Hi! Newbie (somewhat) here... I had a fish tank for years when I was younger. Despite the fact that I had no clue what I was doing, I was pretty successful in my ignorance. Never had an issue until the end of a 10 year run when my breaker panel went and the drop in temp in my condo (it was October/November) seemed to induce a bout of ick. Lost all my fish but one really large angel that a local pet store was happy to take and quarantine. That was the last time I had a tank...almost 20 years ago. Currently, I have a koi pond but that's an entirely different thing. We recently set my 7 yr old up with a small 10 gallon starter tank and it's going quite well...and making me nostalgic over my old tank. Another setup just wasn't in the budget and no matter how much I scoured Craigslist, I wasn't very lucky in finding a larger tank and setup for free. Not sure how religious you all are but I decided to pray for a tank. And all the extras...because that's the only way I'd get one. A little odd, perhaps, but God has come through for me before.
A couple days ago, my children were being particularly naughty and decided to raid some rocks from my neighbor's porch. While they're only 7, 4 & 4, that's not something I tolerate so I marched them over to our neighbor with their little box of stolen finds to return them and apologize. Not only did he laugh and encourage them to take more, he asked if I wanted his fish tank. Seriously? I figured it might be a nice upgrade for my daughter if it was a 20 or 30 gallon but no...it's a 121+ gallon with cabinet, filter, heater, aerator, etc. Oh, and the rocks in a pile in the back yard. !!!! The thing is a beast! So I'm in a bit over my head. I have a cousin whose Mollies bred and he has 11 left that he asked me to take. I really like Mollies so I'm happy with that. Once I get the tank established and a biofilter going, those will be my first fish. I'd like to start with creating a habitat before investing in more fish so these are my questions:
1) The tank is 60 X 18 X 26. There are 2 light fixtures that hold 2 bulbs apiece. I'm wondering what bulbs I need if I want to grow live plants. And how long do I leave the tank lit? 6 hrs? 8 hrs? Can I run an LED strip alongside them and keep it on low when the bright lights are off or will that still mess with the Photosynthesis cycle? What if I kept the LEDs on a moonlight option when the daylight bulbs are off?
2) Which plants do you recommend? I know they might be overplayed but I do love java ferns. I have my eye on some others as well but I'm worried that as a beginner (used to have plastic plants in my old tank), I might kill them. I do have some live plants growing in my daughter's tank but hers is lit with an LED panel and it's been trial and error so far with getting them to survive.
3) As I mentioned, my first fish will be 11 mollies. I don't want a ton of fish; I'd rather a nice amount that has plenty of room to swim. I was thinking those mollies, maybe 20 guppies, some neon tetras, some gouramies, a few yellow glow fish (because they look so cool under the LEDs), and a couple of plecos. Total...maybe 50 or 60 fish. Would this amount/mix be okay? Any red flags?
I guess that's it for now. If you think of anything else I should know, let me know. Hoping to get tank set up in next 2 days...will utilize koi pond water to help establish it since our pond is really healthy and has perfect levels. Then I'll let it run for a couple weeks before getting my mollies. So excited...over the moon, really <3 Thanks, all!
A couple days ago, my children were being particularly naughty and decided to raid some rocks from my neighbor's porch. While they're only 7, 4 & 4, that's not something I tolerate so I marched them over to our neighbor with their little box of stolen finds to return them and apologize. Not only did he laugh and encourage them to take more, he asked if I wanted his fish tank. Seriously? I figured it might be a nice upgrade for my daughter if it was a 20 or 30 gallon but no...it's a 121+ gallon with cabinet, filter, heater, aerator, etc. Oh, and the rocks in a pile in the back yard. !!!! The thing is a beast! So I'm in a bit over my head. I have a cousin whose Mollies bred and he has 11 left that he asked me to take. I really like Mollies so I'm happy with that. Once I get the tank established and a biofilter going, those will be my first fish. I'd like to start with creating a habitat before investing in more fish so these are my questions:
1) The tank is 60 X 18 X 26. There are 2 light fixtures that hold 2 bulbs apiece. I'm wondering what bulbs I need if I want to grow live plants. And how long do I leave the tank lit? 6 hrs? 8 hrs? Can I run an LED strip alongside them and keep it on low when the bright lights are off or will that still mess with the Photosynthesis cycle? What if I kept the LEDs on a moonlight option when the daylight bulbs are off?
2) Which plants do you recommend? I know they might be overplayed but I do love java ferns. I have my eye on some others as well but I'm worried that as a beginner (used to have plastic plants in my old tank), I might kill them. I do have some live plants growing in my daughter's tank but hers is lit with an LED panel and it's been trial and error so far with getting them to survive.
3) As I mentioned, my first fish will be 11 mollies. I don't want a ton of fish; I'd rather a nice amount that has plenty of room to swim. I was thinking those mollies, maybe 20 guppies, some neon tetras, some gouramies, a few yellow glow fish (because they look so cool under the LEDs), and a couple of plecos. Total...maybe 50 or 60 fish. Would this amount/mix be okay? Any red flags?
I guess that's it for now. If you think of anything else I should know, let me know. Hoping to get tank set up in next 2 days...will utilize koi pond water to help establish it since our pond is really healthy and has perfect levels. Then I'll let it run for a couple weeks before getting my mollies. So excited...over the moon, really <3 Thanks, all!
