Tropical Fish Forum

Think Fish Tropical Fish Forum => Welcome to our Tropical Fishkeeping Forum - Please Read => Topic started by: naughtymoose on October 09, 2014, 04:11:27 PM

Title: Hi folks!
Post by: naughtymoose on October 09, 2014, 04:11:27 PM
My name's Colin.

I had tropical fish as a kid, and have now been bought a 40l tank for my birthday (on Monday!) I've had it cycling for a month, and water checks suggest it's ready to go.

I've replaced the 'hang on the back' Love Fish filter with an Interpet PF1. I've got white sand, a couple of bits of slate and a few plants with a moss ball too. I'll be getting a small piece of bogwood with something already growing on it, as the piece we bought was leaching tannins so much that the water was like soup.

I already have two assassin snails that are dealing with illegal immigrants and intend to get my first fish this weekend.

My stock plan is this (I used the Community Creator):
2 Assassin snails
10 Ember Tetras
5 Lampeye Panchax
1 Otocinclus
5 Salt and Pepper Catfish

What should I start with though?

Looking forward to being part of the Community!
Title: Re: Hi folks!
Post by: Sue on October 09, 2014, 04:21:45 PM
Hi Colin, welcome to the forum  :wave:

When you say you've had the tank cycling for a months, have you been adding ammonia?
If you have, and you now have zero ammonia and nitrite you can get almost all your fish at once. I say almost all as you need to leave the otocinclus a while - and you need more than one as they are shoaling fish. Otos need a mature tank that has grown lots of algae before you get them.

You might find it tricky sourcing the salt & pepper cories - I've been looking unsuccessfully for ages and had to settle for pygmy cories. I just substitute the salt & peppers in the community creator as their size and requirements are very similar.



However, if you haven't been adding ammonia to the tank, that means you are not cycled so the tank isn't ready for fish yet.
Title: Re: Hi folks!
Post by: ColinB on October 09, 2014, 04:43:00 PM
Hello Colin.... and welcome to the forum. This could get confusing ???
Title: Re: Hi folks!
Post by: Resa on October 09, 2014, 04:53:04 PM
Hi Colin :wave: (and ColinB)
mmm.....may have to call you Naughty or Moose....I get confused easily ???

Anyway, welcome to the forum and a Happy Birthday for Monday :cheers: Only the very best people are born in October, you know ;)
I was going to tell you about the otos but Sue beat me to it...she'll steer you right if you get any problems with your lovely new tank.
...oh, and well done, we didn't have to ask you for piccies, there are some incredibly nosey people on here ;D
Title: Re: Hi folks!
Post by: naughtymoose on October 09, 2014, 09:34:15 PM
Hello all, thanks for the replies. For future reference, Moose will do nicely! To add to confusion, my surname is Brodie, so another ColinB would be too much! I once worked in a photographic laboratory with four other Colins. Then later in another lab I worked with another Colin B. You couldn't make it up...

I've not been adding Ammonia Sue, but have added NT Labs Filter Start. Firstly with the original filter, then when I added the PF1 (I ran them in tandem for ten days).

The test results are NH3 0-25 ppm, NO2 0 ppm, NO3 0 ppm and pH 7. I can wait longer for the fish, but my partner (another Sue) is bored with MY present not having  :fishy1: yet.

I got my bit of planted bogwood this evening and also some Lilaeopsis brasiliensis. I'll sort them out properly tomorrow.

Good point about the Corries, I shall have to take what I can get I suppose. When the time comes, how many Otos should I get?
Title: Re: Hi folks!
Post by: Resa on October 09, 2014, 09:53:54 PM
Ok....Moose, it is then....otherwise we will have to start calling ColinB something different....like Shirley or Arbuthnot maybe? Nah...that won't work, he's definitely a Col ;)

Sue will guide you through your cycling....you will need to get some ammonia though. If you are going to use some 'starter' or other, you need to get 'Tetra Safe Start', although it's not a guarantee to work, but the only one that might (it has the right bugglies in it :) ) I used it and it helped my tank to cycle a little quicker. If you go down this route, then try to buy it from a busy LFS, where their stock turnover is good and pick the bottle with the longest use by date on.
As for how many otos, they are better in a gang of 6, but I'm not sure if your tank is big enough for all the fishies you wanted...I haven't run it through the CC. They are lovely little fish, but you probably won't see much of them...I can go days without seeing mine. Then just when I think something must have happened to them, one will go scudding by!
Still, it won't be long before you succumb to a nasty condition known as MTS...or Multiple Tank Syndrome ;) Don't fear it, it happens to us all. You will suddenly realise that you need a MUCH bigger tank, then maybe a quarantine tank, then a species tank, then.....oh well, you get the picture :rotfl:

Well, happy fishing ;)
Title: Re: Hi folks!
Post by: ColinB on October 10, 2014, 07:48:51 AM
Ok....Moose, it is then....otherwise we will have to start calling ColinB something different....like Shirley or Arbuthnot maybe? Nah...that won't work, he's definitely a Col ;)

They're some of the better things I've been called in my time! ;D