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I've kept figure 8s and GSP's and never had to do dentistry. The only puffs I've had to perform dentistry on were south american's. Also F8 keepers, PUT YOUR DAMNED FISH IN BRACKISH WATER!!! And GSP owners, you really should consider putting your full grown fish in full marine because they really thrive in there.
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Dec 23, 2014 02:58
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SocketWrench posted:also tried a trick I read about with the java fern. Buried the whole root system for a week and pulled it back out. the roots grew around and attached to the gravel so now that weights them to the bottom. Bury a whole leaf...it will turn into like 8 plants. Gibbo posted:Goddamnit. People with Figure 8 puffers and GSPs, don't be stupid and neglect the fact that one of your fish has an overgrown beak. If you have room for a 10 gallon or a second tank in general go ahead and let yourself get totally infested with pond snails and ramshorns. My GSP can go through 15 a day, though he usually only ever gets snails once a week. Also I've had success with leaving clamshells in the tank after he's done and he'll just chew on them occasionally. Whale Cancer posted:I've kept figure 8s and GSP's and never had to do dentistry. The only puffs I've had to perform dentistry on were south american's. GSP is only at 2-3 inches now. I keep him brackish and have slowly been easing him towards full marine. He's growing so slow though. I just want him to be 4-5 inches long so I can feed him crayfish and mystery snails. Any tips for speeding GSP Growth? He's in a 40 breeder with a few plants that can handle the sg he is at (still pretty low) and some guppies that are a fry factory so he has something to chase down and eat every now and again. Also I have to figure out what to do with my marineland 60 gallon. It isn't very deep but it's tall. I was thinking piranhas but I have heard they are disappointingly boring. Definitely want something aggressive, but I'm about 140 gallons shy of being able to keep an Arowana.
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Dec 23, 2014 10:41
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SkaAndScreenplays posted:Also I have to figure out what to do with my marineland 60 gallon. It isn't very deep but it's tall. I was thinking piranhas but I have heard they are disappointingly boring. Definitely want something aggressive, but I'm about 140 gallons shy of being able to keep an Arowana. Get a shitload of bucktooth tetras.
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Dec 23, 2014 13:43
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SkaAndScreenplays posted:Bury a whole leaf...it will turn into like 8 plants. No need, they're already growing a shitload of baby ferns off the leaves as is since the light upgrade
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Dec 23, 2014 14:19
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I had some luck with my shy fish today. When I turned the filter off ready to drop some flakes in, 5 out of 6 fish came over to beg at the side of the tank. Sadly fish #6 stayed hidden behind a plant; I had a closer look and he seems to be missing 6-7 scales on one side, and 2 or 3 on the other. He is the smallest fish and used to be the most keen to explore along with the reddest one so I wonder if he got stuck in some plant roots or against the filter inlet? He's been hiding with the others for a day or two and this is the first time I've had a good look at him. The side with most scales missing looks kind of puffy but its hard to tell. I haven't seen any fuzziness or tiny white spots so I am assuming it is actual physical damage scale loss, not disease although who knows. This fish still seems to have an appetite as he was pecking at leftover flakes after I had moved away from the tank and he felt safe to come out from under the plant. I've put the sponge back on the filter inlet for now as not only do I have a damaged scaled fish, I also saw what looked like an egg with a tail trying to swim and I spotted yet another fry up the other end of the tank. I don't want minced baby fish in the pump even though I already have more babies than I need. Anyway it looks like mostly the fish are settling down a bit now. The mini UV lamp that I ordered arrived today, it is a little barrel shaped USB powered device containing 4 UVC LEDs. I have stuck it at the very end of the trickle filter under a sponge where I hope it will get a slow enough flow rate that it can work effectively on whatever passes through it. So now I have 2 USB cooling fans, a USB/battery back up airstone and a USB UV sterilizer running from a little powered hub that I've taped to the lid of the tank. I don't imagine that it's going to quickly cure any of my problems but every little bit helps, right? Since I'm still waiting for the fish drugs I ordered to arrive, I decided to try soaking their food in 3% epsom salts to help the fish with their white poop (something I read about) and it does seem to have made a difference. A couple of fish managed normal droppings, and one that previously was doing thick white poo, did one that was quite thin and didn't seem to bother it as much. Hope they hold out long enough for me to try some real medicine on them, its a pain that everything here is shut over christmas and I don't want to wait too long to start treating them.
