Beginner - New To Fish Keeping, Would Like Some Help And Advice :)

So I now have 6 otos. I floated them, then put some of the tank’s water in with them, about a quarter of a cup each time with about 5-10 minutes in between. Then they were left for a bit then I used a net to get them in (I ended up pouring the water away into my sink with the net at the mouth to catch them before quickly running back to the tank). The lights were off the entire time and four seem to be happily munching on some algae while two just sat there. I also did a 25% water change as it was due. I’d done a water sample at the shop before getting the fish and was told everything is fine apart from I think my nitrate (?) levels were a bit high - hence the big water change. I also got given some catfish pellets but I’m not sure if I should feed them to my otos. I’m gonna get some pebbles and grow some algae on them for when there’s no algae in the tank.
My wood is now sinking so I’m just gonna wait until the otos clear the algae up to put them in and I got a stack of three tubes with some green felt ornament so will put that in at the same time.
Also, once I get some more money (I spent it all today on fish 😂) I’ll be getting some more plants with some water sprite being on the top of the list as my chosen floating plant given it doesn’t mind condensation, doesn’t drop needles like some floating plants and doesn’t get too out of control like duckweed apparently does.

Since you have fish, don't swap all the media at once. You do need to change the algaway pad and carbon as Matt said, just not all together. Swap one of them for a piece of sponge, then monitor ammonia and nitrite every day - and do a water change whenever you see either above zero. Any mini cycle will not last long. 6 weeks later, swap the other one, and again monitor ammonia and nitrite daily until they stay at zero by themselves.


Water sprite can grow quite big, then the old fronds start to turn brown. Just remove the old bits but check them for new plantlets growing on the old leaves before throwing them away (mine go into the compost bin)

Do I swap both for bits of sponge? And if I leave them for two weeks, will that ruin the tank? I get money then so would be helpful aha

Yes, you want just sponge inside the filter. Waiting won't ruin the tank, but do the first one as soon as you can. It doesn't really matter which one you swap first as long as you leave at least 6 weeks between.

Carbon adsorbs things, which means they stick to its surface rather than penetrating inside (that's absorbing). Once the carbon gets full it stop adsorbing things. This is why they tell you to change it. Yes, bacteria will also grow on the carbon - and particularly on the 'bag' part of a cartridge. Assuming the carbon is in a cartridge, when you change that one, cut a hole in the bag and throw away the carbon. Then cut the fabric off any plastic frame and put the fabric back into the filter anywhere it can touch the new sponge.

I can't find out exactly what the algaway pad does - Matt might know - but it probably absorbs something that encourages algae to grow and is aimed at people who do the minimum tank maintenance. The pad probably also gets full and stops working, which is why they tell you to change it. The pad will also grow bacteria on it, but in this case there isn't any of it you can leave in the filter.



I forgot to mention that you should not get any more fish until at least 6 weeks after you change the second one.

So keep the carbon fabric and throw everything else, got it.
So once I change the first filter part I need to wait at least 12 weeks if I change the second part on time before getting more fish yes?

That's right.

The bacteria we want to grow multiply slowly. Under their ideal conditions they can double their numbers in 24 to 36 hours. But waiting 6 weeks ensures that a lot have migrated into the new media before you remove the next bit of old media.

The bacteria are fairly static. They don't just get up and wander into new media. But when you remove old media you take a lot of bacteria away with the old media so they have to make more, and a lot of the new bacteria will end up in the new media. It is then a case of waiting till they've properly bedded into the biofilm that grows all over the new media before stressing them by removing another bit of bacteria containing old media.

Getting more fish adds more ammonia to the tank, so it's best not to do that until there are enough new bacteria to deal with the ammonia from the current fish.


Getting new plants will also help as they will remove a lot of ammonia, and they don't turn it into nitrite like the bacteria do.

I’m planning on getting a bulk lot of plants from eBay, wondering if that’s a good idea or if individual plants would be better?

Nothing wrong with getting plants in bulk 

By the way 25% is not a big water change... I do 50% every week, as do most others on here I believe. I would do another 50% water change tomorrow if your nitrates were high...

Oh wow. I thought that 10% was a standard weekly water change level!
I’ll do another 50% either tomorrow or Tuesday (I’ve got a job interview tomorrow and no idea how long it’s gonna take so)

Is it odd that my fish will suddenly move/start swimming faster when I open my bedroom door? I only noticed it just now. My door has a metal decor on it so makes a noise so wondering if they don’t like the noise or do they recognise that I’m coming into the room?

Also, I’ve noticed that my 6 Harlequins look slightly washed out. Normally they have a good bit of colour to them and did this morning (their colour varies but they mostly have at least a tinge) but at the moment they only have the very slightest of colour to them. The black triangle is fine, it’s the orange colouring they seem to be lacking...

They probably see movement and think it is something large coming to eat them. Mine do the same when I walk into the room. Also my main tank is in the dining room, and they all rush and hide when we stand up and move round at the end of the meal. I find the Espe's rasboras do it most, more than the rice fish.

In the kitchen tank, the betta rushes forwards whenever he sees me. This is typical of bettas though, they just expect to be fed whenever they see a human 

Ahh ok cool!
My mum’s looking after them over the weekend while I’m with my dad. She’s got her light and food instructions and has managed to do ok the last few times (apart from putting on the blue light instead of the white light xD)

It's a bit short notice this time, but one tip for when getting someone else to feed them - get one of those pill dispensers with a compartment for each day, then measure a day's worth of food into the relevant sections. Or a series of small tubs labelled with each day.

If your mother is well trained, that's fine but don't trust anyone else. A lot of people who don't keep fish think we are mean with the amount of food we tell them and add more. Sometimes a lot more. It is not unknown to return form a holiday to find a lot of dead fish in a tank with large amounts of uneaten food. And if you don't trust the person, hide the food tubs so they can't feed more than you've measured out. We have to be sneaky sometimes 

I trust my mum. I told her how much to feed and told her not to feed more, calling them greedy _______s 😂

I had to write it on a bit of paper that goes on my door so she doesn’t forget

Pic 1: Before fish were added
Pic 2: Before the otos were added
Pic 3: Yesterday

Quote from: Alostangel on June 03, 2019, 10:36:27 AM

https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/carbon-filter-sponge-x-2

Is this sort of thing the right thing to put into the filter in exchange for the stuff that’s already in there?

I also got some daphnia for my harlequins so they’ll have them once I get home from school

You want a 'normal' non carbon sponge like this...
https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/fine-filter-sponge

Ahh thank you!

I was looking at plants for sale on eBay but it’s baffling me slightly... what key basic things should I be looking for?