It is a young tank.
We set the tank up on Christmas (12/25) and added two Black Skirt Tetras three days later (12/28). Ryan added two crabs a day after that and one promptly died. It was mostly dead when he brought it home from the store and two legs fell off when he unbagged the pair.
On Sunday (12/6), I added one more Black Skirt, a Cory and three Silver Mollies. One of the Mollies had a litter that night and was dead on Monday morning. I replaced it with a Silver Molly who was dead the next morning.
We will see how long the last Molly lives. I was given bad advice at the store when I purchased the first set of Mollies.
I am anal about water testing. My water, on the day I got the mollies, had good nitrate levels, good nitrite levels, and very low ammonia levels. But my water is off the scales hard and is also high alkaline.
I was sold the mollies with the understanding that they were not pregnant (as they were in what was supposed to be an all female tank), they'd do okay with the water that we have, and they are a very hardy fish. I made the mistake of doing the research after the first molly died.
The Molly is a tropical fish that prefers hard, salty water. They need a 25% water change twice a week. They should only be kept with others of the same species. This fish is such a prolific breeder. They like the water at 80 degrees. (I keep Tayja's tank at 78.)
The Black Skirts, on the other hand, are not very demanding as far as water quality goes. They like their water anywhere from 70 to 80 degrees. They are a generally peaceful little tetra that needs to be in a school of 3 or more. That is why I added a third Tetra.
Both the cory and the Black Skirts would be okay with added salt and the Mollies, a brackish fish, *have* to have it. Once my tank finishes cycling I'll add a bit of salt.
My tank is still working it's way through the Nitrogen Cycle.
Nitrifying bacteria develops in the filter bed. (This is the good bacteria.) During it’s development, this nitrifying bacteria transforms ammonia into another form of nitrogen called nitrite.
Ammonia, caused by decaying food and fish waste, is toxic to fish. Though nitrite is less toxic than ammonia, it is still somewhat toxic to fish because it binds with blood cells, which prevents the normal uptake of dissolved oxygen.
I test the water every other day or so. I did a 25% water change on Wednesday and will do so once a week. I also plan to add a second filter. I am torn about adding a back up heater. The total cost of replacing the livestock at this point would be about $10.
I plan to add 3 Angelfish, a second Corydoras Catfish (as they like to be in at least pairs), and 2 Dwarf Gourami. I'll be adding the Angelfish last, once the tank settles down as they are not even as hardy as those damn mollies. I am guessing that will be in about 8 months. The Angelfish do well with a bit of salt added but do not require it.
Tayja's tank is 20 gallons so we can have 20 inches of adult fish. I think that will cover it.
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5 comments:
heavens woman! Do you ALWAYS research things this throughly? And you do you have a water softener for the house yet?
Well, yes I tend to do a lot of research before I jump into a new project.
I read scientific literature on teaching reading for months before I started teaching Tayja to read. (And I think it paid off!)
So before I decided on which tank, I pick the Black Skirt Tetra's as the fish to cycle the tank because they are very hard to kill.
Yes, we have a water softener. It seems to only do so much. And we have a filtering system for the drinking water.
When I did the water change, I used 5-gallons of distilled water and will use that for the next several months. I hope to bring the ph and hardness down without adding chemicals.
well no wonder the kid is doing so well.
you are amazing Robin.
Robin, I hope you won't be offended if I offer some suggestions. You're on top of the water quality situation and that's fantastic. You also got a big enough tank that you have a little bit of slack with the water quality, which is also good.
The fish themselves, however, would be happier and healthier if you arranged them a bit differently. The corydoras catfish really want to be in groups of 4-5. That's considered a minimum for a school; smaller groups or lone individuals get stressed and get sick more easily, or can become aggressive, thus increasing the stress on the other fish. Ditto for your black skirt tetras, which are also a schooling fish.
So although it's more fun to keep many different types of fish, I would personally choose only 2-3 different kinds so they can all have a reasonably natural social group to hang out with. There are several different kinds of cories that are commonly available, and they will all school together, so that's one way you can cheat a little. (Cories are a particular favorite of mine-- I always think they look like little hand puppets. *g*)
Also, freshwater angelfish get big-- mine that died a year ago was the size of my hand. She was in a 20 gallon with a bunch of cories and that was about it for that tank. As a secondary consideration, if you got one mixed-sex pair in your three, they would establish and defend a breeding territory, which in a 20 gallon tank means the third fish will be harassed and probably killed. Cichlids are very smart for fish and have a surprising amount of personality. I think Tayja would really enjoy one, but one is about it for a 20 gallon aquarium, IF there aren't too many other fish in there (I'd say max 5-6).
Last but not least-- if you possibly have the space, I would highly recommend a quarantine tank. This can be a 5-gallon tank if you want (and if you do partial water changes often). It's a great help to dump new fish in there and watch them for a week or two. The stress of being moved from the store tank is often what sets off a new fish getting sick, so it's best if it does that away from your healthy at-home fish.
There's a really good beginner fish faq out there that I can confidently recommend. It helped me through my first few tanks and I was so grateful!
Thanks, LB. I have the time to rethink my plan.
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