Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: Gabriel on August 03, 2016, 02:26:13 PM
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I want to thank everybody for the help I have gotten in with previous tanks, it is invaluable. And some of you that remember me might be excited to hear that I am finally upgrading my tank size.
I purchased a 55G tank yesterday and started setting it up. This should be a suitable home for my pleco since my 30G broke and has been living in a small 20G since. Plus I will also be adding my girlfriends fish in as well, so the danios will have a lot more swimming room.
I have been researching a lot over the past week to decide what I want to do and here is what I have decided on so far and would like to hear about potential issues if you notice any.
55G Tank
- Going to use sand as the substrate, about 1.5" deep.
- I have a Fluval 406 external canister filter that I plan to use.
- Right now I have a Fluval 200W heater that is pretty nice. However I was pondering the idea of an in-line heater and was curious on what you suggest.
- Malaysian Trumpet Snails, I am trying to source some of these locally in the states. Online I can only find them in the UK and am not sure how they will last being shipped over here although it seems they are invincible. I want these to help keep the sand gas-pocket free and am wondering about how many I should start off with?
So here are the last surviving fish that I have, and the fish in my GF's tank that will be going into the 55G as soon as it is ready.
(http://i.imgur.com/QVM9CE6.png)
When I can I will add more Danio's, I would like to have at least 6-8 as I know they enjoy groups.
I put the tank on the stand yesterday and filled with water, temporarily it just has a HOB filter for a 75G tank on the back and a couple decorations. I added a small pinch of fish food and some water from my existing tank to help start bacterial growth. Today I will add something else from my existing tank that will hopefully help start the bacterial growth as well.I am also going to measure and keep track of all the levels I can in my tank, pH, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite. I can't remember if I have anything else on hand right now.
...I feel like I forgot to mention or ask something? Hopefully it comes to mind soon.
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A new tank! Fantastic. Best of luck with set up/cycling.
I'm looking forward to seeing pictures and hearing updates. ;D
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Excellent! ...and, as you have a male and a female guppy, it won't be long before you're fully stocked. ;D
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Excellent! ...and, as you have a male and a female guppy, it won't be long before you're fully stocked. ;D
Oh boy I know this all too well, in my old tank they got so inbred and twisted looking, and I ended up within a couple months with probably 100+ it was way too much to handle. Trying to control the amount that would die and discourage breeding was a hassle and now I am down to these last two in my temp tank that has been temp too long.
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You can move all the fish into the new tank as soon as you are satisfied with the way it looks provided you move all the filter media into the external at the same time. That's all the media from your 20 gall and all the media from your girlfriend's tank. An external should have plenty room. If you do that you won't need to cycle it as the two lots of filter media already have enough bacteria for the fish currently in the two tanks.
However, if you want to keep either or both of the other tanks running as well, you'll need to do a fishless cycle. Using some of the media from the current tanks will speed it up. The water you moved over won't do anyhting as the bacteria we need don't live in the water, they live in the biofilm which is bound to surfaces like filter media and decor.
Have you looked on Ebay for MTS? That's the usual place to look in the UK.
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You can move all the fish into the new tank as soon as you are satisfied with the way it looks provided you move all the filter media into the external at the same time. That's all the media from your 20 gall and all the media from your girlfriend's tank. An external should have plenty room. If you do that you won't need to cycle it as the two lots of filter media already have enough bacteria for the fish currently in the two tanks.
However, if you want to keep either or both of the other tanks running as well, you'll need to do a fishless cycle. Using some of the media from the current tanks will speed it up. The water you moved over won't do anyhting as the bacteria we need don't live in the water, they live in the biofilm which is bound to surfaces like filter media and decor.
Have you looked on Ebay for MTS? That's the usual place to look in the UK.
You know that makes sense...because the bacterial load would be the same then. However I am waiting for the 406 to arrive in the mail, should be here tuesday/wednesday next week. Then I will do what you suggested after running it for 24 hours to stabilize the temperature.
I actually just went to a great fish store near me and they said they would sell me 12 MTS/$0.99. I ended up getting 7 for the same price because we got tired of searching but that should be fine for now and they'll multiply if needed or not most likely. I hope I can keep them under control.
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The best way of keeping snails under control is by not over feeding the fish.
Snails are very useful creatures in an aquarium. They are also a good early warning system - if you ever see all the snails heading to the top of the tank during the day, test the water.
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The best way of keeping snails under control is by not over feeding the fish.
