New to the hobby

Hello, I'm Michael and I just joined this forum yesterday. Upon Yeti's request, I am starting a thread about my tank.

My son recently watched Finding Nemo and has a new interest in fish (can't go to daycare, Jalapeno Tree, doctor's office, etc without stopping to look at the fish), and I decided to use my wife's old 16g bowfront (22l, 8-9.5w, 18d) to get into the hobby and provide my son with an enjoyable pet to observe.

I currently have it set up with 3 platys (sunburst mm, red, red wag) and a dalmatian molly. I put them in on Wednesday after setting up my tank with a light gravel substrate, a couple packages of fake plants, a shipwreck decoration for hiding, a 100w heater, and an Aquaclear 30. I used stress coat to dechlorinate and safestart to get the bio filter started.

I am still trying to decide on other fish to add to the tank, preferably a colorful variety like neon tetras, though I think it would nice to have ones that aren't so small because the tank already looks so large compared to the fish in there. I also intend to add a mystery snail and a pair of ghost shrimp.

Eventually, I want to switch to live plants and some sort of rock/driftwood decorations, though I don't know what fw species I should keep after I get some practice in keeping fish. After a while, I'd like to upgrade to a larger tank and try sw, though the expense sounds like it's much higher and the maintenance is more, but I'm still new to the hobby so I don't know how much work the maintenance will be until I do several water changes and cleanings. Honestly, being a reefer seems so far beyond my abilities that I cannot consider that now. A few friends of mine in Houston have amazing reef tanks, but they've been doing this for a long time.

I don't know if I left anything off, but I appreciate any comments. I'll try to get a picture up here today.

Neon teras are in my experience... like the first thing to die if your tank isn't just right.. so maybe hold off on those for a bit and let that tank get established... been there done that killed em a dozen at a time... jmo

Btw, welcome to the forum

Also.. if you like the look of neon tetras but want a lil bigger version... check out the cardinal tetra... the look like a neon with a full red stripe instead of a half stripe and they are a a lil bigger

Michael it sounds like a nice set up. The Aquaclear was an excellent choice of filter, I find them very good for FW tanks (in my opinion they are the most effective HOB filter).
When you come to clean out the filter it's recommended that you use the water change water to clean the sponge and ceramic tubes. I've never been able to clean the sponge out with my water change water, the Aquaclear sponge holds so much muck that I've always ended up having to soak/squeeze/soak/squeeze under a running tap, but the ceramic tube I always rinse only in the water taken from the tank. That way the chlorinated tap water doesn't kill the bacteria that's developed.

With any new set up, it's best to wait a while and let the tank get cycling, before adding more fish. Even then, adding only 2 or 3 at a time would help to not add too much of an additional sudden bio-load to your system. That, and not over feeding.

With the Molly's, you have selected "live bearers" which can add an additional aspect to your tank ... babies! I've known folks that have soon found their tanks becoming naturally populated. Guppies and Swordtails also are livebearers.
Neons are colourful, and peaceful. They look great in a shoal, and the tank would take 5-6 of them. Other Tetra's are colourful, but many of the Tetra's can also be inclined to nipping fins. Cardinal tetra's are sometimes available, these are the "big brother", effectively to the Neon, but I've found them far harder to keep alive.

Oh, and yes the addiction does often beget the need for a larger tank.

Welcome to the forums! My story started out very similar to yours. The difference in mine was that every time I went to the fish store I stared at the marine fish forever! That was only about two years ago. I read tons of articles and forums about saltwater for six months and then went for it.

Your tank sounds great! Thanks for joining ETAK!

Get a few corydoras! I have 3 peppered cory cats and they are aborable and awesome to watch my autistic 7 year old brother loves themthey do better in groups of six sense they like to mob up and forage around the bottom of the tank and they are labroth breathers so every now and then they will dart to the surface and back. They have all sorts of spots from albino to peppered, skunks, pandas,and leopards and they verry in size though (you can have more pandas or pygmies vs. Albinos and peppers) so again do your reaserch!
Ps corys are supose to be nocturnal but mine are active durring the day. And for stocking AqAdvisor is a great referance to how many fish do good in your tank and what fish getalong with each other
p.s they go crazy for wardly's sinking shrimp pellets t

Yes, aqadvisor is nice, though my tank dimensions do not fit the presets.

I think some corys would be nice, but I fear my substrate is too course for them.

Thanks for the welcome all!

SciOps wrote:I think some corys would be nice, but I fear my substrate is too course for them.

I have 2 Emerald Cory, 2 Lace Cory, and 2 Peppered Cory, and 2 Albino Cory that you may pick 2 from when you get ready to add one or two. You may have them for free for the promise of giving them a good home. I live in Kilgore but go to LV and Tyler quite often.

Let me know if and when you might want them.

Cichlid Lover

Cichlid Lover wrote:

SciOps wrote:I think some corys would be nice, but I fear my substrate is too course for them.

I have 2 Emerald Cory, 2 Lace Cory, and 2 Peppered Cory, and 2 Albino Cory that you may pick 2 from when you get ready to add one or two. You may have them for free for the promise of giving them a good home. I live in Kilgore but go to LV and Tyler quite often.

Let me know if and when you might want them.

Cichlid Lover

whats a lace cory? I have never seen one of those!
And i have ruff gravel in mine it dosnt bother them and they seem quite happy but i really want to upgrade to sand soon.

I'm so pumped to see several freshwater folks on the forum! :-)

I was planning on cory cats for my freshwater tank back in the day. Great addition!

