macdaddy36
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Posts posted by macdaddy36
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It's really not been a good week for my tanks. Over the past few days one of my Honey Gourami has started to slow down. He has been resting on the bottom a lot. At first I wasn't too concerned since both honey gourami tend to rest on the bottom/hardscape occasionally but he had been doing it more frequently. This fish has always been significantly smaller than the other honey gourami in the tank, but that could be a m/f difference.
Today I came home from school and looked at the tank and he was laying on his side on the bottom of the tank. I thought he was toast but his gills were still moving so I thought I'd let him live out the last few days/hours of his life.
About an hour after I noticed this I went to check on him and he got scared and swam to the surface, took a gulp of air, and then swam back down and sat down on his ventral fins. He struggled a little bit getting up and getting back down but it wasn't terrible.
How should I treat? The only QT I have on hand is a 2.5 gallon. I can set it up with an HOB and some cycled media. I'm assuming salt would be recommended, but how much and can I do anything else? Do anabantoids tolerate salt well?
pH 7.8
Nitrate 10
soft water
medium buffer
ammonia/nitrite 0
I can't get a picture of him right now because he is sitting on the bottom under a piece of drift wood but when I saw him he looked like normal.
I know I should, but I don't have salt on hand and won't be able to get it until tomorrow. If he makes it to tomorrow I will get the salt, set up a QT and start treatment.
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Dan's fish is where I got mine. They usually have a good selection but not right now. They are a bit pricey, but you get a large healthy specimens and good customer service. You can see what I am talking about if you watch the Dan's fish YouTube channel.
Aquahuna seems to have a good selection of apistos for a much lower price but I have never bought them so I am not sure.
Best option is a hobbyist bred apisto.
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On 3/6/2024 at 12:35 AM, Tony s said:
I have also got a water softener. Bad news first. You can’t use that water. The residual salt left over from the softener will build up over time. Which immediately rules out any live plants. And will stress out your fish. Possibly permanently.
it seems like we should be able to. But the people in the know keep telling me no.
now. We can bypass the softener and use straight from the well. The next thing is how’s your iron coming from your well. Mine has tons. Turns sidewalks rusty red. If that’s the case you’re back to not being able to use your water. It must be RO water. Possibly could use about 50/50 from the well mixed with RO
Guessing with the shrimp it is the salt. Too much. If the shrimp are a neocaradina. They should like the harder water
I have a water softener and while I'm certainly not the best at growing plants they do just fine. I don't keep any shrimp but my parameters are very similar to the ones in the picture.
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My splash tetra seems to have something on it nose. When I first noticed it I immediately thought hole-in-head disease but upon further research I learned that mostly affects cichlids/goldfish.
The spot is only really visible top down. These fish are hard to get a picture of because they hang out under the water lettuce, and only dart out quickly to grab food.
could this just be a scrape? These fish go pretty hard on each other sometimes. Should I treat with paracleanse? This fish was bought from a reputable local fish store 2 weeks ago. I did not preemptively medicate.
It’s in a 10 gallon with a pair of apistogramma panduro and 2 other splash tetra (Copella arnoldi)
ph 7.8
nitrate=10
chlorine nitrite ammonia 0
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"44 pounds" lol
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On 3/2/2024 at 11:02 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:
The tanks look fantastic! One tip I have for pet sitters. I portion out food in small containers or snack ziplock bags and label them. They get put near or taped to the tanks they belong to. This definitely cuts down on the possibility of overfeeding.
I use pill containers like this:
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On 3/1/2024 at 9:06 AM, tipzythegreat said:
I think the 29 is pretty, too. Like the shape of it isn't super commanding like a big tank.
I will say it was horrible planting the gravel... The tank is as deep as my arm. But we got it done and all critters were accounted for!
It looks so empty but I went from a 14g cube! Time for more plants!!!!!!!
Are you sure that isn't a 37 gallon? It looks kind of tall for a 29 gallon. The 37 is 22 inches tall and the 29 is 18 inches tall.
I love the Fin Inn!
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On 2/29/2024 at 5:59 PM, saminator0107 said:
Pumpkinseed wouldnt be a bad idea, they are common here and native.
Ive caught some warmouth before, usually by accident. Bantam sunfish are not local/native ASFAIK.
Thanks for this. I took a measuring tape and set it to 11 in, and put in on the glass of my aquarium, yikes. 11 inches is more than i thought (lol). Now that i visualized it, yeah. Another persons comment said pumpkinseed, they get about 8 inches, so i might do those, or some long ear sunfish. Long ear get to about 7 inches.
Pumkinseed can also get quite large. I've personally caught ones up to 10 inches, and my high school biology teacher had 1 in a 180 gallon that was probably at least 10 inches. I don't know about Longear Sunfish though, I think they are a rarer species.
