Hi, im new to the forum. I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to keeping successful fish tanks of my own. I remember that my grandparents and I have had swordtails and guppies (not to mention angels) in a ten gal tank when i was around 7 years old. Obviously didnt learn much from then haha.
The best i have ever done with a tank of my own was keeping a beta alive for 2 years in a 1 gal bowl (i know pathetic) Unfortunately i went through about 5 betas before i realized that i really did not know what the hell i was doing.
Now I understand that fish sometimes die of unexplained causes, even in the hands of experienced fish owners who regularly monitor the aquarium's pH, KH, GH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Copper, etc...etc...and various other levels. But having learned about all this useful information from sifting various articles on forums, freshwater tank guides, (and other resources) I feel the need to go back to what i have grown up with, and attempt this tank-keeping hobby once again, this time taking it seriously.
It has been about 8 years since i had my last personal tank (not counting the family goldfish tank, which will be the topic of this thread). speaking of this GF tank, my family has owned this 40 Gal tank for more than 10 years. Until I moved in (at around age 10) the tank only had goldfish. this tank has been a real disaster because we must have gone through at least 90 different goldfish since then. The things die almost one for every month that passes by it seems. Finally we decided enough fish slaughter is enough, we clearly did not take this tank seriously because the goldfish genocide is proof of our negligence.
Curiously enough we've had a Spotted Raphael Cat in that 40 Gal for 8 years now with no problems, and a young pleco for 2 years. not all hope is lost it seems because apparently there are fish that can survive this mess of an aquarium. (to be honest we did lose another Pleco and a Striped Raphael Cat about 5 years ago, but that again is because we failed to legitimately adress the concern.)
But enough with the depressing matters. I plan to turn this 40 Gal around, and keep it going on the right track. The ultimate plan, is to keep the Pleco and the Raphael in the tank, and add 3 Female Swordtails and 1 male of some variety (undecided/ leaning toward either green or blood red) along with live plants such as Hornwort/ or Cabomba, some Anacharis, hopefully with a sucessful carpet of java moss.
I've bought, what seems an adequate amount of freshwater testing materials. Right now i have liquid tests (not strips) for : pH, KH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and Copper. If you guys think i should get something else as well, i am always looking for tips
Currently, since i have tested the water with all of the above tests, and have found unnessesary levels of ammonia, nitrite, and an abnormally low KH (gonna try to raise the KH to keep the pH which is currently 7.4-7.6 exactly where it is), I am adding a cycling (live bacteria base) agent to the tank in hopes of rebuilding the destroyed biological filter bacteria that lived in my filter compunds (i just changed out the sponge and carbon elements for new ones.)
I know that the bacteria i need mostly live in that filter sponge media that i changed, so its gonna take a while for the water to be safe for the introduction of the livebearers. I'll be doing partial water changes frequently during the first week, and then weekly after that. Right now i am shooting for:
Keeping Temperature around 75-79 degrees (the way it is now)
pH of 7.5
KH of around 100-200ppm
Ammonia of 0
Nitrite of 0
Nitrate of less than 40ppm (right now its low enough to be concidered good)
Copper levels of 0 (theyre 0 right now so the few live plants we have right now, should be happy)
If i need to be testing for something else please, by all means, let me know.
also do my goals seem right to you guys?
any suggestions?
Once i get the water to a 'safe' level, i plan to start adding the plants little by little (hopefully the catfish and the goldfish wont F them up) i've bought aquarium plant fertilizer, so i hope that might help with the plant growing...(it doesnt have phosphates, so im hoping algae wont be a problem, as it never really was with a Pleco around) Only after im starting to see that the plants have begun to grow, then will i go on the search for the right Swordtails. I am planning to feed them tropical flakes, bloodworms, live black worms(tubifex), and perhaps some vegetable matter like peas (idk bout what exactly. also should i boil the peas first?)
Which type of swordtail do you guys perfer? Green i hear is much more lively, but blood reds look so original and velvety
Please help me out with any suggestions, tips, guidelines i should follow. point out what im doing wrong, or if my logic is flawed, really all im looking to do here is learn to properly provide these fish with a quality life, and recieve something back in the end
And forgive me for having you read this obnoxious essay haha. (i couldn't find an introduction thread)
Please excuse the spelling, proofreading and grammar errors.
I'd love to get some if any feedback.
i would like to add some more questions:
Should i use only rocks for decor in the tank, rather than driftwood? (i heard driftwood tends to make water acidic, which wouldnt be too good for the livebearers...)
Upon reviewing my plant options, i plan on going with two Cabomba plants in the background, along with an Anacharis plant. In the mid ground ill place a java fern. and the fore ground will be composed of some java moss (or christmas moss if i can find it/ order some) attached to a rock, and in the middle of the tank ill plant 2 batches of dwarf hairgrass, and hope that it would carpet the foreground floor.
