Odessa Barb

[lamonsas]

hey guys i have 2 mollys and 3 neon tetras in my 10 gallon tank, today in the pet store i was looking at the odessa barb which looks really beautiful, can i get 1 of these fish and add it as the final fish in my aquarium or i have to buy more than one in order for them not to die?

[lamonsas]

if i cant have a single odessa barb, which fish would u recommand me to get that will make my tank happier and NICER?

[cocoa_pleco]

3 cory's, like albino cory's

[lamonsas]

thx for the reply but im looking for more preetier fish you know, doesnt matter small or large i just want them to be nice. btw i mixed up, i dont have 2 mollys, i have 1 molly and 1 PLATY, and like i said 3 neon tetras, i will get 2 more neon tetras tommorow so that they are more happy becuase i just read when there are like 5 of them in a tank they feel more secure, should i get another platy? i was looking at the swordtail but i noticed they tand to be in the bottom of the tank most of the type, my platy is SOOO hyper, i love it. and he is always the first one that notices food too lol, i put some flakes to float like an hour ago for my fishies to eat but my neon tetras didnt come up to eat, are they just shy atm or what?

[cocoa_pleco]

the neons might just be shy. you can for sure add another platy, making a total of 5 neons, 1 molly, and 2 platy your full stock

[lamonsas]

yea man ill do that tommorow ;) , it will be really cool, i have a question tho, the mollys or the platys are not like the neon tetras that feel stressed and shy because they dont have a fish of their own kind in the tank yea? i mean as of right now my platy and the molly are so active, i love them, they are very cute too, the platy always notices food first tho :D then follows the molly , should i give my fishies some other kind of food other than the tropical flakes? i can go and buy blood worms in the pet shop tommorow, and just feed them with it once a week yea? and i just read abotu algae wafers, is that a good idea for my neons? or they dont really eat that? i should just given the neons time and they will come to the floating flakes sooner or later yea? ok so i will get 2 more neon tetras tommorow and possibly and platy, not 100% sure but possibly, i mean because its still the same fish, i wanted to have a variety of fish and not 2 of the same kind, is there some other BEAUTIFUL small fish that you would recommand to me instead of the platy?

[cocoa_pleco]

for molly's and platy's they dont need friends, but they definitely prefer friends. however schooling fish like tetras need friends to feel safe, and in nature they school in the thousands

[lamonsas]

i just edited my post please re read

[cocoa_pleco]

variety is needed. you can feed flakes and pellets daily, algae wafers every 2-3 days, and bloodworm or krill weekly. the neons should eat soon enough

for small colorful fish, the only other thing i can think of that will work is a golden wonder killiefish. theyre interesting and can be kept alone.

EDIT- and the molly will like spirulina flakes since hes a herbivore

[lamonsas]

aha ok, so tommorow i will buy pellets and the wafers and bloodworms, i hope it doesnt cost alot, and i think i wont buy ANOTHER platy, just 2 more neons because i dont want too much poop in my tank and stuff you know. what do you think? and arent the pellets too big for the platy and the molly and for the neons to swallow? and do the neons like to eat the wafers?

[lamonsas]

i have a question i just woke up and 2 neons are swimming but 1 neon is like sitting on the gravel, he is swimming a bit but he is sitting on the gravel , is he sick?

[lamonsas]

well he isnt sitting on the gravel , he is like a few centimeters above the gravel , and i just noticed he was swimming with the other 2 as usuall but now i checked him again and he is swiming alone, oh and i have my heater set to 80F , thats good yea?

[MeganL3985]

80's okay for illness and medication, but I dunno if I would keep it at 80 all the time.
Mollies typically like their water between 70-79F
Platies-68-79F
Tetras-68-78F

80's fine for a while, but you want to put them in an environment thats meant for them. I'm pretty sure most people here keep there community tanks around 78 degrees.

