advice please??

hi there, yesterday i bought 2 new fish for my tank, it's only been running a couple days, i have 6 platties and these 2, and i forget what the heck they are called, i THINK they are a cory or catfish or something, they are about maybe an inch long, mostly white except one has light blue near the tail and the other one is pink near the tail. anyone know what they are called? i'm trying to keep track. i have 3 black platties, 1 golden platty, 1 red platty and 1 milk moon platty, but for the life of me i can't remember what the other ones are.

any help is great.

also i THINK i noticed a small white worm attatched to my red platties back, but i'm not sure, could be my eyes. i didnt notice it when i brought him home 2 days ago, but i also notice that HE is the only one that won't eat.. he chases the food but won't bite.

also.... any idea how much i should be feeding and how often? i have flakes and i also have blood worm grubs (for my betta in his little tank)

i'm REALLY new to this, and REALLY want to succeed, the fish are SO pretty. i want to make sure i'm feeding enough that the 2 bottom feeders dont starve, but i dont want to overfeed the platties either.

any idea how long i should let the tank cycle before i get more fish? i want some tetras and some silver mollies... among a bunch of OTHER kinds i want.

it's a 27 gallon tank and i had it set up a day before i brought home the platties, so it's been about 3 days now. ph seems ok, but the water is cloudy, am i to assume that will clear up? i put in some CYCLE when i bought it and some aquarium salt and water conditioner. i dont have the heater on cuz it's already to warm in the water, and i cant adjust the heater properly without being able to see the pilot light, but that only comes on if the water is colder i think.

sorry for the rambling, as i said, VERY new to this and want to succeed.

any help/advice from you knowledgeable fish owners is welcome and GREATLY

Don't be surprised if all your fish get something and die, take that sick fish back to the pet store now so it is still under garentee. You should cycle a tank for at least 4 weeks What is happening now is called the 'bloom' the tank is cycling, and it will go away, but because you have no bacteria in your filters it may take a lot longer, don't do any water changes for 4 weeks as it will only make it worse. Don't go any higher then 27 fish, but if you get bigger ones, like angels, they will take up more space as they grow. Feed them 2-3 times a day, whatever they will eat in a few minutes and remove anything they don't eat, you will know through time how much to feed them. have the heater running as you do have tropical fish, but set it so that it will come on only if the water gets cooler, that is by watching the pilot light, let the heater sit in the tank for 10 minutes before plugging it in, then turn the knob until the light comes on, you can then leave it there or turn it down just a notch. You have fish that need no heavy specail requirments, and everything seem ok, but dont add anything else for 4 weeks, watch the other fish to make sure they are no getting flukes(worms around the gills and mouth) or any white cottony spots. Sometimes is cheaper to just flush sick fish then try to treat them, it can be expensive. Watch the salt if you have live plants or you will kill them. DOnt' add any more chemicals for a couple of days, if they are still getting sick add a couple teaspoons salt, no iodine salt, mix it with some water first. Hope this helps, I did not want to go into great detail about this stuff, I could be here all day. Check out some of the great website for fish. They always have great info.

starting with http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

You can take that one back to the store (LFS) and get their comments. They should replace him, if he is not eating.

Their stomach is about the size of their eye. Sprinkle in about half of what you think you should feed. Then wait a few minutes. If there is any food left then you fed too much. If there is nothing left, feed the same quantity again. You will get the hang of it :o)

Your 8 fish will provide just the right amount of bio-load for your tank to cycle. The salt, Cycle and water conditioner are all good to use. Go easy on the salt as Corys are not too fond of it. Don't worry about the water going cloudy. That will clear itself up by the time it's 'cycled', and it usually only takes a few days or a week. Cycling takes 4 to 6 weeks to finish. Do lots of water changes as soon as you detect ammonia in the water. You want to keep the ammonia levels low (so the fish are not harmed) but not completely zero, as it is helping beneficial bacteria to start growing. When the tank is cycling, it is hard to get the ammonia levels too low ;~) You are right about the heater. They cannot be adjusted until the water is colder than your set point. Consider keeping your tank in a cooler location if you see that the temperature gets too high or stays hot too long for the fish'es to be properly cared for.

:o)