Having a baby is easier than...........

Hello I just joined this forum last week having set up my first fish tank only four weeks ago and have found the advice great. As a mother to two young children and having given birth to both of them naturally and without pain relief apart from some gas on my 2nd child who was 10lb 2oz I have to say I think its easier to give birth and rare children than it is to keep tropical fish! At least children dont need a manual on how to take care of them. I never realised the hard work involved in keeping a tropical aquarium. I am overwhelmed with the amount of information needed to keep things running smoothly and since I have stumbled across the nitrogen cycle I feel like I am back in biology class learning about the facts of life, things going in things coming out. I just wanted to say that I take my hat off to all the members of this forum who successfully keep a fish tank and I am hoping that soon things will run smoothly for me and fingers crossed no more fish will die. I think I am nearing the end of the first cycle and things are looking up. It has been disheartening to find fish dead in the tank over the last couple of weeks but I am feeling more positive now because of the info I have received here. I lost 7 fish in total but still have 23 so I guess its not too bad. Just one question could anyone tell me how do I work out to what percentage my tank is populated? Its a RIO 125 and as I mentioned I currently have 23 fish:
5 guppys
4 mollies
2 bala shark
11 neon tetra
1 angel fish

thanks in advance, Mary

Starting off is a steep learning curve and i think it is the sort of hobby that you will always be learning new things. You will find once you get your tank cycled and settled down you will get much more comfortable and relaxed with you tank and enjoy it more.
I am only a novice at this addictive pastime myself but what i learned over the past months off this forum and researching thru the net is a life saver.

On your question about fish stock levels i have found different people have different views on different topics so all you can do is to get a few opinions and then decide on which one you feel most comfortable with. If you search the forum on fish stock levels you should easily get a threads on the subject or maybe other members could give you a definite answer

Wish you all the best on your tank

GB

Hi,

iirc think its an inch of fish per gallon, 125L tanks
is approx 30 gallons or so, giving ya 30 inches total
of fish

Welcome along Mary,
Indeed we take our hat off to you for also venturing into the tropical fish hobby!
Firstly, as a beginner, remember there is never a question that shouldnt be asked, no matter how silly or simple it may be.
In terms of your tank,I presume the cycle was completed prior to adding fish. How long have you added the fish in, did you add them all at once ? Also how long is the tank running and did you add anything to speed the cycle up eg. Quickstart bacteria.
What temp are you running the tank at?

Next, the stocking of your tank sounds abit much this early on, the tank isnt established so introducing this much new bioload to your filter will make it have to work much harder and as a result can send the water readings into orbit. Good bacteria is essential in a tank,but when 25+ fish are introducted, the tank simply struggles to play catch up in processing the water and increased ammonia,nitrate and nitrite can often occur. The first bit of advise I would advise you is to get a water test kit. The test kit will determine how your water is, (imagine the air you breath is clear, remember gas is also clear). Similar to water, nitrites and nitrates cannot be seen, dead fish are often the first sign of a problem in the tank. With a test kit, you can monitor the water far more effectively and it can become part of your weekly maintaince. With the tank only set up 4 weeks,I doubt it is fully cycled as the amount of fish in the tank could well break down the cycle over those few weeks or at minimum effect the time it will take to cycle.

I hope Im not being too negative here, but prevention is better than cure, and as you said there is alot to learn early on, we have all been there.

Also in terms of stocking size, remember you need to also research the size of the fish when they are adults. When you buy them in your LFS (local fish shop), they are often juveniles and can grow much bigger, particularly the angel fish you have. Also the 2 bala sharks you have are gOing to grow far too big for your tank. Each bala shark can grow to 14 inches. You will need a far bigger tank to accomadate them when they start growing.
Do not buy any more fish for the time being, let the tank settle and get established. Perhaps you can post some pictures also of the tank and fill us in on the substrate, tank decor and feeding of your tank.

I hope I havent scared you with the advise above! Fish keeping is about fun, its the trying to understand and learning part that tends to test the best of fishkeepers!


Gavin

Thanks for all your replies. Unfortunately I made the big mistake of stocking my tank before it was properly cycled. I only discovered about the cycle process through this website last week. The tank was only set up four weeks ago, I left it for one week before I added the first load of fish. To be honest when I bought the fish from the LFS I didnt even ask was it ok to add them I just assumed it was ok as I had heard all that was required was the tank be set up one week before fish were added and oh how wrong I was. On Fri 13th which was almost 4 weeks since initally setting up the tank 3 fish died so that evening I did about a 40% water change. I went to the LFS the next day and bought a bottle of solution of good bacteria (sorry cant remember the name of it) and I added it as per instructions. I did discuss it with the owner and he reckoned possibly the cause of 3 fish dying in the one day is there was a peak of nitrate and it was nearing the end of the cycle process. All has been going well since Saturday and in general the fish seem happy. Fingers crossed it will go well now.

On the question of temperature it is currently at 25 degrees, I feed the fish at 8am and again at 5pm but have reduced the amount given by a lot since I discovered it does more harm to overfeed. One of the Dalmation Mollys is pregnant (and no its not me!) and she doesnt seem satisfied with the amount of food she is getting. When all the other fish have finished eating she is still going around at the top of the water looking for food. Do pregnant female fish need more to eat?

Here is a pic of my tank, I have pebbles as a substrate

Every fish looks for food no matter how much they are having! In terms of the water changes, do you add something to the water before you put it into the tank, ie. something to remove the chlorine, also I presume you are adding the water at the same temperature as the existing tank?

Yes the dead fish are probably due to the water not being fully cycled, thankfully you have read up about it now and know much more. Dont worry about mistakes, Ive made more than I care to remember,its all part of learning it. Keep up the research and reading the forums,there are people on here that know so much. I know its the first place I go to when I need to know something!Also what hours do you put the lights on in the tank.

Tank looks good, well done. Are those real plants, I think they are from the looks of it.

Gavin

Thanks Gavin, yea they are real plants. I put the lights on in the morning at 8am for 1.5 hours then I head out, the room is usually bright enough until 4pm so I turn the lights on again at 4pm until about 10pm. I think if I hadnt have found this website I would probably have given up on keeping fish as it was so disheartening to find one dead every few days. Your tank looks great is that sand you have in it, looks much better as a substrate than my pebbles.

The lighting sound fine,Id personally use a timer,makes it easier and brings a routine to the tank.
I know the feeling re the dead fish,I think every fishkeeper has bad weeks. I remember last year I must of lost about 10 rummy nose tetras and lots of neons also. Was so discouraging every evening finding another dead fish. But this site is great for advise and help.At least you know now that the water wasnt cycled,so at least that should be done by now and means your tank will hopefully run more smoothly from now on.
Yes the pic of the tank below is a sand substrate. I find it abit brighter alright than the pebbles substrate, however I use pebble substrate also.

Gavin