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HelloIAmYourHeart posted:I have a jarrarium with some (I think) bladder snails, should I add some of those to my tank for the algae? Or should I just wait for my Malaysian trumpet snails? MTS are not big on eating algae they eat stuff before it breaks down and turns into algae. If you have extra pond/bladders swap them over. More snails usually = more bioactive = more better.
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Sep 7, 2021 02:56
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Hello fellow aquarists. It has been awhile since I last posted about my aquarium. And sadly, I have to say the aquarium has changed a bunch since then. Also sad several fish died in it. It is the reason I got quiet. Really bummed about it. But I finally figured out what my stupidity was (seriously, aquasoil is great for experts with super large amounts of plants going in day one, not for anyone else). The original 16 gal aquarium has been upgraded to a 29gal aquarium. For a substrate I went with just plain ole sand. Specifically caribsea sand. They have inert freshwater sands for sale as well. Perhaps more expensive than other options, but as I have pygmy cories, I wanted to make sure it wouldn't be too sharp to mess up their barbs. I've become super proud of it now. Live plants with 10 pygmy cories, 5 amano shrimp, a runaway population of now wild colored cherry shrimp, 15 cpd, 15 exclamation point rasboras, the last neon tetra (I'm looking at some people I know to see if they want to adopt it), a threadfin (trying to decide on giving it up or take more gambling stabs to grow it to 10 as well), and 4 nerite snails.  Now I feel like I've got that stable return of an aquarium from back when I lived in florida which makes me super happy. Algae has legit not been a problem since I switched out the aquasoil for the sand. The nerites seem to be quite interesting as they seem to have a penchant to bury and hide in the sand during the day and then come out at night.
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Sep 7, 2021 04:54
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I mentioned my threadfin issues earlier. They're gorgeous and fun, but fragile. I think if you're going for rainbows, the blue-eyed family (Pseudomugil) is probably a better bet, plus they're more likely to be born in captivity and not wild-caught. I scooted my 38 gallon tank over 6 inches this weekend. It took four buckets, two lifters and a lot more effort than you would think, but now the neighboring saltwater tank isn't sticking out so much. When I was putting the water back into the tank from the buckets, I found that one of my guppies had gone for a ride in the suction tube. Sorry little guy! (He's fine). I think I need to put some panty hose over the mouth of the intake. I also found three new little clown kilis. They're in a breeder box now, waiting to be less edible before I release them to the main tank.
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Sep 7, 2021 14:00
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Oh yeah, I've learned that already. Also, where I sourced that last two times was super bad at handling them anyway (liveaquaria). That lone guy is what remains of my first batch from them. The lone neon is from an original school of 15. They collapsed to just that guy remaining due to whatever disease came with the threadfins. Lesson learned about quarantine. Second order was quarantined and within a week, all 10 had died. Flip aquatics has them in stock from time to time. But I'm undecided to trying there or as said, just give up. The cpd are hanging out on the top column anyway when I had expected them more mid column. And that is the same space the threadfins would be in already. The exclamation points seem to be more of a shoaling instead of schooling fish as they generally take refuge hanging out around the plants on the right side. One thing I'm gonna get though an apisto cave. Because I've noticed the pygmies are hiding in cave like areas already so an actual cave may be useful for them. But also wonder as they are still skittish if a few more pygmies would bring them out more. The CPD used to be skittish around 10, but now that I have 15, they are actively out now and will run up to the front of the tank when I'm near expecting food. JuffoWup fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Sep 7, 2021 |
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Sep 7, 2021 14:56
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Desert Bus posted:Here is where I am about to sound like a crazy person but I promise you both Hi and HelloIAmYourHeart that I am about to slaughter your algae AND help keep it from coming back (mostly (probably)). By double dose do you mean double the suggested 1 cap/50 gallons daily dose recommendation or double the 1st day suggested 1 cap/10 gallon recommendation? I got a bit of black beard algae again and it must die.
