SO EXCITED!! NEWBIE and loving it.

[NoWittyName]

We were given a 130 litre tank months ago, but did not have the money to buy filter, light, heater etc to get it started up....but then I got money back from overpaying tax!!! I know!! Never heard of such a thing!

So we set it all up...waited patiently...and today we bought our first fish!
6 zebra danios and 4 tiger barbs.

Got them from a fantastic shop (won lots of awards and v knowledgeable) and am now having to wait until next week before we can add more. Loving it already and cannot wait to get some more in there!!

Just wanted to share!
xx

Cool! I'm just cycling my tank and it seems like the last 5 weeks has gone on forever but it's ready for fish now...

Are you going to get some more tiger barbs? They can be buggers in a small shoal, a bigger shoal helps to spread the aggression around a bit. Which shop is it?

Shop's called Ferrybridge Aquatics. Wasn't planning on getting more Tiger Barbs but if it's going to be a problem I will.

Because I've heard so much about the fact that you can overfeed your fish I'm now worried that I'm underfeeding them! (I can see I'm going to have 'new-mummy' paranoia about a bunch of fish now! Great!)

Can't stop looking at them, and can't wait until next Sun when we can buy some more.

I love getting new fish If you feed them what they will eat in 2-3 mins and then scoop out the rest, that should be enough. You'll figure out what they will eat and get it right after a bit of practice.

and how often would you feed them?

I'd go for once a day in a new tank and then see how it goes. Just scoop out any leftover food and don't let the fish get too chubby The fish you have are very active so as long as they have plenty of space to burn off some energy then you'll be fine.

They do seem to be whizzing around very happily! How do I know if the tiger barbs are being aggressive? They're not doing anything obvious at the moment. (Sorry for so many questions - so desperate for this to go well!)

i looooooong to have a ropical fish tank. cant at the mo as the ones we can afford all come on easily-knocked-over-by-toddlers type cabinets.

siiiigh, fish, along with a dog, will have to wait til the darlings are school age.

I know the feeling bamboo - we were given a tank (free! :) ) and still had to wait until I had a surprise tax rebate until we could buy the stuff to kit it out. I will send you positive fishy thoughts. xxx

A bit of nipping between fish is normal, they are just sorting out the pecking order. If they start ganging up on one fish or start having a go at your danios then that would need fixing. A larger shoal helps to spread the aggression out a bit more.

bamboo- I had to downgrade from 5 tanks to just one titchy 12 gallon one over the last few years. I'm keeping a list of fish I want to get when the children get sold on ebay bigger.

lol at idea of children getting sold on ebay!

No nipping as of yet...i'll keep an eye on them. Danios seem happy swimming near top of tank and barbs generally hang out near bottom.

So....what's on your list? Anything I should keep an eye out for to add to mine?

Oh, there are many many things on my list, from the achievable (dwarf rainbows) to the downright silly (massive indoor pond so I can rescue tankbusters like red-tailed cats and common plecs).

There are loads of species available so it's personal choice, just make sure you research everything like adult size, water requirements, diet, things like that, and research for 3 or 4 sources so you can get a better idea. There are still some people out there that recommend goldfish for a 5 gallon tank so you have to be careful!

ooh..ooh...dwarf rainbows is one of the species we're going to be getting - they are SO beautiful!! The guy in the shop said we couldn't get them for a while because they like a more mature tank, but I can't remember how long he said.

Indoor pond?!? I think my daughter would just see it as a personal dip pool...and my dog would probably see it as a feeding tank!

Think we put too much food in the tank this morning and I'm suddenly v worried about one of the zebra danios - he looks mighty fat! He is the largest danio so I don't know if he was always like that and I'm just being paranoid or whether he has put on weight! He's nice and active so I'm hoping he's not joining the obesity epidemic this country hears so much about!

Have a good day.

I love dwarf neon rainbows, they're great little fish! If you do get them, make sure you get both sexes as the males love showing off to the females flaring their bright red fins

Thanks for the advice snowfire. I can't remember whether the aquatics place said I could get them next or whether I need to wait a further week. Really hope i can get them Sunday.

I wouldn't worry too much about the feeding as long as they get a bit of variety and you haven't got extra food stinking up your water! The fish will always look hungry and will come running up to you wagging their little tails eagerly just get into a routine of feeding and keep an eye on your water parameters and you'll be fine. I watched an angelfish eat 5 catfish pellets the other day, he looked pretty fat afterwards but is back to his usual self now!

If only we could lose weight that easily Snowfire!

We were planning to go back to the shop tomorrow but it started snowing at 1 and hasn't stopped since... :( I usually love the snow, but I really want to get back to buy more fish!!!!

Have a lovely Sat night.
x

I wish we had snow! It's warmer & rainy here which has been miserable. There's a good site I've found called 'aquarium advice' where there are loads of fish addicts who seem to spend all their time giving advice to others with less experience. I've just set up a new tank (no3) so have asked loads of questions and had really good advice
Hope you can get to the fish shop tomorrow, I really want some more neon rainbows but going to wait for a while. I bought some baby angelfish yesterday, they are so cute!

I wanted some angelfish, but my son really wants some tetras and the guy in the shop said that the angelfish would just eat all of the tetras!!

The snow really is so beautiful...but I so want to get to the shop tomorrow - we'll just have to wait and see I suppose.

Yep, angelfish are not very appropriately named Beautiful fish though.

Snow here, DD1 is very excited.

Still no snow here, it seems a bit warmer if anything
I have black neons in with my angelfish and they never bother each other. Which tetras are you (DS) thinking of? The trick is to get the small fish first, then get a baby angel who can grow up with the small fish and won't see them as food! Worked for me so far although the angels can be grumpy and VERY greedy

Angelfish are predatory though, just because they grow up with a fish it doesn't guarantee that they won't eat them. They grow up with little fish in the wild and they all get eaten!

True, but my big angel prefers chasing the platies to the small fish who he just ignores. An angel would be fine with bigger tetra species such as diamond tetras or black phantoms. They wouldn't be able to fit them in their mouths!!

Yes, that's the key I think- if anything's small enough to get eaten then there's a risk it will be. Personality can vary a fair bit too, I know people that have kept a Betta splendens in a community tank with no problems but one I know someone who had one that killed anything else she put in there.

:( :( :( :(

Sad fish day.

Got to go make supper for hubbie and I but will be back later to tell all.

:(

Oh dear, doesn't sound good have you done a water test?