Some Newbie no-nos

Never buy any kind of brackish fish (mono, scat, puffer, archer etc) unless you are SURE you have the right water. They can live in fresh water for a short while, but after they WILL die. I did this with a mono - I asked at my lfs if it was brackish or not and the usual questions - but the person didnt know, yet I went and bought it anyway :crazy: . I suppose that is another rule - never buy a fish if the lfs person doesn't know anything about it!
Luckily for my mono I add a fair bit of salt to my tank and so it is okay and is growing nicely.
 
Well, I know I did a no no. I added some salt to my Freshwater. I hope my Plecos will be ok
 
I have to Disagree with 4. and i disagree with 7 for the most part. PH is something every fish keeper should be aware. and should be aware of how to properly raise it in a tank with fish in it already, for instance if there is a drop or jump in PH, but then at the same time i agree with you because i have a relative that thought that when your ph is 6.5 and it needs to be 8 that all you do is buy some instant ph 8 at the pet store and dump it all in at once. never a good outcome
 
don't screw up. don't not ask questions. don't ask questions that's been answered a zillion times. don't forget that there's a search button on the top right corner of this website.

last but not least, whatever you do, don't panic.
 
Well i must say this thread has well and truly confused the living hell out of me, so many do's and dont's and alot without credible reason. As for not taking advice from a aquatic store the real important advice ive read in this thread (and one that seemed clear and credible was from an owner of an aquatic store) aka:GetTanked .

Im a total newb as it was over 8 year since i kept tropicals "alot of which is coming back to me as i plod along" The 1st post was very informative thanks Alien Anna and also GetTanked although one did infact dissagree slightly with the other it would allow me to make my own assumption, and told the tale from both sides of the fence: Fish Keeper (Hobbiest) and Fish Keeper come Fish Sales (With a clear love for his job).

Angels and Neons "this has caused a debate in my home as my wife swore the angels ate our neons and claims she witnessed it many years back but ive always shunned this idea" so you can guess what happened when she read this thread ? lol Thanks for the domestic hehehe (but it has made me cautious and will watch for this when my new tank is cycled and fish start getting added).

I honestly would have defended anyone that said it couldnt have occurred but im wide open for ideas as to where the tetras went night after night (im talking maybies 20 and only leaving a couple larger full grown neons to go on).
 
As per the neon/angel debate, I think there are many variables in which they could and couldn't get along. For example, my DH has two full grown male angels that treat neons like snack food. I actually had to get my own tank so that I could have neons (although at the moment I am battling with my high PH in order to do this :angry: ). However, if you had young angels or maybe a mated pair, they might be less agressive and less likely to eat other fish. Just a thought.
 
in my old 45 gallon tank I had a male and female betta, an angelfish and 3 neon tetras among others. They all got along very well. The only time I had a fish disrupt others was when I mistakenly added a cichlid, yeah I know now that was a bad idea, but I was told it would be fine by the LFS. Needles to say when I woke up the next morning I had one fish withhis face ripped off and my angel being harassed by the cichlid. Bye-bye cichlid.
 
different people will say different things
neons and angels can go together...best results are if you get the angels real small after the neons are settled.
i keep angels, a betta, and a gourami together. my gourami and betta sleep next to each other. i dont think its fair to say it wont work, it all depends on the fish.

but like posted earlier, some things work for some people that dont for others
 
i am planning on adding a couple cories to my tank after it cycles. salt will harm them but all the other tropical fish benefit from salt and i want to have them in my tank too so what do i do? and do i need to somehow remove the salt that i already added to the tank?
 
I am very new, but can say, I tried putting some neons in with my angel, and they were gone fast, not in the tank or sucked into the filter, just gone.... they were little and my Angel is quite big.. I have always assumed he, ummm, had lunch and have never tried it again.
 
Don't turn on your heater while it's out of the water to check if it's working.....
 
I can second that Suzie...and dont put your heater on the carpet whilst cleaning out the tank......honestly :blush: about 20 years ago...trouble is still got the carpet :hyper: :hyper: I am not posh so not bovvered :good:
 
i say angel fish are a no no when it comes to your first fish get guppies or a danio or somthing simple and hardy yet beautifull my dad made the mistake of having a thriving community of neon tetras and other small tetras and adding a bloody angel fish (he killed it for that by putting it in straight vodka!) the angel also killed 2 convicts he was babysitting for julian...
 
Couple of points to add (purely from my own personal experience, as always with fish your milage may vary).

If you add water straight to the tank (ie with a python type system) make sure you match the temperature of the water. My DIY python system attachs to both the cold and hot taps and I run the water out of the drainage tube to check the temp before putting it into the tank. a python water changer (or DIY version which is easy to make) makes water changes a LOT easier.

Also if you add water straght into the tank make sure you add the chlorine remover as you go and give it some time to take effect before turning your filter back on (oh yeah, make sure you turn your filter off first!).

Dont add to many fish at once and make sure your tank is cycled first (search for "fishless cycling"). Take your time and monitor the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate or you could end up killing all your fish.

