I need help..

Question
Greetings,

11/02/06

After I purchased all the equipment for the tank including fish, I bought "The simple guide to freshwater aquariums" by: David E. Boruchowitz last.

In my 10 gallon tank I have:
3 Dwarf Gourami's "Colisa Lalia"
1 Molly
1 Killifish
1 Panda Cory Catfish
1 Silver Tip Tetra

My tank was set-up completly on Sunday 10/29/06.  I added all the fish on 10/31/06.

Now I am still reading the book and I am at the cycling the water part of the book.  Is it to late for all my fish even though I have not started the cycling of my water?  And what should I do now to a have healthy tank?

-Mario Beckles Jr.

Answer
hey mario,
your fish should be fine even though you haven't cycled your tank yet. if your tank was running since the day you set it up until your fish were added, they should be fine.

to keep your fish healthy, make sure you:

keep the tank at a nice temperature (i have found that 75-80 degrees works nicely),

don't over populate with live plants (i wouldn't add any if you haven't done so yet, fake plants work much better. you don't need to worry about snails and water pollution)

do you water changes! a 20% water change needs to be done every week. if you have any type of pollution issue, do more frequent water changes.

make sure you put in your water conditioning drops every time you add water.

By doing all of this, your tank should start off nicely. Good luck with your tank! I hope every thing goes smoothly! =] feel free to ask future questions.

best wishes, chelsey