We have fish!

[YoureMyWifeNowDave]

We started setting up a tank a few weeks ago - it's quite an old one that hasn't been used for over 10 years! We worked it out to be just under 170 litres, it's long but quite narrow compared to the more modern tanks we've seen

Today we have bought our first fish - 3 red swordtails, 2 black Molly and 2 little things that like to hide (think they are catfish or plecs but they are too good at hiding to tell!)

DD is over the moon with them once she got over the disappointment of not being able to have a Nemo so any tips to keep them happy and healthy would be much appreciated

Oh it looks so lovely. I'm jealous - that's exactly the size I'd like.
When I kept fish I found that regular water changes (20% weekly) helped keep it fresh and clear. Live plants were great too. I also had a good algae scrubber and every few months I treated the tank with this stuff that binds green algae and makes the water go crystal clear.

Thanks CatKisser

One of the hiding fish came out for a bit and I managed to get a photo

Oh, he's a little baby plec. Cute! Did you ask the scientific name? Some of them can grow to be whoppers. They look like they might be bristlenose (Ancistrus sp) which only get to a few inches, so you should be OK. But I would check. If you've got a male and a female then you might get babies.

Love the decor! Did the nemo ornament soften the blow of not being allowed a real one?

DH did find out the names but neither of us can remember what he said now! He did say that they wouldn't grow too big for our tank though so they should be ok - they are very tricky to spot while they are so tiny so I will be glad when they have grown a little

We are planning on letting these fish settle in for a month or so and then getting a couple more - I think DH wants some rainbow fish and I would like to get a loach but we are going to wait around 5-6 months before getting one

Baby bristlenoses are titchy and they're nocturnal so you won't see much of them. If you get an open fronted cave then they might take up residence in there. They can be territorial so one at each end of the tank would suit them perfectly.

It's best to build up a shoal of what you already have before adding more species- the mollies and swordtails will thrive much more in a group (I'd stick to males only if you can to avoid a population explosion). Any fish that likes to live in a shoal is best off in a group of 6+ to help prevent stress.

My tank is a similar size ( around 190ltr ), mine has been taken over by my bristle nose plec's, I now have about 25 due to my 2 females laying every few week ( if anyone lives near Dorset and wants some bn then you are welcome to some ). I have never had much luck with mollies or swordtails but my guppies thrive in my tank ( I'm also over run by these too ).

I would love it if we managed to get some fishy babies