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Sep 7, 2021 19:12
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Somewhat related, I picked up a box of syringes a while ago and it really helps with dosing. The precision probably doesn't matter because everyone's aquarium is way different, but it makes me feel better about getting the right amount on the bottle. https://www.amazon.com/1ml-Syringe-Individually-Medicine-Administration/dp/B07GX4RJF3 similar to the ones I bought, imp sure any will do
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Sep 7, 2021 19:48
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BONGHITZ posted:Somewhat related, I picked up a box of syringes a while ago and it really helps with dosing. The precision probably doesn't matter because everyone's aquarium is way different, but it makes me feel better about getting the right amount on the bottle. For sure you should dose with a syringe but as someone who thinks about dumb poo poo like this a ton, the dosing is actually an approximation of liquid volume in the tank. If you have a LOT of hardscape I bet you'd want to underdose by 10 or 15% to be really on the money for your dosing. Of course it's affected by your amount of plants and all that too so maybe it all balances out. Awhile ago I just started doing 1mL of most of my micros since the tank was doing well like that and why change it up.
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Sep 7, 2021 23:09
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JuffoWup posted:Oh yeah, I've learned that already. Also, where I sourced that last two times was super bad at handling them anyway (liveaquaria). That lone guy is what remains of my first batch from them. The lone neon is from an original school of 15. They collapsed to just that guy remaining due to whatever disease came with the threadfins. Lesson learned about quarantine. Second order was quarantined and within a week, all 10 had died. Flip aquatics has them in stock from time to time. But I'm undecided to trying there or as said, just give up. The cpd are hanging out on the top column anyway when I had expected them more mid column. And that is the same space the threadfins would be in already. The exclamation points seem to be more of a shoaling instead of schooling fish as they generally take refuge hanging out around the plants on the right side. Ouch. Yeah, that sounds pretty similar to my experience. Mine seem to do really well, then just die. They're so gorgeous, though. Aquatic Arts is settled into their new home, so a ton of fish are in stock now. I'm eagerly awaiting their having an actual physical store - I do pick up my orders in person, but it's not the same! (This will give Indianapolis a grand total of two great fish stores. Ah, the midwest.)
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Sep 8, 2021 16:21
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Bonster posted:Ouch. Yeah, that sounds pretty similar to my experience. Mine seem to do really well, then just die. They're so gorgeous, though. Oh drat. I live on the southwest side of cinci, so indy trips for a good store isn't out of the question. I'll have to check them out. Local shops here are just.. not that great really. Either more focused on salt or the fish business got so bad they expanded not only to reptiles, but also small mammals.
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Sep 8, 2021 18:01
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Bonster posted:Ouch. Yeah, that sounds pretty similar to my experience. Mine seem to do really well, then just die. They're so gorgeous, though. I 100% loving LOVE Aquatic Arts. I live like 3 hours from Indy so always super fast shipping. Plus I supply them with Malaysian Trumpet Snails. Like 90%??? of my stock is from them now. I don't add or buy new poo poo regularly so I have some 5-6? year old fish/plants/shrimp/snails from them. If you deal with Aquatic Arts set up a breeding tank for some inverts or Apistos or ??? and unlock the "supplier" level. Their customer service goes from great to insanely good, they will hold stuff for you, give you discounts, extra stock in your orders, etc. Snails ship easy and I know they could use a decent supplier of the Black MTS (Melanoides maculata). If I had a free tank I'd be doing it.
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Sep 8, 2021 18:56
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Desert Bus posted:I 100% loving LOVE Aquatic Arts. I live like 3 hours from Indy so always super fast shipping. Plus I supply them with Malaysian Trumpet Snails. Like 90%??? of my stock is from them now. I don't add or buy new poo poo regularly so I have some 5-6? year old fish/plants/shrimp/snails from them. Oh, nice! Hmm, I do have an empty tank...
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Sep 8, 2021 20:59
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I think my rams jumped out of the tank and got eaten by a cat or something. I can't find them at all and I am not sure I want to stir up all the dust, etc. There's 3 rasboras left cruising about. This time, when I fix the nitrates (getting there, daily water changes at least once or twice a day, feed less), I think I'd like to get some of those hillstream loaches, CPDs, and some invertebrates or small, chill fish. I'm hoping to eventually upgrade to a 21 or 32 gallon tank.
