Starting out

[johanna]

Hi there

I'm planning to buy a fishtank and have been into our local aquatics shop a few times and narrowed down to either a newa mirabello 30 or a marina premium 54. It's sitting on top of a kitchen worktop with cabinets above so I had to write off the Fluval even though it is very attractive as I wouldn't be able to get into the top of it.

Was planning to add a heater and put in, probably, Molly fish.

I've asked the store for advice, but to be honest, given it's live animals I'd really like some independent advice before I buy. Are these tanks suitable for Molly's. Is there anything I should be aware of? Is there more suitable fish etc for a starter

I've been told that I could have 15/20 mollys in the 46 litre tank I was originally looking at plus 1 other aggressive fish. I was told I only had to wipe the glass with a sponge and change a fifth of the water every 7-10 days. Is this accurate?

If anyone can advise I'd be very grateful.

TIA

 

[MissGurnus]

Never trust pet store advice especially if its a chain, the only real exception would be if it was a professional fish retailer

You will also need to cycle your tank either by fishless cycling or by doing a fish in cycle. Possibly research the nitrogen cycle as its a key aspect to keeping your tank healthy and happy. Both are viable and safe if done correctly, I recommend researching which is best for you. I also would suggest purchasing an API liquid test kit its the most widely available and most accurate testing available to hobbiest.

The percentage of water changes and how frequently you will have to do them will be directly tied to what you have for filtration and how heavily stocked your aquarium is. Try playing around with the website aquadvisor it should give you some helpful tips about stocking.


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[sinibotia]

I wouldn't put any mollies in a 46 liter tank, let alone 15-20. They can get deceptively large. Platys are a better and similar option for that tank, although I wouldn't do more than 4, maaaybe 5 in that size. You could do a trio of platys and then a small group (5 or so) of kuhli loaches or pygmy corydoras.

I recommend changing 30-40% every week.

MissGurnus' advice is good; make sure to read the articles in this forum about cycling as it's the most important thing to do when starting an aquarium.

 

[henningc]

The tanks you're talking about, are they liters or gallons? If they are liters mollys are a bad choice as they grow large and end to be a little heavy on bio-load due to their need for veggies. If you're talking gallons, 4 in the 30gal-6-7 in the 54gal. My Gold Dust and 24K Gold mollys are about 3", my Red Sunset Sail Fins are 4 1/2"-5".

Better choices would be Endlers if you want a lot of fish and color, platys with fewer, say 6 fish or swordtails say 3 plus other fish. If you reply with information on what you like the folks here will help you design your stock. They will need to know liters or gallons.

Never trust the local fish store-Ask the folks here who are extremely knowledgable.

 

[johanna]

Thank you very much for your responses. I questioned them on the Fuval 46l tank after reading a few negatives and they couldn't answer me, given it was what they recommended, I had a sinking feeling someone would come back and say what has been said below.

The tank sizes are in litres and I liked the Mollys as I was being sold plenty of fish swimming in a school coupled with a reasonable amount of colour and not too much work.

I need to go away and read your answer with google open and may come back with some more questions if you don't mind.

Thank you again.

 

[johanna]

Thank you again for your responses. REading up the Endlers look like lots of fun and the Aqadvisor is very useful. If I go for the marina premium 54 it says I can stock with 20 endlers and 6 zebra fish which look like they'd provide good animation for my girls and be pretty easy to keep for me.


I now need to make sense of the cycling. In the meantime, can you please advice that this combo sounds reasonable for a beginner - I'd be pretty devastated if I came down to school of floating fish because I'd done something stupid.


Also, can you tell me about breeding - do fish breed like rabbits or do I not need to worry too much.


Sorry for all the questions but it seems I'm getting much more advice here than at the local aquarium (specialist shop and supposedly one of the best so pretty disappointing!).


TIA

 

[sinibotia]

I might suggest going with half of the number of endlers. They breed like rabbits and will quickly fill up to a number you'll like and then some. Plus, it'll allow you some more room to make mistakes with water quality if you have fewer fish to start. Otherwise your plan sounds fine to me.