Help me decide what fish to start with! :)
- Thread starter MoxieGrrrl
- Start date
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MoxieGrrrl
Aquarium Advice Freak
aquazen said:Get the fish!!!!!Mweeheeheehee....
Don't be evul!
TomK2
Aquarium Advice Addict
No angel fish for starters! Zebra Danios do well with new tanks, but they will be planning on living there long after they cycle the tank for you, so don't use them if you don't like them. I just added fish to my tank Dec. 3. I am using fish to cycle it, but am using a low bioload and huge buckets of patience! I chose 6 danios and 4 platies as the initial bioload in a 55 gal tank. The zebra danios are high activity fish, and the platies are a beautiful red. The activity of the Danios and the beauty of the Platies helps to make the tank not look so empty. Both will be welcome residents after the cycle when I add Angels and Blood Parrots. Rather than try to speed up the cycle, I am trying to make it so darn slow that there will never be an NH3 or NO2 spike. So far it is going as planned, 16 days of fish and no detectable ammonia. I hope to detect Nitrate at around 45 days, letting me know that the tank has cycled. Then I will slowly add the Angels and Parrots, say one every week or two. At this rate it will be spring before I have the tank stocked the way I want it. Somehow the anticipation and planning make the hobby more enjoyable for me. After all, if I could do it all in one day I probably would, but then what would I do with myself?
MoxieGrrrl
Aquarium Advice Freak
TomK2 said:
Wow you have a great deal of patience
I don't think I could take it that slowly, but if it's nice and relaxing then that's awesome - I'm sure you'll have the best tank of us all.BTW, I thought trap shooting was something a LOT different that it turns out to be (yay for the internet) - neat hobby!
Psyhampster
Aquarium Advice Addict
I hate to(maybe) burst your bubble, but I think with Bio-Spira, you dump it in, let it sith for maybe 30 mins(?) and then add the fish. I'm not completely sure on this one, so sorry if I'm wrong.
I completely agree with that. I have 4 in a 20, and we used them to cycle the 30. It must have taken a half hour to ctach them to move them to the 30, and another half hour for the move back.
TomK2
Aquarium Advice Addict
I had thought of returning them to the LFS, figuring that thier high speed antics would not go well with the peaceful look I was after later on. But just think about chasing them around my 4 foot long tank! I think I would end up uprooting all the decorations just to catch one of the little speed demons.
Hmmm... had visions of mean old guys standing around shooting helpless little trapped things? 100 years ago that would not have been too far off the mark. The sport started by putting live birds in a trap, then yelling "pull" to have someone pull the door off the cage so it could fly away and be shot at. Now, we still say pull but a machine throws clay targets to be shot at. I don't think I could shoot a live bird unless I was rather hungry!
Very addicting sport. Lots of immediate gratification. Guess thats why I can be patient and defer gratification with my tank.
TomK2
Aquarium Advice Addict
I sure do hope it is true. It would be nice! I am hearing lots of praise for the product, but some grumblings that it didn't seem to work as well as people hoped. I don't know... and probably won't know unless I try it. Since I have started many tanks the old fashioned way, I have developed a fondness for the slow, patient approach. I also find that I have lots of time to browse the many LFS's in the area and decide which fish to get next. Often I will change my mind while waiting for the biofilter to develope and end up with something completely different than what I had originally planned. Some things are mor fun when you take it slow, and for me it is more fun to make a tank over several months than all in one week. Think of all the excitement people have over adding fish to the tank - I get to make that last for months!
MoxieGrrrl
Aquarium Advice Freak
Hmmm... had visions of mean old guys standing around shooting helpless little trapped things? 100 years ago that would not have been too far off the mark. The sport started by putting live birds in a trap, then yelling "pull" to have someone pull the door off the cage so it could fly away and be shot at. Now, we still say pull but a machine throws clay targets to be shot at. I don't think I could shoot a live bird unless I was rather hungry!
Unfortunately, those mean old guys are still around - I've seen groups that bring animals into enclosures so they have no chance of escape and some joker who pays a lot to feel like a man takes the shot. Disgusting practice.
Had a handyman who helped renovate our house who used to hunt deer with a crossbow. Was an expert tracker. As much as it isn't my thing (I'm a bit girlier, enjoy straight target practicing), I respected his knowledge
But I certainly breathed a sigh of relief when I learned what real "trap shooting" was
severum mama
Aquarium Advice Addict
Tom and Moxie, I think that Psyhampster is right, you add fish pretty much as soon as you use the Bio Spira. It is live bacteria, so if you wait a few days to add fish the bacteria will have no food source and it will die. Make sure you keep it refrigerated. I have never used it myself but I have heard lots of good things about it, so I personally would try it out if I didn't already have 4 tanks to cycle new filters on.
MoxieGrrrl
Aquarium Advice Freak
severum mama said:Tom and Moxie, I think that Psyhampster is right, you add fish pretty much as soon as you use the Bio Spira. It is live bacteria, so if you wait a few days to add fish the bacteria will have no food source and it will die. Make sure you keep it refrigerated. I have never used it myself but I have heard lots of good things about it, so I personally would try it out if I didn't already have 4 tanks to cycle new filters on.
I think you are correct, mama. I am going to set up the tank, add the StressCoat and let it get to the right temp. Then get all the fish I want for the tank and add the Bio-Spira.
I will definitely let everyone know how it goes. I am not very confident I will have all the shipments by Friday, but we'll see.
gheitman
Aquarium Advice Addict
Keep in mind that if you get mollies you will soon have more mollies as they are prolific breeders. Be sure and get 2 females for every male otherwise you may end up having a very exhausted female I would definitely wait on getting your angelfish until after the tank has been running at least several months. That way you can be sure of stable water conditions. As you probably already know, you shouldn't add too many fish at one time otherwise you could get a spike in your ammonia level.