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Sep 9, 2021 09:35
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I noticed one of my fish is super skinny, a bit lethargic, and while he's going for food he's spitting everything out - even the brine shrimp they all go bananas for. Moved him out to a quarantine tank and treating him for parasites just in case. Edit: Desert Bus - what dosage did you mean when you suggested double dosing Seachem Excel? Warbadger fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Sep 9, 2021 |
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Sep 9, 2021 13:41
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Is someone here selling CPDs? On top of it all, hillstream loaches are either expensive (30 for one?!) or out of stock. I looked at aqua imports, but their shipping is expensive.
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Sep 12, 2021 05:06
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Aerofallosov posted:Is someone here selling CPDs? On top of it all, hillstream loaches are either expensive (30 for one?!) or out of stock. I looked at aqua imports, but their shipping is expensive. I will be in two months or so, once the fry colors up.
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Sep 12, 2021 09:00
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DeadlyMuffin posted:I will be in two months or so, once the fry colors up. Awesome! I believe in you and your tiny little cpd-buddies.
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Sep 12, 2021 10:55
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Aerofallosov posted:Awesome! I believe in you and your tiny little cpd-buddies.  They're doing great!
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Sep 12, 2021 23:02
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I've got an empty 5 gal tank that I am fishless cycling. I'm having trouble with keeping the pH steady. As soon as my ammonia drops, the pH skyrockets past 8.4 max on my high pH test. If I do a 50% PWC it looks ok for a day but then shoots up again. I put in 1 tbsp of peat granules (I read one tbsp per gallon but started conservative) in the filter area and it plummeted back down to below 6 after a few hours, but next day it was off the charts high again. 2 tbsp did the same pattern. Now I've added a third and it is back to under 6. How am I supposed to keep this stable? I'm finding my cycle is stalling out now whenever the pH is too high (ammonia doesn't drop). Help?
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Sep 13, 2021 23:51
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A buffer might help (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffer_solution) I like this guy: https://www.seachem.com/alkaline-buffer.php
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Sep 13, 2021 23:58
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Chin Strap posted:I've got an empty 5 gal tank that I am fishless cycling. I'm having trouble with keeping the pH steady. As soon as my ammonia drops, the pH skyrockets past 8.4 max on my high pH test. If I do a 50% PWC it looks ok for a day but then shoots up again. I put in 1 tbsp of peat granules (I read one tbsp per gallon but started conservative) in the filter area and it plummeted back down to below 6 after a few hours, but next day it was off the charts high again. 2 tbsp did the same pattern. Now I've added a third and it is back to under 6. plant the poo poo out of it and then start small/hardy. What do you plan to put in it?
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Sep 13, 2021 23:58
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What should I plant? My local aquarium store didn't have any of the most easy seeming suggestions from the op. Are there good online sources? We are just planning on a Betta. I'm just insisting on doing this right after we went into our first Betta blind. No precycling, used too small a tank, generally had no idea what we were doing. Right now we have a 5 gal with just silk plants in.
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Sep 14, 2021 00:01
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BONGHITZ posted:A buffer might help (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffer_solution) Is alkaline buffer what I need? Our tap water with no pear granules tends to have a pH of 7.6 ish. Is this the right product to keep it there? And just lose the peat?
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Sep 14, 2021 00:02
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Chin Strap posted:What should I plant? My local aquarium store didn't have any of the most easy seeming suggestions from the op. Are there good online sources? 5gal is a bit on the small side for a betta, IMO, (prefer 10gal) but it can be done well. What’s your lighting situation? If your lighting is good you can p much go with whatever looks nice to you and fits your budget. I’ve put Java ferns, rotala, baby tears, etc in 5gals with great success Just your basic bitch planted tank plants should be solid
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Sep 14, 2021 00:05
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Ok Comboomer posted:5gal is a bit on the small side for a betta, IMO, (prefer 10gal) but it can be done well. This is my tank https://www.chewy.com/fluval-spec-a...sxoCr3cQAvD_BwE I'll stop by the aquarium store tomorrow again and see what they have.
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Sep 14, 2021 00:07
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Also with a betta, I just go plants + water with your basic conditioner in it. Wait a few days, and pop the fish in. Bettas are super hardy and if you’re getting one from a store then it lived in a cup for a bunch of weeks, and if you bought from a breeder it probably lived in a divided tank or mini tank or cup too, so literally any treated tank water will be an improvement Unless your pipes have weird poo poo going on with them you’ll be fine. You’re 100% overthinking your parameters.
