keeping tropical and cold water fish.

Gingham_Ribbon

panda cories:



betta (fighting fish):


My favourite (bristlenose):


breeding pair of kribs:


zebra danios:

atrixblue.-MFR-.

you can ask you local water authority whether your area's tap water is soft or hard or neutral, allthough neutral tap water is very rare, i had guppies upintill yesterday when i moved them into a different tank at a different location. my water is slightly soft from the tap. and my guppies enjoyed my tank and water conditions, one guppy grew to about 2 inches with a wide flowing tail, it all depend on the supplier to thet shop whether their inbred (easy to tell inbreds their small less than an inch and vivid in colours) guppies are hardy from experience, but inbred strains cant take a non cycled tank where i would say a non inbred good hardy guppy will be more than happy to cycle your tank for you if the numbers are small enough in 125ltr tank 4 good hardy guppies will be good enough to cycle any more than this and high ammonia will eventually get to them, swordtails in my experience are hardy fish also will take what you throw at them my swordtail fry have survived a non heated tank, with no filter only changing water every two days and thier swimming aroud quite happily, so i can definatly say that my fry when grown will be a hardy fish indead.

Froglet

Guppies are NOT hardy,they are quite hard to keep healthy.It is much kinder to get the tank cycled before you add fish.Don't make the mistake of adding too many at a time either.A good test kit is a must so you can tell any changes in water chemistry before they become a problem.Again i refer you to the PFK site,all the help you ever need in setting up a tank is there.

Gingham_Ribbon

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

i would say a non inbred good hardy guppy will be more than happy to cycle your tank for you if the numbers are small enough in 125ltr tank .

I have to admit, I disagree there.

Some fish can cope with a fishless cycle, but it's very hard on them. The ammonia and nitrites effectively burn them, especially around the gills. Some fish can cope, but it's best to avoid it. I wouldn't advise cycling with guppies at all, as they're not particularly hardy. Zebra danios are very hardy and they'd cope, but it wouldn't be a pleasant experience for them. I'd only recommend a fishless cycle if the fish have already been purchased by someone who wasn't aware of what to do.

Re the water company - yes - their website will probably tell you an estimate of how hard your water is, but the best way is to check with your tester kit.

covlass

I am doing a fishless cycle, tank is warming up nicely, did think my lights were not working until OH pointed out that as well as plugging them in it would be a good idea to switch them one !

I am still awaiting my water testing kit API Freshwater Master test i hope this is ok.

Water in this area is Hardness Level Slightly Hard, Nitrate 20.71, pH 7.26

How many water changes do I need to do and when should I do the first one ?

I have made a list of fish that I like:
Western Rainbowfish Banded Rainbow, Three-Striped Rainbow, Jewel Rainbow Siamese Fighter Cardinal tetra Celestial Pearl Danio Kissing gourami Lake Kutubu Rainbow Molly Neon Rainbow Neon tetra Platy Ram cichlid Red-nosed tetra Western Rainbowfish Zebra danio
Could someone advise as I really would like to get this right, and am unsure. Which ones hsould be added first?

Many thanks

atrixblue.-MFR-.

i say this only as my own experience wich may or may not be the views of others ofcourse. i dont recomend a fish in tank cycle allthough i did do it with guppies, i prefure the method of getting hold of established filter media and adding a drop ammonia for about 10 days then adding fish if the test kits prove the new filter has enough built up bacteria. another way to tell if your water is hard or soft is limescale buildup in you bathroom, if you have to frequently bleach the toilet as lime scale grows fast then the water is hard very hard if it grows within a few weeks after bleaching. some area's of the uk england wales scotland and ireland also have abnormal levels of phosfates in water at a level not harmfull to us, but deadly to fish epecially discus and marine fish not to scare monger but high levels of phosfates are usually present with very hard water levels and also contain higher levels chlorine and chloramine. my brother in law has had to install a peice of kit to his tap to filter this, as he has very hard water with phosfate and found it difficult to keep any fish alive untill intalling a piece of kit from his cold water tap to a filter of somekind then to his tap that filters all these.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

covlass wrote: »

I am doing a fishless cycle, tank is warming up nicely, did think my lights were not working until OH pointed out that as well as plugging them in it would be a good idea to switch them one !

I am still awaiting my water testing kit API Freshwater Master test i hope this is ok.

How many water changes do I need to do and when should I do the first one ?

I have made a list of fish that I like:
Western Rainbowfish Banded Rainbow, Three-Striped Rainbow, Jewel Rainbow Siamese Fighter Cardinal tetra Celestial Pearl Danio Kissing gourami Lake Kutubu Rainbow Molly Neon Rainbow Neon tetra Platy Ram cichlid Red-nosed tetra Western Rainbowfish Zebra danio
Could someone advise as I really would like to get this right, and am unsure.

