Re: new to the hobby same old questions

[biggreeny_101]

with "platties" are the colours/ patterns determined by specific breeding or just pot luck

[Mary]

with "platties" are the colours/ patterns determined by specific breeding or just pot luck

Both, I'd imagine! Although there are specific varieties bred e.g. Wagtail Platies, Mickey Mouse Platies - they have markings near their tail which looks like MM's head as you can see.

[biggreeny_101]

with "platties" are the colours/ patterns determined by specific breeding or just pot luck

Both, I'd imagine! Although there are specific varieties bred e.g. Wagtail Platies, Mickey Mouse Platies - they have markings near their tail which looks like MM's head as you can see.

yes the micky mouse one seems to be one of the most talked about.
but mine are all diferent. colours/ markings
my fav is my little male(thinking about calling him elvis if he survives the first week)
he is orange with a blue+green marking across his body.
***********note***********
im trying not to get attatched as yet because i have a long way to go!

[Mary]

I started off with two male red/gold platies - Goldie and Orlaith (derived from Ór,the Irish for gold). Only one left now as sadly the other one died after about a year but I still think they're a nice little fish. Diana might have a different view though as her male platy terrorized the tank...

[munchycarrot]

30lt tank set up with 5 "platties"

although guppies aren't the hardiest of
species so they may not survive

Just a slip of the tongue i think. Mary meant platties

[Mary]

Doh, serves me right for speed reading...again!

[tmag]

hiya biggreeny. Hope you dont mind another newbie making a comment, but I did exactly the same as you - went out and got a tank and fish at the same time (even though I had read all the stuff on here!! )

Perhaps some of my mistakes will help you keep your fish well.

I bought a 90litre tank, and filled it with a variety of fish - guppies, mollies, plattys and a few neon tetras. They looked great. I took water to the lfs after a week and was told there was minimal ammonia and nothing to worry about. They were wrong!!!

I ended up having loads of fish deaths and almost gave up on a hobby I had only just got into.

What I would do different - read all the articles on here and learn the importance of CLEAN water!!!
Do DAILY water testing as in Marys article Cycling with fish, and daily water changes.
Read and ask questions on here and dont think the people in the lfs know everything - they know NOTHING!
Slow down and be patient.
THINK about what fish you get - I have a tank overun with little babies

I thought I would get away with ignoring all the advice (how stupid was that!), but all is well now and my water is spot on and the fish are ok. I still have a couple of plattys that dont look as good or lively as the rest of the fish and dont know how they will do, but fingers crossed.

Good Luck with everything

[Mary]

Good advice, tmag. We all learn from our mistakes and it's great that you got through your initial crisis and can now enjoy your lovely fish tank.

[biggreeny_101]

ok im back with more questions!!!

firstly thanks tmag! its good to know im not the only person in this situation.

ok to the questions:
the female i was talking about yesterday seems fatter?(kinda out of proportion and fatter than the rest)
i have done some reading up on this!
but the problem is she is dark blue with a silver underbelly.
(so i cant realy see the "gravid spot").
so the question actualy is: how else can i tell if she is "pregant"
what other signs to look for?
the time frame this cycle takes?

apart from this all else seems fine. and as soon as i get a test kit the results will be posted
( i am doing a 50% water change every night to try and keep chemical levels low)

[Diana]

If you have livebearers then the chances are you will have pregnant females - they are the fishy equivelant of rabbits!

The signs of pregnant fish - well basically with my plattys and guppys, they just got bigger and then you see little ones swimming around the tank. The main thing to think of is what are you going to do with the fry? Most of them will probably get eaten (unless you take them out of the tank and keep them seperate), but if you have survivoors then they grow and have babies, and so it goes on!

I used to seperate them until they were big enough to take to the lfs, but now I dont have any livebearers so the problem no longer have that problem.

As fopr water changes, get the testing kit as soon as poss as even low chemical readings can affect your fish..

[biggreeny_101]

as for now id agree. i dont want any fry as im pushing the limit as it is.
but as for the test kit im not to sure what brands are reliable in aus??
but the the main things to look for are:
ammonia?
nitrate?
ph levels?
but is there any thing else i should be testing for?

[Diana]

The main ones to test for are Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. Ph is also handy to know because it can affect what types of fish you can have. The main one recommended over here is the API Masterkit, but whether you have that in Aus I dont know. There will be something similar though.

Steer cleat of the test strip type of testing kit, and look for one which has liquid reagents that you add to a specimen of tank water - they tend to be more accurate.

[GeordieDave]

I have the API testing kit (around £15 if your the guy from Oz then hmmm o idea in $) and I also bought the Kh and GH testing kit just coz i wasnted to be able to test the hardness of my water.

[biggreeny_101]

i think the basic conversion is about $45-$50 aus dollars????

[Diana]

£15 is about $30Aus according to one page I have just looked on.