Hi! New and confused

[Fish]

It’s been 3 days in a row Topped up to 2ppm (sometimes v slightly under) but gone in 24hrs! I’m hoping to go fish shopping tomorrow! I’ve been reading about being able to fully stock straight away because it can deal with 2ppm of ammonia, and less fish will mean some of the nitrites and nitrites will die off which makes complete sense. So I’m planning on going just under half of what I want to get, instead of just 3 fish? And I have to do a big water change before adding fish too, right?

I’ve been slowly buying bits I need, like a net, tools for the plants, different foods they like and prime stability in case needed. Are there any other things that are good to have on standby? Almost like a medical kit for people but for fish?

[fr499y]

Yes keep dosing the ammonia until the day before, big water change to remove any excess nitrates and stock as much as you want (for the tank size/filter ofc!!)

[Fish]

Awesome! Thanks

[Fish]

I have fish! Pets at home are sh*t, didn’t ask if I’d tested the water, had never heard of Dr Tims when I was explaining what I’d been doing, and would only let me have 3 endlers despite trying to explain I’d been dosing with ammonia. So I stupidly bought the 3 endlers, came home and was worried I’d ruin the amount of nitrates and nitrites I’d been building since I started the cycle. Drove to another shop and spoke with a guy there who seemed like he knew a little more, and came away with 8 galaxy rasboras and a miniature golden rabbit snail.

They’ve been in the tank for about 6 hours, all of the galaxy rasboras were practically silver when I got them (the guy told me they’d colour with age) and in the last few hour they’ve all been showing colour! Pretty sure there’s 4 males and 4 females. One male is really bright orange right now (the other 3 are more yellow), and the other 4 which I think are females have paler bodies with lighter yellow fins (pictured one is the biggest out of all 8). This orange guy think he owns the tank specifically one little corner, and I’ve watched him and another male a few times today doing a little circle dance which I guess is trying to show dominance? Despite his bright colour he isn’t always winning! I’m guessing they’re happy as they’re not being skittish and hiding at all, unless I walk past the tank! The 3 endlers on the other hand are swimming around like they’re on crack but I’m presuming it’s because everything is new. I don’t know if I should get more to join them next week as I know there should be at least 6, or if I should take them back

They all wanted to eat as well a few hours ago! And I’ve pretty much done no work whatsoever

I also bought 8 of the galaxy’s but I swear sometimes I’m counting 9

[John Linklater]

That’s great. All your patience to cycle the tank has got you set. Be careful not to over feed.

[fr499y]

Endlers are like that anyway lol! They certainly add colour and movement to a tank.

[Gingerlove05]

Easy way to tell male and female CPDs apart, mature females have a dark/black spot between the anal and ventral fins
You will find they spar a lot, i found mine especially did it in the morning and afternoon/evening when the sun hit the tank. Its a mad flash of chaos

[Fish]

That’s great. All your patience to cycle the tank has got you set. Be careful not to over feed.

It’s really hard to know how much to feed! I’m using hikari micro pellets and they didn’t sink at all when I first put them in so I removed it all and put some under the water line which then sank and they all went nuts. And because I was worried the smallest fish hadn’t eaten when he was looking around I added more for him, then realised there was too much so had to symphony it out. I’ve tested the water this morning though and ammonia and nitrite is still 0.

[Fish]

Endlers are like that anyway lol! They certainly add colour and movement to a tank.

I won’t lie, I’m finding them unsettling! My mind races enough without them adding to it I’m contemplating rehoming them to a friend who I recently found out has fish. Much prefer the slower movement of the galaxy rasbora. So now I’m trying to work out if there are any other small fish that are more middle to top dwellers so it doesn’t look so empty.

I know you also said I could have red cherry shrimp or amano shrimp but they seem quite large fully grown. Do you know of any smaller dwarf shrimp that can handle hard water? Everything I’m reading is saying they prefer soft water and seriously fish don’t really have a lot of info on shrimp

[Fish]

Easy way to tell male and female CPDs apart, mature females have a dark/black spot between the anal and ventral fins
You will find they spar a lot, i found mine especially did it in the morning and afternoon/evening when the sun hit the tank. Its a mad flash of chaos

Yes I did read that but couldn’t see where that was supposed to be! Do you mean this area (pictured)? If so I think I see a small darker spot which would make the largest female? Or is it just poop

There seems to be 2 areas of the tank they like to spar, it’s amazing to watch. So pleased I picked these guys for the tank. The guy with the darkest orange markings is so funny in his little favourite patch, he also thinks the Java fern is his