Hi...I just recently found this forum and have found you all to be very helpful and informative! Please bear with me, I have several questions!
I have a betta, a goldfish, and as of yesterday, 3 mollies, a guppy, and a cleaner fish (more on the new fish in a moment).
I have had my betta (his name is Mishu) for 4 years and he has done very well. He resides alone in a large vase with a plant and I feed him 8 pellets daily of Hikari Betta Bio-Gold. I have been doing full water changes 2x/month since I got him. Even though I now realize I should only do partial changes, he does tolerate the full changes well. Should I switch to partial changes?
My comet goldfish, Corn Dog, I won at a fair a little over a year ago. At the time I knew nothing of goldfish. At first I had him in a small bowl, with no filtration, and was doing full water changes once a week. Then I started reading up online about goldfish and realized a)he needed a filter and air stone b )I should do only partial water changes c) he could live a long time with proper care, and d) he was going to get big!! and I should make his environment better or he would die. I added a filter and air stone to his bowl and started doing only partial changes weekly. Recently I upgraded him to a 6-gallon tank with mechanical and biological filtration, and got a gravel vacuum. He is doing great!! And has grown just since the tank upgrade. Without tail, he is about 1.5 inches right now. He is the only fish in the tank. My question about him is, are there other things I should be doing for him to enhance his health/happiness?
Now on to the new fish. We inherited yesterday 3 tiny mollies (about 1/2 inch...1 black, 2 orange/black), a tiny guppy, and a cleaner fish. They came from Wal-Mart and it was a situation where we could take them or they were going to be flushed down the toilet (long story). They came home with us in the Wal-Mart bag. I know nothing about mollies or guppies or cleaner fish. Right now we have a pretty limited budget for pets (we also have a dog, cat, and bird and try to take care of all of our animals as we would like to be taken care of, and we generally won't take on new pets that we can't afford, but I could not bear to see these cuties flushed!!) I went and bought them a 2-gallon tank kit with undergravel filtration and bought them tropical flakes for food. They are set up today and looking good. My concerns are as follows....1) I heard that the cleaner fish (promethius? sp) will get very big (like 2 feet). Is this true? 2) How big will the mollies and guppies get? 3) I *know* a bigger tank is in order, but how long will it be before it becomes a necessity? As I mentioned, our pet budget right now is tight. 4) Are there other major things I need to know in order to keep these guys healthy and happy? I am already getting attached to Sanjay Gupta (the guppy), Kurt, Krist, and Dave (the mollies) and Sucka (the cleaner fish).
Thanks so much in advance for any and all advice!!
I have a betta, a goldfish, and as of yesterday, 3 mollies, a guppy, and a cleaner fish (more on the new fish in a moment).
I have had my betta (his name is Mishu) for 4 years and he has done very well. He resides alone in a large vase with a plant and I feed him 8 pellets daily of Hikari Betta Bio-Gold. I have been doing full water changes 2x/month since I got him. Even though I now realize I should only do partial changes, he does tolerate the full changes well. Should I switch to partial changes?
My comet goldfish, Corn Dog, I won at a fair a little over a year ago. At the time I knew nothing of goldfish. At first I had him in a small bowl, with no filtration, and was doing full water changes once a week. Then I started reading up online about goldfish and realized a)he needed a filter and air stone b )I should do only partial water changes c) he could live a long time with proper care, and d) he was going to get big!! and I should make his environment better or he would die. I added a filter and air stone to his bowl and started doing only partial changes weekly. Recently I upgraded him to a 6-gallon tank with mechanical and biological filtration, and got a gravel vacuum. He is doing great!! And has grown just since the tank upgrade. Without tail, he is about 1.5 inches right now. He is the only fish in the tank. My question about him is, are there other things I should be doing for him to enhance his health/happiness?
Now on to the new fish. We inherited yesterday 3 tiny mollies (about 1/2 inch...1 black, 2 orange/black), a tiny guppy, and a cleaner fish. They came from Wal-Mart and it was a situation where we could take them or they were going to be flushed down the toilet (long story). They came home with us in the Wal-Mart bag. I know nothing about mollies or guppies or cleaner fish. Right now we have a pretty limited budget for pets (we also have a dog, cat, and bird and try to take care of all of our animals as we would like to be taken care of, and we generally won't take on new pets that we can't afford, but I could not bear to see these cuties flushed!!) I went and bought them a 2-gallon tank kit with undergravel filtration and bought them tropical flakes for food. They are set up today and looking good. My concerns are as follows....1) I heard that the cleaner fish (promethius? sp) will get very big (like 2 feet). Is this true? 2) How big will the mollies and guppies get? 3) I *know* a bigger tank is in order, but how long will it be before it becomes a necessity? As I mentioned, our pet budget right now is tight. 4) Are there other major things I need to know in order to keep these guys healthy and happy? I am already getting attached to Sanjay Gupta (the guppy), Kurt, Krist, and Dave (the mollies) and Sucka (the cleaner fish).
Thanks so much in advance for any and all advice!!
PLECO??! 
