Hello from South Australia!

K

Kateo_007

New Fish
#1
Aug 7, 2012
8
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#1
Hi everyone.

I've just been given a 90L tank from my work so I can 'learn more about fishkeeping' as I work in the office of a large national pet shop. I currently don't have any fish in it as it's cycling but hopefully within the next week or so I will (fingers crossed)! I do have a male betta as well in a smaller tank who is a bit sick at the moment, so hoping he will pull through.

I am VERY new to fish keeping and my betta is the first fish I have ever had (at age 27) and I got him around 3-4 months ago.

I am very keen to learn from all the experienced fishkeepers out there and look forward to chatting with some of you soon!

Kate :)
 

CAPSLOCK

CAPSLOCK

Elite Fish
#2
Jul 19, 2004
3,682
33
48
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Cape Cod
#2
Hello!

Kudos for cycling without fish in the tank.

Hopefully, since it seems like you are reading stuff and doing this right, you'll be able to have one of those well thought out, enviable tanks :)
 

K

Kateo_007

New Fish
#5
Aug 7, 2012
8
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#5
Hi all, and thanks for the warm welcome!

I have been feeding the tank last week to get the ammonia up and now that it has I've now stopped doing so. I've had my tank running for just over 2 weeks now with no fish in it (driving me crazy - I just want to get some!), but tomorrow looks as though it might be the day that I can bring some babies home! :D :D I am still VERY new to all of this and am so fortunate that there are so many great staff members at my work that have helped me sooo much in setting up this tank.

I have been suggested Balloon Mollies as a first fish as they are quite hardy, does anyone disagree? I wanted to eventually have a fighter, guppies and maybe neon tetras in the same tank. What do you think?

Also, on another note my fighter fish passed away overnight :( Very sad as I wanted to transfer him to a bigger, warmer tank.
 

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Thyra

Superstar Fish
#6
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
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Yelm, WA
#6
I have never had any balloon mollies, but from what I have read they are man-made fish bred to get that deformity. They do not occur naturally in nature that way. I don't know if that makes them any less hardy or not, but usually creatures that are bred like that are not as hardy as those without man-made deformities.
 

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OrangeCones

Elite Fish
#7
Feb 27, 2009
4,395
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#7
Kateo_007 said:
I have been feeding the tank last week to get the ammonia up and now that it has I've now stopped doing so. I've had my tank running for just over 2 weeks now with no fish in it
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Have you tested the tank's water for nitrite and nitrate, in addition to ammonia? If you stop feeding the bacteria that is consuming the ammonia, your entire biological cycle will die off. You need to keep feeding the tank a source of ammonia (fish waste, fish food that will decay, a dead prawn that will decay) until your readings show 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and some measureable level of nitrate.

Kateo_007 said:
I have been suggested Balloon Mollies as a first fish as they are quite hardy, does anyone disagree?
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I would disagree that 'Balloon Mollies' are hardy. They have been bred from normal mollies to have a curved spine. This deformation is a common cause of constipation, as food can easily get 'stuck' in the digestive track due to the abnormal shape. Although not a scientific study, my cousin's children have a 20gallon aquarium with mollies. They started out with 12 (6 regular and 6 balloon type). Two years later, they have the original al 6 normal mollies, a dozen or so fry that have survived, and zero balloon mollies. The balloons died about 6-8 months into the set-up.

Kateo_007 said:
Also, on another note my fighter fish passed away overnight :( Very sad as I wanted to transfer him to a bigger, warmer tank.
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Sorry to hear of your loss. Any idea what the cause was?
 

K

Kateo_007

New Fish
#8
Aug 7, 2012
8
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0
#8
Thanks yeah I ended up not getting the balloon mollies this afternoon as I have really wanted guppies for a while now so stuck with 3 of them for now! They are so pretty (even if they are boys) :) As I haven't had a tank before I'm not really sure how often to feed them and whether the Spectrum little pellets are ok for them either. I gave them one just then and only one ate it, looked like he was splaying soccer with it as it was so big compared to his mouth!

