Newbie in deep water

[DirkW]

Hi Y'all,

This is my first post so please be gentle. I've read most of the FAQs, but this is a big forum.

My 7 kids came back from a festival two weeks ago with 5 goldfish (against my mild objections). Two days in a gallon fish bowl and they where all belly-up. Last Sunday, my 10-year-old daughter talks me into walking into a pet store with her. The lady in there didn't know much about fish, but she knew at least that goldfish where too big for a 1 gallon bowl. She suggests a couple mollies. I think to myself, no big deal... fish and food round out to $7.50. We go home, drop them in the bowl with spring water, and everyone's happy.

Monday morning, there are two adult mollies and 9 fry. The kids are thrilled. I think to myself, I better learn something about keeping fish before they're all belly-up. I'm a computer geek, so research is something I do well.

Now it's Friday, and I still have two adult and 7 fry. I've spent about $40 on various food, gravel vac, heater, salt, test kit, live plants, etc. Did a 50% water change on wednesday and plan a 25% percent change today. Raising the water tempature about 1-2 degrees/day.

I'd like some opinions on my aquarium plants. I've budgeted about $150 for a 29-gallon tank. The plan is to cycle it for 2-3 weeks before introducing the two adult mollies. I want to eventually end up with a crowded brackish community with live plants that is relatively low maintenance. I know it will take some work to get there. I'm tentatively planning some swordtales, a couple catfish, a snail or two, and maybe some other scavangers.

I want an 80W hood with two timers; one turns on a single 20W tube, the other turns on the other three tubes (roughly simulating sunrise and sunset). If I can find the hood I want, I'll build it myself. I might use CO2 injection if necessary, but I'd rather not if I don't have to.

My questions are:
1) Should I use an under-gravel filter with potted plants, or put in a substrate?
2) Should I get a filter for my 1 gallon bowl (I plan to use it for spawning)?
3) What sort of mix of fish should I have? I'd like lots of color and variety.

 

[yohkos]

LOL, your kids created a fish monster! Have fun and good luck. I am not sure what plants do well in a brackish tank but I know they exist.

 

[OrionGirl]

First--this will not be a brackish setup. None of the fish you listed are brackish. You'll want to test your water--if you have really soft water, hardening it with some baking soda will help the mollies--but they do not need salt. Really. If you want plants, salt is bad--most plants can tolerate salt for a short time, but in the long run it's lethal. Nor is so called 'aquarium' or table salt capable of producing brackish conditions.

For your questions:

1) Depends on what kind of plants you want, and what other filtration you want. UGF are effective, but high maintenance. A better option would be pre-filtered reverse flow UGF, along with a HOB to actually capture solid wastes.

2) Yes.

3) A mix of mollies of the same body type would work, or you could go with swords or platies for a wider variety of colors.

 

[Holly9937]

Not sure how much research you've done on the whole cycling process, but you say you plan on "cycling it for 2-3 weeks" before adding the mollys.... If you are going to do a fishless cycle, it usually takes a bit longer than that...Maybe you were just being optimistic!??!! If you can find biospira, that is a great product that almost instantly cycles the tank and you could set up your tank right away. Also, have you actually bought a tank yet?? If not, check out ebay in your local area, you might be able to get a great deal that way on a used tank!!!
Good luck

 

[DirkW]

Thanks for the suggestions so far! I'm looking to buy a tank today. I've looked but haven't found any used in my area. I was hoping to speed the process by adding plants and water from my existing tank. Then again, my existing tank has only been going for a week.

 

[DirkW]

First--this will not be a brackish setup. None of the fish you listed are brackish. You'll want to test your water--if you have really soft water, hardening it with some baking soda will help the mollies--but they do not need salt. Really. If you want plants, salt is bad--most plants can tolerate salt for a short time, but in the long run it's lethal. Nor is so called 'aquarium' or table salt capable of producing brackish conditions.

Interesting... How much baking soda should I use? I have medium-hard water, but I haven't had it tested yet.

Having a brackish community is not as important as keeping the mollies happy.

 

[Holly9937]

Unfortunately, adding water, even if it was from a tank that had been set up for years, does little for the cycling process. There is a sticky at the top of this page you should check out, it will save you alot of grief in terms of getting the tank up and running!! Make sure to get test kits for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate at the very least before adding fish to the tank and getting things going. www.bigalsonline.com sells a master freshwater test kit for much cheaper than most stores, and are pretty good for other things too. www.drsfostersmith.com has some decent prices on fish stuff too!

 

[OrionGirl]

Test your water. Dosing for ANY reason without testing can be a crap shoot. If you don't have really soft water, the fish will probably be just fine without any modifications, so much easier on you.

 

[mykidsmylife]

It seems like you have done quite a bit of research so far. I would suggest really reading up on cycling...it could save you time and heartache for the kids when done right.
Do you have some kind of aeration on the 1 gallon bowl? You need some way to introduce O2 to the mollies. If you put a filter on the bowl make sure you have some sort of sponge over the intake or it will suck your fry right up into it. I think a small sponge filter would work well for your bowl until you can move them into the larger aquarium. I would also suggest daily water changes to your bowl for them...as close to 50% as possible. In that small a bowl toxins will build up quickly.
As for your new tank...go for as large as you possibly have space and the money for. I started with a "free" 40 gallon...dumped close to $200 to get it going, then it wasn't big enough and bought a 75 gallon! LOL.
I say if you can find biospira to add to the water...that would be great. When I used it in my tanks it didn't seem to instantly cycle though...it took a few weeks and it still cycled but in much less time then normal.
Welcome to the addiction!!!!

 

[phanmc]

Trying to fishless cycle with plants involve can be a headache, you won't get accurate readings. Try this setup:

If you are getting a 30g tank aim for about 50w of light, more than that and you have to think about CO2. This puts you into the low, medium low light plant category and will limit your plant choices somewhat. I recommend the following which should be easy to find:

anubias (barteri, nana, etc)
anacharis
hornwort
water sprite
cryptocoryne wendtii
milfoil
amazon sword
java moss
java fern
water wisteria

To start setting up your tank and put your lights on the timer, you'll want 10-12 hrs of daylight, buy the plants of your choice along with alot some of the following: hornwort, anacharis, or water sprite. You will want about 7-8 bunches of those plants in addition to your plants of choice, just to be on the safe side. If this is more plants than you want don't worry, you can remove them later when your tank is broken in. Plant your tank and introduce the mollies, they can't be doing any better in a 1g bowl.

The large amount of plants should keep the small numbers of fishes safe and you can slowly add another small group after a week. The important thing is to keep testing your water for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates every few days for a couple of weeks to make sure the plants are doing their job. Also keep an eye on the plants to make sure they're healthy and growing. You will want to do weekly water changes, for your fish and especially for your plants since tap water contains trace elements which they consume. After a month you can remove any excess plants you don't want.

UG filters, some love them and some hate them. I don't use a UG filter because I want my filter media to be easily accessible. A HOB power filter will do fine for a 30g tank. For the 1g fry bowl, check out the internal power filters.