Some Various Newbie Questions

[DragonLass]

Hi everyone,
I thought I would get together all the questions in my head and put them into one post. I have been reading through the forums for a few days so have seen some questions already answered but have a few more.

Firstly, my situation. 3 weeks ago I went out and purchased a tank setup from a LFS. Tank, stand, hood, filter, pump, heater etc. The shop is a general pet store, but specialises in birds and fish. So, when I went and bought my tank, I thought that this shop should be able to give me good advice on how to set it up.
Well, that was my first mistake. The shop didn't tell me anything about cycling, just to set the tank up and leave it for a few days before adding my fish. So I did. I am kicking myself for being too trusting and not researching it properly myself, but hey - its done now, so all I can do now is try and make the best of a bad situation and try to keep my fish alive.
I have since found another aquarium nearby that has staff that are quite knowledgable and friendly with a great product & fish selection, so will be going there from now on. (I'm from Sydney, Australia BTW).

To try and save my fish, I am doing a daily water change of about 10%, and feeding them fairly sparingly (once a day, a few flakes at a time to make sure they are all eaten). The tank has been going with fish for 10 days now, and I haven't lost any fish yet. Of course though I'm quite aware i'm not out of the woods yet.

So, now my setup:
Tank - 100litre (about 24G I believe)
3 plants
Fish: 2 Kissing Gourami, 4 platys (all female), 4 rummynose tetra, 1 juvenile angelfish & 1 Oto catfish.
Water readings - PH - 7.4, Ammonia 0.5ppm, Nitrite - somewhere between 0 and 1 (which brings me to question 1)

So, now, questions:
Q1 - My nitrite test kit is fairly rubbishy, it doesn't really give me an accurate reading, all I know is that there is *some* nitrite there, and its anywhere up to 1ppm. Can anyone recommend a good brand test so I can get a better reading? I was looking at a mail order site that has 'Hagen' brand, would that be better? At the same time I will also buy a Nitrate test kit as I don't have one presently.

Q2 - how often should I be cleaning my gravel? I have a gravel syphon cleaner thingy, but haven't used it yet as I didn't want to upset any helpful bacteria growing in the gravel. Should I clean it anyway? And then once the tank is cycled, should I vaccum the gravel weekly?

Q3 - I'm confused about food. At the moment, I have a general purpose flake which all the fish seem to be eating, except the catfish, who I give small pieces of algae discs. What else should I feed them to give them variety?

Q4 - Is there anything else I can be doing now to help my fish through the cycling process? Should I be changing more water? Would more plants help?

Sorry for the long winded post, just wanted to give as much info as possible for anyone kind enough to answer my questions.

Thanks : )

 

[OohFeeshy]

Your pretty much all set Carry on with the water changes, and for now carry on feeding flake and algae disks. Once your cycled, you can incorperate bloodworm, brine shrimp, mosquito larvae (all can be found frozen at lfs's), dried foods (but sparingly)... Flakes should be the staple though. Fishwise, you'll need to take back the kissing gouramis, as these get too large for your tank. The oto needs a few more to make up a school (2 more or so), and I'd be worried about the angek and the tetras, as once the angel grows the rummynoses will most likely become dinner.

 

[dwarfgourami]

To try and save my fish, I am doing a daily water change of about 10%, and feeding them fairly sparingly (once a day, a few flakes at a time to make sure they are all eaten). The tank has been going with fish for 10 days now, and I haven't lost any fish yet. Of course though I'm quite aware i'm not out of the woods yet.

So, now, questions:

Q2 - how often should I be cleaning my gravel? I have a gravel syphon cleaner thingy, but haven't used it yet as I didn't want to upset any helpful bacteria growing in the gravel. Should I clean it anyway? And then once the tank is cycled, should I vaccum the gravel weekly?

Q3 - I'm confused about food. At the moment, I have a general purpose flake which all the fish seem to be eating, except the catfish, who I give small pieces of algae discs. What else should I feed them to give them variety?

Q4 - Is there anything else I can be doing now to help my fish through the cycling process? Should I be changing more water? Would more plants help?

Sorry for the long winded post, just wanted to give as much info as possible for anyone kind enough to answer my questions.