I decided not to get the balloon mollies as I read a bit about their deformation and the trouble it can sometimes cause. They do look pretty cool though.

Not sure what the cause was of my fighter, I thought it was a fungal disease as he had a cottony white substance near his gills, gave him Pimafix and it disappeared the day after but I think it was eating away at his gills and then the next day he was on the bottom of the tank. Guy at work reckons it was a bacteria disease or the like.. not sure?
 

K

Kateo_007

New Fish
#10
Aug 7, 2012
8
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#10
I have been getting my water tested at work as it's free until I purchase a test kit myself.. had it tested today and all it fine! pH was 7.6 from what I can remember, no nitrate and ammonia was ok too. Bought 3 mollies today as well. Any advice on how to stop a guppy following other guppies around and annoying them constantly?

Hope you all have a great weekend :)
 

Sky Diamond

Sky Diamond

Medium Fish
#13
Sep 30, 2012
76
0
0
Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
#13
Welcome to the forum. ^_^ I'm from NSW so it's nice meeting an aussie!

Not sure what the cause was of my fighter, I thought it was a fungal disease as he had a cottony white substance near his gills, gave him Pimafix and it disappeared the day after but I think it was eating away at his gills and then the next day he was on the bottom of the tank. Guy at work reckons it was a bacteria disease or the like.. not sure?
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There is a bacteria that looks like fungus, I've had it with my guppies a few times now and the only cure to it is either Tri-solfa or Aqari Cycline. I'd keep both those meds on hand just in case. I was given the number to, Aquarium Industries, or better known as 'We Care' a few years ago by a friend who worked at a pet shop, that's what they told me to use as I was treating the tank with fungus treatment and it wasn't working. They're the experts at fish I've found. I've found keeping Coolie Loaches in the tank to be handy to detect bacteria in the tank as they easily die from it. I know, probably cruel in many people's eyes, but I found they had that use as well as keeping my tank cleaner with eating any food that was missed.

Also, with the Guppies following each other around or picking on one and other, you probably don't want them, but I've found females are the best way to fix that problem - they're a very randy little fish and that is always looking to 'play' around. I had the same issue with two of my males after the rest had died.
 

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OrangeCones

Elite Fish
#15
Feb 27, 2009
4,395
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#15
Sky Diamond said:
I've found keeping Coolie Loaches in the tank to be handy to detect bacteria in the tank as they easily die from it. I know, probably cruel in many people's eyes, but I found they had that use as well as keeping my tank cleaner with eating any food that was missed.
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Keeping any living thing in a tank as your 'early warning system' to poor water quality is a horrid way to do things. Water changes, gravel vacuums, not overstocking, not overfeeding, and testing the water are far better ways to keep an aquarium healthy.

And its not the 'bacteria' in the tank your 'Coolie Loaches' are dying from, but ammonia and nitrite poisoning. Also, being a scaleless fish, they are more prone to problems with bad reactions to the medications you 'keep on hand' to treat problems.

The last time I had to use a medication on an aquarium was when I 'adopted' a fish that had a severe case of ich years ago. In two weeks in a quarantine tank, he was cured and lived 8 or 9 years with me until I moved and sold the aquarium to my dentist's office as a display.
 

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T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#16
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
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Yelm, WA
#16
Since I have been on this forum I have heard a whole list of fish that are sensitive and a whole list of ones that are hardy. I believe them and I think in their experience it was true, but my experiences have been different - like mollies are the wimps and neon tetras and otos are the toughies and that doesn't make them true for other people. In spite of my lack of knowledge, my first betta survived a couple of camping trips, until I learned how to really take care of them, so I think they are pretty tough.

Seems to me that stress is the ultimate killer because it lowers their resistance to other problems in their environment. And as far as I know there is no medicine that will cure stress. And OC is very right on how to keep your tank healthy.
 

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