As for the tetra's swimming at the bottom. I would test your water parameters and probably do a water change. Usually when they're staying at the top or directly at the bottom theres an issue with your water.

[cocoa_pleco]

the neons might take a few pecks at the wafers

[lamonsas]

just came back from petland and the did a water test for me and my water is PERFECTLY fine, ph is normal aswell as ammonia. told you all that i have good water conditions. i bought 1 gold dust molly btw, so now i have 2 gold dust mollys, 1 neon dalmation platy and 2 neon tetras, now, 1 of my neon tetras that i bought yesterady( i got 3) died, i mean he didnt die but he was like rolling around and wasnt able to swim, the other 2 are perfectly fine, this is normal i guess because everyone i asked said that these neon tetras are really delicate and that even if i buy 50 of them, if 10 of them stay alive i should be lucky, they are so beatiful, could it be that its because i bought 3 of them and not an even number like 4? anyway i wanted to get 2 more like i said but they were sold out of neon tetras, friday they will get a new shipment of these little guys, but i heared that getting them the day they are shiped to the store is bad because they are already stressed from the trip and will most likely die very soon once i bring them to my tank, so i will wait until like monday, the 2 guys will be fine yea until monday when i get them friends? i mean they wont die because they are scared or anything yea?

[cocoa_pleco]

the 2 should be fine

[lamonsas]

and the chasing between the platys is normal yea mate?

[cocoa_pleco]

probably just trying to breed

[lamonsas]

oh and i set the temp to 78F

[lamonsas]

probably just trying to breed

are you serious? what am i gonna do if they breed?? its like the new platy is trying to run away from the platy that i already had? my gold dust molly is joing the chasing party too tho

[cocoa_pleco]

the molly is probably just fooling around.

if the platy do breed, you can keep the fry and raise them or just leave them and if they get eaten, they get eated

[lamonsas]

thx god, ok i was scared i need to buy some special things and buy another tank and stuff. so the chasing is normal yea? im glad they arent trying to kill or anything. its really funny to watch them chase each other tho :) they are cute. in a week or so ill get like 2 more neon tetras and then i wont get anymore fish for my tank, so i will have a total of 4 neons. since i think when they are 2 like right now they feel sad. even tho they are preety active, btw i gave them blood worms today, ALL OF my fish loved it really ;) oh btw, i saw the pellets in the store, pellets for tropical fish, but it said it was floating pellets, do i need these or blood worms every week once and flakes daily is ok?

[cocoa_pleco]

you for sure can skip the pellets.

[lamonsas]

so im good with flakes 2 times a day and blood worms once a week? should i give them blood worms more than once a week? like twice a week? how will they be happier and healthier? and you sure that i shouldnt be worried about the platys breeding yea ?

[cocoa_pleco]

sounds fine, and bloodworm once a week.

the breeding is absolutely harmless. ive had TONS of fish breed on me, oscars, convicts, guppies, platy, plecos, rainbow sharks, black neons, etc., and with the platy fry i just left them

[lamonsas]

Thanks alot for this info mate, i appriciate it. and i should add 2 more neons yea? so i will have a total of 4 neon tetras, i dont want the 2 neons to feel lonely, that will be ok yea? btw the store told me they will get a shipment of neons friday, should i go and buy 2 neon tetras on friday or wait until saturday? i read somewhere that its not good to buy the fish the day they are shiped to the store because they are stressed from the trip and will most likely die fast once i bring them home, is that true or not really? they do have a few green electric tetras in the store right now but they are 4.99 which is a bit expensive compared tothe 1.49 neon tetra, i actually like the blue , neon tetras better than the green ones. right now the female is like hiding behind a plant but she swims to the center of the tank too, they are very responsive too btw i mean if i put my hand on the aquarium they will like swim fast away from where i touched my hand on the aquarium glass, but yea, they dont seem to chase that much either btw, i think they act like this because i just introduced the new platy and they are showing whos the boss to each other until 1 gives up. oh and i dont plan on getting anymore fish other than the 2 neon tetras. the new platy wont be so hidy forever yea? it is acting like this because its new yea?