In general if one fish can fit another fish in its mouth it WILL eat it. Also if a fish has long whiskers this usally means it is a predetor and will actively hunt other fish.

Make sure you keep doing partial water changes. 50% water changes are perfectly fine as long as the PH/KH of the tank water is similar to the PH/KH of your tap water. Unless you are using CO2, PH buffers or water softening methods then there is not going to be much difference between your tap water and tank water (except for the stuff you want to remove from the tank).

Do get to know the people at your LFS and check out all the LFS in your area. In my experience the guys at a good LFS are a fountain of knowledge. You can normally tell a poor LFS by the quality of the fish and the tanks they are kept in. Ask what they feed their fish on, how long they keep them for before they are sold, etc, etc. As said before if one person there doesnt know everything this is not a bad thing, they could be new to the job and as long as someone there is willing to answer you and knows what they are talking about you will be ok.

Get at least a Ammonia, Nitrite and nitrate test kit. Test your water a lot when you are cycling and for the first few months after you add your fish. If you notice any spikes do more frequent water changes, check how much your feeding and other factors that can cause spikes in the water chemistry. After awhile you will get to notice by the fish behaviour if there are any changes in the water and only need to check if you notice anything wrong (sharp increase in algae, fish losing colour, etc).

PH and KH test kits are good to get a base line of your water but unless you use CO2 or PH changing substrates/buffers your PH shouldnt change to much. Regular water changes will keep the tank water PH/KH close to the tapwater PH/KH

Feed a varity of food to your fish, not just flake food, this will help keep them in good condition.

In general if a fish is supposed to be kept as part of a shoal you need at least 6. More is better if you have the space for them. There are exceptions to this but for the likes of tetra's, danios and barbs this normally holds true. If you dont have a big enough shoal they will not feel comfortable and may hide away.

Some good first fish (cheap, hardy but pretty and interesting fish):
Glowlight tetra's - Never normally look like much in stores but when they get settled in to a tank and are well cared for they get a very bright red colouring and are very pretty. The are active in the bottom-middle area of the tank and like to shoal together (they will also shoal with other tetras).

Tiger Barbs - Important! These can be mean little gits. Do not keep with long finned fish, ever! You also need to keep a fairly large group of them as they will fight amongst themselves and in a smaller group you might get 1 or 2 being picked off. If you are keeping them by themselves or with other hardy fish they are fairly interesting fish and can survive changes in water chemistry that will kill other fish. You can also get in a number of colour forms. Just remeber they are aggressive. They tend to stay in the middle-upper area of the tank.

Cory's - Very cute cat fish. Make sure you get at least 4-5. They dont get too large but you still need a fairly large tank to get a decent group in. Again very hardy fish that are available in a varity of colour forms. Make sure that if you do get a group they are all the same type (different colour forms will most likely not shoal together).

Zebra Danios - Very active blue and yellow fish. Available in a couple of colour morphs and also in a long finned varity (which is my favorite). They tend to stay in the upper 1/4 of the tank so make a good tank mate to a shoal of Tetra's that tend to stay inthe lower level.

Silver tip tetras - I only saw these "in the flesh2 at the weekend and they are quite stunning (much nicer then any photo I have seen). Like most tetras they need to be in a group and will stay in the lower part of the tank for the most part. They have a golden coloured body with silver tips on there fins. Against a dark background and in a planted tank it looks like they hive little lights on the tips of their fins. I was so impressed I have decided to get these for my new planted community tank when it is cycled.

Gupies/Mollies/platys - To be honest I have never kept them but they are all fairly easy to keep and will breed with little effort (especially guppies!).
 
As this is for newbies, I feel I should address a couple of points here:

If you add water straight to the tank (ie with a python type system) make sure you match the temperature of the water. My DIY python system attachs to both the cold and hot taps and I run the water out of the drainage tube to check the temp before putting it into the tank. easier.

Matching temp is not necessary. At a 20% water change the maximum possible temp drop (assuming the water is coming out of the cold tap at the coldest it will ever run in Scotland) on a 24 degree tank is less than 4 degrees. I perform 40% water changes and have never seen more than a 2 degree drop. I never add any heated water in my changes, but take all the water straight out of the cold tap. I also don't have any heaters in my display tanks.

It is also interesting to note that many ray keepers (known as a particularly sensitive fish) just fill with cold with water and many fish happily swim into the colder water, or use it as a que to spawn (such as cories).

Also if you add water straght into the tank make sure you add the chlorine remover as you go and give it some time to take effect before turning your filter back on (oh yeah, make sure you turn your filter off first!).

Dechlorinator can be added before, during or after. It seems to make no difference. It also acts as close to instantly as you can get. Tolak has seen this in a display from a rep with a tagging agent to show up the chlorine.

Feed a varity of food to your fish, not just flake food, this will help keep them in good condition.

Flake food has everything in it that a fish needs. It is a perfectly balanced diet forumlated after years of scientific research. A fish will be perfectly healthy if fed nothing but the correct flakes (assuming it takes them).
 

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