Hello!

You may have seen on another thread that I recently had a complete illness wipe out in my coldwater tank. It's all now back cycling again after being sterilised, and after a trip to the lfs today my partner now fancies having some platys it in.

I've never done tropical before, how easy are they to keep? I can't find a caresheet on them. What else can you keep in with them? In the shop they had a Betta in each of the tanks, is this an ok set up?

Any advice would be gratefully received. Also, I got a heater with the tank, it was a second hand one. But it doesn't seem to have a thermostat on it. How would I prevent it getting too hot, or am I being stupid?! I am a complete beginner with tropical!

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nope its not. bettas have to have carefully selected tankmates if any at all.. shops keeping them in with other fish is a bit of a risk, and just shows the shop gets too many fish in to house them all properly until sold.

platys are livebearers, which means they will breeed pretty much constantly. theres a possibility of becoming oevrstocked if the parents dont end up eating most of the babies.

there will be fish that you will want to avoid as a beginner, but there enough easy tropical fish to keep, so generally its no more difficult to keep a tropical tank than a coldwater tank, once youve got the heater working.


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doesnt it have a dial on the end to change temperature setting?

It has a stick on the end that turns which I'm guessing is the dial (sorry I warned you I was complete beginner!). I've currently got it in a bucket of cold water to see if it works, it's lit up so thats a good sign! There aren't any figures on it at all, so I don't know which way turns it up, so I might transfer it into the tank in a bit as that has a thermometer so I can keep a better eye.

Ok Betta is out then, I did think it wouldn't be possible as I know they do have strong needs. Could I pretty much any other live bearers with them, eg Mollies?

Is it possible to have groups of all male/all female to prevent breeding?

I must admit I am starting to like the idea now, to be begin with I was really anti it as I did love my fantails, but the more I am researching I think I might just go for it.

Another question, I am currently cycling with fishfood, but it's coldwater fishfood. Will this matter?

Most livebearers will interbreed and you will end up with peculiar hybrids so I personally wouldn't mix them though I know some people do, see what they say. Also see what they say about the behaviour of male only groups ...

Any fish food is fine for cycling - you just want it to break down to provide an ammonia source.

Thanks for everything so far. I will stick just to the platies then I think and have a look around for other suitable companions.

Ok now for more stupid questions!! I've bitten the bullet and put the heater into the tank. How much of it has to go in. The the moment I have about three quarters of it in, with the section with the stick on it poking out. Is that right? I've also put it at an angle, I remember seeing about this on here.

I'm now not quite happy about the lay out of the tank as have had to move the filter to accomodate the heater so no doubt it will be be changed around a lot. I only have one plant in it too so I imagine I'll have to plant it a bit more. Also the plant I got was a bunched one for coldwater so I'm not sure whether it will be impressed with the new temperature.

I'm going to be a right pain for the next couple of weeks so I do appologise in advance. This is totally new ground for me.

You should be able to totaly submerge the heater. But before you do can you tell us what make / model/ wattage it is? It might be a good idea to not put your hands in the tank whilst the heater is plugged in, esspesialy as its a second hand one.
Keep an eye on the temperture using your thermometer and if its too high turn the heater down a touch. You should have plenty of time to get it right during the cycle. You should be aiming for a temp of 25 - 26 degrees.

Do you know the type of plant you have or can you give us a photo?

I honestly have no idea what make the heater is. I got the tank, filter and heater second hand and it came with no instructions and I can't see a name on it.


Here's a pic of the plant

And heres what I've done with it so far. I turned the temp up slightly and it's so far reached about 25. I wanted to find out what way turned it up, and I've found out if I turn stick towards back of tank it goes up!

I'm not entirely happy with it so far, and I've annoyingly now found out how to change spray on the filter (that was second hand too)! I think filter is going to have to go on side of tank really, to accomdate more plants.

How come you havnt filled the tank right up? Is there a maximum fill level sticker on the glass?

The plant looks like a twisted Vallis of some sort and will like the higher temps of tropical conditions. You could press some root tabs into the substrate for some root nutrients.

Looks nice so far!

Yeah as you say some more plants would be appriciated by the fish I recon and help with nitrates.

You could put the filter on the side pointing along the back pane of glass so the heater is in the water flow. This alows for better temperature distribution.



And a glass internal thermometer will be more acurate than the stick on variety.

I've had a bit of a nightmare setting things up which is why it isn't totally full! I had a second plant collapse on me this morning so I had to syphon part of it out. I've now left it not quite full in case I have to move things about a bit more.

That thermometer was already there, and having had coldwater I've never used it before!! Will have a look what other ones I can find when I go plant hunting next weekend!

Thats a good idea about the filter, I shall do that. I'm totally open to ideas and suggestions.