frameaj1 Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Hi, just wondering what a good species of fish would be to start my new tank, that aren't so worried about new tank water (a week old water). Freshwater tropical 60L tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Have you cycled your tank yet, if not some good information about it is here: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/?p=1868 I personally dont cycle with live fish, so I would cycle the tank, then putt in the fish that I want to have. It really depends on what you want the tank to look like, personally I say plant the tank up, and put in a schooling fish like tetras (neon, ember, etc), or you could go guppies. Other then that you could get a school of dwarf rainbow fish, or put in dwarf gouramie. if you want a cat fish, corry cat fish are always cute to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frameaj1 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Yeah I have cycled it by feeding the tank everyday, also used that cycle formula from the petshop. Although I have an ammonia test kit and everytime I test it doesn't show any change in colour, just the same colour as the water. Also the PH is quite high, and I have been treating the water with "PH Down" everyday, yet it doesn't seem to be changing, quite confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 How high is your high ph? It might not be changing because your water is quite hard, providing a buffering effect. To your cycling problem, I am not sure why you are not getting a ammonia reading, you usually get one, maybe one of the local members could donate you some of there cycled media to instantly cycle your tank (saves on the expensive chemicals). Other then that you could get just a couple of fish and slowly stock your tank, making sure the conditions dont get to bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frameaj1 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 The PH is reading about 7.0, I might double the dose of this PH down stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 A pH of 7 is a good pH, it is the neutral pH, until you decide what you want to keep I would leave it there, and only change it if the fish you want need a different pH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frameaj1 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Really? Ok cool, maybe the testing kit was lying saying 7.0 is too high Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 For most fish a pH of 7 is fine, I keep my tank between 6.5 and 7 all the time, and my pond at 7-7.5. But you change your pH to suit your fish, as some fish have slightly different requirements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 I would be careful of playing with your pH unless you are trying something a bit more advanced. 7.0 is pretty much perfect for just about every common fish you see. also some of theose pH down products can add other things into your tank like phosphates and sulphates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 I personally do use the live fish cycling approach if I'm not setting up a shop tank. make sure that you are planning on keeping the fish in the long run. for a 60L tank unless it is rather tall I would consider danios or any of the smaller tetras, or guppies/platies (just make sure you use only males or you'll end up with an over stocked tank pretty quickly). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frameaj1 Posted November 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Thanks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Also I feel the need to say that you should get a bristlenose pleco, they are awesome.(but need driftwood, and should be feed algal disks, or somthing similar.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Harlequin rasbora are also a common schooling fish choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frameaj1 Posted November 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 won't a bristlenose be too large for a 60L? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 One might be okay depending on filtration and footprint. Guppies and platys are all good starter fish too. A pH of 7 is superb except for specialist fish that need it particularly high or low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frameaj1 Posted November 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Not happy with my lfs, they sold me neon tetra's and said they are the best starter fish. I decided to trust them and bought 5. Let them float for 20 minutes, slowly added my water to their bag, eventually put them in. Went out for 3 hours and all of them had died .................... obviously the water isn't right or something, but after reading around it seems neons aren't hardy at all. Really mad and sad that I just killed those poor fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Not happy with my lfs, they sold me neon tetra's and said they are the best starter fish. I decided to trust them and bought 5. Let them float for 20 minutes, slowly added my water to their bag, eventually put them in. Went out for 3 hours and all of them had died .................... obviously the water isn't right or something, but after reading around it seems neons aren't hardy at all. Really mad and sad that I just killed those poor fish Nope, they're pretty delicate. I've heard rumors they used to be tough decades ago, but I doubt it, I think they've just always been cheap. Cheap enough to replace=hardy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 I'm not really sure why people are so keen on the float method. Fish can handle temperature changes relatively well, it's matching the other parameters that is the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 I'm not really sure why people are so keen on the float method. Fish can handle temperature changes relatively well, it's matching the other parameters that is the issue. For one it's a hell of a lot easier to slowly mix tank water into the bag while it's floating than after dumping the bag into the tank... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 For one it's a hell of a lot easier to slowly mix tank water into the bag while it's floating than after dumping the bag into the tank... Just the way he said it was like he floated it for 20min FIRST, then started actually acclimatizing. That's common. And pointless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 even neons shouldn't have died that quickly, test the pH from the LFS should be around 7.6 in most areas town supply. triple check your temp is correct (I have a thermometer that costantly reads about 6 degrees out) also im assuming you used water conditioner??? when you say "Slowly added water to the bag" what do you mean, that part should take a minimum of 20 mins (preferably a bit longer) The temp thing is mainly just for if you have transported the fish a long way and the temperature is qite different, but a 3-4 degree difference doesnt do bugger all to a fish. imo neons are actually quite hardy, they just get seriously mistreated on the way to the shop, got 50 the other day crammed into about 1.5L of water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 If the fish died within a few hours of adding to your tank, I'd say your water is the problem. You've been adding food? to the tank for a week so the ammonia levels will be high, and likely you've been testing incorrectly. How about getting your water tested by the LFS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frameaj1 Posted November 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Yeah Im going to take some water to the lfs to get tested, it's just weird that my ammonia test kit doesn't work, like the water never changes colour when I add the solution. Also I haven't got a nitrite/nitrate test so that could be it also? To the question above, I slowly added water to the bag (like a little at a time) then when the bag was quite full I put them in. Also, I noticed when I put them in the currant would push them to one corner of the tank, why would they sell a tank and pump combo that is too strong for the tank. It does do just over 4x the water volume an hour which I have read is normal. But they were really fighting against the currant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 I still have my original neons from my first tank. Very hardy. Personally, I think the store you get them from can determine if they are going to be hardy or not. One of my local stores looks after their fish, another is profit driven. You can see the difference in the fish before you buy them. (The ones that are still swimming are generally a better choice :slfg: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frameaj1 Posted November 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 These ones looked happy as Larry in the lfs, she did however put them in a net and walk to the other side of the store to put them in water, I thought that was a bit weird. Why not just have the bag right beside the tank :dunno: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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