Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => The Emergency Room => Topic started by: Littlefish on July 05, 2016, 07:06:10 PM
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Hi Guys,
Just stopped in the middle of setting up the emergency 70L tank for my little bristlenose plec. During feeding time this evening I noticed his tail didn't look quite right. Then one of the glass bloodfin tetras swam down an nipped the BN's tail. On closer inspection this is not the first nip, so I'm moving him.
Firstly, any advice on catching a BN in a fully planted tank which also contains glass bloodfins, penguin tetras, and to top it all off, silver hatchet fish who tend to jump out of the water when startled? I'm thinking of taking quite a bit of water out of the tank to drop the water level, because the last thing I need is for a hatchet to jump out of the tank during the episode. Is using a bet for the BN the way forward, or should I use a tub, to avoid damage to spines etc.
Secondly, CC says minimum of 80cm tank, but my BN is only little, so will the 60cm 70L tank be ok?
Finally, will the BN be able to go back into the South American tank when he gets bigger, or will the tetra always nip him? If he can go back in that's fine, if not he can have the other 125L tank when the dwarf puffers are upgraded and I'll probably just increase the numbers of penguin & bloodfin tetra in the original tank.
Any advice appreciated.
Back to setting up the emergency tank.
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Seriously Fish reckons these fish are "generally peaceable" but fish don't read books or websites and there are always exceptions to every rule.
Lowering the water level does make it easier to catch fish. With those like BNs, it would be easiest to use a net to herd it into a jar. Or if it likes hiding in an ornament, drive it into that then scoop the ornament and BN together into a net/tub/whatever you can lay your hands on.
As a short term measure, the 60 cm tank will be better than leaving it with the glass bloodfins. Once a fish starts nipping it is unlikely to stop. Then the 125 litre once the puffers move out.
This is one advantage to MTS - at least you have other tanks to move the BN to.
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Thanks Sue.
I'll also move the wood, and I've got some stones growing algae in the snail tank, so he can have those as well, along with all the decor at the bottom of the tank, because it's not as if the tetras use any of them. I've also got some plants I can move, so hopefully he wont find the emergency tank too bare.
I must remember to bring up the Seriously Fish site and leave it open on the appropriate page before placing the laptop in front of the tetra tank.
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Well, that took longer than expected.
The BN shall henceforth be known as Harry (Houdini), and he is now in the 70L tank. The 125L tank is basically looking fairly trashed, but I have counted all the fish, and I still have 5 hatchets, who were the most likely escapees. I think that Harry, the shrimp, and myself are all fairly traumatised. The hatchets and tetras are swimming around as if they don't understand what all the fuss was about.
If we all survive the night I will class this as a success.
The only fish that came out of this happy were the dwarf puffers, who got a large stone worth of baby snails and it's not Friday.
I am now sitting down with a beer.
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Well done. I think you deserve something stronger than beer........
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After all that I think I deserve an early night. ;D
Thanks for your help, it's greatly appreciated.
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ooo - I do like a happy ending! :))
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I was quite nervous approaching the tanks to see how the fish were this morning.
However, Harry was on the algae stone at the front of the tank, so at least I know he's ok. He has also had a munch on the wood and now I have no idea where he is in the tank.
The hatchet & tetra tank seems ok as well.
Phew!
:)
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Brilliant - so relieved for you :cheers: as there's nothing worse than the situation being awry and lying in bed, wondering what situation you're going to face when you get up.
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Glad Harry and co survived the move Donna :)
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I feel exhausted this morning, and didn't really want to get out of bed to check on the tanks, but was very relieved to see the fish are ok.
When I saw the BN with a couple of nips on his tail I could have kicked myself for not noticing sooner.
As for the chaos involved in catching him, if the situation hadn't been so urgent, it would have been comedy gold. At one point I had him between 2 nets, and he still got out. Eventually I had to put a net over him when he was on the sand, then push the other net under the sand, then put a plastic tub into the tank to scoop up both nets to transfer him. A fair amount of substrate went with him, then I had trouble getting him out of the net with the sand in. ::) This morning I have noticed a moulted shrimp case in with Harry. No idea if I scooped it up with him, or if I've transferred some a shrimp or two with him.
This is one advantage to MTS - at least you have other tanks to move the BN to.
@Sue I have never needed any encouragement to indulge my MTS, but you do have a very good point there. This week I may also have to buy more filters to replace the spare spares that I had in other tanks. One spare was used for the recently re-homed Sherbon and Humbug, and the filter for Harry was the spare taken out of the main puffer tank. I'm now looking around the room and hoping that I don't have any more emergencies as I not longer have a spare tank (apart from the old 24L, which I was planning to put on the windowsill to grow more algae on rocks), and I only have multiple filters in the axolotl tanks.
I guess it could have been worse - the 340L tank is still in the packaging in the hallway, Harry could have ended up in that! :rotfl:
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I'm glad to hear the fish are all fine this morning. Catching a particular fish is not easy, they have some instinct which tells them from the second the net goes in that you are after that one. It must be a nightmare with planted tanks. That's one problem I don't have when catching fish.
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It must be a nightmare with planted tanks.
That's putting it mildly Sue! I've been trying to catch the glowlight tetras in the 200l for at least 6 months. The little buggers seem to know I'm after them and they zoom off to the other side of the tank and the crossbar sitting across the middle of the tank doesn't help either. Tat's why I've decided to completely empty the tank when I change the substrate.
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....and the crossbar sitting across the middle of the tank doesn't help either.
I hated that with my Rio 125. My 180 doesn't have that bar as it has glass strips along all four sides as bracers. And the cover glasses can be lifted off. It is much easier catching fish in this tank than my old one.
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....and the crossbar sitting across the middle of the tank doesn't help either.
I hated that with my Rio 125.
A design flaw if you ask me
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....and the crossbar sitting across the middle of the tank doesn't help either.
I hated that with my Rio 125.
A design flaw if you ask me
Unfortunately, a necessity. I found out first hand what happens to a Juwel Rio 125 when the bracer bar across the middle is no longer attached at one end - the walls bow. Some very large tanks with the bracer bar from front to back in the middle of the tank even have 2 bars.
I much prefer the bracer bars in my 180, and the old 60 litre which sprang a leak after 15 years also had the same kind. They are like a small glass shelf siliconed to the wall at the top, or up to an inch down. It's the long walls that need it most.
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I'll need to replant a few areas of the south american tank, there were a few plant casualties after catching Harry, but that also means that I can basically plant the whole of the bottom of the tank not that there are no bottom dwellers. I'm going to give it a while for everyone to calm down, replant the tank with my usual finesse (poke plants into the substrate, and tie stuff onto stuff), give it another week or so, then increase the numbers of fish of the species I already have in there.
Harry seems fine. He's had a wander around the tank. I tried to get some pictures, but ended up calling him by his previous name ("oh, you little bugger") when he scooted behind the bogwood. :)
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I think it's safe to say that Harry has recovered from his time in the tetra tank. He seems to be enjoying his temporary tank, and is munching on the wood and appearing to poop splinters like there is no tomorrow.
He was out and about on the glass, even though I had the tank lights on, and I managed to catch a picture of him in the corner of the tank.
So, that's it from Harry, until he moves to a bigger tank. :)