ren Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Hey everyone im ren! im 21 and im studying civil/mining engineering at uni since i was a young lad ive always wanted to try out fish as pets and was never allowed due to the large costs with filters etc etc.. anyway now that im financially independant ive decided to give it a crack ! i've got a 3ft tank that we've had in the garage for years and its now sitting in my room behind me with 4 mollies in it (i let the water settle for 5 days and i got the fish two days ago - theyre still alive and well so all looks good) tank has an eheim cannister filter (i was told top of the range for my size tank), 200watt heater and a fluoroescent light over the top inside its looking pretty basic at the moment (ill try get some pics up soon for some "aquascaping" advice) but it has a few large pebbles on the bottom with some fake plants to hide the filter tubes a bit anyway im very happy with my new found hobby and i cant wait to get some more fish in it soon !! :flex: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Sounds spiffy Ren! Great to have you around have you read up on cycling yet? Mollies tend to be a teensy bit touchy, so just watch over the next few weeks for any signs of white spot :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ren Posted July 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Sounds spiffy Ren! Great to have you around have you read up on cycling yet? Mollies tend to be a teensy bit touchy, so just watch over the next few weeks for any signs of white spot <{POST_SNAPBACK}> hey, no whats cycling?? is that how you have to introduce fish slowly into the tank to let the filter adjust to the bio levels it has to deal with?? guy at the store told me i could add another couple of fish in about a weeks time does that sound about right? and what's whitespot? now you're scaring me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Don't stress I'm pretty sure you are going to be fine, its just that mollies can be touch and go when you use them to start a tank But with such a big tank and taking it slow, you should be fine Pet shop guy is pretty good. Usually they hand you 6 bags of totally unsuitable fish and tell you fooba-woobas about growth rates you seem to have found a good one! I'll find you a good link on cycling, its pretty much the most important thing you can learn about water chemistry when it comes to aquariums, and its not that tricky once you get the hang of it :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figure_8 Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Hi Ren, welcome to AusAqua and the fish hobby! :flex: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Hi Ren! There are links on cycling in the Library. Don't let Abbey scare you! :thumbs: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Hi Ren, to AusAqua! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llam1 Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Hi Ren, Welcome! White spot info can be found in "The Clinic" section of the forum. Basically keep an eye out for white dots that start to appear on your fish. At this time of year with sudden temperature changes it seems to pop up in fish. If treated early it should clear up. It's all a learning process. I'm new too but keep fighting fish. I've already had a few challenges but so far all my fish are alive and healthy so all good Have fun! Laura. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ren Posted July 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Hi Ren, Welcome! White spot info can be found in "The Clinic" section of the forum. Basically keep an eye out for white dots that start to appear on your fish. At this time of year with sudden temperature changes it seems to pop up in fish. If treated early it should clear up. It's all a learning process. I'm new too but keep fighting fish. I've already had a few challenges but so far all my fish are alive and healthy so all good Have fun! Laura. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> hi mouse, lilli, stefan and laura ! i went and had a real good look at the fish and there are no white spots, ill keep a good look out in the days to come i looked at one of the links in the library on cycling - i didnt do any of that adding amonia to the tank stuff.. i just added the salt and water conditioner to the water and let it sit for about 5 days with filter+heater running before adding fish.. is this ok? laura, im also keen on getting some fighting fish - would i be able to keep a pair of these (one m one f) in a community tank with other tropical species ?? i've been told that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt depending on the species you put in there obviously Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJ Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 G'day Ren, welcome aboard. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 you shouldn't keep a pair of bettas together unless they are in a spawning tank. odds are, one will kill the other, thet will almost certainly sustain damage that never repairs 100%, and possibly the shock of the experience will kill the aggressor too. PS - can we call them bettas, not fighting fish? All fish produce ammonia as a waste product, and until the bacterial colonies that convert it are established, they will be living in it. That is sometimes known as "new tank syndrome". Ammonia is poisonous and many people's first fish die during the process (they usually stock a lot more heavily than you have, though). The bizzo in the Library forum with the ammonia is "fishless cycling". What it aims to achieve is the establishment of the bacterial colonies necessary to change ammonia to (eventually) non-toxic nitrAte without your fish having had to live through the ammonia building up to harmful levels, which will happen in every uncycled tank (unless you have 1 neon tetra in a 500L tank, LOL!). The first thing I recommend all new fish owners invest in is an ammonia test kit (forget the pH test kit every LFS tries to sell you). If your fish are in an un-cycled tank (which is normally the case for new fishkeepers) and you test for and detect ammonia, your options include changing a good % of the water and replacing it with aged dechlorinated tap water, or adding ammolock or a similar chemical to render the ammonia non-toxic. The great thing is, you didn't slam the tank with 40 fish, you've started small in terms of numbers, in a good sized tank, and are gradually building up. Hopefully your bacteria colonies will get going without the ammonia reaching bad levels. I would use the ammonia test kit and monitor the ammonia levels, and use that to gauge when it's safe to add new fish (and only add 1 or 2 at a time). HTH. I know the "beneficial bacteria" is a weird concept. When I learned all this, there was no internet and I found it very hard to believe that the person who told me about the bacteria got that right! When I think of all the fish I must have put through cycling, due to simply lack of information ...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debstep Posted July 25, 2006 Report Share Posted July 25, 2006 Hi Ren Welcome to Ausaqua. Sounds like your tank has a lot of potential. If you wanted some bettas in it I would recommend about 3-4 of some of the stunning colour females you can get now, they make a lovely tank to watch. We have our breeder girls in a 3tf tank and people always comment on how pretty they are when they see them. The picture on the left is a shot of some of the girls feeding. Cheers Deb & Step Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ren Posted July 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 hey peter, deb & step, so basically i cant keep a male and female together in a community tank but i can put a couple of females in with the other fish? that sounds okay i guess im not too keen on dividing up my tank to have betta's on one side and other tropicals on the other, i reckon that might not look as good thanks for the tips! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canfeleq Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 Hi Ren, I have kept a male and female betta together in a planted tank but they were an exceptionally quiet pair. I certainly would not recommend it. Take your time and have a good look around here, there is tons of info on fishkeeping and the members are all really friendly and helpful. Don't be afraid to ask questions, even if they seem stupid to you - we have all been beginners ourselves. Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ren Posted July 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 Hi Ren, I have kept a male and female betta together in a planted tank but they were an exceptionally quiet pair. I certainly would not recommend it. Take your time and have a good look around here, there is tons of info on fishkeeping and the members are all really friendly and helpful. Don't be afraid to ask questions, even if they seem stupid to you - we have all been beginners ourselves. Enjoy. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thanks Canfeleq, you might regret saying that - i sense there will be many many questions asked it turns out that my fish are not mollies they are in fact platys !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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