Newbie Alert! Advice required please!

[Retired Viking]

It is a nice looking tank but may I suggest you pick up some fast growing plants like hornwort or anacharis these will help absorb the ammonia and also help with the quality of the water and add oxygen. Water sprite is another plant to think about. You can let them float or plant them. Very easy to care for and work fine in grave or sand. They absorb what they need from the water.

 

[Neon1977]

It is a nice looking tank but may I suggest you pick up some fast growing plants like hornwort or anacharis these will help absorb the ammonia and also help with the quality of the water and add oxygen. Water sprite is another plant to think about. You can let them float or plant them. Very easy to care for and work fine in grave or sand. They absorb what they need from the water.

Thanks very much! Live plants scare me to be honest as I haven’t a clue how to care for them etc with being new to all this! Iv heard conflicting advice about them so went for the easy option! It would be an option for me but as I say I’m uneasy about it as I wouldn’t have a clue!

 

[Naughts]

This is good, your water GH is 6.7° or 120ppm. Soft water fish will suit this. But it has sufficient calcium to support shrimps and snails.
If your neons didn't make it (or you returned them) you could have a single fish- a betta, a Dario Dario, a bluefin killifish, a bumblebee goby or a pea puffer. These can be aggressive and are to be kept alone.
Or a shoal of micro fish - Boraras Brigitte, boraras naevus, raspbora espei or microdevario kubatei. These are not easy to keep as it can be difficult to find suitable food, especially given their size.
Do lots of research and check again on here if you are considering a purchase.

 

[Retired Viking]

Thanks very much! Live plants scare me to be honest as I haven’t a clue how to care for them etc with being new to all this! Iv heard conflicting advice about them so went for the easy option! It would be an option for me but as I say I’m uneasy about it as I wouldn’t have a clue!

That is why I suggested easy plants to you, all the one I mention are inexpensive, easy to care for and most importantly will help you deal with the ammonia so we can help you keep your neon tetra alive. All you have to do is add them to your tank.

 

[Neon1977]

This is good, your water GH is 6.7° or 120ppm. Soft water fish will suit this. But it has sufficient calcium to support shrimps and snails.
If your neons didn't make it (or you returned them) you could have a single fish- a betta, a Dario Dario, a bluefin killifish, a bumblebee goby or a pea puffer. These can be aggressive and are to be kept alone.
Or a shoal of micro fish - Boraras Brigitte, boraras naevus, raspbora espei or microdevario kubatei. These are not easy to keep as it can be difficult to find suitable food, especially given their size.
Do lots of research and check again on here if you are considering a purchase.

 

[Neon1977]

Brilliant thanks again for all that! Just had a look at all those and will defo be going with the betta fish for this tank along with the cherry shrimp! I have not returned the Neons no (don’t think they would take them back anyway) I will do my best to keep them as long as I can but won’t be buying anymore after everyone’s advice on here will post an update next week on this thread of how It’s going and how they are doing! Going to keep up the water changes every day if my ammo goes above zero and keep a diary of the test results! Thanks again

 

[utahfish]

Thanks for your reply it’s really frustrating when you have no clue what fish suit a certain tank and you get given the wrong advice from people who sell fish for a living!

Yup, im sure plenty of people have already said and if the dont they will, " dont listen to people at the LFS" theyll sell you all sorts of junk you dont need because its their job to make money not take care of fish. Sometimes one can find good honest knowledgeable fish store staff but most the time theyre just there to take your money.

 

[Naughts]

Brilliant thanks again for all that! Just had a look at all those and will defo be going with the betta fish for this tank along with the cherry shrimp! I have not returned the Neons no (don’t think they would take them back anyway) I will do my best to keep them as long as I can but won’t be buying anymore after everyone’s advice on here will post an update next week on this thread of how It’s going and how they are doing! Going to keep up the water changes every day if my ammo goes above zero and keep a diary of the test results! Thanks again

Some betta will eat cherry shrimp though
I should add, Seriously Fish website is a good source of information for species requirements.

 

[Neon1977]

That is why I suggested easy plants to you, all the one I mention are inexpensive, easy to care for and most importantly will help you deal with the ammonia so we can help you keep your neon tetra alive. All you have to do is add them to your tank.

It is a nice looking tank but may I suggest you pick up some fast growing plants like hornwort or anacharis these will help absorb the ammonia and also help with the quality of the water and add oxygen. Water sprite is another plant to think about. You can let them float or plant them. Very easy to care for and work fine in grave or sand. They absorb what they need from the water.

Fab thank you! Would you say to take the other two big fake plants out then and add the live ones instead that you have mentioned??

 

[Neon1977]

Some betta will eat cherry shrimp though
I should add, Seriously Fish website is a good source of information for species requirements.

