We have fish!

[GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal]

Just before Christmas we inherited a fish tank, plus fish, from some neighbours who were moving to the other side of the country and didn't want to try transporting them. I've never been very interested in fish as pets before, but agreed to take them as DD had asked Father Christmas for fish - and had been told FC doesn't bring animals, but it seemed unkind to turn down an opportunity to make her wish come true.

Anyway, I'm so enjoying having them! They have so much more personality than I'd been expecting. We have 5 zebra danios, who are fab - so inquisitive and friendly, they always rush to the front of their tank to see who's there when you stop to look at them - two little ones which I think are red mountain minnows, who are quite shy, and one orange one and one orange and black one that I think are platys, that seem very chilled out and calm.

The neighbours' DD gave us all the equipment and tank stuff, plus a full run down on how to care for them, and so far all seems to be going well. I attempted a water change and tank clean the other day, and everyone survived and seem quite perky.

Is there anything else I should know about or do? They all seem quite happy but I'm amazed by how fond of them I've become, and I want to take proper care of them.

Are they cold water freshwater fish? I'm guessing not tropical, also what equipment do you have? Minnows especially like a cold tank, ideally if you have a mesh cover that is better than a solid plastic one, but still helps prevent jumpers! Cleaning as you have been doing is important, they will probably eat algae but not their waste, and it's surprising how quickly that builds up. Ideally a filter would be good, and perhaps test strips to check the water is within a tolerable range.

We have a plastic cover, and a filter. They are, I believe, all temperate water fish. We have gravel, and some plants and little decorations that the platys, in particular, like to hide in.

I'll get some testing strips, thank you.

Sounds perfect OP, enjoy your fish :)

Google as much as you can.

It’s all about keeping the water parameters stable.

www.fishkeepingworld.com/21-beginner-aquarium-mistakes/

As long as you keep up the maintenance you should be fine. I'm sure they told you about cleaning out the filter in tank water, adding tapsafe when doing water changes etc etc. There is lots of groups on Facebook (if your on there) that are very helpful if you have any questions. Just try and get on a UK one as the USA do things slightly different to us! It's a great hobby and I'm sure you're daughter will love it!

Yep, added Tapsafe when I changed the water, and cleaned the filter.

An update: one of our platys has had a baby!

There's only one, so either I've missed the cannibalisation of its siblings, or there's more to come.