Spazzfish wrote:
whats a lace cory? I have never seen one of those!

spazzfish,

A lace cory looks kind-of like a peppered cory.

Here's the setup today. Remember I just set it up this week.

Sweet! :-)

Your son lovin' it?

"Fish! Fish! Fish! Fish! Fish!"

Yes!

Nice set-up, using the backing really seems to work on adding depth to the tank.

I read that female bettas are a peaceful fish. I have a community of peaceful fish and I really want some nice color, which bettas can provide. Aqadvisor says it's not advised. Any one of you tried it? Unless I hear that it can work, I'm not going to risk it.

Male bettas are a peaceful fish as well (except with other male bettas) but those long fins are quite attractive to any "nippy" fish you may have. Keep in mind that bettas are very good at finding and eating fry so be prepared for any questions your son may have.

Yes it is good to see some freshwater members. Kinda wish I still had my cichlid tank.

That's easy to resolve Tony, I'll swap my Mbuna tank for that messy 90G you have with the corals scattered everywhere, and fish all mixed up.... I'm doing you a favour you know....;-)

SciOps wrote:I read that female bettas are a peaceful fish. I have a community of peaceful fish and I really want some nice color, which bettas can provide. Aqadvisor says it's not advised. Any one of you tried it? Unless I hear that it can work, I'm not going to risk it.

I have not tried it personaly but i have been doing alot of reserch and talking to people on other forums. The trick is many bettas, hidy holes, and other fish. Bettas need to form a hirearchy i would have at LEAST 4 female betta with three the two dominant females will gang up on the one submissive one. There will be alot of fin nipping at first, this is normal once a hirearchy is established this will subside a bit but do not be suprised at the ocational ripped fin. However if there is one that is overly agressive then remove it. It is important to try to pic a young female since they are not near as grouchy as older females.
When a dominate female chases a submissive one it will either result in one of three things 1. Worst case possible, the female catches her tank mate and tears her up. 2. The chased female dissapears into a hidyhole. 3 the agressor gets distracted by another betta or fish and forgets the other.
The rasboras and mollies in your tank will only serve as distractors best of luck (sorry that post was huge
as for you

I would like some help with water testing. I got the API saltwater testing kit (no freshwater kit found anywhere that I looked), and have been testing my water and am confused by a particular reading. Let me start at the beginning.

I set up my tank with tap water and api stress coat to dechlorinate. I let it sit for about 30 hours and then added tetra safestart. 20 hours later I tested water and got .25ppm ammonia, 0 nitrite, ~5ppm nitrate so we put in 4 fish.

Next day tested the water, .25ppm ammonia, 0 nitrite, ~5ppm nitrate.
2 days later, tested the water .25ppm ammonia, 0 nitrite, between 5 and 10 ppm nitrate and did a 20% water change.
4 days later (today), I tested the water .25ppm ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10 ppm nitrate

I know ammonia is a waste product released by fish and decaying food which is toxic to fish. I know nitrite is the released compound after the first set of bacteria digest the ammonia and is toxic to fish. I know nitrate is the released compound after the second set of bacteria digest the nitrite and is less toxic to fish.

I have read all over the place that both ammonia and nitrite readings should be 0, but the increasing nitrate readings tell me 1) my tests work, 2) the cycle is working.

My question to you guys is: Should I be concerned about a .25ppm ammonia reading? Is it possibly related to the fact that it's a fw tank I'm using a SW test kit on? Fish were skittish at first, but are having a blast in there now, so I don't see any harm occurring, but I don't have an experienced eye for this either. Thanks for any help you can provide.

I'm thinking that as the tank is still only about a week old, that this is still part of the cycle. The ammonia is being produced, and the bacteria to change it to Nitrite are working, but still developing, the Bacteria for Nitrate are then working at the Nitrite.

To test this, don't feed your fish for a day (this won't hurt them, infact I will often feed alternate days). Also perhaps check how much you are feeding. The general rule is to feed only what they eat in a couple of minutes, the other way to gauge is how much food they eat in the feeding frenzy, and the rest is excess.
You can also consider feeding a much smaller amount, but twice a day. This will help prevent the excess from floating to the bottom to decompose.
Now I have tried this with my Cichlids, and it didn't work, the more dominant get to feed twice a day, and the more docile were going hungry.

Finally keep an eye on the fish activity, alertness and colour. If they are getting sick and under stress they will loose some colour and start to look pale, swimming close to the top is another sign of an unhappy fish.
Hope this helps to give you some ideas.

I fed the fish twice a day at first, thinking that food might help them get comfortable in their new environment, and I have been feeding only once a day for the past 3 days and will continue to do that. I also read about feeding only what they eat in 2-3 minutes and have been trying to limit the food to that.

The tip about swimming close to the top is new though. The molly (clearly the leader of the group btw) spent the first 2 days at the top while the platys cowered in a corner behind some plants. Now, they're all over the tank, behaving like they do when you watch fish at a store.

I figured the safestart would provide the bacteria necessary to jump start the cycle, since I understand the cycle to be "complete" when there are enough of each kind of bacteria in the system to convert those chemicals quickly into their byproducts.

My tank is currently well understocked I know, and yes I do want to add to it, but I don't intend to add anything to the tank until I can do another half dozen tests and figure out the baseline for the readings in a tank that has a properly handled bio-load.

On a different topic, I mentioned my friend in Houston who has a reef tank and I thought I'd share some of his pictures. Once again, not my tank (though it's frickin epic)

June Pic

March Pic