining a forum! 

 

[newtofishs]

thank you I do want to go about it the right way! does anyone know if long-finned blue rams get along with corycats cos my local pet shop has them in a tank together and I would love to get a few of each I am buying my tank tomorrow I am going for a nice new 50l and am going to do the fish-less cycle  

 

[fluttermoth]

I would really, very strongly, advise against the rams.

They are a very, very hard to keep fish, and definitely not one for a beginner. They'd need a much bigger tank than 50l as well.

 

[westonsupermanc]

Platys are a good starter fish maybe 1 male and 3 females but watch out for the babies lol. the corydors will command the bottom and the platys the rest. good luck

 

[newtofishs]

Whats wrong with the rams? What makes them hard to keep?

 

[fluttermoth]

They need very soft, acidic water (and you still haven't told us whether yours is hard or soft btw!), much higher temperatures than most tropical fish (which limits the fish you can keep with them) and very low levels of nitrate (certainly under 20ppm). They also need mature tanks (that's ones that have been cycled and running for at least six months).

They can also be quite aggressive. My last female ram (after a year of being quite happy with them) suddenly decided she didn't like my false neon tetras swimming near her and killed nine of them before before I caught her and took her out, and that was in a four foot tank.

Honestly, start of with something a bit easier and, in a few months time, if you have the right sort of water (and a bigger than 50l tank) think about rams then, when you've got a bit more experience. In fact, rams are so delicate nowadays (due to being bred with the use of hormones in the Far East which weakens them) that even experienced fishkeepers like myself struggle to keep them alive for more than a few months.

 

[newtofishs]

I would be getting a male ram if that makes any difference to the aggresion and also my water is a pH of 5, I had it tested yesterday at the pet shop they have a scale and tablets that they add to the water to tell. Also my tank is 50l and very big so I think they would be alright wont they I really like them

 

[fluttermoth]

Male and female rams can be equally aggressive, IME.

A 50l tank isn't very big, and rams are very territorial, plus they're very delicate and will get sick or die with very low levels of either ammonia or nitrite and your tank isn't cycled

 

[newtofishs]

How can I make ammonia and nitrate in my tank?

 

[fluttermoth]

You don't want ammonia in your tank if you've got fish in there now, which I think you have?

 

[newtofishs]

Yeah I have my fish now, will they be alright? they look happy and healthy

 

[fluttermoth]

I can't tell you if they'll be alright or not.

Being honest, the cories might make it, depending which actual species they are, but a blue ram is very unlikely to live through a fish in cycle.

Have you got some test kits yet?

 

[nortonmad213]

i have 3 rams in my 170l tank and they get very angry around feeding time.
if you can rehome it i would definatly reccommend it

 

[Joeycich]

As I am only 13, I am in top set for science and i understand the pH scale but i dont fully understand the fish less cycle thing

Okay, let me try and explain it simply for you Fish produce ammonia, in their wastes (like pee and poo). Ammonia is toxic to fish and will make them very sick, or even kill them, if it's allowed to build up in the water.However, there are bacteria that live by by eating ammonia and turning it into nitrIte. Nitrite is also toxic to fish, but luckily for us fishkeepers there is another family of bacteria that eat nitrite and turn it into nitrAte, which is only dangerous to fish at very high levels. Keeping the nitrate down is one of the reasons we do weekly partial water changes.Cycling is the process of growing those helpful bacteria inside your filter.Fairly obviously, you can't get any bacteria to grow unless there is some ammonia in the water for them to eat.In a fish-in cycle, you add the fish to the tank before any bacteria are there and let the fish's wastes produce the ammonia. The trouble with this is that, while you're waiting for the bacterial colony to grow, your fish are in danger of being poisoned, so you have to do lots of water changes (usually every day, or even twice a day in smaller tanks) and, even with lots of water changes, there is still a risk that your fish will get sick, or even die.In a fishless cycle, you use a small amount of household cleaning ammonia added to the tank as food for the bacteria. You don't need to change the water often, or worry about any fish being hurt. The bacteria don't care where the ammonia comes from so they will grow away, inside your filter.Eventually (it does take a few weeks) you be able to add ammonia to the tank and when you test the water a few hours later, it will all have been eaten. Then it's safe to add your fish, as you know you have enough bacteria to eat all the ammonia the fish will be excreting and they won't get sick at all There is a little bit more to it than I've said, but that should give you a rough idea of how it works.Apart from keeping your new fish safe, doing a fishless cycle means you can learn all about water testing and how to do water changes (you usually need to do one or two water changes during a fishless cycle, but not every day!) without having to worry if you get it wrong.Microrasboras are a group, not a species. Actually some of the fish we talk about have recently been moved, from a biologists point of view, to the danio family but we still look after them the same Some of the most popular ones are; celestial pearl danios (lovely looking, but quite expensive), dwarf emerald danios (a close relation of the celestials and often nearly as expensive; lovely fish though, I have some and I love them to bits, even though they're very shy), chili rasboras (which are a bright red/purple colour), neon green rasboras (silver, with a lime green stripe along the side.And, of course, there are all the other lovely fish on that list; guppies or Endler's are great if your water is hard (you should know if your water is hard, because you'll get a lot of 'limescale' in your kettle, or on your showerhead) and ember tetras never look much in the shop tanks, but once you get them into a nice planted tank, they glow a beautiful bright copper colour.There are loads of plants you can grow in your tank and fish do like live plants; they also help a little bit with keeping your water good as well.Hope that helps some. I know there is a lot to take in when you're new to the hobby, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it

very well said fluttermoth

 

[fluttermoth]

very well said fluttermoth

Thanks, shame it was a complete and utter waste of my time in the end...