Snails are very useful creatures in an aquarium. They are also a good early warning system - if you ever see all the snails heading to the top of the tank during the day, test the water.
Indeed, I never had any luck with snails. They always seemed to die even though the fish were fine....however I am hoping the MTS will stay alive as I have been told how hardy they are, plus they'll help airate my sand. I am usually pretty good with feedings as well, it is just if somebody else has to feed them....
Anyway I tested the water last night:
I seem to have an awfully high pH of 7.6 :/ so I am working on correcting that with some acidic additive and neutralizer. Of course the other tank as about the same pH so I don't want to change it too much before I transfer them over next week.
I was getting 0ppm of Ammonia, 2.5-5ppm of Nitrite, and about 20ppm of Nitrate. So I suppose that means the bacteria is doing it's job so far but has some more work to do.
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Please don't mess with the pH. Trying to alter it with chemicals is not the best idea. Fish that like lower pH also like less things dissolved in the water and adding chemicals is the opposite of what you need.
If the pH of your tap water after it has been allowed to stand overnight is the same as the tank, the safest thing to do is have fish that like your pH and hardness. If you want to alter it, especially if you have hard water, the best way is by mixing your tap water with RO water which lowers the amount of chemicals in the tank.
It is very difficult to alter the pH of hard water without using RO water. If you don't already know it, your water provider's website should have the hardness on there somewhere. If they also give the alkalinity, that is what fish keepers call KH and it is a measure of how easy or hard it is to change the pH.
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I have hard water (dH 17) and when I got my first starter tanks I was worried about the pH and used API Ph Down during my fishless cycle to try to remedy the situation. The whole tank went cloudy and the filter could not clear it. I ended up having to strip the tank down to cpmpletely clean it and start the cycle from the begining. I really would not recommend adjusting the pH, and there are lots of great fish for hard water that can tolerate pH up to 8 or even 8.5.
This is a link that was attached to another thread about hard water and lists some suitable fish.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwhardness.htm
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I found the thread which discusses fish & hard water. This may also help you.
http://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/new-fishkeepers/list-of-fish-suitable-for-high-ph-and-hard-water/
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Oh...well thank you I won't use chemicals then to lower the pH. I know there's plenty of fish that can handle my pH levels. There are some specific fish that cannot have that I have always wanted which was my hope in lowering it. I guess I will just have to purchase water that fits my needs one day. Maybe in a year or two when I have a more permanent place to settle down for 10+ years.
Well moving on....
The MTS are enjoying the new tank, and I have all of my live plants transferred and planted. I actually have filtration setup a week in advance and in a couple hours I am going to transfer the filter media and move the fish to their new home. The only thing I have left to do is to setup some air stones in the back of the tank but none of the stores near me had the air hose suction cups so I couldn't route the tubing exactly like I had wanted. But I can fix that later.
So a couple questions.
For the plant eaters in the tank I have been using clips previously to mount pieces of organic cucumber or zuchhini. The clips always seem to wear out, and half of the slice ends up floating to the top of the tank. Is there something else I could use that might be more effective? I used to just stab it into the gravel but of course that had the same issue.
I want to add some shrimp to my aquarium, but don't want them to get sucked through the filter. Is there any recommended attachment you know of that I could use on the fluval 406 intake so that way I don't just suck them all up if they get too close?
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Use a small metal spoon and push the handle through the veg, towards the bottom of the slice, then drop it into the tank. See if that works for you.
As for shrimp, I only have internal filters at the moment, and have only got my shrimo recently, so I'm afraid I can't help you on that one. Perhaps @Sue or @Fiona will be able to help.
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I have an external filter and tried using a sponge over the out-take hose and a fine mesh guard but to be honest it's a pain. My 200l tank has a lot of plants and to be honest the shrimp tend to spend most of their time in places like that where they're safe.
By plant eaters do you mean algae eaters? If that's the case it's easier to use algae pellets and use fresh courgette and spinach as treats twice a week
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Use a small metal spoon and push the handle through the veg, towards the bottom of the slice, then drop it into the tank. See if that works for you.
As for shrimp, I only have internal filters at the moment, and have only got my shrimo recently, so I'm afraid I can't help you on that one. Perhaps @Sue or @Fiona will be able to help.
I will try that with the spoon, thanks.
I have an external filter and tried using a sponge over the out-take hose and a fine mesh guard but to be honest it's a pain. My 200l tank has a lot of plants and to be honest the shrimp tend to spend most of their time in places like that where they're safe.
