Canadian Newbie...

[bill_guess]

hello all.
my first post here at AA. Seems to be alot of very well educated people in the field of aquatics. Bravo to all in the hobby. I am very green at this new and exciting hobby. I have a 20 gal tank with a aquaclear 30 power filter to keep it clean. I have only had my tank for about 5 weeks now and have lost 1 fish..my favorite...columbian shark the first week. My tank now holds 1 male Beta, a female and male Molly, 1 yellow tail Tetra,
1 guppy, 1 catfish and 3 other small Tetras. It appears that I have all levels of the tank covered except an algea eater. I am looking at either a clown loach or a cory...any suggestions? Thanks

Bill in Newfoundland

[Fishyfanatic]

Welcome to AA Bill!

What are your water levels (as in Ammonia, nitrite, Nitrate)?

Before adding any more species, check your current stock. What kind of Tetras do you have? They prefer to be in groupings of 5 or 6. Same with the guppies.

What kind of Catfish do you have?

You don't need an algae eater unless you are having a bad case of algae. The clown loach will grow far too big for your tank and is a schooling fish. Cories are an excellent option, but you'll want to modify your current stock before adding any more species.

[justrelax]

Welcome to AA!

[Zagz]

Welcome to AA fellow Canadian. A good investment for a new aquarist is an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals master test kit. It contains all the test you will need to keep your tank healthy. There is a wealth of information on this site. This Article will familiarize you with the nitrogen cycle and how it affects your aquarium. Please feel free to ask any questions you might have as the members here are always more than happy to help. Glad you have you aboard.

[bill_guess]

i really dont know what type of tetras I have....
my girls called one of them BOO as he is black and orange.
the other two are small like cardinals and are all orange and stay together alot.
The catfish is silver light colored with black stripes and lives in a clay pot in the tank during the day with the light on and comes out as soon as it is off.
I have a API freshwater master test kit enroute from the US so I do not know my levels yet
I am looking at getting rid of Mollies soon as...well they are boring !! lol
But my gilrs want to see some babies..so I am stuck with them for a few months as I think
the female is pregnant now. She changes colors....her dark spots disappear and then days later reappear and she has a big bellie !!

[Toirtis]

Welcome to AA, Bill...are you an ECAS member?

[supermazz9]

Welcome, and good luck.

And now, I begin!

First of all, you do not want a clown loach in this sized tank...they get very big. Most sites will list them at 6", which is already too big for your tank, and I've seen them MUCH bigger. If you go through the recent threads on here, you'll find a post on them that has a video linked, and you will see some monster clown loaches. They also like to be in small groups, and even if they grow to half size, you can't support a school in your tank.

Got a hunch your orange and black tetra is a serpaes, I bet. Is it a little bit testy? Like to bully other fish? that being said, tetras are schooling fish, and will "behave" better if kept in larger groups, say a minimum of 4-6 of a single species.

Read that article on the cycle. Buy a test kit. Read the article on the cycle again. I believe the test kit most reccomended here is the one that you've got on order. (where did you order from? what site? curious myself, living up north here, on where folks find stuff)

You might want to check out the "What should have a warning label thread" http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=91798
It will give you a good idea of what not to look for, and what you should be thinking of when you're planning your fish purchases. Get an idea of problems that are listed there, and when you're ready to buy more fish, research them and think if these problems apply.

Find out what species of pleco you have. If you don't know, post a picture here of it and someone will tell you how big it may get. You really should post a pic of your tank anyway, cause we all want to see your set up. I love to see everyones' idea of a great looking tank. Always gives me ideas for my own. Back to the pleco...depending on the species, they will grow and grow and grow and grow and grow...no, really, it will. Post pics of any fish that you have, and you will get a proper name quite promply. There's some great people here just waiting to spread their knowledge.

This is a generalization, it happened to me and I know of a few others who have spoken about it. I have found mollies to be very fragile and short lived. This is likely attributed to a large amount of inbreeding, so I've heard. I have never been able to keep one over a year, even in tanks with German Blue Rams, which are a very sensitive fish.

There are some sites that will give you community recomendations. One that I liked to use as a starting point was Elmers http://www.elmersaquarium.com/ under their FW handbook section. I believe Drs. Foster and Smith have something similar.

I'm sorry if this comes across as all negative, but, well, it is. I really do welcome you, and hope you find the hobby very rewarding. Please post lots of updates on how you're doing, and feel free to add a photo or two. I learnt way too much from mistakes, and I try to pass on those things as much as I can...enjoy your tank, take care of your mollie babies (do you have a breeding tank so your fry don't get eaten?), and prepare for the onset of MTS soon. Ohhh, when it bites you...

You probably don't really need it yet, not with a 20g, but once you step up, get a Python for doing your water changes. BTW, what is your current maintence routine? What conditioners do you use? Are you planted?

Out of curiosity, where abouts in Canada are you from?

Ha ha...that's enough out of me...

crap, I better get some sleep...so tired.

[kansei]

Welcome Bill , I'm also from Newfoundland mt pearl to be exact. good to see another islander on here . If you want an algae eater there's a store in town( he knows what I mean) that has real SAE .

[bill_guess]

west coast of newfoundland here...
mmm where to start..lol I do not have a pleco so dont know where that came from.
My API master kit I ordered from Ebay but it looks like it is not a fish guy.
So...no recommendations there.
My tank is not planted..I was cleaning tanks about 35% on weekly basis as I did not cycle
my tank but is biweekly now as the aquaclear filter has kicked in and things are clearing up.
Female Molly just getting over a case of ICK so i removed carbon filter and added ICK mediaction daily. She is doing fine and no others caught it. Well it appears from all
comments that my next step is to get some more tetras to keep the little guys happy.
But I must say that all seem quite content in my humble 20 gal tank. I am just looking for nice color..and cool looking fish. 4-6 of the same type of 2 fish seems boring to me...
Like the variety !!! Will take some pics over holidays and post.
cheers everyone

[supermazz9]

sorry...it was late, i read that you wanted to get a algae eater and I think i kinda misread that you had an algae eater...man, christmas is sooo draining...

sorry, too, as that post came off a little mean. It wasn't how it was intented, but it was mostly helpful from a negative view i think...

anyway, ttyl, and gl!

btw, you'd be surprised how good just one large group of the same fish look, all schooling together. Some tetra's are better at this than others.