Suggestion for fish for new tank setup + other q's

[Turner]

Hello,

I have recently aquired a 15 gallon tank with internal power filter and
would like people opinions on what fish i should put in :) plus some other
questions.

Some possiblilties I might like:

Neon/Cardinal tetras
Otos
Glolite tetras
Harlequins

------------PH----------------
I know most of these fish prefer softer acidic water, my water here is about
pH 7.6, anybody feel this might be too high? I have a bucket which i added
peat granules too, sat next to my tank as a little experiment which is now
down to about pH 6.2. I was thinking i mgiht be able to mix this water with
the tap water to lower the pH.

I'm guessing my LFS will have the same sort of water as my own, but i
thought that if i found out their pH to be lower than mine i could mix some
of this peat filtered water into the tank before i added any fish and then
slowly acclimatise them to higher pH. (or add peat to the filter to help
maintain a lower pH? i don't want to mess with things to much though).

----------Cycling----------
My tank has been set up and running for 3 weeks now. I seeded the filter
with some media from my goldfish tank initially. At the moment i am away
during the week, so have only been able to test the water between
fridays-sundays. After i seeded the tank I added some fish food over a few
days, (i've heard mixed messages about this, but the hope was to generate
some ammonia). after about 1.5weeks i tested the water and there was no
detectable ammonia, and about 0.5ppm nitrites. I added some more food at
this point (there is now some settled on surfaces...) and also some more
filter media from my goldfish tank. Now after three weeks looks like
nitrite levels have reached approximately 1ppm. How long do you expect it
will take to cycle from this point? (sorry, i know there are many other
factors to take into account).

---------Snails-----------
Possible problem: When i setup the tank i added 4 real plants. Of course
these introduced snails into the tank, and now 3 weeks later I have a few
snails which i getting nice(?) and big. Also can see plenty of eggs stuck to
the platic plants. Of course, they have plenty of food to feed on as i have
been unintentionally feeding them. I don't want to start killing snails for
the hell of it, but i would like to know whether these will start to spread
to my entire tank? After i've added fish there will obviously be less food
for them to feed on, will this control their numbers (i don't mind a few of
the snails, actually quite fun) at all? or will they just eat my plants :s
if worst comes to worst, would goldfish in a pond like the snack, or would
they just overrun that too? (or bring disease..)


------Choice of fish--------
Back to the main topic of this post...

I know that cardinals/neons are generally considered a bit bad at travelling
home from the petstore, i'd rather not have a few die before i get home. Is
this generally the case, and are there some other similar fish that are more
hardy and actually likely to survive the trip home? (others on my list?)

A breif idea on the fish i could keep in my tank is 6 neons/cardinals and 4
otos. Would this be about the limit on the tank or would it be possible to
add another small school of small tetras or harlequins?

I would appreciate any suggestions you guys have, or any other ideas for
fish to keep (if the highish pH is a real problem)

Thanks, Sam

PS sorry i noticed this message getting quite long so i added headers-- hope
they help and aren't just annoying :) maybe should have made multiple
posts...


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reply interspersed.

"Turner" > wrote in message
...
> Hello,
>
> I have recently aquired a 15 gallon tank

> ------------PH----------------
> I know most of these fish prefer softer acidic water, my water here is about
> pH 7.6, anybody feel this might be too high?

Hi, Sam, I just set up a 55g with 25 neons (stocked on Oct. 13). My water is
7.4 and I haven't lost a one. My water is just a tad more alkaline than the LFS
where I bought the fish so I didn't change a thing. I think if you get healthy
neons from the store they are no more frail than any other fish.

> ----------Cycling----------

Sounds like you have a handle on it. Add fish, check the water for amonia and
nitrites daily, change water as required to keep them at zero. When they don't
come back, start checking for nitrates and learn how to keep them in check with
regular water changes.

> ---------Snails-----------

I hate 'em and got rid of mine when I noticed an "import" chewing on one of my
new java ferns. I'm new to plants and didn't like at all the fact that the cute
little snail was devouring my plant and soon to lay 1000 eggs.

> ------Choice of fish--------
> Back to the main topic of this post...
>
> I know that cardinals/neons are generally considered a bit bad at travelling
> home from the petstore, i'd rather not have a few die before i get home. Is
> this generally the case, and are there some other similar fish that are more
> hardy and actually likely to survive the trip home? (others on my list?)

> A breif idea on the fish i could keep in my tank is 6 neons/cardinals and 4
> otos. Would this be about the limit on the tank or would it be possible to
> add another small school of small tetras or harlequins?

Your stocking level and choice of neons and otos seems about right to me. I
bought ottos too, and like I read here, lost some in the first week. I believe
they are more frail than the neons. After a couple of months and assuming your
tank is running clean and stable, you can probably add a few more fish. At that
time, it's back to checking for ammonia and nitrite spikes, then monitoring the
nitrate levels to gauge your water change routine.

good luck,
steve

[Vicki PS]

> > I know most of these fish prefer softer acidic water, my water here is
about
> > pH 7.6, anybody feel this might be too high?
>
> Hi, Sam, I just set up a 55g with 25 neons (stocked on Oct. 13). My
water is
> 7.4 and I haven't lost a one. My water is just a tad more alkaline than
the LFS
> where I bought the fish so I didn't change a thing. I think if you get
healthy
> neons from the store they are no more frail than any other fish.

