The Aquatic Thread! (Since fish threads die so fast)

[SHD]

Tinfoil Paradox

SHD

Great idea! 3nodding

So I have a couple tanks, but the one I have a question about is my 10 Gallon with my male Betta fish Mussolini. When I first got him I had several ghost shrimp in there with him, but after 4 - 5 months they passed away. So it's been about 2 months since then and he seems lonely. I saw him interact with the shrimp often and they did a great job about cleaning the tank and such of that sort. I don't really want to spend $4.99 a shrimp again if they die after 6 - 8 months. I was at the pet store that sells fish in my town and saw that they have Panda Cory and I really liked the look of them. They are small and not brightly colored or anything and seem to hang out at the bottom of the tank. There is a sale coming up at the store a 'Buy one Get one Free', so it would be a great opportunity for me to get several -- thinking 4 - 5.

Do you think they would be a good fit?

Panda Cory

It really depends on the betta, some are great with every fish and others murder snails, shrimp, and fish. I'd personally vote Oto catfish, they're small, and while less colourful, they're pretty cute and interesting. That said, if you really like Corys you could give them a try, but as Friday_Dora mentioned it can go badly. So in that scenario be prepared to return them. If your betta was getting along with shrimp and not murdering them then that can be a good indication of your bettas temperment.

Also, jesus that shrimp price is insane. Ghost shrimp should be 99 cents.

Thanks for the advice. Mussolini never had a problem with the shrimp, he would check them out when they came close to him but that is about it. So I don't think he would have a problem, there are some snails in the tank as well. But I will heed caution and make sure that no one is bullying anyone else. I will look into the Oto catfish and see if the store that is in town has them. As for prices, I know what you mean, but there is only one store in town that sells fish. So they can name their price. There is a big city a little more then an hour away that has more stores and I could check out their stock/prices, but then I have to add the price of gas going back and forth right? Sucks, I know XP

[Friday_Dora]

SHD

Yeah well there is only one place in town that sells fish and so they can name their price. Unless I want to drive over an hour to a big city and check out their prices, I can't do much about it. It sucks, I know.

Mussolini had no problems with the shrimp, as I said he interacted with them a lot. But he never attacked them or anything. If they were crawling on the plants, he would swim over and check them out and then go about his own business. Which is why I thought he wouldn't have a problem with bottom feeders. I do have some snails in the tank as well.

But I will take your advice and heed caution about adding them in, thanks. I'll go back and see what others they have and if there is nothing else, I will make sure to be very careful and have a net on hand to save him if the ones I get are jerks. Thanks for the reply!

Ahhh. The fish stores around here sell ghost shrimp as feeders, so I'm used to seeing them priced lower.

You might not have a problem, but have a backup plan just in case. Those little floating tanks that fit over the lip of the aquarium are a good short-term solution, as are tank dividers. Worst case scenario, you wind up like me and wind up adding another tank to your house. razz

[SHD]

Friday_Dora

SHD

Yeah well there is only one place in town that sells fish and so they can name their price. Unless I want to drive over an hour to a big city and check out their prices, I can't do much about it. It sucks, I know.

Mussolini had no problems with the shrimp, as I said he interacted with them a lot. But he never attacked them or anything. If they were crawling on the plants, he would swim over and check them out and then go about his own business. Which is why I thought he wouldn't have a problem with bottom feeders. I do have some snails in the tank as well.

But I will take your advice and heed caution about adding them in, thanks. I'll go back and see what others they have and if there is nothing else, I will make sure to be very careful and have a net on hand to save him if the ones I get are jerks. Thanks for the reply!

Ahhh. The fish stores around here sell ghost shrimp as feeders, so I'm used to seeing them priced lower.

You might not have a problem, but have a backup plan just in case. Those little floating tanks that fit over the lip of the aquarium are a good short-term solution, as are tank dividers. Worst case scenario, you wind up like me and wind up adding another tank to your house. razz

Haha, yeah -- I'll get a tank divider just in case and I have my quarantine tank already set up so if something goes wrong I can always put the coy's or my betta in there.