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Sep 14, 2021 00:09
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Ok Comboomer posted:Also with a betta, I just go plants + water with your basic conditioner in it. Wait a few days, and pop the fish in. Our last one died after like 6 weeks. That was a smaller tank and we didn't know how to maintain it right (I was doing full water changes like weekly) so there are other circumstances. I just wanted to do it right. So you are saying get some live plants, do a big water change to ammonia is low again, and after another day or 2 just do it?
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Sep 14, 2021 00:14
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Chin Strap posted:Is alkaline buffer what I need? Our tap water with no pear granules tends to have a pH of 7.6 ish. Is this the right product to keep it there? And just lose the peat? From my understanding buffer makes the water more resistant to change. I found this video helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3EAz2lIKUI Id just lose the peat and maybe add a little bit of this if your ph is jumping around too much. And do smaller water changes maybe, depending on how much food goes in. e: I buy my plants from this guy: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/live-plants
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Sep 14, 2021 00:40
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a lot of (most?) decent water conditioners will have ph buffer in it. What’s your water conditioner?
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Sep 14, 2021 00:42
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Ok Comboomer posted:a lot of (most?) decent water conditioners will have ph buffer in it. What’s your water conditioner?
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Sep 14, 2021 00:53
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Chin Strap posted:this stuff. Should I get something better while at the aquarium store? I use seachem prime. Also, what is your pH right from the tap? Because chances are the pH in the store should be about the same (unless they have some RO unit, etc). Messing with pH is a fuckery, and unless you are going with blackwater fish or rift cichlids, messing with it is usually not going to help your fish.
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Sep 14, 2021 01:38
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Cowslips Warren posted:I use seachem prime. Just tested it. Right out of the tap (no conditioner or anything) it was bang on 7.0-7.2 which seems just fine for a Betta? It is all this fishless cycling fuckery that made it an issue. I'll get some prime since everyone seems to love it and see what they have in terms of plants. Then after planting I'll do a 90% PWC to get the ammonia our. Then it is Betta time I guess?
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Sep 14, 2021 01:50
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Chin Strap posted:Just tested it. Right out of the tap (no conditioner or anything) it was bang on 7.0-7.2 which seems just fine for a Betta? It is all this fishless cycling fuckery that made it an issue. I've got mostly anubias variants. Slow growing, not super picky about water parameters/temperature, leaves are nice and green while looking similar to some of the fast moving stream plants in this area, they take a lot of their nutrients out of the water column which helps water quality a bit, and they do well at lower light levels so I could dial the light back more to control algae.
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Sep 14, 2021 03:26
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Hey I've got some fish questions that need answers. I bought a 10gal aquarium and I want to put water in it (and cycle the water and do everything I need to to make it a good home) and then I want to put fish in it. The only thing I know for sure about which fish I want is that I want corys and that I probably need 6 of them. So my question to you guys is how much other fish would make a nice little community in my 10gal tank so that everyone has appropriate space and gets along? I think dwarf gouramis look cool and same with fancy guppys but maybe the 3 species together might be crowded? I will put plants in there as well and some rocks and a treasure chest.
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Sep 17, 2021 01:47
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Call Your Grandma posted:Hey I've got some fish questions that need answers. I used this tool to estimate bio load. You fill out the tank dimensions, type of filter, etc. and then select the types and number of fish. It will estimate how under/overstocked you are, whether filtration is adequate, etc. https://aqadvisor.com/
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Sep 17, 2021 03:14
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The treasure chest that opens with bubbles? I had one of those in the early 90s and it looks like they still sell the exact same one lol. I wonder if I have any pictures of that somewhere. My parents have a MASSIVE drawer of photos at their house and I was very into taking pictures of my pets.
