Hey everyone, I recently filled up my old 30 gallon tank... had it empty for a couple months after my nice little Oscar and algae eater passed on... I left the old gravel in as well as the little castle and fake plastic reef. I tested the PH, Ammonia, and Nitrites after filling the tank up and letting the filter run for 7 days and all the levels seemed to be normal to their test sheets. I got 2 of these little orange fish as well as 2 of these silver dollar fish (wish i remembered the names!). The guy at the store said the ammonia will go up and I should do about a 5 gallon water swap which I did tonight, I will check the levels in a bit. Just wondering if there was a good fish resource site so I can look up what I have... thanks!
Refilled my tank.. got 4 little fisheys
- Thread starter iceyfish
- Start date
There are lots of good profiles on this site. I'm guessing the orange fish might be platys. Check out some pics and see if it's a match. I think the silver dollar fish are probably...silver dollars. Haha. Not making fun of you, it's just funny that you probably did get the name right. You should also read up on cycling a tank, there is some good info on MissFishy's page, it will help a lot. Welcome to the tank.
Thanks, the orange ones have stripes. I went with the smallest sizes for the fishes because they were the cheapest and unfortunately sometimes they don't always make it. I used to be huge on cichlids but I am just not interested in the cleaning they required all the time. One of the orange ones is actually hiding in the castle and I'm afraid he may be struggling 
Orangey Clown Loach... http://www.petco.com/Assets/product_images/1/1053124B.jpg
The man at the store said these fish should be easy to take care of, wish is what I'm really hoping!
Silver Zebra fish
http://www.freshwaterangelfish.com/product_images/catalog19799/SILVZ.jpg
The man at the store said these fish should be easy to take care of, wish is what I'm really hoping!
Silver Zebra fish
http://www.freshwaterangelfish.com/product_images/catalog19799/SILVZ.jpg
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Those are angel fish and clown loaches. Angels are actually a type of cichlid. Clowns are actually pretty picky with water conditions and aren't recommended for new tanks. Since you let your tank sit around, all of your good bacteria will have to regrow which means your tank is starting at square one all over again. You will need to do many more water changes than 5 gallons to keep these fish alive. Take a peek at the stickies or the link below in my signature if you're rusty on how to cycle a tank.
umm I believe the "silver dollar" fish are black skirt tetra (not 100%) but their not angelfish like the earlier picture you posted. Just to be sure I'd go to Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums and check out the freshwater fish. but it looks like you have Black Skirts (judging from the black stripe). Silver Dollar are very different from tetra but I'd also finish out the tetra school if they are tetra.
Ahh it does look like the Black Skirt Tetra, thanks. Just checked my levels, Ammonia seems to be about the same, about 0 to .2sh. pH is roughly 8.0 to 8.2sh. I purchased some Turbo Start 700 Freshwater Conditioner to help quicken the tank cycle and correct Nitrites/Ammonia levels... it doesn't say if it's safe to add with the fish in though?
The first picture you posted was definitely an angel fish, the second batch though you show black skirt tetras? Do you have an angel fish or not?
One thing I noticed about your tank is that it doesn't provide much cover for your fish. You really need some taller plants in there to make them more comfortable. The clown loaches really aren't beginner fish and shouldn't be in uncycled tanks at all, you need to be doing regular water changes to keep the levels safe for them, daily if necessary. Otherwise I would recommend returning them until you are ready to keep them.
One thing I noticed about your tank is that it doesn't provide much cover for your fish. You really need some taller plants in there to make them more comfortable. The clown loaches really aren't beginner fish and shouldn't be in uncycled tanks at all, you need to be doing regular water changes to keep the levels safe for them, daily if necessary. Otherwise I would recommend returning them until you are ready to keep them.
I think this tank is a 30 gallon, I could be wrong it could be a 40 I honestly forget. The guy at the store recommended what I got for now and said I could add more after a week or so as long as I keep changing the water and such. I've got the TurboStart 700 which I haven't used yet, and also I found this old bottle of Sodium Biphosphate which is supposed to Reduce pH in small doses. Fish still seem great, I will probably to the 20-30% water change early tomorrow. The Clown Loaches are pretty awesome, I dropped in a TetraMin Tropical Tablet for them which says is good for Loaches (bottom feeders). I'd love to get two more of the silver ones (which I believe have been confirmed Black Tetras).