MorknMindy Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 My husband and I have just gone mad and purchased our first tank, neither of us have ever had tropical fish before so are very excited. Tomorrow we are going out to get some fish so if anyone has any ideas as to what fish might be the best to start with please yell. They will need to be hearty little things as I am sure we are going to muck up often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGilchrist Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Welcome to the fishroom M&M congrats on getting into the hobby, what size tank have you brought only bit of advice, go slowly, hard to do but read lots and take your time, best way to avoid trouble platies are nice easy fish to keep and they breed like rabbits, but need to be kept in a school. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Welcome morknmindy, I wouldn't put fish in a brand new tank, it needs to cycle firast and let the conditions settle, there is a sectuion here that tells you all about cycling, I can't find the link but one of the others will. you can also find some of us in the chatroom most nights from bout 8.30-9.00pm Ballistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakaway Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Hello Mindy Welcome to the NZ Fishroom, hope you enjoy your experience here . If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Firstly, how big is your tank? We would love the details And secondly, before you put a lot of fish in, make sure your tank is "cycled". This means establishing colonies of bacteria in your filter that will break down fish wastes into non-harmful material. The biggest thing that gets new people into trouble is adding too many fish too fast. Make sure you add your fish slowly. Tomorrow we are going out to get some fish so if anyone has any ideas as to what fish might be the best to start with please yell. If you want hardy fish that are easy to maintain, go for guppies. They are good hardy fish, and they also breed very very very easily, and will be good first time fishes. If you have any questions, feel free to post in these forums. Thanx breaka\/\/ay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Welcome to the fishroom M&M platies are nice easy fish to keep and they breed like rabbits, but need to be kept in a school. Mark Platy do not need to be kept in schools!!! welcome to the hobby, suggestions for fish? i am a bit biasd i personally would suggest some sort of livebearer, cheap, hardy, easy to keep and breed! very good community fish! but i must agree with Steve (ballisitc) you should make sure your tank is set at the right temp, that you filter is running right, that you have dechlorinated the water, adn have added some healthy bacteria, of which can be bought, Stress zyme etc! will get your tank cycling and runnning in no time! Cheers Shae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Welcome, you will get loads of help and advice here. I am still a beginner and I've had heaps of help. If you are going to put fish in the tank, and I understand the temptation, just put in one or two small ones until it has cycled properly. Your fish shop should be able to tell you which ones are tough enough for that. Cheers Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorknMindy Posted October 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 First up thanks for the warm welcome. We bought the tank a week ago it is 3 foot, 120 litres. We spent 2 days cleaning gravel, river stones and driftwood, which we purchased from the shop. We were told if we used the water from the pet shop that it would already have the good bacteria in it so we wouldn't have to wait at all before putting the fish in but we have been running it without fish just to play it safe. We added a very unhappy goldfish we rescued from a life of misery as we were told that goldfish can live in tropical tanks and he or she is doing very well but then I started reading and everyone seems to say keep goldfish in a separate tank but I am afraid we can't afford another tank and I don't have the heart to put her back in her bowl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 sell (or give) her back to the fish shop, most will take them back especially if you're going to buy lots more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Welcome to the NZ Fishroom MorknMindy, Lots of advise on the site on starting out, so take your time and do a bit of reading first as these first stages are very important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorknMindy Posted October 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 LOL I can't give her back she was sitting in a dirty little bowl at a place (I will not mention the name) where I do a bit of charity work. She hadn't moved in the weeks that I had been going there and she never seem to eat so I bought her home and gave her a good clean out and she was still miserable sitting in a corner of the bowl under a plant and not eating. We went into the pet shop to see if they had any idea what was wrong with her and they said she was probably lonely, but while we were there we saw so many fish and after a couple of days decided that we had addictive personalities and just had to have some. I said cold water thinking of the one we had but my husband said tropical and the staff assured us that the goldfish would be fine in a tropical tank. She is only tiny and she is so happy in the big tank I am sure she wont eat any of her tank mates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_from_nz Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Be carefull taking advise from the lfs alot of staff don't know what they are talking about and guess so that you dont realise they dont know what they are talking about. what area are you from, if you talk to someone on here in your area they will probably be able to