I would definitely wait on getting your angelfish until after the tank has been running at least several months. That way you can be sure of stable water conditions. As you probably already know, you shouldn't add too many fish at one time otherwise you could get a spike in your ammonia level.MoxieGrrrl
Aquarium Advice Freak
gheitman said:Keep in mind that if you get mollies you will soon have more mollies as they are prolific breeders. Be sure and get 2 females for every male otherwise you may end up having a very exhausted female
I'll talk to my LFS about the mollies. Maybe I will just get all males or all females so I don't have to worry about it.
Several months before getting an angel? Woah.
smallfry
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Actually, mollies, swordtails, guppies AND platys are all prolific breeders! You may want to keep that in mind when you are thinking quantity.... female platys (and maybe the other species too) store sperm for months and can be pregnant multiple times from what is stored in them (with no male around).
I found this out when I had ONE female platy give birth to 3 different batches of babies....the last batch was 3 months after I had purchased her! (no male platy in my tank)
I found this out when I had ONE female platy give birth to 3 different batches of babies....the last batch was 3 months after I had purchased her! (no male platy in my tank)
MoxieGrrrl
Aquarium Advice Freak
smallfry said:Actually, mollies, swordtails, guppies AND platys are all prolific breeders! You may want to keep that in mind when you are thinking quantity.... female platys (and maybe the other species too) store sperm for months and can be pregnant multiple times from what is stored in them (with no male around).
I found this out when I had ONE female platy give birth to 3 different batches of babies....the last batch was 3 months after I had purchased her! (no male platy in my tank)
8O
Ok. Note to self: fish "F" like rabbits. Assume all fish are pregnant and make arrangements to give some back to the fish store. Or at least not be too sad if the little things become lunch. Follow up note: find out which fish produce cavier and make a killing.
smallfry
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Not all fish breed this easy.....but most livebearers do. (They are the "aquatic rabbit" so to speak)
I must admit, it was very rewarding to raise the fry and see them give birth too.....I had 3rd generation platys in my tank until I gave them all to someone else on this forum. 8)
(They are the "aquatic rabbit" so to speak) I must admit, it was very rewarding to raise the fry and see them give birth too.....I had 3rd generation platys in my tank until I gave them all to someone else on this forum. 8)
severum mama
Aquarium Advice Addict
If you don't want such prolific breeders in your tank why not go with a school of some tetras? They would get along with angels (whenever you get angels) as long as they are large enough to not fit in the angels' mouths. Neons, cardinals and other smaller tetras would not work. Barbs are also nice schooling fish but most of them are too nippy to be kept with angels. Mollies and platies seem like cool fish but I have never kept them for any length of time. My mollies died due to my newbie mistakes, and I never got any other livebearers because of all the babies!!! 8O
MoxieGrrrl
Aquarium Advice Freak
severum mama said:If you don't want such prolific breeders in your tank why not go with a school of some tetras? They would get along with angels (whenever you get angels) as long as they are large enough to not fit in the angels' mouths. Neons, cardinals and other smaller tetras would not work. Barbs are also nice schooling fish but most of them are too nippy to be kept with angels. Mollies and platies seem like cool fish but I have never kept them for any length of time. My mollies died due to my newbie mistakes, and I never got any other livebearers because of all the babies!!! 8O
I'm not a huge fan of tetras.
I guess I am just more attracted to fishies with pretty fins. No worries, I will learn to deal with it. What newbie mistakes did you make with your mollies so I can learn from it?(Edited because I can't spell when I type too fast)
severum mama
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hey, check out these links:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1113
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=901
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1583
I don't have any glowlights, but they are pretty easy to find. I do keep the green fires and rummy nose, and I think they are beautiful!!! If you are looking for pretty fins, you can't beat the striped fins of the rummy nose. All 3 of these species are really colorful and active. If you are still planning on keeping angels, though, they may be too small. If not, they work out great with dwarf cichlids. 8)
My newbie mistake was not studying up on tank cycling AT ALL. I still have one survivor, a blood parrot that was my 1st cichlid. Tough as nails. Anyway, you are WAAAAAAY ahead of where I was at that time, nothing to learn from there.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1113
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=901
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1583
I don't have any glowlights, but they are pretty easy to find. I do keep the green fires and rummy nose, and I think they are beautiful!!! If you are looking for pretty fins, you can't beat the striped fins of the rummy nose. All 3 of these species are really colorful and active. If you are still planning on keeping angels, though, they may be too small. If not, they work out great with dwarf cichlids. 8)
My newbie mistake was not studying up on tank cycling AT ALL. I still have one survivor, a blood parrot that was my 1st cichlid. Tough as nails. Anyway, you are WAAAAAAY ahead of where I was at that time, nothing to learn from there.
MoxieGrrrl
Aquarium Advice Freak
severum mama said:Hey, check out these links:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1113
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=901
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1583
I don't have any glowlights, but they are pretty easy to find. I do keep the green fires and rummy nose, and I think they are beautiful!!! If you are looking for pretty fins, you can't beat the striped fins of the rummy nose. All 3 of these species are really colorful and active. If you are still planning on keeping angels, though, they may be too small. If not, they work out great with dwarf cichlids. 8)
My newbie mistake was not studying up on tank cycling AT ALL. I still have one survivor, a blood parrot that was my 1st cichlid. Tough as nails. Anyway, you are WAAAAAAY ahead of where I was at that time, nothing to learn from there.
I think I am overloaded on information now! lol Brain...hurting!
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