[cocoa_pleco]

yep, the platy is acting that way because its new. my yellow tang in my reef took a week to move out of one spot.

you for sure can add 2 more neons.

and always wait 5 days after a fish shipment, theyre extremely stressed when theyre shipped to the store and if you buy them right away they will get sick from all the stress

[lamonsas]

got it ;) Thanks man. and the new platy isnt in 1 spot, she is just swimming around but when she says my old platy starts to chase she goes behind a rock or something but then comes out again, good to know this is all normal. btw like i said a did a water test today and both ammonia and ph were good ;) which im really glad, so i should keep on doing 20% weekly water change like been doing all this time yea? i try to syphon whatever i can from the gravel like poop and food leftovers, btw its ok that i put tap water in the tank and then quickly add the stress coat yea? i mean it doesnt make a difference if i treat the water with stress coat before i put it in the tank or after i put it in the tank yea? and i add 2 ml of stress coat everytime.

[cocoa_pleco]

add stresscoat before the water goes into the tank.

definitely do weekly water changes, always 35%-60%. it helps remove waste that would produce evil ammonia

[lamonsas]

ok i will and regarding my water test that showed me ph was a LITTLE below normal, how can i raise the ph so its normal? do a water change? he recommanded to buy a ph raiser which cost 5.99, i thought he was trying to sell me a product you know so i dont want to buy that, whats the best thing i can do to raise the ph without spending money?

[cocoa_pleco]

PH reducers and increaser's are 110% pointless most of the time. the fish at your store are acclimated to your PH so oyur house water has the same as your stores. you can keep a softwater fish like a neon tetra at a PH of 8 even as long as its a slow acclimation. you dont need to change your PH.

the only time you should bother is if you want to recreate natural habitat, like my oscar/convict/pacu tank. i threw in some driftwood, and the tannins have leached and my housewater PH is a even 7, and their tank is a 6. if for some reason you need to soften it, add some peat or driftwood, and if you need to increase it add some crushed coral, but its not necessary

[lamonsas]

ok , regarding my ammonia, by the color coded scale that the test kit has, it showed my ammonia was the 2nd color after EXCELLENT, meaning it wasnt the best level, it was the level after that, does that mean i need to change my water now or its ok do the weekly changes as usuall?

[lamonsas]

oh and i have another question, tommorow i am going to change the 2 indecent bulbs in my tank with 1 fluorecent bulb, it costs 14.99 but ill get it because its really brighter and better, its the screw bulbs btw, but the question is, they dont have the bulbs for aquarium, its a bulb for reptiles but they said its the same thing, we even tested it with the same aquarium hood i have and the bulb turned on great, so it doesnt matter that the bulb is for reptiles yea? its just a regular bulb btw , not a medication bulb or anything, just a regular fluorecent bulb , i say its for reptiles because on the box there is a picture of a reptile, there were 2 kinds btw, both were 30w but 1 said "Full Specturm" and the other kind said something else, i forgot to ask the guy in the store whats the difference but i doubt its a big difference, oh and he said that the one for aquariums is similar light to this one its just that they dont sell it at the moment and its 14.99 aswell so the price factor doesnt matter in this case, so its ok if i get that fluroecent bulb for my tank?

[cocoa_pleco]

the bulb should be fine.

regarding the ammonia, is your tank cycled? if not, do 50% water changes daily, and if so do a 60% one

