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

Not long, they start to look like tiny fish within a week or so. If they are already swimming around then they are probably approaching a week old, if not more.

Swimming around happily and really do look like mini fish - I'm only questioning it because I'm so surprised by it really! Will still keep peeking in at them as I find it so weird how they've found themselves in this back section of the tank and am worried that there is no gravel or planting back there and I don't put food back there. I suppose it's good for keeping them safe away from hungry bigger fish though!

They're not stupid*, they know how to hide You could crumble up a bit of flake food for them if you're worried.

*not rocket scientists either though.

I put a bit of flake food in there this morning and they didn't go for it. I was worried about making their water manky so removed it after about a minute. Could there be minute amounts making it through from the main tank that's keeping them going? How else are they surviving?

Infusoria maybe? There wouldn't be a lot in there though.

Evening Eau!

May I ask for your wisdom on these plants?

www.plantsalive.co.uk/Aquarium-Plants/All-Tropical/coldwater-Collections/18-Collection/prod_43.html#.T2JmLMVzl94

Thanks. x

Yes, that looks fine, I think the dwarf hairgrass might be a bit fussy but the others should be OK.

Was a chicken and went back to the aquatic shop to buy plants rather than getting them over the internet. More expensive, but I like having a person there I can talk to and ask questions of. Bought some anacharis, some amazon sword, and the shop gave me some java moss. The fish seem to be enjoying it, so here's hoping!

I must admit that I found it difficult to plant and we'll see tomorrow morning how much has stayed rooted in the gravel and how much is floating free!

Well at least you know what you're getting! Anacharis (also called Elodea) is a nice easy one to grow, you just separate out the stems and stick them in the gravel. Once they've rooted (you may need to re-plant them several thousand times and swear a bit) then they grow quickly. If they get too long then just cut the top off with a pair of sharp scissors and you can stick the cutting into the gravel and it'll root too.

I've kind of clumped them together. Is this okay? Just that every time I moved a bit of gravel to stick one in another one jumped out so I shoved them all in together in the end.

Dunno, never tried it like that I suppose you could just wait and see. It grows so quickly that even if only one bit survives, you'll soon have plenty of it.

Have also now read that it grows well as a floating plant too, so won't stress too much about the one strand that has escaped again!

About how long do you think it takes for a plant to lay roots? Wondering how gentle I have to be when doing this week's gravel clean - don't want all plants flying around!

Depends on lots of different things. After a couple of weeks they should stay put more easily.

Okay - will go gently today. Thank you!