New!

[Emmy_helen]

Hi everyone! I am new to this forum, and pretty much new to the aquarium keeping hobby. I have one 10 gallon tank, and one 5 gallon tank.

I have had the 10 gallon tank for just over a year. The 10 gallon contains 1 female platy, and 4 baby platys. Sadly, the father of the 4 babies passed away a few months ago. Soon, I would like to to start experimenting with live plants in this tank. I already have 4 Marimo moss balls in it.

My 5 gallon tank has been cycling for 4 weeks, and contains 4 feeder fish. I plan to get a crayfish for the 5 gallon when I am sure the tank is stable and has safe water for the crayfish to live in.

I am so excited to join this forum, because I love learning more about the vastly interesting hobby of aquarium keeping!

Emmy

 

[Carriwin]

Welcome to AA!

 

[Delapool]

Hi, welcome to the forum

Do you have a water test kit? Tanks can get over-loaded as the bacteria try to catch-up for fish-in cycling, (sometimes you get bacteria you don't want), and a test kit to check the progress of water changes can be useful. Apologies if this is all old information but just in case useful.


http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ou-get-started-with-your-aquarium-154837.html

 

[Emmy_helen]

Thank you!

I have an ammonia test and a ph test, but no nitrate/nitrite test. I plan to get one as soon as I can.

My 5 gallon tank's ammonia is at about .5-1 ppm. I think the ph was about 7.2.

I would be doing a fish less cycle for that 5 gallon tank, but the story of the tank is kind of a fiasco...first, my father found a crayfish on the road, so he put it in water and brought it to me because he thought I might want it for my 10 gallon. I didn't want it in the 10, because I have baby platys in there and the crayfish could possibly catch them. Then, after reading online, I found I shouldn't release the crayfish back into the wild, because 1) the place I release him might not be exactly where my father found him and he could be a danger to the new ecosystem, and 2) he may have caught a disease in the water my dad put him in and the disease would be introduced into the new ecosystem.
I felt so bad for the crayfish (and I felt like I had to keep him for the reasons listed above) so I bought the 5 gallon set up with a submersible filter and some feeder fish for him to eat. I knew the tank should have been cycled, and the lady at the store gave me way to many fish for the 5 gallon (probably 8 fish), so from the beginning I was set up for failure. It went pretty good for the first 3 weeks, and the crayfish caught 4 of the fish by hunting them. Sadly though, one day the crayfish died after about 3 weeks. I felt terrible, and I immediately tested the water and the ammonia was at 1-2 ppm. I have since told my dad, if he finds anymore crayfish, please just let them be.

So, that's the really long story of my 5 gallon, and I would love to get another crayfish on my own terms (not from my dad picking one up) when the water is a better quality.

And please don't apologize for giving me info, I take all the advice I can get! I will do everything I can for my fish to be happy and healthy!

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.