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Dec 23, 2014 14:34
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SkaAndScreenplays posted:
100 pea puffers
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Dec 23, 2014 23:41
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I LIKE COOKIE posted:Really interesting post, definitely crosspost this into the ask/tell fishing thread, it would get a much better reception there. Bunch of biology/fishloving dudes in that thread that collect fish like this. If not just make your own thread because what you're doing is dope Thanks for the advice, will post it there. Also some pictures of the now adapted wild beasts in their new home, now you can really notice those are some really fat otos      
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Dec 24, 2014 00:21
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Those fat little otos and corys ae just great! That whole field trip looked pretty fun too.
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Dec 24, 2014 03:06
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GSP's are just slow growers unfortunately. For a 60 aggro tank I would suggest honduran red points, foremouth, cons, salvini or appistos. Not all together of course.
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Dec 24, 2014 05:24
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Chichevache posted:100 pea puffers I was thinking 7-11 Amazon Puffers 1Archers (Or African Butterfly (probably won't work with the puffers) Orinco Pleco 5 Celestial Danios And then plant the gently caress out of it. I have the option to way over filter so I'm not worried about bio load. That would be a messy bottom though. Dirt substrate maybe? A shitload of bucktooths would be awesome though, especially if I could successfully breed them and trade them to my LFS for progressively larger tanks. I would not mind breeding fish as a means of income, that poo poo is hard and expensive though. Anyone have any experience with it?
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Dec 24, 2014 05:29
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SkaAndScreenplays posted:I was thinking 7-11 Amazon Puffers Umm, cpds sound like a bad idea with the other fish there. They will be live food to the others. My other experience is that you will need 10+ for them not to be timid creatures. They also don't school like tetras. They need others to calm them, but they also kind of pick a spot and just hang out.
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Dec 24, 2014 05:37
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SkaAndScreenplays posted:I was thinking 7-11 Amazon Puffers Bucktooths are somewhere between don't even bother attempting this if you don't know what you're doing, and loving impossible
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Dec 24, 2014 05:49
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JuffoWup posted:Umm, cpds sound like a bad idea with the other fish there. They will be live food to the others. My other experience is that you will need 10+ for them not to be timid creatures. They also don't school like tetras. They need others to calm them, but they also kind of pick a spot and just hang out. I'm assuming barbs would be too brutal for most of those (every barb I have ever owned was a lawnmowing/fish-bullying rear end in a top hat) I definitely want this to be stocked with 'not your typical home aquarium' type fish. I'd do cichlids...but the tank dimensions wouldn't fit that. 
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Dec 24, 2014 05:59
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SkaAndScreenplays posted:I was thinking 7-11 Amazon Puffers Do you mean these guys?. CPDs would be a disaster, but these guys might be less of one. I'm not familiar enough with turquoise/pearl/whatever danio to really say.
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Dec 24, 2014 06:08
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Dogwood Fleet posted:Do you mean these guys?. CPDs would be a disaster, but these guys might be less of one. I'm not familiar enough with turquoise/pearl/whatever danio to really say. I am not super familiar with any sort of danio. I've just been finding things I like the look of and then researching. Definitely want the Archer/Puffers and I have no worries about their compatibility. Now do I go 3/4 full being that it's a tall tank and give the Archer room to shoot down live crickets and such? I know it wouldn't be necessary...but it would be fun to watch.
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Dec 24, 2014 06:35
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Wanting dither fish to calm my pussy calvus down. Zebra danios might work?
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Dec 25, 2014 01:26
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Another one bites the dust; Sandy, the fish that was hiding but still eating went from swimming around a bit more normally today to being full on upsidedown pinecone dropsy-fied and then dead tonight. Even a couple of hours ago the pineconing wasn't obvious, but I think that might be partially due to the lighting and how shiny his scales are. I thought some were missing and could see he was a bit swollen but really I just didnt notice the dropsy probably for a couple of days. Even if I had realised earlier, all I could have done for him was a salt bath I think. I don't think the praziquantel that I dosed the tank with yesterday killed him, he was already wobbly before that. I'd say I'll keep a closer eye on the others but I'm not actually sure what to do about whats happening. This was one of the new batch of fish and I suppose its still recent enough to count as a new fish death, but if it seems to spread to the others in the tank I don't know what my next step will be. At last count I still have 9 visible baby fish of a max of 13, so if I cant work out a treatment and all the adults die maybe I will just clean the tank out and get some corys, then move the next generation across when they are big enough.
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Dec 25, 2014 16:03
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Zebra danios are always my go to. They're hardy, cheap, fast as gently caress, active and they actually do look kind of neat. I just use pool filter sand for all my tanks any more. It's dirt cheap and looks good.