Many thanks

Western Rainbowfish is a good beginner rainbow fish, allthough likes shifts in water conditions not rapid but slow changes, max temp on water shouldnt go higher than 32 degrees c, and not lower than 23 degrees c, during spring and summer i would advise a hard water for them and then gradually soften the water over autumn winter, can be kept in groups of 4 or more but to stop squabbleing and fighting it would be best to have a ratio of 3 females per male all male and all female populations tend to make them slightly aggressive towards eachother, allthough its been nearly 15 years since my uncle bred these so opinions could vary.

Banded Rainbow fish are hardy fish, and change colour!! peacfull so will get allong with other fish, highly resistant to disease will take flake foods but i would vary their diet mix of flake frozen and live to keep their vivid colours going.

Three-Striped Rainbow and Jewel Rainbowfish is basically a banded rainbow all depends on what river they came from but same species.

siemese/thai fighters like a more established tank setups 3 months old or more, can be housed in the community aquaria but all will depend on what communty fish you have bright coloured slow moving fish would feel the wrath of the fighters might and stress the fighter out, neons tetra's are ok but i would source a fighter that is housed and looks compfy in its surroundings with neons not quivering its tail and puffing its gills out at them all but relaxed lying down on the substrate and swimming happily.

Cardinal tetra's can be a bit demanding for the beginner in my opinion, their sensitve to nitrite, so frequent water changes are required and lots of your time and energy, can grow large upto about 1 1/2 inches so be mindfull of this when purchasing a school of small ones (overstocking and aquaria is easy) can be fin nippers so carefull on you choice of fish a siemese fighter wont be good to house this fish with.

Celestial Pearl Danio a new species in this hobbie only discovered a few years ago can remeber a bbc news program on these. and are extremely fast fish so can be housed with most tropical fish, feed live daphnia and flake, breeding is easy with these.

i dont think you need to do frequent water changes on a fishless cycle. just monitoring the ammonia and nitrite and nitrate levels at first youll see the levels read high but as days pass youll see them decline to a point where youll add a small amount of ammonia to the aquarium and a hour or so later will read as normal levels this is when its safe to add the fish.

your water is hard 7.2ph. ideal for some fish way too high for other fish. to limit problems after your cycle and to help you as a beginner i would stick to fish that like these levels like the banded rainbow fish, then after sometime in getting used to changing the water conditions, get the fish you like that you know you could care for by changing the waters ph levels. there are corrective ph/kh stabaliser treatments but not to upset a new tank i would go for the fish that like these levels instead.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

neon tetra's should be ok also. get equal numbers of schools. 6-8-10 for example. quick and peacefull schools together and dont really bother other fish but be warned can fin nip and terrorise other fish especially slow moving large finned fish.
banded rainbow fish prefurably should be kept in a 3 male to 2 female ratio males are brighter than females, and will tollerate 6.6ph-8.0ph levels decorated with plant (plastic or live) are egg layers so if you dont want babies then leave the eggs in the aqurium they will be eaten or they fry will the survivers can be given away.
western rainbowfish will also tollerate your ph level so practace can be made in shifting ph levels, dont go lower than 6.0ph though they not like that too soft a water condition.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

would just like to add, thank you all for your knowladge and advice past present and future and your links to greater advice whilst this is just a forum its one of the first majour sites that people check out for advice, i dont know about others but i feel a sense of pride in the knowladge that the info here is helping countless of people setup tropical and marine and coldwater fish easily humainly and most of all enjoyably. :T :T :T to you all.

Gingham_Ribbon

covlass wrote: »

I am still awaiting my water testing kit API Freshwater Master test i hope this is ok. PERFECT! I think that's the best one.

Water in this area is Hardness Level Slightly Hard, Nitrate 20.71, pH 7.26 That's great. It should be stable and it's not too extreme, so you have a wider choice than I do.

How many water changes do I need to do and when should I do the first one ? Don't do any water changes until the cycle is complete or you'll slow it down. (Your ammonia reading will drop back to 0 when it's done.) Then do a full water change. Remember to dechlorinate the water before adding it to the tank or you'll kill off the bacteria you've grown in the filter media.

I have made a list of fish that I like:
Western Rainbowfish Banded Rainbow, Three-Striped Rainbow, Jewel Rainbow Siamese Fighter Cardinal tetra Celestial Pearl Danio Kissing gourami Lake Kutubu Rainbow Molly Neon Rainbow Neon tetra Platy Ram cichlid Red-nosed tetra Western Rainbowfish Zebra danio
Could someone advise as I really would like to get this right, and am unsure. Which ones hsould be added first?

Many thanks

Kissing gouramis can get to a foot long. Rams are beautiful but really need an expert's hand. I have several tanks on the go and don't feel ready for them yet. The water quality needs to be perfect or they'll die.

The zebras are a great first choice as are the platies, given your water readings. Maybe not the tetras as they prefer soft, acidic water.

Personally, I'd be tempted to go for a livebearer tank with lots of plants for the inevitable babies to hide in. Trios are best - 2 females to 1 male so the females don't get worn out by the males' over-enthusiasm!

Sailfin mollies maybe:




platies are hardy:


zebra danios would do well with these fish too, as would cories or bristlenoses if you want something snuffling around the substrate.