[lividdarkangel800]

Tinfoil Paradox

lividdarkangel800

actualy my water is super hard here. my platteis are super happy. i odnt know what i did right this time, but im happy they are ok. for now anyway. if not i have 30- 45 fry i have too.

really? i can start for $50? that would be awesome. now if i just had room for it lol

ill keep it short, i have platties, guppies( though not for much longer) bettas ( well one is mine the other is my hubby's) then two balas that are my hubby's that he kinda ignores that i take care of usually. then i have goldfish and a tilapia.

That's interesting, maybe your tap water was high in nitrates or ammonia then.

Well let's see... start with either a small ~5 gallon tank or container of equivalent size (I got an acrylic 4 gallon cylinder for free from a neighbor, I'm sure you could find something for fairly cheap at a second hand store). Liverock will hit you the hardest for cost, but in a smaller setup you shouldn't need more than $30 worth. An old used wavemaker or powerhead for $5-$10 is all you need for circulation. The next biggest cost will be the light; if you want corals you'll need to fork out some bigger money, but if you just start out with algaes you should be fine with a simple T4/T5 bulb. I can't say how much you'll spend on that since you could luck out on one or have to spend a substantial amount.

Something I haven't had to check on is salinity, since I use R/O water for tops ups. I only have crabs and they live on the algae, so I don't actually feed them. Because of this I don't need to do water changes, which means I don't worry about salinity. In such a small setup, I'm sure you could get away with once or twice a month water changes. If you don't want to buy a refractometer, ask around at LFS to see if any will let you test your salinity with there's. Odds are if you have a good one that you're a loyal customer with, then they probably will say yes.

For lifestock I would stick with zebra hermit crabs, blue legged hermit crabs, and similarly sized ones. Buy the smallest you can, it's more fun watching them grow up and it gives your tank time to mature into supporting a fully grown crab. For algaes chaeto and macro have worked well in my setup. I also have a hitchhiker crab in mine, so I use green turf algae (a common pest) to add some more colour and plant variation to mine (can't have corals with this hitchhiker).

oh wow thank you! still need space though lol. i have a lot of little tanks and stuff lying aorund so ill have to go through my stuff and see what i will need. are the water tests the same as freshwater? like the nitrates and nitrites and stuff?

[xChibi Cannibalx]

My boyfriends mom recently gave us a 20 gallon tank they used to keep tetras in, last time we went over to visit. My boyfriend and i want to turn it into a live plant aquarium, with some snails and/or shrimp. How would we go about making this work? We dont want to do it right now, but in the next couple of months, it could be a fun thing to do

[Apotheos]

Marrmee

Awesome! It's good to know they're pretty resilient and easy to come by. Might make things a little less intimidating for my fiance. lol

That's crazy that they can live for so long and in just about any conditions.

To make it as non intimidating as possible when you set everything up, find someone willing to give you some of their filter media to put in your own filter. It will jump start the cycle and will make your tank fish ready nearly immediately. If you have a test kit on hand, I'd say you could put fish in the same day if you monitor conditions and do extra water changes if there are any severe spikes.

I have so many tanks that if I need to set something up I can just take a running filter (I usually have more than one per tank) and put it on the new tank. It's nice not having to cycle anything, lol.

[Apotheos]

lividdarkangel800

oh wow thank you! still need space though lol. i have a lot of little tanks and stuff lying aorund so ill have to go through my stuff and see what i will need. are the water tests the same as freshwater? like the nitrates and nitrites and stuff?

It's basically the same, although you can complicate it with things like silica, iodine, and calcium. If you have corals you will need to test for phosphates. The ph is also considerably higher in saltwater than fresh. I already mentioned testing salinity, which is pretty easy.

[Friday_Dora]

xChibi Cannibalx

My boyfriends mom recently gave us a 20 gallon tank they used to keep tetras in, last time we went over to visit. My boyfriend and i want to turn it into a live plant aquarium, with some snails and/or shrimp. How would we go about making this work? We dont want to do it right now, but in the next couple of months, it could be a fun thing to do

There's a lot you can do with a 20g as far as plants go! If you haven't already, check out plantedtank.net. They have a photo gallery that's good for inspiration and forums where people post even more photos. lol (I really love looking at planted tanks, can you tell?) Of course they have good guides and FAQs too.

