*Hello to you all*

[honey]

Hello

So excited to be here.....We are newbies to this forum and to the world of Aquariums...bought one for my husband as an anniversary gift..beats another soccer shirt HAHAH

Anyhow we have been reading through a few posts to get the gist of it all ....

We have a 90L tank and have 10 little Neon's and 2 Mollies.....all has gone well so far ...only we have figured out that we have a male and a female Molly!!! arghhh if only we had know that they were great breeders lol..anyhow we are a little concerned about our MM(Male Molly )......as the FM(Female Molly) wont leave him alone...she chases him and what looks like nips him......is this a "courting" thing or is she a bully!

Any ideas ...

Look forward to chatting and sharing stories etc with you all soon

 

[Neville]

welcome to fishlore!!!! normally male mollies chase female mollies, that's why the rule is to keep 2 female mollies per male molly, i think u should add one more female molly.

 

[Gunnie]

Welcome to FishLore! It's great to have you with us! Please click on the link in my signature titled, "FishLore Articles for Beginners". It will help you with a lot of the beginner's stuff. Make sure you understand the nitrogen cycle completely. Since you already have fish in your tank, you will have to monitor your ammonia and nitrites carefully so your fish don't die on you. Keep in mind that neons are rather sensitive and you will probably have some casualties.

I would not get any more fish until your tank is cycled. What you can do though is provide more hiding places in the tank, so your molly can get away when he needs to. We're glad you decided to join us, and hope to see you here often!

 

[inuyasha_lover_21]

welcome to fishlore! We will try to answer your questions that you may have.

 

[tan.b]

hi there honey! welcome to fishlore!!! what a fab gift!!! you will both enjoy it immensely i'm sure!! any questions or stories you have feel free to share them. we will all help as much as we can! good luck in your new hobby and keep us posted on how the mollies are doing!! have they had babies already or is it just that she's pregnant? many babies do get eaten by the fish (even the parents will eat them), so you may not get as overpopulated as you think! if you do want the babies then some people use devices such as breeding nets and breeding boxes etc, but you will have to regularly feed the fry special food. some just go for the natural option of providing plenty of plants etc for the fry to hide in and the fry can live off all the microscopic bits in the gravel etc. java moss i've heard is good for fry to hide in if you can get it? the natural way i'd guess will raise only the strongest fry whereas the breeding devices will protect all fry whether deformed, weak or whatever. this is just what i've read, i have no 1st hand experience of breeding yet (my guppies are refusing to give birth and have been pregnant for what seems like forever!!!!). good luck, and give us a yell if you need any help!!
Tan

 

[honey]

Hellooo and Good Morning from New Zealand .............Now that I realise the reason I didnt get a reply last night ;D. the time difference may have been a factor :

Anyhow its Day 3 of our Aquarium and all is well, we spent last night re- assessing the shape and size of our Mollies and yes we agree we reckon it is the Male chasing the Female Molly.......

Hubby is off to buy another today ...

We have lots of nooks and crannies for the fish to hide in - will try and put a photo up soon.

Thanks again for responding ....and I will be back I am sure

 

[tan.b]

males chasing females!!! that sounds more familiar although my male guppies get a little confused sometimes and just chase anything that swims!!! randy fish! it'll be harder for him to harrass 2 girls! they'll soon learn how to hide! my guppies do!!
best of luck, looking forward to some pics!
Tan

 

[atmmachine816]

Welcome to fishlore.

Would take gunnie's advice and not add anymore fish, don't be surprised if you lose some neons, they aren't very hardy. :-\

 

[Butterfly]

Welcome to fishLore! see your getting good advice already
Carol

 

[honey]

WOW I sure am : I am blown away with all the advice and information ...we are sooo "FISHED" out LOL

I have read all the great information for beginners from this site and have relayed it all to my Hubby..

Our Aquarium is still looking beautiful - clean and all fish still accounted for ..and looking happy and very active..So fingers crossed we are doing an ok job here.

We decided to leave buying another Molly till end of the week as advised...With full support from the only other female(Me) in this household I am sure our FM will find a way with dealing with the MF

bye for now...its 5.30pm. here in NZ the weather is a little hot and muggy but still a glorious night down under*s*

 

[susitna-flower]

Welcome to fishlore honey! It is so fun to see someone else up at this time of the night! Almost 11 pm here. Keeping fish can be addicting, be careful, soon you and your husband will be spending all your free time playing with them, or taking trips to your local fish store (LS). That's OK it happens to us all.