[lamonsas]

yea it is cycled, but like i said the test result showed that my ammonia was fine its just that it wasnt the best on the scale, so should i do like a 25% water change now or wait until monday ?(i change water every monday(every week.. ) btw i have 2 filters, one is an aquaclear filter that i got 4 days ago(its for tanks 10-30 gallons), and i have my old filter still working there which is the old type of filters that are inside the tank on the gravel, that old filter has only a filter floss in it, i removed all ammo chips and carb chips from it since i now have my new filter, the old filter still has the old media so i dont need to cycle again, i went through this proccess wiht my friend so i know im doing it right, the new aquaclear filter has 3 slots, 1 is a sponge that i will rinse with aquarium water every month or so, a carbon slot and a biomax slot, i am running the carbon slot only for a week and then i will remove it because i recently medicated my tank for ich so i applied the carbon so it cleans the water you know, i will remove the carbon on monday. so should i do a water change? like 20-25%? i mean it can only do good yea? or i shouldnt since i just changed the water this last monday? btw for the first 4 months that i had my tank i been cleaning 25% Water every 2 days so yea i cycled the tank, its just been like a month that i started doing 1 water change a week. regarding the bulb, i will surely get it tommorow, i will only get 1 tho because its really expensive imo, 14.99$ that is.. i mean its really bright anyways , ill bring it home and see how it looks, if its needed ill just get another bulb and thats it, what if i put 1 fluorecent and 1 of the regular bulbs that im using now? will it give a nice effect or will it be ugly?

[lamonsas]

this is a link to the bulb btw:

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

and

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

these are the 2 types they have in the store, its just the the ones they have in the store are 13 watts, not 26 like in the link i provided, sorry i couldnt find a link to the 13watt.

[cocoa_pleco]

im pretty sure the bulb will be fine. you also can use regular household Compact Fluorescent bulbs too
sounds like your tank is cycled, so there may be some food or debris rotting causing ammonia. do a 50% water change and clean the gravel well

[lamonsas]

yea there are some food on the gravel , i clean the gravel every water change , so its better to do a water change now yea? the next time i do a water change will be next thursday, thats good yea? regarding the fluorecent bulbs, how am i going explain the person what kind of bulb i need and im not sure where to get the bulbs either, id guess a hardware store? but are they gonna be quality flurecent, im not sure man, how much would 1 bulb cost in some other store? these repti bulbs seem to be special and high power bulbs tho, or its just written so people buy their bulbs?

[cocoa_pleco]

here at hardwater stores the CF's are about 8 for $15. just say you need one for an aquarium.

you can never do too many water changes, you could do 10 50% waterchanges a day without harm. your for sure can do one now, and next thursday

[lamonsas]

ok i just did a 25% water change and now i put 2ml stress coat in the bucket before i put it inside the tank, after i put the water from the bucket into the tank the water wasnt fully up to the top so i filled a little bit of more water and put it in the tank too and then added just a bit of stress coat for that little bit of water that i added afterwards, thats ok yea? btw i will buy the bulb tommoorw, the repti one for 14.99 from the petstore, i think 1 should be enough, i mean 1 of these fluorecent is brighter than 2 regular bulbs to begin with so i dont think ill need 2 but ill see, if i need another bulb then ill just get another bulb, i will first try to mix the new flurocent with 1 regular bulb and see how it looks.

[cocoa_pleco]

all sounds good.

incandescent bulbs are bad and and will soon be obsolete. they waste energy, give uneven light, and get really warm

[lamonsas]

yea man i totaly agree, there is a visible difference between incandescent and fluorecent light in aquariums yea? i mean tommorow when i change my 2 regular bulbs with the one fluorecent bulb i should see a difference right? btw, im not sure but id rather ask these repti bulbs say its produces uvb and stuff like that , i mean thats not special stuff for reptiles yea? i mean common sense tells me a fluorecent bulb is just the same as any other fluorecent bulb UNLESS its stated that the bulb is a medication type bulb or someone which this repti bulb clearly doesnt, i mean even the guy in the store told me that its the same thing but i want to make sure, it cant harm the fish or anything yea? btw i should get the "Full specturm" ( [Only Registered Users Can See Links.] )

or the "Tropical Terrarium" [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

and remember im not getting the 26 wallt, im geting the 13, the 26 costs more i believe

[cocoa_pleco]

the spectrum looks good.

you definitely will notice a huge difference

[lamonsas]

ok, thanks mate i will buy that bulb tommorow ;) oh and they will get a shipment of the neon tetras tommorow but i wont buy any because like u said they will most likely die because the just been transfered to the store and are stressed already so i will wait like until monday and then i will buy 2 more neon tetras so i will have 4 neon tetras in total.