[xChibi Cannibalx]

Friday_Dora

xChibi Cannibalx

My boyfriends mom recently gave us a 20 gallon tank they used to keep tetras in, last time we went over to visit. My boyfriend and i want to turn it into a live plant aquarium, with some snails and/or shrimp. How would we go about making this work? We dont want to do it right now, but in the next couple of months, it could be a fun thing to do

There's a lot you can do with a 20g as far as plants go! If you haven't already, check out plantedtank.net. They have a photo gallery that's good for inspiration and forums where people post even more photos. lol (I really love looking at planted tanks, can you tell?) Of course they have good guides and FAQs too.

Oh sweet, thank you biggrin Theres a lot of pretty tanks in the gallery~

[Apotheos]

xChibi Cannibalx

My boyfriends mom recently gave us a 20 gallon tank they used to keep tetras in, last time we went over to visit. My boyfriend and i want to turn it into a live plant aquarium, with some snails and/or shrimp. How would we go about making this work? We dont want to do it right now, but in the next couple of months, it could be a fun thing to do

Easiest way is to get a good substrate like Flourite or Eco-Complete and give around 3-4 inches of depth for your plants to root in. The type of plants you chose will reflect the light you need. There are lots of low light beginner plants that won't require an especially powerful light and then there are ones that will need quite strong lighting. Here is a guide that goes further in depth about the basics.

If you wanted to go a different route, but still with plants you could try the Walstad method or instead of a planted tank, make a riparium.

In regards to shrimp, I would definitely start with cherry shrimp and amano shrimp. They're both some of the easiest to keep and as you progress you can start to mix in yellow shrimp and other colour morphs if you can find the ones that won't interbreed with cherries. Another cool invert option is dwarf orange crayfish, they're plant friendly and won't be able to eat adult shrimp, but you'll lose a few shrimplets to them. Same goes for ghost shrimp, they're slightly larger than cherries and not as peaceful as amanos; you'll lose some babies to them too. Sick and very old shrimp also will fall prey to both.

Once you feel you really have a good understanding of shrimp, you can start checking out crystal shrimp. They're more difficult to keep, but if you are willing to put some time in with breeding, you'll be able to make some money down the road.

[Sir October]

Heres my algae infested tank haha redface sweatdrop




I took a break from the hobby last year and down size to a few tanks. This tank right now currently has one angel and one young adult bichir. I didnt have much time last year due to work and going to school. Im hoping to restart this tank next month just need to make the time

[Apotheos]

Well this post has gained enough traction for me to put some effort into listing all my tanks with their specs.

3 Gallon

Stock: Halfmoon Betta.

Plants: Narrow Leaf Java Fern, Pothos Vine, Peace Lily, Carrot, Leek.

Substrate: Black Gravel.

Hardscape: Driftwood.

Lighting: Ambient.

Filtration: NF 300, planted.

4 Gallon

Stock: 2 Zebra Hermit Crabs, Common Hermit Crab, Hitch Hiker Crab, Asterina Starfish.

Plants: Chaeto Algae, Redmacro Algae.

Coral: None.

Substrate: None.

Hardscape: Liverock.

Lighting: Single T4, 3200k.

Filtration: ACP 250.

6 Gallon

Stock: PK Betta.

Plants: Pothos Vine.

Substrate: Black Sand.

Hardscape: None.

Lighting: Fluval Chi LED.

Filtration: Fluval Chi Filter.

10 Gallon

Stock: 8 Boraras merah, 3 Clown Killifish, 1 Pygmy Livebearer, 1 Dwarf Gourami, 1 Neon Goby, 3 Amano Shrimp, 10+ Cherry Shrimp, 5+ Japonica Shrimp.

Plants: Pothos Vine, Anacharis, Narrowleaf Java Fern, Moneywort, Anubias var. coffeefolia, Lucky Bamboo, Marimo Moss, Carrot, Peace Lily.

Substrate: Black Sand.

Hardscape: Cliff Rock, Slate, Driftwood.

Lighting: Daylight.

Filtration: Aqueon Quietflow 20, planted.

10 Gallon Riparium

Stock: Veiltail Betta, 4 White Cloud Mountain Minnows, Bristlenose Pleco (grow out), Unknown Loach sp.

Plants: Pothos Vine, Anacharis, Anubias var. nana, Lucky Bamboo, Lotus Bamboo, Water Iris, Peace Lily, Parrots Feather, Vallisneria.

