New proud owner

[titchrules]

Hello.

After purchasing a goldfish for my little girl and enjoying spending time watching, cleaning and feeding him, we took the plunge and bought a tank for ourselves.

It's a fishbox 64L with night and day lights.
Delta therm heater
Interpet Pf2 filter
A large piece of bogwood
Natural stone gravel
Anubis plant on a rock
And some long plants to the rear of the tank.
We lovingly set it all up and have today bought our first batch of fishy's!
5 guppies. All different in colour and looking fabulous and happy in their new home.

Because of the bog wood the water has turned a brownish colour but we think it looks much more natural. This is the look we were hoping to achieve.

Pic hopefully attached although the guppies are camera shy!!
Pic also attached of 'finding nemo' the now not so little goldfish that started it all.

[BeavisMom62]

oh boy, titch. Is that a common goldfish or a comet? He'll eventually need a much larger tank if so (or even if its a fancy goldfish). Comets and commons need a very large tank or preferably a pond. Fancy goldfish (fan tails, orandas, ryukins, etc) need at least 10 gal per fish, preferably 20 gal for the first fish and 10 gal for each additional fish. Comets/commons (usually the single tailed goldfish) can get to over a foot long - which is why they need a pond, and fancy's can reach 6-8 inches (or more) and with proper care can live 10-20 years. Plus goldfish are messy, producing lots of waste, so in addition to regular frequent water changes, it is helpful to have a larger body of water. More room for error!

[titchrules]

Can I point out the tank is bigger than it looks. All of a sudden since his friend sadly passed away 'finding nemo' has grown loads in two weeks! Growth spurt for fish?!
He is very happy in his tank. Often swimming after the bubbles from his filter.
He does get messy, but he gets cleaned regularly.
If he is too big for his tank then what kind of fish could go into a child's tank? It does say it can hold two goldfish.
How do you know what size tank is best?

[adadkins1]

Welcome to Aquarium Advice!

It is just one of the common mistakes that are made by people. Even though the tank says it can hold 2 goldfish, that doesn't mean that it should hold them. Like bevismom said, goldfish are very messy, and the likely reason yours had a "growth spurt" when his friend died is because the tank was too small for them. I think a betta would be great for a childs tank. Just have to make sure you filter and heat their water to keep them happy and healthy. Many people, myself inculded, started into the hobby with a beautiful betta and have progressed from there. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!

By the way, your guppy tank is very nice.

[titchrules]

I think it's very wrong that the pet shop told us the tank was ok for two fish, when advice on here clearly states it's not really big enough for one.
Bit disappointed really.
My little girl chose that tank ((probably because it's to do with finding nemo) (also probably why the fish is called finding nemo)) so its a shame to have to change it.
Finding nemo is quite the dominant goldfish though, so is quite suited to being on his own.

I've managed to get a picture, not very clear, of two of the guppies.
Were also curious as there's a lot of conflicting advice but we were looking at getting the guppies, tetras, two silver sharks and two angel fish to begin with. The guppies we already have. However some people say the angel fish will be fine with the tetras and guppies. Other people say they can't be put together.
What are people's thoughts?
Thanks x

[titchrules]

Two out of five guppies

[rich311k]

Welcome to AA!

[BeavisMom62]

Angels can be sort of aggressive. I wouldn't put them with neons and guppies. Also, like the goldfish, angels need a larger tank. I have four and they are in a 60 gal tank. Not sure how big 64l is, but I think its too small.

A VERY general rule is 1" of fish per one gal of water, however this pretty much only applies to the smaller, slimmer fish such as your guppies and neons. Tall, round or bulky fish do not apply as they definitely need more than a gal per inch. Such as you cant keep a 10" oscar in a 10 gal tank for instance.

Unfortunately, pet stores will tell you all sorts of things to get you to buy stuff, or else they really don't know. I was told that I could keep 4 silver sharks in a 15 gal tank, when they need at least 70 gal per fish! And I really wanted those sharks too. Oh, well. You have to either get a tank to suit the fish that you want or get the fish to suit the tank that you have.

[AquaOne]

Titch, save the angels until your next bigger tank (you know you want to !).
2x angels would be okay in a bigger (say 36g) tank. If you get small angels about 1½" high and add them to an established tank with neons & guppies, this is the best chance everything will be okay. Angels first mean they get to 'own' the space and might get aggressive to any new additions.

[titchrules]

Haha. Funny you should say bigger tank. Already have plans for a bigger one next year!

Were starting out small as we know it will be an expensive hobby. We were un sure how we would manage with tropicals. There's a lot of people who told us it was difficult. I have a rule that if something survives for a month plus then it's good! (house plants usually!!)

When should you do the first water change? The guppies have been in the tank for two days now.
Oh gosh I'm looking forward to buying more decorations, more fish and bet il have more than this and the goldfish tank

[BeavisMom62]

Do you have a test kit? Are you tanks cycled/cycling? If the tank is cycled, you should test your water weekly and do partial water changes once a week. But if its not cycled, then you should test your water daily and if you are showing ammonia, nitrite or high nitrates then do partial water changes until you have 0 ammo, 0 nitrite and around 10 nitrates.