Tropical Fish Forum
Think Fish Tropical Fish Forum => Introductions and hello's => Topic started by: dwindstr on May 30, 2019, 01:58:31 AM
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David here,
introducing myself as a new member. I kept fish (most bettas) when I was a teenager, and got hooked back into the hobby about 7 months in my retirement years (now in my 60's). I adopted a very aged blue betta from a friend who could no longer take care of him. He was 4 years old, and looking ready to die, often floating on his side, with raggedy fins. She had him in a 1 gallon bowl at about 67 degrees F. I took him home, put him in a 5 gallon tank with a filter, heater, a floating resting tube, and he's still alive today and doing somewhat better. He is a sweet fish, and very interactive.
SO.....I got re-obsessed with fish, and now have three additional tanks: a 10 tank used strictly for QT, a 15, and a 20 gallon long. About a week ago, I moved my first set of fish, 7 long-finned White Cloud Mountain Minnows, out of QT and into the 20L. They are very excited (and exciting). Three days ago, I acquired 8 purple/blue (color variant) Harlequin Rasboras and homed them in the 10 gallon QT. When they pass QT, they will move into the 20L with the minnows (both Cypranids and supposedly get along).
My next batch I plan will be the Habrosus Corydora, probably 5 or 6, the final set for the 20L community tank.
Not sure what I'm going to do with the 15 gallon. I had thought to make it a breeding tank, but one of the guys at my favorite fish store is trying to talk me into a beautiful pair of South American dwarf cichlids: the Apistogramma Borelli Opal. They seem to have great personalities.
That's it. Hoping to learn a lot here.
David
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Hi David, welcome to the forum :wave:
It sounds as though you have already succumbed to multiple tank syndrome (commonly called MTS) ;D
Just to warn you, the three dwarf cories (which includes habrosus) do better in a group of at least 10. They will be less stressed so 10 will add only a tiny bit more bioload than a stressed group of 5 or 6.
The opals are lovely fish, I had some many years ago. They are one of the hardier species of apisto. When you go to buy them try to get a bonded pair. The way to do this is to stand motionless and watch the tank. The fish will eventually forget you are there and start behaving normally. The males will display to each other and maybe make threatening gestures. The females will just potter around. If a male allows a female to stay near him and doesn't chase her away, they are more likely (though not guaranteed) to be bonded. It is better if you take someone with you, then when you have chosen your fish, send the other person to find someone to serve you while you keep your eyes on the chosen fish.
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Hi David :wave:, and lovely to read about your enthusiasm which is quite infectious and about how much you enjoy fish and appreciate their personalities as I do too. :fishy1:
Looking forward to reading of how your various tanks are doing and how your plans for the 15-gallon one evolve - as well as see some photos of the tanks. :D
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:wave:
Thanks for the warm welcome and tips. I think I really want the Apisto's at some point.
I knew that the habrosus feel more confident the more of them there are. Using the "community creator", I was afraid I would overload the 20L bioload, but I'll look at that again more closely. I would rather not have them at all than have them be unhappy or stressed.
One other option I thought of is to get one of the smaller plecos, like a Clown. But even they may get too big for a 20 gallon tank. Do they need a buddy, or are they okay being a solo pleco?
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Keeping them solo is pretty common :fishy1:
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Hi David, and welcome to the forum. :wave:
It's always nice to have another multi tank syndrome sufferer on board, and look forward to hearing about your tanks. :)
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Hi David, welcome to the forum :wave:
Just to warn you, the three dwarf cories (which includes habrosus) do better in a group of at least 10. They will be less stressed so 10 will add only a tiny bit more bioload than a stressed group of 5 or 6.
The opals are lovely fish, I had some many years ago. They are one of the hardier species of apisto. When you go to buy them try to get a bonded pair. The way to do this is to stand motionless and watch the tank. The fish will eventually forget you are there and start behaving normally. The males will display to each other and maybe make threatening gestures. The females will just potter around. If a male allows a female to stay near him and doesn't chase her away, they are more likely (though not guaranteed) to be bonded. It is better if you take someone with you, then when you have chosen your fish, send the other person to find someone to serve you while you keep your eyes on the chosen fish.
Returning with an update. I did wind up getting 10 habrosus. Unfortunately 5 of them died in QT, probably because of some bad information I followed about using an internal parasite medicine prophylactically (reported in the Fish Medicine forum). The other five are doing fine and getting ready to move out of QT.
Thank you very much for that interesting tip about discerning gender in the A. borelli. All of my local fish sources sell them as "unbonded pairs", saying they're too hard to tell apart to guarantee it. I will try your technique when the time comes.