Substrate: River Gravel.

Hardscape: Granitoid.

Lighting: Glo 15W T8.

Filtration: Aquaclear 50, planted with sponge media.

10 Gallon Sick Tank

Stock: 5" Black Koi, 3" Comet Goldfish

Plants: Leek, Green Onion, Garlic.

Substrate: None..

Hardscape: Plant Pots.

Lighting: Ambient.

Filtration: Aquaclear 30, planted with sponge media.

20 Gallon

Stock: 5 Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish, 3 Ember Tetra, Koi Angelfish (grow out), Cherry Barb, Glass Catfish, Unknown Pleco (Possibly Gypsy King Tiger Pleco), 3 Kuhli Loach, Red Tail Black Shark (grow out).

Plants: Various Crypts, Broadleaf Java Fern, Narrowleaf Java Fern, Anubias var. nana, Sword Plant, Lily Pad, Lucky Bamboo.

Substrate: Flourite Red, Flourite Black.

Hardscape: Rose wood, Driftwood, Petrified Wood.

Lighting: 4x F8T5/D.

Filtration: Aquaclear 20, planted with sponge media. Fluval C4, bioball media, sponge media.

32 Gallon

Stock: 3 Odessa Barb, Melon Barb, Flying Fox, Silver Flying Fox, Unknown Garra sp, Leopard Frog Pleco, 4" Common Pleco (grow out), ? Marbled Crayfish

Plants: Pothos Vine, Lucky Bamboo, Leek, Peace Lily.

Substrate: Black Gravel.

Hardscape: Driftwood, Manzanita Driftwood Granitoid, Cliff Rock, River Rock.

Lighting: 2x T8 (1 Plant Spectrum).

Filtration: Aquaclear 300, planted with sponge media. Aqueon Quietflow 30, bioball media.

45 Gallon Riparium

Stock: 2 Golden Weather Loaches, 2 Kuhli Loaches.

Plants: Pothos Vine, Lucky Bamboo, Peace Lily, Parrots Feather, Dieffenbachia, Lotus Bamboo, Aquatic Grass, Unknown Emergant Anubias, Various Plant Scraps.

Substrate: Play Sand.

Hardscape: None.

Lighting: T8 and 15w Daylight Bulb.

Filtration: None, air injected via pump.

100 Gallon

Stock: European Weather Loach, 1'1" Common Pleco, 10" Comet Goldfish, 10" Common Goldfish, 8" Comet Goldfish, 6" Comet Goldfish, 6" Common Goldfish, 15 3" Common/Comet Goldfish.

Plants: Occasional Duckweed.

Substrate: Play Sand.

Hardscape: None.

Lighting: T8 and 2 T5.

Filtration: Aquaclear 20, sponge media. Fluval C4, bioball media. 3 AIBO HB 399 Pumps.

[Apotheos]

Sir October

Heres my algae infested tank haha redface sweatdrop




I took a break from the hobby last year and down size to a few tanks. This tank right now currently has one angel and one young adult bichir. I didnt have much time last year due to work and going to school. Im hoping to restart this tank next month just need to make the time

To be honest, most of my tanks have that algae and untamed look with the plants. I prefer a more natural look with some of my tanks. How big is that tank anyway?

[Sir October]

Tinfoil Paradox

Sir October

Heres my algae infested tank haha redface sweatdrop




I took a break from the hobby last year and down size to a few tanks. This tank right now currently has one angel and one young adult bichir. I didnt have much time last year due to work and going to school. Im hoping to restart this tank next month just need to make the time

To be honest, most of my tanks have that algae and untamed look with the plants. I prefer a more natural look with some of my tanks. How big is that tank anyway?

May I see? Please post photos if avaialble. I did see your beautiful goldfish in your other thread weeks ago do you have tank photo of that? Its a 40 Gallon breeder.

[Apotheos]

Sir October

May I see? Please post photos if avaialble. I did see your beautiful goldfish in your other thread weeks ago do you have tank photo of that? Its a 40 Gallon breeder.

Sure tomorrow I'll clean them up and post pictures. Three tanks I recently rescaped so they look pretty bad right now, but eh whatever. I can post a picture of my goldfish tank too. 40 gallon breeders are really nice tanks, I've been thinking about getting one, but I don't really have the space.