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Dec 25, 2014 22:34
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After years of wanting to get started with aquariums but never pulling the trigger, my mom surprised me with a 5 gallon starter aquarium. At this point it's set up and I'm just running it with the filter (thanks OP) , but during the meantime I want to start planning what to do with it. So for a five gallon tank, what are some recommendations? I want to get a heater (I've read different views, but about 5 watts per gallon it seemed so I was looking at 25W heaters). Sadly almost every time I check out a fish, even the beginner ones (like neon tetras), they are listed as a 10+ gallon tank. Aside from goldfish or beta's, is there anything I should be checking out? Some sort of algae eating fish would be great and hopefully a few others to make it exciting. I don't want to overcrowd the tank with fish or anything, but would love if I could include a live plant or two. The tank was filled with tap water. I'm not living in a city, but I guess I should still add some water conditioner or something prior to adding any fish. Yes? Thanks for reading and I apologize for the questions that I'm sure have been answered multiple times in the 71 pages.
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Dec 26, 2014 03:08
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Have you considered shrimp? You could probably do a nice little planted setup with a pile of cherry shrimp or something similar. 5 Gallons is pretty tiny, really - from my understanding you're going to be really limited in stocking options, even a betta or goldfish would prefer a much larger tank. Plus there's the fact you're pretty much doomed to buy a gigantic second tank a few months into taking up the hobby, so you might as well wait until then to get fish 
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Dec 26, 2014 04:52
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5 gals is ideal for betta but good lord dont put a goldfish in there. Shrimp as mentioned are a pretty good candidate. Ember tetras or celestial pearl danios can also do well in that size. Also you will want to add water conditioner now since untreated water inhibits bacterial growth, which is the opposite of what you want when you're starting off your tank. Check out the guides and op sections on cycling your tank for more info about this.
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Dec 26, 2014 04:58
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Chunderbucket posted:Have you considered shrimp? You could probably do a nice little planted setup with a pile of cherry shrimp or something similar. 5 Gallons is pretty tiny, really - from my understanding you're going to be really limited in stocking options, even a betta or goldfish would prefer a much larger tank. Plus there's the fact you're pretty much doomed to buy a gigantic second tank a few months into taking up the hobby, so you might as well wait until then to get fish Shrimp I haven't considered so thank you! I know I will end up buying a larger tank later, but I can't get rid of this tank right after my mom got it for me. I would feel like a huge dick. Maybe try a two tank option, I have the room. When she bought it the worker suggested beta's and an algae eater, but stay away from goldfish. But yes, I am totally willing to wait for something bigger. I just want to get my feet wet (hardy har har). SynthOrange posted:5 gals is ideal for betta but good lord dont put a goldfish in there. Shrimp as mentioned are a pretty good candidate. Ember tetras or celestial pearl danios can also do well in that size. Also you will want to add water conditioner now since untreated water inhibits bacterial growth, which is the opposite of what you want when you're starting off your tank. Check out the guides and op sections on cycling your tank for more info about this. Always nice to hear a second opinion that pretty must agrees with the first. Thanks for the conditioner advice. My "gift from mom" guilt aside, would a 10 gallon tank be a much better starter sized tank if I wanted to go with some fish? And could I use the 5 gallon for something else, aside from shrimp? Like vegetation and snails or something? e: Even though I never bought a tank before, all my research always made me believe I'd be better off getting something larger than a starter tank, but Santa brought me this and I want to see what I can do with it.
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Dec 26, 2014 05:19
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Funnily enough thats what my first tank, a 4 gallon one is being used for. It houses shrimp, snails and a whole load of plants.
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Dec 26, 2014 05:21
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Sparkling gourami might work if you want something similar to but not a betta. You have time to think about what you want while your tank cycles. Plants work really well in a small tank, partially because the shallower water means that you don't have to spend as much money on lighting. Some people just use desk lamps with the little ones.
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Dec 26, 2014 05:27
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Nirvana7x posted:My "gift from mom" guilt aside, would a 10 gallon tank be a much better starter sized tank if I wanted to go with some fish? And could I use the 5 gallon for something else, aside from shrimp? Like vegetation and snails or something? You could. If I had the option and didn't find shrimp too cute to not have an issue with execution I'd make the five a shrimp tank and farm them for fish in a larger tank that enjoy eating them.
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Dec 26, 2014 07:32
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Best advice for a starter tank; buy the biggest tank you can afford to properly setup. In smaller tanks, one bad thing happening (a fish dies and leaks ammonia) and the rest of your tank is pretty much screwed. With a bigger tank it will take time to affect the rest of the tank.
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Dec 26, 2014 18:44
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If I was just starting out, knowing what I know now, I would definitely get a 40g breeder tank. It's got pretty much perfect dimensions, and will give you a TON of options on what you can keep.