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Looking forward to reading of how your various tanks are doing and how your plans for the 15-gallon one evolve :D
Ok, so here's an update. The 7 WCCM's spawned (without dad's permission :rotfl:), and created 7 fry. I love that minnows do not eat their fry. These little guys just appeared one day. Nevertheless, I moved them down to the 15 gallon temporarily, where they still are. When the 8 purple harlequin rasboras came out of QT, I moved them into the 20L with the 7 adult minnows; both cyprinids, and supposedly would get along. Initially a couple of the male minnows appeared to be bullying the rasboras; not doing any actual harm, just intimidating them and hearding them into (an apparently) frightened shoal in the corner of the tank. Eventually they seemed to sort all this out, and they live (and even school together) peacefully. Nevertheless, it is clear the minnows have established themselves as the alpha-species. It helped to move some plants around and change up the territory.
I got 10 corydora habrosus but five of them died in QT, unfortunately, due to bad advice I followed about treating them with meds (even though no sign of disease). I've decided to adjust my tank stocking plans, because only five cory's in the 20L might be intimidated, and because of stocking limits. I'm planning to move the five minnow teenagers back from the 15 to the 20L to join the seven minnow adults, and move the 8 rasboras and 5 corydoras into the 15 together. Bioload numbers make more sense that way, the corys will probably be happier, and I'll have a WCCM species-only 20 gallon tank, which I can maintain without a heater, since these guys like colder water. Then I can eventually get some more rasboras and more corydoras for the 15 gallon.
Finally, I acquired 20 "sundadanio globinis", sometimes called "miniature blue neon rasboras", in a ten gallon tank. They are really darling little fish, but the water parameters are more tricky. I describe this adventure in more detail in a post I did to the species-specific Rasbora forum, where there are more details about this.
Thanks again for the warm welcome. :wave:
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That's great news... I didn't know minnows didn't eat their young.
Take your time adjusting them to cooler temperatures... over a few days if you can.
Shame about your losses in quaranteen, I know lots of people just treat, I personally prefer to wait for signs of infection so I can target anything I see rather than pump them full of misc chemicals.
I really like the habrosus cories :cheers:
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Just a quick 'hello' from me, David. Good to have you on board.
JPC
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Looking forward to reading of how your various tanks are doing and how your plans for the 15-gallon one evolve - as well as see some photos of the tanks. :D
Here is a picture of the current 20 gallon as it stands at the moment, with 7 WCCM's and 8 Purple Harlequin Rasboras schooling together. I also have a really cool video, but it's 25 megabytes so probably won't allow me to upload.
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Looking forward to reading of how your various tanks are doing and how your plans for the 15-gallon one evolve - as well as see some photos of the tanks. :D
Here's a temporary link to a video of the minnows and rasboras schooling together:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-C4TGYwnG0FTuCRlYDW-G9qJ_DvKjbZd
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Yey, photos and a video :cheers: thanks for those!
Are those live plants? Let me know if you need a hand with anything plant related, I seem to have become our resident plant expert after getting in to 'aquascaping' a few years ago.
I'm also intrigued by the sponge in the front centre... are you cycling a filter for a new tank!?
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Yey, photos and a video :cheers: thanks for those!
Are those live plants? Let me know if you need a hand with anything plant related, I seem to have become our resident plant expert after getting in to 'aquascaping' a few years ago.
I'm also intrigued by the sponge in the front centre... are you cycling a filter for a new tank!?
I have been slow to get into live plants with the extra work, but recognize the benefits. The only live plant in the picture is on the far right. It's my first experiment, a cryptocoryne undulatus "red". Supposedly to be low maintenance, low light, and really nice. The others are all plastic or silk.
I do have some sponges floating around getting cycled, but that one is a round filter intake sponge that I took off temporarily to clear out some bigger chunks of stuff floating around the tank after a gravel vacuum. I need to put it back on. I will definitely call on you for plant help, if I get more. We'll see how the cryptocoryne does.
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Be aware it might melt but provided the root stock is healthy it should regrow with new leaves more suited to aquatic life. Plants are grown emersed (out of water) in the nurseries as it makes for quicker growth (better access to co2) and more sturdy plants for transport ( no water around them to support then). Just like if the area they were growing in in the wild got flooded, they go through a process of replacing the terrestrial leaves with aquatic variants.
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Be aware it might melt but provided the root stock is healthy it should regrow with new leaves more suited to aquatic life. Plants are grown emersed (out of water) in the nurseries as it makes for quicker growth (better access to co2) and more sturdy plants for transport ( no water around them to support then). Just like if the area they were growing in in the wild got flooded, they go through a process of replacing the terrestrial leaves with aquatic variants.
I got this plant from a Danish supplier that grows them in a lab from tissue culture. They are shipped in a liquid growing media and are quite damp when unpackaged. The lid is sealed on the cup.
https://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Cryptocoryneundulatus'Red'(110BTC)/19225
And here's how they grow them:
https://tropica.com/en/articles/about-emerse-production/
Thanks for your comments.
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Tropical tissue culture plants are probably the best out there, good choice!! Looks like you've got some good growth there already :)
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Tropical tissue culture plants are probably the best out there, good choice!! Looks like you've got some good growth there already :)
Yes, a little spendy, but in beautiful shape, and no snails. And if they thrive, I shouldn't need to buy anymore; I'm told they spread, and I can create multiple plants out of one.