Thanks : )

Hi and welcome to the forum!

You are not the first person in this situation, but you seem to be learning quickly. Taking your questions one by one:

Q1. A liquid test kit should be the most accurate, though afraid I don't know what is available in Australia. It should contain tests for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph and water hardness.

Q2. Probably a good idea to go easy on the gravel cleaning during the cycle, just suck up any poo you can see. You are going the right way with frequent small water changes and keeping down on the feeding. Once the tank is cycled a weekly gravel vac cum 20-25 % water change is about right.

Q3. Flake and algae tablets are fine as a daily stodge, but on top of this they will be healthier and enjoy life more if given a little variety. The pet shop will sell frozen or jellied bloodworm, daphnia and brine shrimp; try offering one of these once or twice a week. Also vegetables once or twice a week, e.g. boiled deshelled and crushed peas (I use the frozen ones), blanched spinach or cucumber. My platys go ecstatic over peas and it is very good for their digestions.

Q4. You may want to discuss your stocking with other members of the forum. Both kissing gouramis and angels grow

To try and save my fish, I am doing a daily water change of about 10%, and feeding them fairly sparingly (once a day, a few flakes at a time to make sure they are all eaten). The tank has been going with fish for 10 days now, and I haven't lost any fish yet. Of course though I'm quite aware i'm not out of the woods yet.

So, now, questions:

Q2 - how often should I be cleaning my gravel? I have a gravel syphon cleaner thingy, but haven't used it yet as I didn't want to upset any helpful bacteria growing in the gravel. Should I clean it anyway? And then once the tank is cycled, should I vaccum the gravel weekly?

Q3 - I'm confused about food. At the moment, I have a general purpose flake which all the fish seem to be eating, except the catfish, who I give small pieces of algae discs. What else should I feed them to give them variety?

Q4 - Is there anything else I can be doing now to help my fish through the cycling process? Should I be changing more water? Would more plants help?

Sorry for the long winded post, just wanted to give as much info as possible for anyone kind enough to answer my questions.

Thanks : )

Hi and welcome to the forum!

You are not the first person in this situation, but you seem to be learning quickly. Taking your questions one by one:

Q1. A liquid test kit should be the most accurate, though afraid I don't know what is available in Australia. It should contain tests for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph and water hardness.

Q2. Probably a good idea to go easy on the gravel cleaning during the cycle, just suck up any poo you can see. You are going the right way with frequent small water changes and keeping down on the feeding. Once the tank is cycled a weekly gravel vac cum 20-25 % water change is about right.

Q3. Flake and algae tablets are fine as a daily stodge, but on top of this they will be healthier and enjoy life more if given a little variety. The pet shop will sell frozen or jellied bloodworm, daphnia and brine shrimp; try offering one of these once or twice a week. Also vegetables once or twice a week, e.g. boiled deshelled and crushed peas (I use the frozen ones), blanched spinach or cucumber. My platys go ecstatic over peas and it is very good for their digestions.

Q4. You may want to discuss your stocking with other members of the forum. Both kissing gouramis and angels grow quite big. There may also be territorial issues with your gouramis- or are they a pair? If I were you I would post in the anantabid section, give the size and inhabitants of the tank and see what they reckon.

 

[DragonLass]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like i'm on the right track at least.

I know that the LFS led me down the garden path with the fish selection too, so I am doing some research on that, and will worry about it more once my tank has finished cycling. Once it has I am definately going to get a couple more otos. At this stage i'm not sure what to do with the kissing gourami, the LFS won't take them back, so am asking around friends to see if someone has a large tank to rehome them.
I am planning to get a larger tank in the near future (next 6 months or so) however so if I can't find somewhere for them I will sort it out, as well as move the angel when she grows up.

 

[emma12321]

If you rehome the kissers you have room for a small group of three or so corydoras as i notice you don't have any bottomdwellers (once the tank is cycled) .You could also add two more rummy nose tetras as they swim in a tight school and tetras should be in groups of 6+. (once the tank is cycled) as well as getting a couple of friends for the otto.

Don't be surprised if you find baby platies as they can store sperm for 6 months and have babies every month. The angel would probably eat any babies before you get chance to see them.

Welcome to the world of fish keeping

Emma