By plant eaters do you mean algae eaters? If that's the case it's easier to use algae pellets and use fresh courgette and spinach as treats twice a week
Okay, well I'll give it a shot and see I can pickup some cherry shrimp and see how they do! A lot of my live plants are still growing and aren't too big, but I do have some nice large artificial plants and some other hiding spots as well.
And yes, Algae eaters like my Pleco and the Oto's. I drop a couple algae pellets in every 2-3 days but I try to give them some variety in the diet. They never seemed to go after anything that wasn't cucumber or zuchinni. But yes I usually put some in the tank with clips every few days and try not to let it sit for more than 24-36 hours if there is any left.
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Well the fish transferred successfully. Woke up this morning and they all seem to be doing fine, my Pleco seems to be trying to arrange the tank, kind of? He effectively buried a rock and goes around stopping, rapidly kicks up sand to his liking and then moves somewhere else. All of the danios are swimming happily and the guppies seem okay. The female is swimming around the tank, and the male is swimming but seems to stay to the upper left side by himself. I feel bad like I need to add more guppies but I don't want a guppy explosion like I have previously had, and I'd add only males but then my poor female would get so stressed.
And so this also leads me to a couple questions I have.
In a tropical aquarium is there any need for me to test calcium and phosphate? I am going to buy the copper test and the GH/KH tests so that way I can measure those myself. Then I can use those to calculate the CO2 in the tank as well. The downside about the calcium test is it seems to measure in amount of 20PPM as it is meant more for a reef aquarium.
Regarding O2 levels, I was thinking about it and is there actually any reason for me to add air stones into my tank? I have several live plants which add oxygen, and then there's the filter water disturbance along the top that allows oxygen exchange as well.
I am also wondering if it might be a good idea for me to setup a secondary 10G-20G tank underneath my cupboard. It would have it's own small standalone filter and standalone heater. My idea was I could quickly turn it all on and get water fish ready if I needed to quarantine one fish from the others. Or if I needed a small tank to slowly adapt fish to my water conditions. My most exciting idea was I figured it could help with weekly water changes which is something I have always slacked on. If I had water in there that was heated properly and was treated for chlorine and such then I could essentially just stick a tube in, unhook the intake from my canister filter and hook up the tube for the extra tank and suck all of the water out and put it into the big tank as long as it wasn't in use.
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Well some sad news, actually it is all pretty sad.
MY male guppy died, but I kind of expected that as he was all alone except for the one female.
Also my ammonia seems to be stalling at about .5ppm, but my nitrite is rising. It is just above 2ppm. THe nitrate levels in the tank are 10ppm right now.
I am going to do a 30% water change today as I am concerned about the nitrite levels. WIll test again tonight and might do another water change tomorrow. I have all of the filter media from our two tanks, plus all of the decor from mine, and most from hers so I am not sure why the tank appears to be cycling.
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You need to do more than 30%, change as much as possible to get that nitrite and ammonia down. Get them both down below 0.25. To get 2 ppm down to .2 ppm, you need a 90% water change. The best way might be to remove virtually all the water leaving just enough for the fish to be able to swim upright, and refill with dechlorinated water at a temperature as near the tank water as you can get it. Then test again after half an hour to let the old and new water mix. If one or both are still at or approaching 0.25, you need to do another water change.
Don't feed the fish for the next couple of days, then feed very lightly every 3rd day until ammonia and nitrite stay at zero.
What did you do, in detail? You appear to have lost some bacteria.
Since you are US based, see if you can locate a product called Dr Tim's One & Only. It's made the man who discovered the species of nitrite eaters that grow in fish tanks and is one of the few products that work, though not instantly. We can't get that in the UK so I don't know what exactly the instructions say for fish-in cycling
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Sorry to hear about your male guppy, and the problems that you are having with your water.
As Sue said, big water change, keep testing and keep a close eye on the parameters.
Best of luck and please keep us posted on your progress.
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You need to do more than 30%, change as much as possible to get that nitrite and ammonia down. Get them both down below 0.25. To get 2 ppm down to .2 ppm, you need a 90% water change. The best way might be to remove virtually all the water leaving just enough for the fish to be able to swim upright, and refill with dechlorinated water at a temperature as near the tank water as you can get it. Then test again after half an hour to let the old and new water mix. If one or both are still at or approaching 0.25, you need to do another water change.
Don't feed the fish for the next couple of days, then feed very lightly every 3rd day until ammonia and nitrite stay at zero.
What did you do, in detail? You appear to have lost some bacteria.
