Hi All the way from New Zealand!

Hi everyone, ive just joined here so i don't know to much but i joined so i can read all the forums and hopefully learn some stuff!

Just an hour ago i went to Holly-Wood fish farm i dont know if you have those all the way over there but anyway i wanted to update my tank a bit so i bought 3 algae eaters and some Zebra danio, leopard danio, and gold zebras.

I havnt really got confident enough get into tropical yet i just want to wait untill ive learned everything and can keep them alive , but im doing pretty good so far.

Welcome to our little discussion group. It sounds like you're taking the right approach to the hobby. Lots of people just getting started in the hobby tend to do things too fast and wind up being disappointed; well, that's what I did many years ago. Some of the things to avoid are over crowding, over feeding, over medicating, and mixing incompatible species. Those compatibility charts you see in aquarium shops and on line stores are a bit optimistic.

Hi thaks for that info. Your right i have sort of started to rush things a bit ive startred crowding my tank a bit i have heeps of guppies, lots of danio (gold, zebra and leopard, three algae eaters snails etc. But my tank isnt small its a resonable size but i have strated to think to myself its a bit crowed in there but i love them so much and i just want them to have a good life

Probably the best thing you can do for your aquarium is a partial (15 or 20 percent) water change every week. If you provide the guppies with a floating plant like hornwort, you'll have a tank full of guppies in about six months. Live plants also help keep aquarium chemistry in balance. The temperature should be around 75F, which I think is about 25C.

Sometimes live bearing and egg laying fish are not very compatible. That's just a personal opinion based on lots of mistakes. Another opinion is that guppies are a beautiful and fascinating fish that are fairly easy for a new aquarist to keep successfully. They also go easy on the budget, and many experienced fish keepers have guppies. Please keep us updated about your aquarium adventure.

ok i promise to keep updated and ask questions that i never seem to no the answer to that you do. I have a bit to many gppies at the moment to try that hornwort plant but i am thinking of getting a second tank just for guppies since my grand dads work has offferd me all there fish that theve keept over the years and if i get that second tank maybe it will be a good idea to try the hornwort. Thanks

The hornwort is an easy plant to grow, and it helps aquarium chemistry. In addition, hornwort provides places for the baby fish to hide. If you add something like laterite to the gravel substrate, you can grow shade tolerant plants like Java fern, which is great for aquariums. Since guppies are small fish, they can be housed in relatively small (10 gallons or 39 litres) aquariums. If they have things like yard sales (rummage sales) in your part of the world, you can pick up more aquariums at bargain prices. Once you get started in the hobby, you'll always need more aquariums.

Hi i tried looking for the hornwort plant but they had never heard of it but they looked liked thatd just started the job casue thet were young and probly didnt know where anything ia, ill trry and go to holly wood fish farm they are bound to have it.

And we call them garage sales instead of yard sales or rummage sales

In Phoenix, they're carport sales because most older houses have car ports rather than garages. We seldom get freezing temperatures here.

Hornwort is a common aquarium plant, as are some other bushy, floating plants. If you can't find certain plants locally, you may be able to get them from Aquabid.com or EBay. I'm not sure about import laws there, but lots of sellers export all over the world. Please let me know how the search goes; I hope you don't have to "rummage" around too much.