any other fish owners out there?
rate my freshwater set up.
3 glowfish (danio kind) and 2 mollies. (one black and one dalmation)
few questions since i just started.
why do my mollies swim up and down the sides of the tank really fast? it looks like theyre tryingto outswim their reflections or something?
and ever since adding my mollies my glofish stay at the top of the tank near the surface. whats up with that? the water conditions seem right.
also how hard is it to maintain live plants?
bump
bump
bump
No one? Okay.
They do that when they are bored, so they are just entertaining themselves.
The plants are great at first, but after a few months they start to rot and can clog your filter up, plus make the water shitty. I've got a small tank with 2 Barbs, had those fuckers for 3 years with just plastic plants.
My Full Moon Fighter Fish died like 2 weeks ago, he was like 5 yo.
bump
I just lost a molly last week sadly got three glass catfish though. Way too cold to go take a pic maybe later.
The mollies will do that they are a very high energy fish. Mine did it all the time, rip little man
Get a bigger tank
Remove those plastic plants, theyr bad for the fish
The tree house can stay
Remove all those rocks and soil, it will be a bich to clean
If u get real plants ur fish will just eat them
Im a pro
>they are a very high energy fish.
are they really?
my dalmation likes to stay in the tree house for long periods of time just floating in place. could it be sick?
>Remove those plastic plants
>If u get real plants ur fish will just eat them
>Remove all those rocks and soil,
so then wtf? just water and tree house?
u dont seem like a pro
Did you cycle the tank before getting the fish? Your tank also looks under filtered. Dont believe the quoted aquarium size on filters. They way they test it is bullshit. If your tank is 25 gallons,, get a filter rated for 50 gallons AT LEAST.
Also, some plants are easy : java fern/moss, crypts etc. Providing you have 1watt per gallon of light.
plastic plants lul
Sorry for the crappy picture,
but its not hard to keep plants you properly need co2, and nutrients in water and in soil.
Also how do you oxidize the water, fish need oxygen.
Get a C02 reactor if you do live plants. I recommend java moss and java fern, unless you have very good lighting. If you put a layer of about an inch of planting substrate for aquariums under a layer of gravel your plants will do well.
where is the air? get some air bubbles yo. and a bigger tank. or less fish.
Here's my tank.
Live plants aren't too hard, as long as you have decent light and stick to the easy ones.
Sword plants and Anubias are easy enough, you shouldn't even need ferts or CO2 (they do help though)
You can also get some hornwort or water lettuce to float on the top, but I would avoid duckweed unless you want a neverending pain in the ass.
Was planning to use a bubble machine but its really noisy and the tubing wont stay underwater.
Any alternatives besides live plants?
Nice center peice. Been wondering if i should move my stump to the center of my tank.
Bump
I think it's a little too symmetrical.
I keep meaning to shuffle stuff around, but I don't know what to put where, and I'd like more driftwood. I need to go walk the lake again.
Its the sword plants making it symmetrical. Maybe moving one behind the center wood will give it a more natural look.
Anybody grow live bamboo in their tanks?
what lights are you using ?
just curious
No i Didnt cycle the tank. I barely set the tank up about 3 days before introducing the mollys. And what filter would u recommend? My tank is 5 gal and the one it came with was for 5-15 gal.
The box said the tank was good for 5 fish
Some leds that came with the tank. I threw out all the packaging so i cant really get more specific than that
My coffee table fish tank.
I have three Dalmation Mollies myself, and they chase each other around all day long. They've been doing it for years, so I don't think there is a health risk here. They are just high energy fish.
I talked to the guy at the fish store about this once, and he said that creating a bigger group (5+) can improve the dynamic between them and calm them down. However, it looks like your tank is too small for that to be an option.
Get a bigger tank?
>No i Didnt cycle the tank
/an/ is gonna cut your balls off...
Do any of u guys think its silly to name your fish?
OP: whatever you think 'cycle' means, it's probably incorrect, because most sources of information for beginners are total BS. This is because pet stores and aquarium product manufacturers have a vested interest in newbies being uninformed so a) they don't get put off by a hobby being expensive and requiring work, and b) so they fuck up, kill fish, then go buy more fish.
Google 'nitrogen cycle aquarium' and read about it. You need to understand how ammonia gets produced in your tank and where it goes. I think the filter you have might be adequate, provided it's filled with good quality biological media and not shitty chemical media. I also think there's a good chance you have an ammonia problem right now. When you say the water seems right, what parameters are you actually measuring?
Oh fuck thats so badass. Is that a custom made table or do they sell those somewhere?
And unfortunately my budget will not agree with getting a bigger tank. I eventually want to have a 50 gal but i just dont have time or money for maintenance.
Yes.
They're delicate enough, I try to not grow attached.
Hell, I've had my cat for 10 years now and never named her anything past "Kitty."
Just add a sponge filter OP.
Plants are only good for the ecosystem, as close as it is to nature the best it is.
But you could rise the Filter unit above water or try to direct the flow up so it forms bubbles.
Fuu even if the waters just 3 days old?
>Didn't cycle tank
Say goodbye to your fish. They ded.
Yes. Read this guy's post:
I don't think you need to worry bout oxygen with so few fish. The majority of the oxygen diffusion in a tank that size is via the surface of the water. Make sure the surface is moving slightly and that's all you need to do.
When i said the water seems right i based it off the fact that i had just treated the water with the stuff that came wih the tank. It was called safe start i believe. This was 3 days prior to adding fish. How can u tell theres an ammonia problem?
My mollies won't quit fucking....
The babies have a cool color though I sell them to a pet store. They call them "bumble bee" mollies.
My filter creates a bit of current that moves the surface pretty well. So is it safe to say i dont need to oxygenate?
