We have fish ( at least a couple)

[-=Jeff=-]

It has been a few weeks since my last post.. in summary

thanksgiving weekend I filled my 40 Gal tank and got my filter and heater running.. I added Amquel and on other thing suggested by the person at Petco (who has two 50 [acronym:f7beef21f3="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:f7beef21f3] tanks of her own)

I let it cycle for 2 weeks and went back last Friday after I checked the levels with the test strips and everything seemed okay.

I got 3 Serpae Tetra and 3 Black Skirt Tetra and added them to the tank. When I added them the tank was a slight bit cloudy but by Monday the tank was clear. I also had one Casualty Monday afternoon, one of the Serpae did not make it, I took it back to Petco and got my refund as I forgot to bring the water sample they require.

So far this week has gone well for them remaining 5 fish. I will check the levels this weekend and take a small water sample to them for testing as well..

Now I need to start thinking of what other fish I can start to add in coming weeks.. want some different sizes and colors.. any thoughts?

According to some info from a google search and from Petco the Serpae will get to be 1.5-2" and the Blackskirts are to get from 2-3" so something a bit on the bigger side.

Jury is still out on Livebearers but if I decide on livebearers I don't want guppies as I had them as a kid and want something different

[Apocalypse_Gold]

If there wasn't anything for the beneficial bacteria to "eat", your tank is probably not cycled. The best way to tell if it is, is to test. If you see ammonia and nitrites, it isn't done. The test strips are passable at best. A good liquid test kit is a much better idea. What was the other product suggested by the petco employee?
As far as new fish, there are lots of neat varieties of platies and swordtail, which are usually cheap and hardy. You also need to consider what your clean up crew will be. You may want to consider some cories, one of the smaller varieties of pleco (the common pleco will get way too big), or a siamese algae eater (if you can find real ones).

[-=Jeff=-]

The other product was NovAqua, it came wit the Amquel+.

With the strips, everything looked good when I tested after the one tetra died. I may step up to the liquid stuff, but not quite yet, I need to find a better pplace to store it (2 little kids)

Anyway, What are some of the smaller Plecos? Should I add the clean up crew next?

Reason I ask is I will be seeing my Uncle right after Christmas and since he raises angels I was thinking of possibly bringing 2 back to add to my tank (unless the 40gal will be too small for them

[rich311k]

2 angels will do fine in that tank. You want to make sure it is cycled first, Angels can be sensative to new tanks.

[-=Jeff=-]

Originally Posted by rich311k

2 angels will do fine in that tank. You want to make sure it is cycled first, Angels can be sensative to new tanks.

Since I don't have the liquid test kit, I may take a sample of my water to the [acronym:699a78e16a="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:699a78e16a] for testing next week before I get them from my Uncle, last I remember he had at least 50 angels