[cocoa_pleco]

sounds good!

[lamonsas]

guess what? i just came back from petland and they recieved the aquarium bulbs today lol haha. its a 10watt fluorecent bulb, it is also 14.99, anyway i purchashed one bulb, the light is GREAT however 1 side of fthe tank is lighter than the other because obviously i have only 1 bulb, so what i did is i added 1 regular bulb, so now i have 1 regular bulb and 1 fluorecent bulb and now the tank isnt half bright and half dark, its better thatn 1 bulb thats for sure, its ok having the light like this yea? boy i would have purchased another lamp but 14.99 is quite expensive for a bulb ;) oh and mate, monday i will remove the carbon from my NEW filter that has been running for a week already, i need to turn off the filter first and then take out the whole cartridge and remove the carbon yea? i mean i must turn off the filter yea? btw when im done removing the carbon and i put the cartridge back in the filter, i just plug the filter back to the wall and it should turn on yea? i mean the first time i turned the filter on , i needed to pour water into the filter with a cup so it starts the filtering proccess just like the instructions said, so i was wondering if i need to do that again since i will be turning it off. btw my old filter which is a filter that is INSIDE the tank siting on the gravel has only my old filter floss like i said that contains all the good bacteria and stuff so thats why i didnt replace it, i was told to keep the old filter media as is in the old filter (there is only a filter floss in the old filter, no ammonia chips or anything like that) and not wash it for atleast 2 weeks so that my new filter's sponge gets the good bacteria too. so yea after 2 weeks pass, should i replace the filter floss in my old filter with a fress new filter floss(the cutton you know) because its quiete dirty atm, i mean its a bit black.

[lamonsas]

coco please reply

[cocoa_pleco]

sorry, i was out of town all afternoon.

the lighting should be fine until you have the money to pick up another CF.

to rip out the carbon, you can leave the filter running, then rip out the carbon and put it back. i never replace my cartridges (i personally dont believe in cleaning filter pads, or replacing them).

if yours is black, you can take a bucket, put water conditioner in it, and swish around the filter pad until its running clean. if you wash the pad in regular tap water the chlorine will kill the bacteria

[lamonsas]

oh so i should still get another fluorecent? i cant just leave 1 fluorcenet and one regular bulb? and ok i wont turn off the filter, i wil take take out the carbon layer quickly and throw it out, btw what happens if the filter pad is dirty and i dont clean it? the cutton pad, not the sponge. i mean what if i just leave it running until it gets more dirty

[cocoa_pleco]

if possible, yes do get another fluorescent, but one incandescent and one fluorescent wont kill anything

i have almost every brand of filter you can imagine, canister, HOB, fluidized bed, etc. and all brands, and all get no pad cleanings and replacements. i have found that they dont rot or anything, and all my parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate, and 0 nitrite. some have run for 8 months constantly without pad replacement.

i am not encouraging not cleaning filter pads but so far it has worked for me. what works for one person may not work for others

[lamonsas]

Okay mate.

[lamonsas]

so regarding the dirty old filter floss (the cutton) thats in my OLD filter, should i replace it with a new filter floss or just take it out and rinse it with water from my aquarium, isnt that gonna wash out bacteria? i mena even tho ill rinse it with aquarium water and not tap water, and what will happen if i dont clean that dirty filter floss? i mean its not really really dirty but its a little black, i think its black because of the carbon chips i used to have in that old filter long time ago.

[cocoa_pleco]

you can keep the same floss, and rinse it in aquarium water.

if it turns really black some people say it "rots", ive never seen it happen though