Day 4 The New Additions

Today was another successful day. I went to the store and bought 3 more fish. 2 pleco fish to help keep my algae down and a male red platy. I have no names for them because I am no good at naming things. If you have any ideas please let me know I'll be posting pictures tomorrow for who every wants to see what they look like. All the fish are still swimming around normally and Cheeto today was very energetic during the moring feeding and swam rapidly for about 30 minutes. I also bought frozen brine shrimp so that I could add variety to their diets and add some more protein. The fry are also doing very good and even have seemed to grow 1/16 of an inch, which isn't much if you think about it but still.

Day 3 The Calm

Today was a good day for the fish. It seems that they, the adult fish, have become familiar enough with their new home that they will let loose their personality.  Starburst seems to be the adventurous one of the group and swims all of the tank often very quickly then darts behind some scenery as if playing hide and seek. Cheeto doesn't like to stray too far away from Starburst and even if she does it's still on the same half of the tank that Starburst is on. Shelby seems to like her home too, she doesn't swim as energetically as Cheeto but likes to swim around lazily.

They have all eaten what I believe is a normal dosage when I put the food in the tank, and aggressively eat it. The plants are also doing well. A few don't want to root and come loose every now and then. Tomorrow I plan on getting some sort of fish that will eat algae and two new platies, one male the other female.

The fry are doing well in their box of safety. They have very good hiding spots and so it is very hard for me to find them. The ones in the tank from what I can tell are doing good, I saw one poke its head out and swim around a bit, other then that they hide all day.... or have been eaten.

Day 2 = Crazy

This morning was very eventful when I woke up... Leon my grown up green tetra had died and decided to float at the top in his death here's a picture.

After flushing him and his buddy Celest, I went off to the store to grab some supplies for the new fry which were apparently born last night. I could only see a few this morning but then after moving the driftwood shelter I have in the tank about 10 darted each way. I was able to separate 4 from the tank and put them inside a breeder net box thing. Here are some picture of the net box and them inside.

These are a little hard to see but in the top left corner net of the bottom picture there are 2 fry.

 On this picture they are on the top right corner of the net but even harder to see.

So after getting the breeder box I also grabbed some plants and a new decoration to allow for more hiding places. I also grabbed some bacteria stimulant and plant food but I will wait until tomorrow to feed the plants so that I don't over stimulate the environment. Eventful day, and I can't wait to see how the fry develop.

Day 1

I have killed one small green tetra I bought just 3 hours ago. I have my two platies that I think are dieing but I am not for certain because they may just be stupid. Not much on the first day. Tomorrow I plan to buy more foliage and a new rock for the fish along with an aerator and a male platy and another female platy.

The Set-Up

Here is my equipment with photos:

-An Aqueon Pro 100 watt heater

-Aqueon QuietFlow 20

-A 20 Gallon Fish Tank bought of Craigslist

 -This is the filter and heater from the top

 -My Thermometer

-The surviving gang of 4. The black molly was bought today along with a smaller green tetra not shown, and the sunburst platy in the back corner dieing I believe, and then the large green tetra and dark orange platy up front I've had for two weeks. Names in order of mention are: Shelby, Celest, Starburst, Leon, Cheeto

-This is Celest who died within 3 hours of being bought

-The food I am currently feeding them twice a day with is Tetra Color Tropical Flakes

Background

I have just begun my 20 gallon fish tank challenge. These are my current goals that I wish to accomplish this year.

- Have raised some platy fry

- Keep a set of fish alive for a year

-Have a good set of fish skills under my belt

- Self sustaining ecosystem

I am starting back up on my pet fish fun. When I was younger I had a few beta's and tetras and now that I am older and more mature I wish to try and create a somewhat complete ecosystem. I am pretty fresh in this so I think I'm starting easy with some platies, a molly, and what was 2 green tetras. I have some plant life. 3 kinds over all that are doing ok. I have just moved my original platy and tetra from it's one gallon to the 20 and uhhh ya this is where it begins. I'm open to any help that you can give me, and don't be afraid to shout out a challenge or something.