# New to the board and new to the hobby



## HEADIN (Aug 4, 2010)

Hello.

Just joined up and i've recently just gotten into the hobby aswell.

I've had my tank up and running now for about 4/5 weeks.

4' x 1' x 1'.
few plastic plants, some decor etc. gravel substrate.

currently have 2 rainbow sharks, 1 pleco (4"), 6 black widow tetras, 5 zebra danios, 2 sailfin mollies (m+f), 2 siamese fighters (m+f), 2 blue gourami's, 7 red platys, 2 clown loaches (inch and a half each roughly) and 4 other wee chaps, could be tetras or something, not sure. v small though.

also had a large goldfish that came with it but in the last 2 days ive noticed he has disappeared. where the hell to i've no idea unless he's been eaten but i would have noticed lol.

so far i've lost 2 platys, and 2 clown loaches are 2 water changes. the other 2 seem to be doing fine.
everyone gets on with everyone else. no fighting as of yet, all pretty much keep themselves to themselves in their own wee groups.

the sharks camp out at opposite ends of the tank for most of the time.

tank has a fluval 2 plus internal submissable filter, but i've a 3 plus arriving either today or tomorrow.

im going to try and move toward getting my tank capable and ready for some dwarf cichilds, maybe cockatoo's.
have a cave to construct first before i nab them.

thats all for now.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Welcome to the site.

How many gallons is this tank and has it finished cycling? Sounds WAY over stocked. If it hasn't cycled, have you tested your water? If so, can you give your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate reading? Also if you have testing supplies, don't use strips. Try to get ahold of the API master test kit, or you can buy inidividual test kits for the 3 things I mentioned.

I know you didn't ask for help, but it sounds like your tank is heading for disaster.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

4'x1'x1' sounds like a 30 gal. (take 3/4's of the cutic feet and add a 0 3/4*4*1*1=3+0=30 LOL)

As you have found out the rainbow sharks are territorial and having two can be a problem.

Actually a lot of your fish are territorial.

Look around the tank on the floor for the goldfish.

I also like using live plants to balance out and stabilize operations. But that can be a problem with cichlids. Some type of partition to keep the plants a fish from each other may be necessary.

Welcome and hope you enjoy your fish.


my .02


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## gypsyfla (May 15, 2008)

Hello and welcome


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## ladyonyx (Apr 20, 2009)

Welcome to the forum


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## brimac40 (Jan 11, 2010)

The pleco will need to be re-homed later as it will out grow a 30 gal. . But that will be later , welcome to the forum .


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Welcome to the forum. By the measurements it sounds like my 33 long, which you have fish that are totally unsuited for. Clowns if given the right conditions will get to 12 inches. 2 fighting fish shouldn't be in the same tank, and shouldn't be kept with gouramis. The tank will be grossly overstocks before long. The first year clowns grow fast then slow down. 

Also the tank isn't cycled yet and with the bio load you have you need to be doing lots of water changes each week to keep the fish healthy.


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## HEADIN (Aug 4, 2010)

thanks for the welcomes.

found the goldfish, wedged down the unit. startin to decay. rotten!!

yeah i figured my tank was a little over populated, but a lot of the fish are less than an inch like the danios and platys etc.

only a few r bigger..

was sort of thrown in the deep end with it..
a knock at the door and the tank was there and the fish with it..

hadnt a clue what iwas doing.. so im learning as i go and researching and reading up plenty every day to try to keep on top of things...

i took readings earlier..
nitrate = 100
nitrite = 0.5
ph = 6.4
ammonia = 3

have done a water change also and gave the gravel a good cleaning.. my main aim is to keep my loaches and gourami's etc alive.. at some stage i will definately move to a bigger tank when the time comes, but this 1 is very much a learner curve for me.. v steep 1 lol..

the filter i have in it which came with it, has been startin to piss about i've noticed in the last few days and i've had to clean the media in it a few times now.. could this be the main problem with high levels?

Once i get this bigger 1 should help keep in much better shape i think?

and by all means any advice and help is more than welcome so feel free to chip in with any words of wisdom.. always welcome!


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

When you clean the filter, just clean it tank water in a bucket. If you clean it under running water from the sink you are killing the benefical bacteria that is needed. Do 50% water changes on the tank every week and as soon as possible get a bigger tank as part of those fish will grow pretty fast.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Nitrate 100?


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

jrman83 said:


> Nitrate 100?


IMHO and IME that is nothing unusual with active fish, no plants, and using water changes.


I am more worried about the ammonia. I would put all the fast growing plants like anacharis and vals I could find in the tank. and do whatever is necessary to get them established. If you do that ammonia will drop to 0 in a matter of hours and nitrates should drop down in 2-3 weeks or so.


my .02


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