Never be shy about asking for help. People here are quite understanding and just want you to have a fun, trouble free experience.
One thing I would suggest right away is to get a master test kit, if you haven't already. As SOON as you get it home take readings of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. If the ammonia is climbing, start with 50% water changes every day until your tank cycles. You will know that has happened when your ammonia and nitrite both go back down to 0 and nitrate goes up.

Fish in the Frozen North. +10 F and clear.

 

[tan.b]

oh yeah!!! well remembered susitna flower!!! i'm so used to having one i forget to mention it! yeah, most people here have the aquarium pharmaceticlas inc one (API) which is a liquid test kit with test tubes. its much easier than it sounds. there is a stickied thread somewhere from terry which stresses how important it is to follow the exact instructions incl shaking the nitrate bottle well or you will get a falsely low reading. the test strips are apparently notoriously inaccurate and rather expensive. the API kit may sound pricey on first glance, but does over 700 tests and will last forever!!!!!!!!!!!! (well nearly!!).
ammonia and nitrite ideally need to be zero, but with you having fish in there and still cycling it will rise, but try to keep it below 1.0. signs of ammonia poisoning are reddened gills which can get inflamed and lead to permanent damage. this link is useful to bear in mind and stress the need for low ammonia. http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/water/ammonia.htm. the nitrate you get when you're tank has cycled needs to kept under 20. this is achieved through water changes. live plants use up some nitrates and may help too.

you're doing a great job as you're fish are all still well....so thats something to be proud of!

any help, give us a yell!
good luck
Tan

 

[honey]

Morning All

Thanks for the information *again* boy there is a lot to learn....we have just completed our daily check and yes all is well in the Aquarium

We have every kit you can imagine here heheheh and we have been testing it daily.....Thursday is going to be our first full week and we have a full day planned with checking and changing water etc..

I have told the children we aren't to name the fish for atleast another couple of days....but boy are we becoming weird.....we spend the whole time just sitting watching our little Aquarium and the four of us have great fun "talking" for the fish......So when it comes to a feed ... the little neons whizz around shouting "MINE MINE MINE!" HAHAHAH just like the scene in the film Nemo..

anyway enough of our daft stories...

So I have been trying to suss out where all you guys are from....with the time differences etc..When we searced the net for help and advice this is the most informative one we could find so it seemed logical to join up.....yesturday we discovered a forum in New Zealand also which is exciting ..

Sleep well all
Thanks again
till next time *s*

 

[tan.b]

ohhhhhhhhhhhh, the madness gets worse!!!! i spend all my time with the tv on, watching the fish and asking my husband whats just happened in the tv program! drives him mad! the fish are so addictive!! wont be long before you find yourselves wanting every fish in the fish store and getting more tanks!! i started the first tank end of jan, and now i have 3 and one pending repair in the garage. mutiple tank syndrome has kicked in!!! i also find myself rambling about fish to my friends who just look at me blankly wondering what the **** i'm on about!! i have to restrain myself before i get labelled the wierdo who talks fish 24-7!! also you'll notice before long a huge magnetic pull towards fish shops!!! i drive within a 5mile radius of one and before i know i'm saying thankyou very much, be back again soon to the fish shop man with bags full of fish and accessories!! it really does somehow take over your life. of all the animals/pets i've owned, fish have been the most addictive! anyway, i'm rambling again!! - i ramble alot!! sorry!! have fun and you're doing a great job with your fish. keep up the good work. plenty of research and you'll all do fine!! i'm still researching now and i've done the whole cycling malarky, but reading up on every species i'm considering and already got is interesting!! i like learning and reading so it suits me fine!!! keep us posted
Tan

 

[susitna-flower]

Honey, if you want to locate where different members are, and post your map, look up at the top of each page, you will see the bar that MEMBER MAP click on it and you can put yourself on the world map, as well as click on a pin, and see who lives there, or below the map, each member is listed according to country, and you can click on one, and their pin lights up. It is SO cool! 8)

This forum really has been well thought out to make people comfortable and connected.

Fish in the Frozen North. +10 F today, sunny & wind. 8)

 

[Joe G]

Welcome to FishLore.
Joe G.