Its better that way, the end will come to them in time...
had to snap my fish many times...
How much do u get per fish?
A dollar a piece, I've paid for my tank with them. I've probably sold like 200. They sell them for like $5 and the lady tells me they sell out quick.
Not custom at all; quite a few different companies make them.
Truth be told, it's not very practical as a fish tank. The underside of the top glass tends to fog up, and makes it difficult to see the fish underneath. From a sitting position, it's difficult to see anything at all. A traditional tank is much better for showing off your fish in this regard.
Still, it's a cool centrepiece, and gets a lot of comments from guests.
If the fish are eating there's ammonia.
Until the filter builds up enough bacteria it just circulates. I used a couple of 2$ fish to start the cycle. That way your not risking expensive fish. But I've heard you can use a piece of rotting shrimp. Or just fish food.
I dont understand. Shouldnt fish eat regularly? What do u mean?
I think they're saying if the fish are not refusing to eat it's probably ammonia. I would test your water and if you have ammonia us "ammo-lock" or a similar product. I had to use it when I started my tank and it works well, you just can't use it forever.
...
Would def comment on it. Its badass lookingm but that sucks that it fogs up. Maybe u can install a defogger of some kind? Idk if that even exists but its worth looking into
Will def invest in ammonia testing. Any other wierd shit i should be testing for? I guess ill also pick up a thermometer and ph test kit.
How bout my tank
...
Too green/ 10
Jk looks good. Are those the only fish u have?
You do not need air if you have good enough watercirculation at the top of the tank, faggot.
What I'm saying is, fish waste produces ammonia. If your tank isn't ready it won't break down the ammonia and the fish will die.
That's the cycle everyone is talking about.
I test for ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, and pH. You should be able to buy a kit to test for all of them.
Very natural looking. But is that back glass covered in algae? Is that on purpose?
What temperature do you keep your tank at? As far as I know, a goldfish is a coldwater-fish, and a molly is a tropical fish.
Sweet. Ill pick one up this weekend.
Amano/10.
If you dont understand then you aint a hardcore Aqueriman.
Fish look healthy af doe.
My glofish stopped hanging out at the surface im guessing they where just afraid of the mollies
Gorami, white mountain and cherry shrimp with tetras and snails.
I keep my tank at 77-78 for tropical. I don't know about goldfish. They need more space then I have.
>why do my mollies swim up and down the sides of the tank really fast? it looks like theyre tryingto outswim their reflections or something?
Yeah my Mollies did the same, I suspect that's exactly what they were doing, they are also much more variable in which depth they swim in than most fish, happy to scavenge off the bottom, happy to skim off the top.
Mollies keep pecking at the gravel
Whatup with that?
They're both hardy and flexible but I'd side closer to the Mollies ideal, so long as the Goldfish came from a tropical temperature tank they'll be fine.
Scavenging for food.
Ha. Yeah. Had a few. Like cherry better though.
How do u manage temperature? Is there like a thing i can buy that regulates that? Makes it warm if its to cold and colder if its too warm?
Danio's will always swim near the top of the tank.That's just their place.
A heater, they have thermostats built in.
Scavenging? Doe that mean theyre still hungry? I literallu just fed them 20 minutes ago. Should i feed em more?
Ive aeen heaters but will they also make it cold?
Jelly/10
I can't get grasses to grow at all.
Yeah. I let the back go. I liked how it helped give depth to the tank.
Good to know. Thanks.
No, they're just greedy like most livebearers.
The water will be cold naturally, anywhere near tropical temperature is only achieved by a heater - unless you live in an environment which doesn't dip below 30c much.
Heat and co2 and ferts
Well my apt always kept at about 73 degrees f. Should i still invest in a heater? It gets to like 80 during mid day inside the room i keep the fish in
Do i need special lighting to have live plants?
Isnt algae bad? Pet store lady told me algae was bad.
Yes, the water won't be the same temp as the room you will need a heater unless you're keeping Goldfish/Guppies/White Cloud Minnows/Danios etc
It definitely helps.
If your water is ok then Algae is ok, if you use plant fertiliser/long light cycles it's pretty constant
Anyone else find snapping fish to be the hardest sort of photo you can get right?
Can my black and dalmation molly have babies? Will they get sucked up by my filter?
Whats a snapping fish? Do they snap?
> Can my black and dalmation molly have babies? Will they get sucked up by my filter?
Yes and probably not, chances are they will get eaten though, at least most of them.
Snapping pictures I meant
Cant i just move them to a temporary tank til they get bigger?
Oh damn. I thought they made a cool noise or something. Was about to gk throw my money at a pet store
Yes. My phone sucks ass at taking close-up aquarium pics.
Yep, you can also get hanging brood tanks which sit on the wall of your main tank.
If you get Loaches they click when they eat, a big loach makes a pretty huge click.
You could get a Pistol or Mantis shrimp, but they're saltwater.
Nah sounds to much like roach. Id never wanna say "hey come check out my loach"
Yep lol, 50 shots, one almost acceptable. Could never get a decent picture of my Kribs though, they would move every fucking time.
I used to have a Neon Tetra but I got rid of him because I'm sure he was up to no good.
He seemed a little fishy.
You don't need too, call them Yoyo's, Clownies or Kuhlies depending on which you get. Kuhlis look like mini eels.
Ill check them out then thanks
I have had an Oscar in a 30 gallon for 2 years now
;^)
Op here. Thanks for all the info guys but im taking off. Do with this thread as you please.
>Mantis shrimp
I heard on Discovery that they have the fastest and hardest movement underwater, and can easily break the glass of a fish tank. May be beware of them???
Why no decor? Looks like a mighty bland life