Hello from BC, Canada! :)

[Korottie]

Hello! We are new to the forums - Kory & Dottie (Korottie) haha. We just acquired a 33gal tank and put 14 fish in it.



We have
- 2 eels
- 1 iridescent shark
- 2 female platy
- 1 male platy
- 2 male guppies
- 1 Chinese algae eater
- 3 neon tetras
- 2 tetras with bright red eye balls (not 100% on their name?)

We are happy to expand our fishy family once our tank is 100% set up & ready for more. We are looking to get some angel fish & gouramis. And definitely a few more female guppies. We are also very aware we don't have enough vegetation in there - that's coming tomorrow!


IMG_1825 by dwieclawska, on Flickr

[weedkiller]

welcome to ff

[OhYesItsMe]

That tank looks like you just set it up, did you cycle it or anything? I wouldnt go angelfish or 2 reasons, they like tall tanks and when they are adults they will probably try to eat yout smaller fish. Gouramis are a good idea and so are female guppies, i would get some more of the same tetras also.

[BV77]

welcome to the forum.

[weedkiller]

if you get guppies they will breed very fast and in a couple of months you will have 30+ more lol...

[Korottie]

Originally Posted by OhYesItsMe That tank looks like you just set it up, did you cycle it or anything? I wouldnt go angelfish or 2 reasons, they like tall tanks and when they are adults they will probably try to eat yout smaller fish. Gouramis are a good idea and so are female guppies, i would get some more of the same tetras also.

Thanks, yeah it's brand "new-to-us" set up in the last week. We let it cycle for 24-36 hrs before we introduced any fish, but otherwise all the items inside have been pre-used. We also used the "cycle" conditioner that enables bacteria & algae to develop in a brand new tank... hoping that would speed up the process.

We now have an ich problem

Ps. thank you for the advice on the angel fish - we didn't know they would be eating the smaller guys!

[Korottie]

Originally Posted by weedkiller if you get guppies they will breed very fast and in a couple of months you will have 30+ more lol...

Yeah, we've been told that as well. Our main concern is that the guppies and platies seem to be cross breeding already - our platy is pregnant lol

[weedkiller]

Originally Posted by Korottie Thanks, yeah it's brand "new-to-us" set up in the last week. We let it cycle for 24-36 hrs before we introduced any fish, but otherwise all the items inside have been pre-used. We also used the "cycle" conditioner that enables bacteria & algae to develop in a brand new tank... hoping that would speed up the process. We now have an ich problem Ps. thank you for the advice on the angel fish - we didn't know they would be eating the smaller guys!

im not one to cycle a tank with fish, would rather the fishless cycle, takes longer but the results are far better, as for the ich.. maybe it was carried over from the used items you mentioned or maybe it is the way they was introduced into a new tank, crank the heat up gradually to 85 and add some salt gradually too, google treating ich and it will give you a better idea, at least try the heat method before you resort to meds

[C. King]

I have had angels with neon tetras, (and a guppy), no problems. They will eat any platy fry, however. And a 33gal tank is plenty big enough for an angel, even a pair. The problem might be that angels and platies have very different water parameter needs-platies prefer a slightly higher Ph, while angels and tetras like a lower Ph, so somebody will be unhappy. What is the Ph of your tank? Also, your tank did not cycle in 36 hours. There are some good articles on this site about cycling that will help alot-try looking in the "begining freshwater" forum, I will look up the title and get it to you. It is best to add only two or three fish at a time after the tank has fully cycled, then wait a week between additions, so I would not add any more for a while. This gives the good bacteria time to catch up with the additional waste. Watch the Chinese Alge eater; he will seem quite peaceful at first, but as he gets older, he will become very aggressive, attacking the other fish at night while they sleep,and ripping the scales off their sides. (I know that is hard to believe because they look so harmless, but I have experienced this, and so have several other forum members).

[Korottie]

Originally Posted by C. King I have had angels with neon tetras, (and a guppy), no problems. They will eat any platy fry, however. And a 33gal tank is plenty big enough for an angel, even a pair. The problem might be that angels and platies have very different water parameter needs-platies prefer a slightly higher Ph, while angels and tetras like a lower Ph, so somebody will be unhappy. What is the Ph of your tank? Also, your tank did not cycle in 36 hours. There are some good articles on this site about cycling that will help alot-try looking in the "begining freshwater" forum, I will look up the title and get it to you. It is best to add only two or three fish at a time after the tank has fully cycled, then wait a week between additions, so I would not add any more for a while. This gives the good bacteria time to catch up with the additional waste. Watch the Chinese Alge eater; he will seem quite peaceful at first, but as he gets older, he will become very aggressive, attacking the other fish at night while they sleep,and ripping the scales off their sides. (I know that is hard to believe because they look so harmless, but I have experienced this, and so have several other forum members).

Wow, thanks for all the great info! Yeah, we "cycled" without fish in it, but totally understand that it wasn't 100%. We were just so excited to get fish. I'll read the info you mentioned - I've only skimmed through some of the articles on this site so far. So much great info, but I keep getting lost in all of the photos lol.

Our pH was 7.2 first day, then dropped to 7.0 the 2nd day. Today it is 7.4 which seems too close to the "off" base. We have, however, used some ick medication 48hrs ago.. maybe that's affecting it?

We don't want to add any fish until we have everything under control - for sure.

Do you guys think that changing out some of the water is a good idea at this point?

[Korottie]

Originally Posted by weedkiller im not one to cycle a tank with fish, would rather the fishless cycle, takes longer but the results are far better, as for the ich.. maybe it was carried over from the used items you mentioned or maybe it is the way they was introduced into a new tank, crank the heat up gradually to 85 and add some salt gradually too, google treating ich and it will give you a better idea, at least try the heat method before you resort to meds

Thanks! We had some medication that came with the stuff, so we tried it but it has been 48hrs and it was a fruitless experience. We have been reading about heat/salt remedies but it seemed like the medication was just much faster in effectiveness. Our shark seems so weak, we wanted to help him as fast as possible

[C. King]

Some meds can alter the Ph, if they kill off the good bacteria in the filter, depends on the meds. The label often says if it is not harmful to the filter bacteria. Regular water changes, at least once a week or more, are a good idea while the Ph is bouncing. However, nitrate & nitrite readings are the best indicators of the cycling process. Nitrites are killers- even brief exposure will burn the fish gills and cause slow death or weakness for life. Bacteria changes them into nitrates, which are not as toxic. A healthy tank will have zero nitrites, and 40 ppm or less nitrates. For now, do not change the filter during water changes-thats where the bacteria colony is growing. If you have a filter with ceramic "bio balls" and a sponge, you can rinse the sponge but leave the rest alone. I really like the bio balls, which are just porous ceramic pellets in a nylon bag. When I clean the filter, I swish them around in a cup of tankwater to get any muck off (never tap water, which has chlorine and kills bacteria) and return them to the cleaned filter, so the tank never goes through a "mini cycle". Ph stays steady, fish stay healthy!