Just want to know if im doing this right...

LyzzaRyzz

I got me some guppies and some mollies today, not knowing how big mollies would get, or thier rate of poop!

They are right now in a 14 gallon, quarantine, bare bottomed tank.
I will be upgrading them to a 24 gallon, after i make sure their all healthy, and i get to clean out the 24 gallon.

My plan, for the time being, is to vac out any poop on the bottom of the tank[multiple times a day], in addition to the filters, and to a 20%w/c daily.

Im home all day, so its really not alot of work, since i just stick a hose in there, and let it flow til the water level drops to where it cant suck up anymore. Then i refill.

Should i do more of a w/c? like 30% or 40%?

I will be feeding them very little, three times a day, so i can make sure there isnt any left over food in the tank.

I do have ammonia remover...should i add a bit of that to the tank every day or every two days, just to make sure there arent ammonia spikes?

Just want to make sure im doing this right, and if anyone has any advise that would be great!

Im not thinking of returning the mollies just yet, I want to see how this all pans out before i return any fish. I absolutely adore their little faces!

Romad

I think the most important question to ask you is - Did you cycle the quarantine tank before adding the fish?

LyzzaRyzz

I had it set up for almost three days, with two filter media pads from my established tank. I put some old fish water in the tank, along with some fish food, and it clouded up the next morning, and cleared up by the next morning.

Im pretty sure that the bioload of the fish in the tank now will be too much for the bacteria in the tank, so thats why im doing water changes so much. I dont want there to be a build up of ammonia.

Byron

Do you have a test kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? And what water conditioner?

Daily water changes of half the tank may be necessary if ammonia or nitrite is showing in tests. This is the cycling issue Romad mentioned. Even in a QT the nitrifying bacteria have to be established and this takes time.

Looking ahead, no mention is made of how many molliy (and if Common Molly or Sailfin Molly) and Guppy but a 24g tank is not very large for molly. Check the profiles data, click the shaded names.

Byron.

LyzzaRyzz

I ended up doing a tank change, switching them from the 14 to the 24, but using the filter and gravel/decorations that were in my ten gallon.
My parameters now are
Ammonia:0
Nitrate: 25ppm
Nitrite:0
The conditioner i use is API Stress Coat, and finishing off a bottle of Jungle Start Right with Allantion.

I know that Mollies should end up in a bigger tank, though the biggest i have at the moment is the 24. The mollies, which are common mollies, are only about an inch and a half long. The guppies are the same length as they are.
There are four mollies and three guppies and some ghost shrimp. Eventually, the guppies will get their own tank, am waiting on it cycling now, and when i get a larger tank, the mollies will go in there.

Im doing about a 30%w/c every day, ill step it up to 40%.