Greetings fish people

[redfish]

 Just stopping by to say hello to the forum.  We have gotten a lot of use from this site so far, thanks to all the contributors here.  We have a 5 gallon planted betta tank that's been set up for a few months now and we are currently cycling a 55 gallon planted tank (future livebearers community tank).  It's been a bit of a learning curve for planted tanks so I'm sure we will have plenty of "help" posts.

[anitstuk]

Welcome to the Forum! I had problems with my planted tanks in the beginning but it was purely a learning curve to overcome. Planted tanks are the best!

[redfish]

Thanks.  It's probably patience as much as anything.  I hope we can get over that curve pretty soon but growing can take time and everyone wants results now. 😀

Edited August 2, 2022 by redfish

[redfish]

And we lost our first fish tonight. 😢  we had four guppies in quarantine for a couple weeks now.  Tonight was the transfer night and one is dead.  They all look very healthy so not sure what happened.

[lefty o]

might be absolutely nothing wrong, sometimes new fish just dont make it.

[redfish]

@lefty o Thanks.  I'm kinda wondering if one guppy is bullying the others too much.  He is trying to establish his dominance and won't leave the other two alone.  Even in the 55 gallon now, he chases the other two around a lot.  He may have stressed the dead guppy too much in the quarantine tank but I never noticed him being aggressive until after the one died.  I'm thinking it's time to add more fish to the tank to help balance the aggression out some.  I'm not sure if the LFS would take him back for an exchange or if he will calm down some if more fish are added.

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/1/2022 at 4:09 PM, redfish said:

We have a 5 gallon planted betta tank that's been set up for a few months now and we are currently cycling a 55 gallon planted tank (future livebearers community tank).  It's been a bit of a learning curve for planted tanks so I'm sure we will have plenty of "help" posts.

please feel free to ask anything you need to!  We've all started somewhere, but the majority of us might still have the exact same struggles and questions! 🙂

[PotatoFish]

Good luck with the new tank! What do you have in the tank so far in terms of plants and/or hardscape?

Also, to echo what has already been said, sometimes even with all the precautions we take, fish do die on us, especially if they're new, and we don't know what happened before they came to us.

[redfish]

@PotatoFish Right now we have 3 guppies, 1 nerite snail and a few plants in the 55gal.  Water sprite (2) and amazon sword (2) and an anubias.  Hardscaped with driftwood that I soaked several weeks in the hot sun to help with tannin.  The wood is still leaching some tannin and I imagine it will for a long time.

 

I got the quarantine tank cleaned out.  I need to refill it and get a few more fish prepping to go into the 55gal.  I got distracted by the Bolivian Rams and want to try one or two along with more guppies, etc.

[PotatoFish]

On 8/8/2022 at 9:49 PM, redfish said:

@PotatoFish Right now we have 3 guppies, 1 nerite snail and a few plants in the 55gal.  Water sprite (2) and amazon sword (2) and an anubias.  Hardscaped with driftwood that I soaked several weeks in the hot sun to help with tannin.  The wood is still leaching some tannin and I imagine it will for a long time.

There should be WAY more than enough space and hideaways for guppies chasing each other.

You should have a lot of fun with those. I would make sure the guppies "hear the dinner bell" when you feed. A tank that big might be a bit difficult to get baby guppies enough food. But with enough plantlife and an established/seasoned tank, babies should be fine. Maybe drop some food so it catches on the plants or wherever the babies end up hiding.

[redfish]

I'll keep that in mind as I add more to the community.  The 3 right now know when it's feeding time and get excited.