sugest a good lfs (local fish store) Good luck Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Depends on the temperature of your tank and what kinda goldfish. If it's a cool tropical, like 20-22ish, a goldfish will do fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillz Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Welcome, I have only been here a short while, learning lots and loving it!!! Your lucky your hubby has the addiction with you.....I have to try and sneak my new fish into the tank without hubby noticing LMAO!!! I too have just started a tropical tank aswell. I put in 4 WCMM (white cloud mountain minnows) which I already had.....they are neat little fish and do well in cold and tropical water I've been told......mine adjusted extremely well. I had 2 inside goldfish aswell, but the joined the outside pond the other day, and seem happy I then bought a Peppered catfish, tottaly cool fish!!!!, then got him a friend, an albino catfish......next on my list is most probably black mollies. Anyways, glad you found this site, you'll love it here, I do!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorknMindy Posted October 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 We are in the Manawatu so if there is anyone out there that knows a good lfs please yell. Phillz good luck with sneaking more fish in I guess I am quite lucky but hubby has another hobby as well he is a radio ham so if he tried to stop me getting something I might just have to remind him of how the last family holiday to visit my parents was spent looking at new radios lmao Oh well off to take the kids to school and then I am off to the shop to buy a couple of fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Agood shop in Palmerston north is Wet Pets I hear. They seem to have a very large selection of Tropical fish and the staff are helpful. As others have said there is a wealth of information here and it is important that you take things slowly at first. Guppies breed like rabbits. look for females that have big bellies and soon you will have babies. I only got my guppies a week ago and already i have small fry swimming around my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 just going back to the new tank syndrome (NTS) mentioned earlier, might be wise to read this to give you an understanding of what we all mean: http://www.bestfish.com/breakin.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Welcome morknmindy. You will have great fun setting up your tank. Do you have any idea of what sort of fish you like? This will help with suggestions of which ones to add first. Surely you can find someone with a pond for the goldfish? Is it a common one or does it have a fat body with fancy long fins? Common goldfish are best in a pond but the fancy ones like it a bit warmer. Perhaps you would like to meet us tonight in the chat room. A group of us are usually there from 8.30 - 9pm onwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorknMindy Posted October 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 We went to Wet Pets today and got some fish. I wanted guppies but they didn't have any for sale so we got 3 Neon Tetra and 3 Glow Light Tetra and we also got 3 bristlenose catfish They all seem to be thriving so lets hope they stay that way we are going to retest the water tonight and then again tomorrow to make sure things are still going well and then we might have to find another shop so I can get my guppies lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorknMindy Posted October 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Thanks chimera that site is great. I will have to read more later for now the kids are nagging me to watch the fish lol I wish we had got the fish when they were little they wouldn't have watched any where near as much tv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_from_nz Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Hi mork and mindy I too am from Palmerston North, Wet Pets is good Peter in particular is very helpfull, or Tracey at Animates is also helpfull, I don't know if Animates have any guppies and am suprised Wet Pets don't have any normally they have lots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorknMindy Posted October 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Wet Pets had some but only a few and they weren't for sale I might try animates tomorrow they had some last week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGilchrist Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Platy do not need to be kept in schools!!! True they do not need to be in a school, but i think they do and look better in a school. jmo Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGilchrist Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Sounds like you have made a good start anyway Best of luck Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorknMindy Posted October 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 I hope so the whole family has spent most of the afternoon sitting in front of the tank watching the fish they all seem really happy so I guess that is the main thing and the water seems good too so I will retest in the morning and then go and buy some more fish. OMG this is addictive what happens in a few months when the tank is full? I will have to get a job to pay for this habit. Do they have a fish AA I might need to join now before things get out of hand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGilchrist Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 OMG this is addictive what happens in a few months when the tank is full? I will have to get a job to pay for this habit. Do they have a fish AA I might need to join now before things get out of hand Buy another Tank, or two and we are this fish AA, aren't we helpful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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