plaperriere

Well hello. I apologize for the length of this...but I will do my best to keep it as short as possible.

First...I had a 10 gallon tank for about 2 months. Got it spontaneously for my 4 year old and his 2 yr old brother. I lost 2 of 5 platy's (sorry for the spelling). The other 3 survived after a very close call. I bought a test kit and did what is "not" recommended (simply cause I did not know) and put the fish in the tank before the biological filter took place (thanks PETCO for not recommending getting this started before putting the fish in). Since this day, I did a 50% water reduction twice...again, did not know this was a bad idea. The nitrates were really high and I thought that was bad. Needless to say...I am pretty sure we were feeding them too much.

About a week ago, I thought that I should get an Algae eater to help "clean" up the tank. They recommended a larger tank (20 gallon) because it will probably get large. I figured I would wait for a bit until it started to grow. I did buy some larger rocks...and then did a complete water change to see if a fresh start would help the nastiness in the tank. Everything seemed to be going well. But, about 4 days ago, my wife noticed one of the platy's (the larger of the 3) seemed "plump". I denied her intuition (first mistake). Yesterday, this same fish "lost" her plumpness. The wife was right...the fish was pregnant. I saw a little baby swim into the newly-larger rocks. Since there was only one that I saw, I thought the others may have been eaten.

So, today -- I went and got that 20 gallon tank. Yep - started the process all over again. Had I got to this site prior to getting the 20 gallon tank...I would not have put the fish in the new tank. As I began to search for the little one after removing the adults...I found 11 more babies! Ugh (one has since died). After putting the 1st two I found into the new tank, I decided that if I found more...I would put them in the small "holding" container that I have...which is where they are now. So...here are my questions:

1) Should I get a small 2.5 gallon tank for the babies or put them into the larger tank? Anything special I should do because they are babies?
2) If I put them in the bigger tank, how do I clean the tank? The 2 I already put in there are hiding in the rocks already...so, when I clean the "bottom" to get rid of the waste...won't I suck them up?
3) I am a bit confused on the cleaning of the tank due to the biological cycle. On one hand, the decaying particles at the bottom is important to get the cylce going...but, on the other hand...I am thinking it is not good. What is the right answer here?

This is enough for now...hopefully someone read this whole pathetic post and will give me some pointers. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.

Paul - Newbie

Lucy

Hi Paul, welcome to the forum.

I don't have live bearing fish, but several members do and will be able to help you along.

Good luck

soldieroffortune1974

1)If you get a 2.5 gallon aquarium for the babies,you would have the same problem as before,not having a properly cycled aquarium. I would suggest a breeder net.box to put hem in. It protects them from being bullied/eaten from the bigger fish.

2)When you clean,they should move out of the way.They may get curious,and if they do get inside the vacuum portion,just tip it a little and let them swim out.There's not much risk to them going on the ride to the bucket,even babies are good swimmers.

3)The decaying matter produces ammonia,which is important to the cycle.It is also harmful to the fish.You need to change the water daily to keep the ammonia levels down,until the aquarium is cycled,or the fish will become sick;and that brings up a whole other mess of problems you don't want to deal with while trying to cycle an aquarium.

That's definitely not the way to start out,but it's a crash course in what NOT to do..........Now you know. Good luck.



Edit: sorry, forgot to say HELLO and welcome...

plaperriere

Thanks Lucy...and I love the pic of the cat. I have a cat too!

plaperriere

Thanks SoilderofFortune! Much appreciated.

plaperriere

One more question -- does using the "liquid correctors" hurt the cycle? By this, I mean -- there are products to eliminate or get rid of high levels of the Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates...and pH stabilizer. Is there a better time to use these products...or not at all?

pinkfloydpuffer

Hi, welcome

Products like AmmoLock will kill your cycle, but the product Prime by Seachem is highly recommended for un-cycled tanks. Using products to adjust ph is usually not a good idea.

Lucy

You can control the ammonia and nitrites with daily water changes.
Prime is a water conditioner that will detoxify the ammonia for 24 hrs between water changes while your tank is cycling.

After the tank has cycled, weekly water changes will keep the nitrate levels down.

Most fish can adapt to your ph, so it's best not to mess with it.