Since you are US based, see if you can locate a product called Dr Tim's One & Only. It's made the man who discovered the species of nitrite eaters that grow in fish tanks and is one of the few products that work, though not instantly. We can't get that in the UK so I don't know what exactly the instructions say for fish-in cycling
Ahh okay, I am going to need to setup a side tank really quick I suppose to heat the water and dechlorinate before adding it in. I will repeat until I get to those levels.
I will also see if I can locate the Dr. Tim's one and only, the nearest store that might have it is probably an hour away.
But anyway here is what I have done since I setup the tank.
Day 0: Clean substrate, put it into the tank. Took some of the artificial plants I had that were not in a tank and rinsed them then placed them in the tank. I setup a HOB filter on the back with nothing in it and my nice fluval heater and let it run overnight.
Day 1: After reading what you said about using my existing media I realized I could probably do that. I went to the store that day to buy lights and a cover for the new tank, while I was there I also purchased a few live plants and the MTS. When I came home I acclimated the MTS to the new tank, and planted the live plants I had. I started transferring the live plants I had in my other tank and only got 1 or 2 before I had to stop to go to an emergency work call.
Day 2: This is the day I bagged up the fish in my GF's tank, I started by moving the fitlration media into my filter on the new tank and moving most of the decor into the new tank as well. Then I bagged the fish, moved them to the new tank and spent the next 30 minutes acclimating them just in case of minor water differences. After this was done I went to my house, filled a bucket half up with tank water, put the filtration media and all of my decor in there. Bagged my fish and then drove back to the new tank. I put the filtration media in the filter, than spent about 45 minutes acclimating these fish. During acclimation I placed the decor from my tank in. Once the fish were successfully acclimated I programmed my lights for when they would turn on/off and left them off for the rest of the day. About 4-6 hours later I fed the fish some flakes, a couple dried shrimp and I dropped two algae wafers into the tank. Then a few hours after that I did the first water test which was:
pH: 7.4
Ammonia: .25ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate:5 ppm
Which seemed normal to me.
Day 3: woke up and put some flakes into the water, I watched as the fish ate to see how long it took them to eat them. I slightly over fed as some of the food dropped down to the bottom of the tank after a minute. However within an hour when I was going to vacuum that up it was gone, presumable eaten by the fish or snails.
Test results this day were:
pH: 7.4
Ammonia: 0.5ppm
Nitrite: 1.0ppm
Nitrates: 10ppm
Now the nitrite levels here did scare me some and so I did not feed the fish this night, however if was late so I did not do a water change.
Day 4: I worked all day, before work I used a small pinch of fish flakes and put it into the tank, it was gone in about 10 seconds. When I came home I was exhausted but realized my guppy was missing, I found him and took him out flushing him down the toilet and passed out. The fish where not fed. It is also very possible the dead guppy was dead all day sitting in the tank.
Day 5: (today) I tested the water this morning after feeding the fish very lightly again, the food was gone in about 10 seconds. That's when I came up with the test results and then posted on the forums.
pH: 7.4 (although it seemed slightly lighter, but was still too dark to be 7.2)
Ammonia: 0.5ppm
Nitrite: 2.0ppm (it could be higher I suppose. It wasn't dark enough for the 5.0ppm mark but it did seem slightly darker than the 2.0ppm mark.
Nitrate: Was still at 10ppm.
Immediately I was worried and I made this post, and went out to buy an aqeuon aquarium water change system. 50 foot hose that hooks up directly to a faucet or outdoor hose. Easily siphons water out and lets you put water back in. I used that and before water went in I calculated I was replacing 14G out of the 55G which is about a 25.5% water change and put 5G of dechlorinator in the water, then as the water was filling up the tank I put 10G of dechlorinator in. Since then I have come back to this post to see what you suggested, I am about to test the water again and do another water change. I am going to unplug my heater so it doesn't get damaged and will report back in about an hour when I've done a large water change.
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After a couple more water changes here are my latest test results:
Ammonia: Less than 0.25ppm but not quite zero. Might be 0.1ppm or less.
Nitrite: .5ppm-1.0pmm. Closer to .5ppm
Nitrate less than 5ppm
pH: still 7.4
I called every single store within a 45 minute drive to see if they have Dr. Tim's Live Nitrtifying bacteria and only found it at the one I thought I would which is about an hour away. Once my GF is off of work we will go and purchase that. I guess as a plus I can see if they have any amazonian frogbit or dwarf baby tears.
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From what you describe, you didn't do anything wrong unless you forgot to add dechlorinator.
