New tank.. and possibly a new mom

[kaitym]

Just got a tank and fish today. I've got it all set up already with a filter, heater, thermometer, rocks, and plants. I got four (4) guppies and I'm pretty sure two are male and the other two are female. One of the females is considerably larger than the other one and I'm afraid that it might be because she's pregnant. What should I look for to see if she is or not??

 

[fort384]

Welcome to AA!

You setup the tank and put fish in it today? If that is the case, you are going to have a bit of a tough road in front of you, because your tank is not cycled. It can be difficult to cycle with fish... you can probably expect to lose a few of your fish in the coming days/weeks, while your biological filter gets established.

 

[peaceablegarden]

Welcome! You're in the best spot for some great advice. I see you're in Naples. I'm in Scarborough. fort384 is correct. You are in for a very bumpy ride. Fry maybe the least of your worries. Below is a link to an article that explains about the nitrogen cycle your tank will be going through. The best suggestion I have is for you to remove the fish and return them to the store. You will lose some if not all before the cycle is done. Fishless cycling is the best route to go. I've also pasted a link to an article about that as well. I originally cycled with fish even after waiting a week before putting fish in (I got bad advice from a pet store). If you choose to keep your fish, plan on daily water changes of 20-30% at least for the next 4-6 weeks or so. This will help keep the toxic levels of ammonia down so that hopefully your fish will survive. You'll need to monitor the water parameters as well (for both ways of cycling). For that, the best way is to purchase an API Master Test Kit (the strips are not accurate and don't always test for ammonia). Keep coming back here for advice. You'll get a cycled tank soon and have healthy happy fish. Good luck!

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/24/1/Nitrogen-Cycle-/Page1.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...ks-for-your-fastest-fishless-cycle/Page1.html

 

[missileman]

I agree with the above to a point.
If you can get your hands on a used filter cartridge from an established tank you may be able to get through the cycle rather painlessly. (put as much of the used filter media in your filter as you can fit with out obstructing flow)
Another option is a product called Bio-Spira which will speed up the cycle dramatically but that is kind of a crap shoot and may be hard to find.
It has to stay refrigerated at all times so alot of pet stores do not stock it and it has an expiration date. Even if a pet store does stock it, if it wasn't handled right it may be no good. I have been lucky the few times I have used Bio-Spira and I got good batches that worked very well.
You still need to test the water daily with a good test kit (I recommend API freswater master test kit) and change 25% to 35% water as needed to keep Amonia and eventually nitrite levels low.

 

[meegosh]

The others have given some excellent advice as far as cycling goes. As far as the guppies being pregnant... you are looking for a gravid spot. It is basically at the end of their body where the tail begins. The spot will become darker the closer it is to dropping fry. The usually 'square up' meaning their bodies will become larger and boxed shaped.

What size tank is it? You will most likely have a bunch of fry within the next few months if the fish survive the cycling process. I am kicking myself for getting male and female guppies... I now have more guppies than I know what to do with.

 

[kaitym]

Thanks for all the info. No one had told me to let the tank cycle. And as far as the female, shes much larger than the other one and I looked for the gravid spot and I'm pretty sure shes close. It's actually darker this morning than it was yesterday afternoon when I got them.

 

[meegosh]

Eventually the gravid spot will become almost completely black. If you look closely you may even see some of the black dots moving around in her belly, that is actually the babies eyes you are seeing.

You may run into a problem if she drops a large batch of fry, your tank could be filled in just a few months. When I had males and females in my 10g they would drop a batch of fry every 28-34 days. The first batch had 1 survivor, second had 14, third had 20+ (lost count) and then I split them up.

Also keep in mind, that even if you separate the males and females, the females can store the sperm for months and have multiple batches of fry even after the male is long gone from the tank.

 

[kaitym]

How long on average would it take to cycle a 5.5 gallon tank? I use tap water from a drilled well, and we have a water softener system. The pet store told me to get some sort of conditioner for tap water. Does it really make a difference?

 

[peaceablegarden]

I would plan on 4-6 weeks or so for the cycle to take hold. It's different for every tank. If you know someone with an established tank and they are willing to donate some gravel or filter media, that can be used to 'seed' the tank which will help the cycle along a little quicker.

Be sure to read the links I posted earlier in the thread about cycling. What you will need for sure is a test kit (recommened is the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, I think they are about $12 at Petco). Being able to test your water is critical to following the cycle.

I'm not sure about a water conditioner. I haven't used one. Maybe someone else can respond to that. If you have chlorine in you water, you'll need to use a dechlorinator. Generally found in city water. You won't know what your water looks like until you test it.

Also get yourself a siphon so you can do water changes and keep the gravel clean. You will need to do 20-30% pwc (partical water changes) every day until your tank is cycled.

Keep asking questions. Folks here are very helpful.

 

[meegosh]

peaceablegarden, are you close to kaitym? Could you send her some used filter media or some gravel? That would definitely help out!

 

[peaceablegarden]

I'm at least an hour away and of course just replaced some particularly worn out media this past week. I got seed material by posting on craigslist. She may be able to find someone closer that way.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

How long on average would it take to cycle a 5.5 gallon tank? I use tap water from a drilled well, and we have a water softener system. The pet store told me to get some sort of conditioner for tap water. Does it really make a difference?

Definitely get your water tested. For both your purposes and your aquarium.

When I first started fishkeeping 20 years ago, we had well water also. You will definitely want to get this tested now and probably in a month or so (if it's not too expensive) and get as extensive of a report as possible, at least the first time. That way you know what you're dealing with. The reason to test down the road is to see if your well water quality varies throughout the year. This can make a difference for certain fish.

The problem I ran into was that I got massive algae blooms called 'green water' (I didn't know that's what it was called until now). My well water had certain nutrients in it that would cause the water to go murky so bad that I couldn't see from one end to the other (4 feet in a 55) within a week or two after I added any water from the well. I had to run a diatom filter w/diatomacious earth powder to filter out the green water, and then figured out that running it just after a water change took out whatever caused the problem.

Our well water had a lot of iron in it, and the well head was near a sulfur deposit, so every once in a while the hot water smelled like rotten eggs. Eww.

If you can, I suggest going to a LFS (local fish store) and asking them to squeeze out all the gunk out of one of their sponge filters. Usually you have to FIND a store that has a few of these, most of the box stores like Petco use centralized canister filter systems. Get the grocest, nastiest looking bag of water you can, dump it in the tank, and you will have an immediate bacteria colony. It will still take a couple weeks for them to fully adhere to all surfaces, etc, but you will not see any chemical spikes because bacteria exists to eat up the ammonia and nitrites. Just don't over-clean for 2 months and you should be fine, water changes to keep Nitrates in check would still be in order.

PS well water tends to be high in Nitrates too. Also read up on the relationship between water hardness (KH) and alkalinity (PH). Just google 'aquarium ph kh'. In fact, google anything on aquariums, it's easy and smashing good fun!