New here and to aquariums

Why do I always feel like I'm joining AA when introducing myself

My name is Mike and I live in the small village of Lannon, ~ 5 miles west of Milwaukee. I have 5 daughters. 3 of them previously had the Bettas in the cutesy little caryying case aquariums, but my 3 y/o twins were taking them out to quickly. My 7 y/o lost hers and replaced with 3 danios- a white, a gold, and a zebra. Lost the white one after 2 weeks.

They pooled together their Christmas Lists and received a 29g tank.
Seeings I have my own well, I did not have to worry about chlorine. But I did learn the nitrogen cycle quickly. My initial stocking was a cory cat a male neon swordtail, a dalmation molly, a silver molly, a micky mouse platy, a male lyertail(sp?) sailfin molly, and the 2 remaining danios (unkown f/m). I lost 2 within 48 hrs- the swordtail and silver molly. I replaced the swordtail immediately, and held off on the molly until next stocking. I did what I could to try and reduce the effects by lowering the temp from 78 to 74 and dumping in the gravel from the old betta tanks which was still moist. The rest have survived.
After 2 weeks, we added some more. A pair each of m/f fancytail guppies, 3 scum suckers (I think they are oto plecos), a black tetra, a pair of neon tetras, and the replacement silver molly.

Yep, I have some issues. Gold danio was downright nippy. He has been removed. Zebra seems fine. Noticed last night that some of my females were pregnant- 2 noticed 'additions' of unknown type are now known as speck and spot

I look forward to learning from the knowledge here, and contributing what I can which ain't much now. I am always open for suggestions.

[awesome kid]

hey Mike, welcome to the forums

[Lexus]

Welcome to Fish Forums!

Danios should be kept in schools of 6+ that is probably why the one got nippy.
As far as scum suckers, there are otos and they are plecos but are not the same thing. Do you know what they look like?

Enjoy your stay

I'll snap some pix tonight. From the reading I have been doing I was leaning that way regarding the danio --edited portion--

[fishfreaks]

Welcome to fish forums, you've come to the right place!

Here are the scum suckers


Something that bothers the kids is the behavior of the black tetra and the neons- they are always hiding in the castle when there is light (ambient or tank). I am planning on increasing the neon count, any ideas on the tetra

No signs of 'Speck' & 'Spot' this am, someone had a good night

[Lexus]

Yup those are otos! They are really neat but be careful as they are sensitive to water conditions. Make sure you feed them a supplement of algae wafers.

The neons and the black skirts need to be in a school of 6+ each. Careful though as the black skirts are very nippy and may ruin the guppies' tails.

The mollies, platies and guppies should be kept 3 females per 1 male. If you dont want babies go with all males.

Right now I would hold off on any more fish since you had a few keel over you may not be fully through your cycle.

Then I would probably choose which way you want to go livebearers or do both.

[Fishfirst]

welcome kidsnfish