Damn it! Lol brill thanks will check that out!

 

[Retired Viking]

Fab thank you! Would you say to take the other two big fake plants out then and add the live ones instead that you have mentioned??

Yes ,since you have limited room but you can leave them in for now until you have the live plants to replace them. Good luck

 

[Neon1977]

Yes ,since you have limited room but you can leave them in for now until you have the live plants to replace them. Good luck

Brilliant thanks will post an update next week of how it’s all going!!

 

[Neon1977]

Hey peeps, back again to bug people! lol didn't want to do a new post for this question as its concerning the same tank! Just a little update, not bought the liquid test kit yet but worked with what i have got until tomorrow when i got to the LFS. Strip tests showed between 0-0.5 ammo (as im sure you are aware the strip tests don't get more accurate than that!) and nitrate was showing at 20 and nitrite was showing between 0-0.5 so iv done a 50% water change on the back of your advice Naughts! And will test again in the morning but only after purchasing the liquid test kit! Back to my question, the filter i have in there at the minute i purchased on the 9th of feb. I mentioned on my first post its a ciano cf40 hang on the back filter and i was told the cartridge at the top will need changing once a month. Now i did have two platies in the tank for the first two weeks and got the 6 Neon tetra's on the 27th feb so i know it needs changing this week coming! Do i change the whole cartridge and just stick a new one in!? As daft as it sounds i have to ask as im scared of losing too much good bacteria! Or doesn't it matter because of keeping the same foam in at the bottom??

 

[Naughts]

Hey peeps, back again to bug people! lol didn't want to do a new post for this question as its concerning the same tank! Just a little update, not bought the liquid test kit yet but worked with what i have got until tomorrow when i got to the LFS. Strip tests showed between 0-0.5 ammo (as im sure you are aware the strip tests don't get more accurate than that!) and nitrate was showing at 20 and nitrite was showing between 0-0.5 so iv done a 50% water change on the back of your advice Naughts! And will test again in the morning but only after purchasing the liquid test kit! Back to my question, the filter i have in there at the minute i purchased on the 9th of feb. I mentioned on my first post its a ciano cf40 hang on the back filter and i was told the cartridge at the top will need changing once a month. Now i did have two platies in the tank for the first two weeks and got the 6 Neon tetra's on the 27th feb so i know it needs changing this week coming! Do i change the whole cartridge and just stick a new one in!? As daft as it sounds i have to ask as im scared of losing too much good bacteria! Or doesn't it matter because of keeping the same foam in at the bottom??

Not a daft question, in fact it's great that you asked. You Will indeed lose bacteria if you switch the cartridge and these first few weeks are critical for the fish and the cycling. Manufacturers want you to pay for a new cartridge and highlight that carbon will only absorb things for a few weeks. But changing them is detrimental.
It is better to get rid of the carbon, we only really need it after using medications anyway. If it is floss or foam with carbon inside cut a slit in it and empty the carbon out, then put the cartridge back in. Once cycled you could cut some foam to fit in the filter as an alternative to cartridges. Foam lasts for years.

 

[Colin_T]

Thanks very much! Live plants scare me to be honest as I haven’t a clue how to care for them etc with being new to all this! Iv heard conflicting advice about them so went for the easy option! It would be an option for me but as I say I’m uneasy about it as I wouldn’t have a clue!

Most aquarium plants like a bit of light and if you only have the light on for a couple of hours a day, they struggle. If the light doesn't have a high enough wattage they also struggle. Try having the tank lights on for 10-12 hours a day. Get globes with a 6500K rating (K is for Kelvin).

If you get lots of green algae then reduce the light by an hour a day and monitor the algae over the next 2 weeks.
If you don't get any green algae on the glass then increase the lighting period by an hour and monitor it.
If you get a small amount of algae then the lighting time is about right.

Some plants will close their leaves up when they have had sufficient light. Ambulia, Hygrophilas and a few others close their top set of leaves first, then the next set and so on down the stem. When you see this happening, wait an hour after the leaves have closed up against the stem and then turn lights off.

Some good plants to try include Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma, H. ruba/ rubra, Elodia (during summer, but don't buy it in winter because it falls apart), Hydrilla, common Amazon sword plant, narrow Vallis, Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta).
The Water Sprite normally floats on the surface but can also be planted in the substrate. The other plants should be planted in the gravel.

If you add an iron based aquarium plant fertiliser, it will help most aquarium plants do well. The liquid iron based fertilisers tend to be better than the tablet forms, although you can push the tablets under the roots of plants and that works well.
I use Sera Florena liquid plant fertiliser but there are other brands too.

Do not bother adding carbon fertiliser to the tank because they are not necessary.