I wonder if a large proportion of the 'old' bacteria were on the substrate and glass which were left behind. The good news is that you will have transferred quite a lot of bacteria, it's just a case of them multiplying to cover the losses. The longest part of cycling is getting the bacteria started, so it shouldn't take anything like as long as a full cycle to get back up to strength. The Dr Tims will help a lot too.
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From what you describe, you didn't do anything wrong unless you forgot to add dechlorinator.
I wonder if a large proportion of the 'old' bacteria were on the substrate and glass which were left behind. The good news is that you will have transferred quite a lot of bacteria, it's just a case of them multiplying to cover the losses. The longest part of cycling is getting the bacteria started, so it shouldn't take anything like as long as a full cycle to get back up to strength. The Dr Tims will help a lot too.
Ahh yeah, I added dechlorinator every single time the water went into the tank, and I always try to do it before I put it into the tank.
But yeah...I mean I did have gravel so I don't know if bacteria normally grows more on the substrate in gravel tanks or not?
I just got back form the store and immediately added the Dr. Tim's live bacteria. It said 10ML/10G and so most of the bottle went in. It said it was impossible to overdose, and also recommended to be used for water changes so I figured that meant it was safe for fish.
While I was at the store I also got a GH/KH kit, copper kit and phosphate kit along with some Iron supplement for my plants. I checked out CO2 but I just don't think it will be necessary for me, at least right now.
I'll report back tomorrow what my new test results are, and with the Dr. Tim's saying for a new aquarium fish can be added right away-48 hours I expect to see results fast.
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From what you describe, you didn't do anything wrong unless you forgot to add dechlorinator.
I wonder if a large proportion of the 'old' bacteria were on the substrate and glass which were left behind. The good news is that you will have transferred quite a lot of bacteria, it's just a case of them multiplying to cover the losses. The longest part of cycling is getting the bacteria started, so it shouldn't take anything like as long as a full cycle to get back up to strength. The Dr Tims will help a lot too.
So this morning after testing, I ended up actually just using the rest that was in the bottle. And rinsing it out with aquarium water and dumping it back in after shaking it up to make sure it all got out.
And here is a screenshot of my test results, including this mornings: (http://i.imgur.com/6C5yY3D.png (http://i.imgur.com/6C5yY3D.png))
(http://i.imgur.com/6C5yY3D.png)
Without a water change nitrite appears to of gone down over night, into what? Who knows. I mean I suppose with all of my water changes I did remove all of the nitrate basically, and so maybe my plants used the little nitrate that was left/made.
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Good news on the ammonia and nitrite readings. Dr Tims is the one most likely to work provided it hasn't been kept to hot or too cold between manufacture and your tank..
Nitrate is the most difficult one to make really accurate tests for, so I wouldn't worry too much as long as ammonia and nitrite are low. With liquid testers, one bottle has be shaken even more than the instructions say, but even so the reading is only ball park.
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Good news on the ammonia and nitrite readings. Dr Tims is the one most likely to work provided it hasn't been kept to hot or too cold between manufacture and your tank..
Nitrate is the most difficult one to make really accurate tests for, so I wouldn't worry too much as long as ammonia and nitrite are low. With liquid testers, one bottle has be shaken even more than the instructions say, but even so the reading is only ball park.
:) yeah I am happy they have gone down, and will hopefully stay down. I just tested my tap water because I was curious why it seemed I have been lingering at 0.25ppm but my tapwater had 0 like it should. I guess I just need to keep testing over the next few days and hope the numbers go lower. I just did a test about 10 minutes ago and I couldn't visually see any differences other than the liquid seemed lighter...but I mean like I said you can't really distinguish.
But yeah, I get it so it is just close enough really.
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Well today's test results were ammonia at zero, nitrite at .25, and with that I feel rather safe about the tank now. However....there seems to be another mystery.
@Sue any idea if this is pregnancy or constipation?
This Zebra Danio is significantly larger in the belly than the others.
(http://i.imgur.com/TRu8gOv.jpg)
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Good to hear that your water test results are looking better.
If it's any help both of my zebra danios and 2 of my leopard danios look like that.
I was wondered if they were constipated and a few weeks ago I fed chopped peas and then put them on a couple of fasting days. They looked more normal, but still quite round after that, but as soon as they fed again they looked big again.
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Good to hear that your water test results are looking better.
If it's any help both of my zebra danios and 2 of my leopard danios look like that.
