Newbie starting questions

[zitrael]

Good day,

little background info on me; When I was a kid, my father always had guppies and jewelfish for as long as I can remember and he stopped when I was about 15 or so. Since then, I always loved to go see fish at the local petshops and such. Recently, My kids wanted a pet, so We decided to get them each a Betta (in 2 different betta tanks). Well, what had to happen, happened. My wife and I got hooked. My wife bought a 5 gallon tank and decided on tetras (got 3 neons this past weekend, and will get 3 more tetras next weekend.

I got myself a 26 gallon bow and really like mollies, swordtail and such. So far, my idea for stocking is:

5 Danio (hopefully celestial pearl if i can find them anywhere)
3 Dalmatian mollies (1m 2F)
3 Swordtail (1m 2F) (I can only find red ones, never seen others around where i live)
3 srimps (color depends on what danio and sword i can get, but not beige or brown because of my sand color rocks)

AQAdvisor tells me it would be 112% stocked, but room with filtration unit

Any idea what i could change to make it similar. I really have my heart set on dalmatian mollies, rest can somewhat change. Also, My tank now has a PH of 7.2 after a week cycling, so I believe it will be ready for Saturday for the 1st fish (danio if I take this avenue)

Any input is welcome.

 

[griff5499]

I'm not sure about the other fish but the dalmations I have 1male, 1female tend to pick on some of my smaller platies. They will chase them and pick at their tales. I love them but if they become too aggressive I will have to move them.

 

[librarygirl]

Personally I would add the neons to the 26; although they are small they are very active fish and need more horizontal swim space than a 5 gal can provide. Celestials are gorgeous fish (I've had them) but very timid; they may not do so well with the other more active and larger fish. At the very least if you did try it I would get a large a school as you can as they feel safer in higher numbers. If you get males and females for the swords and mollies you're likely to be overrun with babies and the females may get stressed. Also is the tank just up and running empty? Unfortunately that doesn't cycle it to get it ready for fish. Here's a guide if you haven't seen it yet: Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

 

[em1981ma]

Is my tank overcrowded? Just some advice as im not sure. I have now completed my stock.

I have a 3ft 3inches long tank which is 1ft and a half wide and tall.
I think its about 25 gallons

I have two coldwater fish
1 Black Moor
1 Oranda

I have 10 temprate fish
4danios
3minnows
2platys
1 Pleco

They all get on v.well are healthy and happy and all stats good. I have an internal filter with aeration and lots of hiding places and fun things for them to explore. My tank is cycled and complete

 

[zitrael]

I added ammonia, I'm now at 0.25ppm ammonia, 0.25ppm nitrite and 50ppm nitrate. Well that was last night after 4 days of running.

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[zitrael]

I mean I added ammonia on day 2

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[josh7]

Is my tank overcrowded? Just some advice as im not sure. I have now completed my stock.

I have a 3ft 3inches long tank which is 1ft and a half wide and tall.
I think its about 25 gallons

I have two coldwater fish
1 Black Moor
1 Oranda

I have 10 temprate fish
4danios
3minnows
2platys
1 Pleco

They all get on v.well are healthy and happy and all stats good. I have an internal filter with aeration and lots of hiding places and fun things for them to explore. My tank is cycled and complete

Start another thread don't hijack his.

 

[em1981ma]

I'm new too forums sorry I don't know how it works I didn't intend to hijack anyone thread

 

[josh7]

Ok it's all good I was just stating to start a new one if you do you will get a lot of responses to.

 

[em1981ma]

Ok it's all good I was just stating to start a new one if you do you will get a lot of responses to.

Thanks I have done and getting some advice now thanks again

 

[zitrael]

OK, so quick update. Nitrate at 10.0ppm, nitrite and ammonia at 0.25 ppm.

Here's the tank!

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[josh7]

That is a nice looking tanks. I would get cross off mollies off your list though they get big and have a big bioload so do swordtails i would not get them either i would just do platys and do a stock of
2m platys
4f platys

Platys are colorful smaller and breed easy like the others.

I would add a school of cardinal tetras to like 6 then a small group of 4 Cory's for the bottom. So a final stock of

6/ platys total
6/ cardinal tetras
4/bronze or panda Cory's

That would look great imo

 

[zitrael]

I'll look into Cory's as well. Thanks for the input. Even if it's totally different than my original one haha.

 

[josh7]

No problem it's just an idea haha I just think it would be better for your tank size.

 

[venymae]

So, here is my opinion. If you really have your heart set on Mollies I think they are very do-able in your size aquarium. The thing about them is that they are poop machines. They eat a lot, they poop a lot, and they are very active swimmers. They do produce lots of young, but most of the time the adults/other fish will eat the babies unless you do something specifically to save them. So you usually don't have to worry about overpopulation. Because of this I would suggest you UNDER stock your aquarium. Maybe have 1 male 4 females and a larger school of your favorite schooling fish. Then you can add a couple bottom cleaners (shrimp or snails) with a low bio load to top it off (though the mollies with shrimp I'm not 100% sure about). This will give you nice balance, and plenty of swimming room for your fish. Hope this helps give you some more ideas. Have fun!

 

[Tommy10]

OK, so quick update. Nitrate at 10.0ppm, nitrite and ammonia at 0.25 ppm.

Here's the tank!

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I have the same tank! I love it. Mine is stocked with a German blue ram pair, 5 neons, 4 cories. And 3 swords. Its a little over stocked but I keep up on water changes and all my levels are good so thats an idea for stocking if you were considering something else

 

[zitrael]

So, here is my opinion. If you really have your heart set on Mollies I think they are very do-able in your size aquarium. The thing about them is that they are poop machines. They eat a lot, they poop a lot, and they are very active swimmers. They do produce lots of young, but most of the time the adults/other fish will eat the babies unless you do something specifically to save them. So you usually don't have to worry about overpopulation. Because of this I would suggest you UNDER stock your aquarium. Maybe have 1 male 4 females and a larger school of your favorite schooling fish. Then you can add a couple bottom cleaners (shrimp or snails) with a low bio load to top it off (though the mollies with shrimp I'm not 100% sure about). This will give you nice balance, and plenty of swimming room for your fish. Hope this helps give you some more ideas. Have fun!

That could also work. As for the babies, I can set up a nursery in a bit. My dad wants to get his 80 gallons up and running and is already planning to add a pillar in the basement so I assume there is a 120+ gallon in the near future for them. They live like next door so by spring, transportation won't be an issue for water for acclimatation and the small fish.

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[josh7]

Yah or you could do the swordtails like that with 1 m 4 f it's just they are kind of big bioload fish that's why I threw out the other idea just to have more fish.

 

[zitrael]

My wife like the rams too so we might be on to something. I had never considered chilids since I was told they were nippers

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[josh7]

Rams are very peaceful but I wouldn't add them until your setup was cycled and after the cycle completed running for another month.