The best i have ever done with a tank of my own was keeping a beta alive for 2 years in a 1 gal bowl (i know pathetic) Unfortunately i went through about 5 betas before i realized that i really did not know what the hell i was doing.
Now I understand that fish sometimes die of unexplained causes, even in the hands of experienced fish owners who regularly monitor the aquarium's pH, KH, GH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Copper, etc...etc...and various other levels. But having learned about all this useful information from sifting various articles on forums, freshwater tank guides, (and other resources) I feel the need to go back to what i have grown up with, and attempt this tank-keeping hobby once again, this time taking it seriously.
It has been about 8 years since i had my last personal tank (not counting the family goldfish tank, which will be the topic of this thread). speaking of this GF tank, my family has owned this 40 Gal tank for more than 10 years. Until I moved in (at around age 10) the tank only had goldfish. this tank has been a real disaster because we must have gone through at least 90 different goldfish since then. The things die almost one for every month that passes by it seems. Finally we decided enough fish slaughter is enough, we clearly did not take this tank seriously because the goldfish genocide is proof of our negligence.
Curiously enough we've had a Spotted Raphael Cat in that 40 Gal for 8 years now with no problems, and a young pleco for 2 years. not all hope is lost it seems because apparently there are fish that can survive this mess of an aquarium. (to be honest we did lose another Pleco and a Striped Raphael Cat about 5 years ago, but that again is because we failed to legitimately adress the concern.)
But enough with the depressing matters. I plan to turn this 40 Gal around, and keep it going on the right track. The ultimate plan, is to keep the Pleco and the Raphael in the tank, and add 3 Female Swordtails and 1 male of some variety (undecided/ leaning toward either green or blood red) along with live plants such as Hornwort/ or Cabomba, some Anacharis, hopefully with a sucessful carpet of java moss.
I've bought, what seems an adequate amount of freshwater testing materials. Right now i have liquid tests (not strips) for : pH, KH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and Copper. If you guys think i should get something else as well, i am always looking for tips
Currently, since i have tested the water with all of the above tests, and have found unnessesary levels of ammonia, nitrite, and an abnormally low KH (gonna try to raise the KH to keep the pH which is currently 7.4-7.6 exactly where it is), I am adding a cycling (live bacteria base) agent to the tank in hopes of rebuilding the destroyed biological filter bacteria that lived in my filter compunds (i just changed out the sponge and carbon elements for new ones.)
I know that the bacteria i need mostly live in that filter sponge media that i changed, so its gonna take a while for the water to be safe for the introduction of the livebearers. I'll be doing partial water changes frequently during the first week, and then weekly after that. Right now i am shooting for:
Keeping Temperature around 75-79 degrees (the way it is now)
pH of 7.5
KH of around 100-200ppm
Ammonia of 0
Nitrite of 0
Nitrate of less than 40ppm (right now its low enough to be concidered good)
Copper levels of 0 (theyre 0 right now so the few live plants we have right now, should be happy)
If i need to be testing for something else please, by all means, let me know.
also do my goals seem right to you guys?
any suggestions?
Once i get the water to a 'safe' level, i plan to start adding the plants little by little (hopefully the catfish and the goldfish wont F them up) i've bought aquarium plant fertilizer, so i hope that might help with the plant growing...(it doesnt have phosphates, so im hoping algae wont be a problem, as it never really was with a Pleco around) Only after im starting to see that the plants have begun to grow, then will i go on the search for the right Swordtails. I am planning to feed them tropical flakes, bloodworms, live black worms(tubifex), and perhaps some vegetable matter like peas (idk bout what exactly. also should i boil the peas first?)
Which type of swordtail do you guys perfer? Green i hear is much more lively, but blood reds look so original and velvety
Please help me out with any suggestions, tips, guidelines i should follow. point out what im doing wrong, or if my logic is flawed, really all im looking to do here is learn to properly provide these fish with a quality life, and recieve something back in the end
And forgive me for having you read this obnoxious essay haha. (i couldn't find an introduction thread)
Please excuse the spelling, proofreading and grammar errors.
I'd love to get some if any feedback.
i would like to add some more questions:
Should i use only rocks for decor in the tank, rather than driftwood? (i heard driftwood tends to make water acidic, which wouldnt be too good for the livebearers...)
Upon reviewing my plant options, i plan on going with two Cabomba plants in the background, along with an Anacharis plant. In the mid ground ill place a java fern. and the fore ground will be composed of some java moss (or christmas moss if i can find it/ order some) attached to a rock, and in the middle of the tank ill plant 2 batches of dwarf hairgrass, and hope that it would carpet the foreground floor.