I was wondered if they were constipated and a few weeks ago I fed chopped peas and then put them on a couple of fasting days. They looked more normal, but still quite round after that, but as soon as they fed again they looked big again.
Intersting...I just went to bought peas because my fish need more fiber in their diet anyway. I just found it odd that Zebra is the only one with such a large belly. But if yours are also like that I have hope :)
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It would be worth getting the advice of a more experienced keeper, but I'm begining to think that they are just "big girls". ;D
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It would be worth getting the advice of a more experienced keeper, but I'm begining to think that they are just "big girls". ;D
Indeed, more experience is usually better in all cases lol :cheers:
I just blanched and de-shelled the peas, squished them up and dropped them in and all the fish went crazy for them. I also put a thing of lettuce and a small cucumber slice in for the Pleco and Oto's and the fish to munch on if they want.
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Am sure they'll be delighted with the food offerings.
Although I've never kept danios, my female tetras are absolutely massive in comparison with the males.
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Females of many species can look a bit, shall we say rotund when carrying eggs. Zebra danios spawn easily. There are reports of them spawning in the bag on the way home from the shop. A fish that spawns this easily is likely to have females carrying eggs. She'll either lay them (whether fertilised afterwards or not) or she'll reabsorb them. Spawning the fish is the easy bit, the eggs and/or fry will get eaten very quickly.
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My female peppered cories were also massive when they were carrying eggs, they looked as if they were about to burst. Luckily it was obvious why they were so big because they were laying eggs on a regular basis. Thankfully most of the eggs were eaten, and only one fry in each of the temperate tanks have survived. The one in the 50L tank is now almost as big as the males, all significantly smaller than the female. The little one in the 70L tank is now around 1.5cm and is spending less time hiding under the log pile. So cute. :)
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Thanks @fcmf @Sue and @Littlefish
We will see what happens I suppose :) should be within a week or two if I remmber when she started to get bigger correctly.
Also some minor news...got the Dwarf Baby Tears in today, going to plant them and I hope they carpet well.
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So a question for anybody that could help. I want to start using CO2 in my tank for the plants and as I've found to get to about 30PPM CO2 I will have to use CO2 until my pH drops to about 6.6 due to my hardness. So my question is basically I know I will have to adjust to slowly over the next 2 months so my fish do not go into shock, but what about new fish? Pretty much all the water around me is hard water, and actually from any fish or plants I have ever ordered online the water generally tends to be hard as well. So with a pH drop of about 1 for most new fish what am I going to have to do to acclimate them to my tank conditions?
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Latest update, after having success with my test results we got some new friends today bringing my stock for this tank to...
1 Bristlenose Pleco
3 Oto's
4 Giant Danios
7 Zebra Danios
7 + babies of Malaysian Trumpet Snails
and 15 Red Cherry Shrimp, which sadly might've been eaten by the Giant Danio's already....they were ballsy shrimp climbing the sides of the tank rather than staying on the ground. And also as promised here is a full tank shot as it stands now.
(http://i.imgur.com/qJdPPsC.jpg)
Sadly I think I yet again rushed too quickly into this and now it is too late. Not in terms of the fish but in terms of plants. I am purchasing a CO2 system that I am going to slowly use to bring my CO2 up to about 25ppm which means it'll be dropping my pH to about 6.5. That process will take about 4-6 weeks and I am hoping that the increase in CO2 will make my plants thrive, and that I'll be able to increase it slowly enough and to the right amount to where I don't harm my fish. In addition to the CO2 I'll be using tablet based fertilizers where needed along with water based. I am excited to see if I can make these plants thrive and get on a good start to a healthy aquarium.
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Great tank. 8)
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Lovely, and great about the new additions. :fishy1:
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Haha! I found a sole Red Cherry Shrimp Survivor in my tank. After changing some decor around and adding more plants I am hoping my new shipment of RCS will have a higher survivabillity rating.
I need to go to the pet store to get some calcium tabs or similar to make sure that there's a healthy amount of it in my tank water. I am not sure what happened but I also recently got Ghost shrimp all decently sized as well. 3/6 died overnight but I think they were being abused by the fish. One died when we got home, I found another one today though not sure of cause of death. The others where less ghostly and more opaque, the one I found today was still pretty translucent. There is a sole surviving ghost shrimp I assume....as it was the biggest one I got and have found no body, plus too big for my fish to eat.
I'll have to post more pictures after I plant the rest of plants and once this java wood waterlogs. It seems to be taking forever
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if you have hard water @Gabriel you don't need to worry about adding calcium to the tank.