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Sep 17, 2021 03:18
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Hi CallYourGrandma ! 10g is pretty small so you'll be limited to small numbers of small fish, small rocks, small plants in order to get everything to fit or at least get the scale to look right. Depending on where you live you do have options, I think as long as you get a type of cory that stays fairly small (any of the dwarf corys, pandas and trilineatus come to mind) you should have capacity for another fish species. Check planetcatfish.com for species profiles of corydoras to find out which ones stay small. So to my mind you could keep ember tetras, rasbora espei, emerald eye spot rasbora, a pair of peacock gudgeons, a peaceful betta or a croaking gourami, or a pair of sparkling gouramis. Pick one! I wouldn't do any more than two species of fish in a tank this small, one that lives at the bottom and one that lives mid/top. Edit: you could do endlers in a tank like this if you get male only, I don't think it's big enough for regular guppies and it's definitely not big enough for female livebearer fish that will pump out 10-20 babies every month. Stoca Zola fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Sep 17, 2021 |
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Sep 17, 2021 05:11
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About 2 months ago my wife sent me a text with an image of a big rear end aquarium and stand and asked if it was worth $120. Now, I've wanted an aquarium for about 20 years now. As a young teen I spent a TON of time in our local tropical fish store. I begged for a job, but the owner explained that I was too young, and she really couldn't afford it. So, we worked out a deal where I just got to hang out and help her maintain the tanks and learn in exchange for a 30 gallon setup. I eventually did end up working there as my first job, and I kept working there until unfortunately she passed away and her family closed the store. That was 25 years ago. I have wanted a tank ever since, and my wife knew it, hence the text. Turns out it's a 75 gallon complete with filter, stand, substrate, a bunch of decorations (which I didn't use), and a ton of other stuff. Not only that, they delivered it. I've been kinda fixated on it ever since and have spent a lot of time getting it setup and stable before we start throwing fish in it. Here's a picture. My wife is loving amazing.  I forgot to mention what we are going to put in the drat thing. My son REALLY likes red tailed sharks, so we are building around that. I've been they'll get alone fine with a peaceful community tank as long as you pay attention to not get other bottom swimming fish. I'm thinking a big school of cardinal tetras, some dwarf gouramis, and maybe a couple of angle fish. We shall see! Happy Hedonist fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Sep 17, 2021 |
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Sep 17, 2021 19:34
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Happy Hedonist posted:About 2 months ago my wife sent me a text with an image of a big rear end aquarium and stand and asked if it was worth $120. Now, I've wanted an aquarium for about 20 years now. As a young teen I spent a TON of time in our local tropical fish store. I begged for a job, but the owner explained that I was too young, and she really couldn't afford it. So, we worked out a deal where I just got to hang out and help her maintain the tanks and learn in exchange for a 30 gallon setup. I eventually did end up working there as my first job, and I kept working there until unfortunately she passed away and her family closed the store. That was 25 years ago. Lovely tank! A red tailed shark is probably going to eat or harass your cardinal tetras. If you get angel fish, you should have six-eight of them. You may want to play with aqadvisor to find a good match. You also want only one red tail, or they'll fight. If you want smaller, colorful fish, barbs might be a good pairing with a red tail, Odessa or Denisoni barbs would be pretty. Really, you're going to want to lean towards semi-aggressive rather than peaceful, and add things like anubias and java fern to break up the sight line.
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Sep 18, 2021 01:55
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Bonster posted:Lovely tank! A red tailed shark is probably going to eat or harass your cardinal tetras. If you get angel fish, you should have six-eight of them. You may want to play with aqadvisor to find a good match. You also want only one red tail, or they'll fight. Whoa. I'll look into it more because that's not at all what I was told at Pruess pets here in Lansing, which as far as I know are pretty on top of their poo poo. For instance, a 75 gallon tank can house 2 anglefish, anymore and you run into problems with them bullying each other. Also, they've told me several times red tails aren't that aggressive if given the room and we only plan on having 1. Tetras are fine for the most part because they mostly dwell in the middle of the tank and are quick enough to get away from the red tailed especially if there are plenty of places to break line of site, which there will be. I'm not blowing you off, it's just completely contradictory to what I've seen personally and have been told. I'll look into it more. Edit: If anything, from what I've been told, the anglefish might harass the hell out of the guoramis, since they can be fin nippers. Happy Hedonist fucked around with this message at 02:31 on Sep 18, 2021 |
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Sep 18, 2021 02:28
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Do Red tailed sharks eat plants? Your tank looks like the hardscape is positioned and you stopped before adding plants. I know some fish gently caress plants up pretty bad so there's no point.
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Sep 18, 2021 03:42
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