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Dec 26, 2014 20:04
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Enos Cabell posted:If I was just starting out, knowing what I know now, I would definitely get a 40g breeder tank. It's got pretty much perfect dimensions, and will give you a TON of options on what you can keep. Also Petco's dollar a gallon sale starts on the 28th, so it's going to be a good time to grab one.
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Dec 26, 2014 20:23
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DrNutt posted:Also Petco's dollar a gallon sale starts on the 28th, so it's going to be a good time to grab one. Petco has some cheap and sturdy stands too. It's a good way to start out. edit: I grabbed a 40 breeder at their last sale. I put a betta in there to see how well fish would handle a dirted tank. It was going pretty well, but he vanished during my last water change. Anyone have stocking ideas? I'm looking for something that will do well with plants and a slow current. Pearl Gourami and harlequin rasboras were my original plan, but after I put the betta in there I wanted to keep him in the big tank. Now that the betta is gone I could have them or I could get another betta. My last one loved having that much room. Part of me wants to get 4-5 pearl gourami and then a swarm of cory cats. Would otos be okay with the slow current? Dogwood Fleet fucked around with this message at 21:55 on Dec 26, 2014 |
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Dec 26, 2014 21:37
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Plants and slow current are also pretty ideal for apistos, if you wanted an alternative to gouramis. Cories and otos would go well with both I think.
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Dec 26, 2014 22:02
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Just try not to mix apistos. I had a pair of cacatuoides and macmasteris and it was a warzone. The cacatuoides went back to the shop and now my macmasteris have the run of the place and don't bother any of my other fish. They get pretty nastily territorial.
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Dec 27, 2014 00:16
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Nirvana7x posted:
for a 5 Gallon tank if you want a want fish i would recommend a Macropodus they're from the same family as Bettas and Gouramis and have a wider range to withstand cold temperatures, and also in my personal experience i see them being less stressed and more comfortable in they're own personal tanks , alternatively, if its has a good closed top you could put some Gardneri killifish, just be sure to not have any gaps in the top since they can be really crafty and sneaky jumpers.
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Dec 27, 2014 00:17
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Enos Cabell posted:Plants and slow current are also pretty ideal for apistos, if you wanted an alternative to gouramis. Cories and otos would go well with both I think. They are pretty, but they're higher maintenance than what I'm looking for. I have hard water, which doesn't help. Does anyone have experience with peacock gudgeons? I've had trouble making any real decisions since October, I'm still thinking about just throwing otos in with celestial pearl danio and see if I can get them to breed.
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Dec 27, 2014 02:17
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Dogwood Fleet posted:They are pretty, but they're higher maintenance than what I'm looking for. I have hard water, which doesn't help. Does anyone have experience with peacock gudgeons? I've had trouble making any real decisions since October, I'm still thinking about just throwing otos in with celestial pearl danio and see if I can get them to breed. I have super-hard water and my Otos get along just fine.
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Dec 27, 2014 09:50
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Dogwood Fleet posted:They are pretty, but they're higher maintenance than what I'm looking for. I have hard water, which doesn't help. Does anyone have experience with peacock gudgeons? I've had trouble making any real decisions since October, I'm still thinking about just throwing otos in with celestial pearl danio and see if I can get them to breed. I'm raising my third generation of peacock gudgeons and they are some of my favorite fish. I also have naturally hard well water, but they seem to flourish in it. They are quite active and breed regularly. I had 6 adults in a 30 gallon planted, and two sets of babies in a 20. I've since moved all but the most recent fry into a 120 gal heavily planted community since the "babies" had their own fry. I got them to breed using small sections of 1 inch PVC, they seem to love the stuff and turned up their noses at the caves I built into the hardscape. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
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Dec 27, 2014 19:19
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If I wanted to upgrade to a larger tank, what are the proper steps? Currently I have a 20G, considering moving up to a 40G
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Dec 28, 2014 04:08
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Tiny Lowtax posted:If I wanted to upgrade to a larger tank, what are the proper steps? Currently I have a 20G, considering moving up to a 40G Buy bigger tank, stand, filter and substrate. Put substrate in tank, fill with water. Put old filter media in new filter to seed. Add fish.
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Dec 28, 2014 04:43
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Whale Cancer posted:Buy bigger tank, stand, filter and substrate. Put substrate in tank, fill with water. Put old filter media in new filter to seed. Add fish. There's no cycling or anything like a brand new tank?
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Dec 28, 2014 05:20
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Its significantly shorter since you've presumably got a healthy filter to seed from. I just kept squeezing my old tank's filter direct into the new tank and it was ready in a week.
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Dec 28, 2014 05:48
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How do you know your tank is ready?
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Dec 28, 2014 14:14
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