I've got 8 neons in a much smaller tank, with pH around 7.5 - 7.6. I
endorse the above comments -- ask the shop how long they've had their neons
in stock, and how many they've lost. I was fortunate to get mine from a
very healthy batch that had been in the shop for a couple of weeks with
minimal losses (like 4 out of 100).

From what I've heard, otos are notoriously for sudden unexplained deaths.

If you want to add some really cool small fish, consider 5 or 6 pacific
blue-eyes, or some sparkling gouramis.

Vicki PS

[darksanity319]

As far as neons not being able to handle the ride from the store to
home, I think that's BS. I've got 6 neons and they're all doing
really well. I have 6 neons, 6 fancy guppies and an african dwarf
frog in a 10 gallon. Now most people would gasp and say my tank is
way overloaded. ON THE CONTRARY! My tank runs smoothly, all the
fish are doing great and the tank never gets especially messy. I was
even thinking of adding a female betta to the mix. That rule that you
should only put the number of inches as you have gallons is bull. I
mean, with my 10 gallon, one would assume that I should only have 10
inches of fish. Well, the neons and guppies make roughly 12 inches
and the frog is another two, so that's 14 inches to a 10 gallon tank
and everything is fine.

So in summary of this huge post, I would be careful not to overstock
but don't think that you can't have very many, especially with
schooling fish (like neons) because they don't take up much room and
aren't messy.
__________________________________________________
Posted via FishGeeks - http://Aquaria.info

[Turner]

Ok thanks to everyboy for their input. The nitrites peaked at about 1ppm a
couple of days ago and now have dropped right down to between 0-0.5ppm so
looks like cycling is doing well. I will do some more tests next weekend
and hope to introduce some new neons then :)

Thanks again, Sam


"Turner" > wrote in message
...
> Hello,
>
> I have recently aquired a 15 gallon tank with internal power filter and
> would like people opinions on what fish i should put in :) plus some other
> questions.
>
> Some possiblilties I might like:
>
> Neon/Cardinal tetras
> Otos
> Glolite tetras
> Harlequins
>
> ------------PH----------------
> I know most of these fish prefer softer acidic water, my water here is
about
> pH 7.6, anybody feel this might be too high? I have a bucket which i
added
> peat granules too, sat next to my tank as a little experiment which is now
> down to about pH 6.2. I was thinking i mgiht be able to mix this water
with
> the tap water to lower the pH.
>
> I'm guessing my LFS will have the same sort of water as my own, but i
> thought that if i found out their pH to be lower than mine i could mix
some
> of this peat filtered water into the tank before i added any fish and then
> slowly acclimatise them to higher pH. (or add peat to the filter to help
> maintain a lower pH? i don't want to mess with things to much though).
>
> ----------Cycling----------
> My tank has been set up and running for 3 weeks now. I seeded the filter
> with some media from my goldfish tank initially. At the moment i am away
> during the week, so have only been able to test the water between
> fridays-sundays. After i seeded the tank I added some fish food over a
few
> days, (i've heard mixed messages about this, but the hope was to generate
> some ammonia). after about 1.5weeks i tested the water and there was no
> detectable ammonia, and about 0.5ppm nitrites. I added some more food at
> this point (there is now some settled on surfaces...) and also some more
> filter media from my goldfish tank. Now after three weeks looks like
> nitrite levels have reached approximately 1ppm. How long do you expect it
> will take to cycle from this point? (sorry, i know there are many other
> factors to take into account).
>
> ---------Snails-----------
> Possible problem: When i setup the tank i added 4 real plants. Of course
> these introduced snails into the tank, and now 3 weeks later I have a few
> snails which i getting nice(?) and big. Also can see plenty of eggs stuck
to
> the platic plants. Of course, they have plenty of food to feed on as i
have
> been unintentionally feeding them. I don't want to start killing snails
for
> the hell of it, but i would like to know whether these will start to
spread
> to my entire tank? After i've added fish there will obviously be less
food
> for them to feed on, will this control their numbers (i don't mind a few
of
> the snails, actually quite fun) at all? or will they just eat my plants
:s
> if worst comes to worst, would goldfish in a pond like the snack, or would
> they just overrun that too? (or bring disease..)
>
>
> ------Choice of fish--------
> Back to the main topic of this post...
>
> I know that cardinals/neons are generally considered a bit bad at
travelling
> home from the petstore, i'd rather not have a few die before i get home.
Is
> this generally the case, and are there some other similar fish that are
more
> hardy and actually likely to survive the trip home? (others on my list?)
>
> A breif idea on the fish i could keep in my tank is 6 neons/cardinals and
4
> otos. Would this be about the limit on the tank or would it be possible
to
> add another small school of small tetras or harlequins?
>
> I would appreciate any suggestions you guys have, or any other ideas for
> fish to keep (if the highish pH is a real problem)
>
> Thanks, Sam
>
> PS sorry i noticed this message getting quite long so i added headers--
hope
> they help and aren't just annoying :) maybe should have made multiple
> posts...
>
>
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.804 / Virus Database: 546 - Release Date: 30/11/2004
>
>


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.804 / Virus Database: 546 - Release Date: 30/11/2004

[default]

"TYNK 7" > wrote in message

> >> ----------Cycling----------
> >
> >Sounds like you have a handle on it. Add fish, check the water for amonia
> >and
> >nitrites daily, change water as required to keep them at zero.
>
> Why not suggest a fishless cycle?

I read up on it, but chose to not try with this latest set up of mine. I'm
hesitant to give advice on something I haven't done myself.

steve