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Unfortunately they don't make co-op heaters anymore. I have a co-op heater and a nicrew heater. The Nicrew heaters are cheap, sleek, adjustable and accurate, and in my experience reliable. They have 50w, 100w, 200w, and 300w. I agree with @face that all heaters should be treated with caution because eventually they all will fail. Since the nicrews are cheap, you could have space in you budget for a controller :).
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Bantam Sunfish (Lepomis symmetricus) are very closely related to Warmouth, being located in the same clade within the genus Lepomis. They look similar, with the main difference being that Bantam Sunfish are significantly smaller with a max size of about 4 inches. The only problem is that Bantam Sunfish may be hard to find, but I imagine Warmouth would also be hard to find.
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20 Gallon initial set up (early 2022)
1.5 years later: overgrown (I can't find a full picture but the entire tank was dense with and completely full of plants.
Rescape: december 2023 (substrate changed, lots of plants removed)
Re-rescape January 2024 (driftwood, rocks, and more sand added)
I think that I like this current scape the most but I am definitely still working on it. I'm trying to fill in the space on the right better soon.
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On 2/27/2024 at 11:50 PM, saminator0107 said:
Hello all! I am currently in the process of cycling a 75G tank for a native tank setup. I plan to add 3-4 Warmouth sunfish to it. Has anyone on here keep or have kept sunfish, more specifically warmouth? Also, i believe im right in assuming keeping warmouth would be very similar to keeping green sunfish, bluegill, pumpkinseed, etc? I plan to buy the fish from a fish hatchery online if i cant catch any locally. They are somewhat uncommon where i am at locally, and its possible it is a crossbreed with another sunfish type. I want pure bred warmouth.
I currently have 2 other tanks, a 30 gal octagon tank with guppies and ghost shrimp, and a 15 gal bowfront with medaka and ghost shrimp. This will be my first native tank, and my biggest.
Included is a picture of the 75 in its current state. I used rinsed play stand as a substrate, so i am going to buy some root tabs before i add plants in. I plan to re-decorate with bigger objects when the fish get bigger. i am also going to get a planted tank light as well before i add plants, this light is just temporary.
Included is a link to the fish i am talking about:
https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/war/
I have never kept lepomis sunfish, but I have heard they can be very agressive and are comparable to cichlids of similar sizes. Considering they get fairly large, 4 seems like a lot in that size tank. Of all the sunfish, they are most closely related to green sunfish. I think their behavior is also similar to rock bass. I know from fishing that these fish can be very aggressive, taking on lures 1/2 their length.
In my opinion, that tank seems very open so add lots of plants. Warmouth are found in weedy, slow moving lakes. The warmouth may try to eat the plants. I would probably get just one of them and maybe try some other fish. I have never had a large native tank but have looked into them and somethings you might want to consider could be central mud minnow (these are related to pike but much smaller) or bullheads/madtoms possibly.
Jonah's aquarium is a great resource.
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On 2/27/2024 at 9:24 PM, Boston Bill said:
Hi All.
My 45 gallon tank is approx 2 months old.
This is a dirt tank, loads of plants. No filter and has 2 air stones going.
I have 3 platys in it and they seem to be doing ok.
I wanted to add some kuhli loaches.
Water parameters look good for them.
Water Conditions: 73F-86F, 5.5-6.5pH, <5.0dGH I got this from Aquarium Source. My Ph is approx 7.0. Is that too high for kuhli loaches?
What I am wondering about is the Hi ph reading. The Hi ph reading looks low? Below what the test system reads?
Shouldn't matter to the Kuhli?
KH is 4 degrees and GH is 6 degrees.
I forgot to add. I did the Hi Ph test 3 times. Looked the same all 3 times.
i keep kuhlis at 7.8-8.0. With most fish stability is more important than the actual value. Although there are some exceptions (livebearers, wild apistos, cardinal tetras, african cichlids, etc.)
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On 2/28/2024 at 1:07 AM, Setiawan said:
I wonder what PH in ur tank?
Bc some says Guppies prefer harder water
ph 7.8
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no, it won't unless you find an extremely tiny amano shrimp.
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On 2/25/2024 at 2:52 PM, Sciurus said:
Hello!
Relatively new fish keeper here debating on what to put in my planted 29Gal.
Currently it has a quickly growing population of blue velvet shrimp, which I know will probably get snacked upon by most other fish, and will be moved to there own tank eventually.
I'm thinking of getting 2 clown plecos, but can't make up my mind about any other fish.
Are there any oddball/unique type fish to inhabit it? Some type of schooling fish and some type of centerpiece...
Any ideas would be appreciated!
If you get the Clown Pleco don't ever expect to see it. They will hide all the time.
I don't have experience with sparkling gourami, but Honey Gourami with rasbora combo works great.
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On 2/27/2024 at 9:47 AM, Setiawan said:
Agree but some peoples says that Black is more hardy than Banded
I think normal Kuhli loaches are incredibly hardy. I have had mine for almost 2 years and have had absolutely zero problems.
I remember master breeder dean telling about how he had completely drained out a aquarium except for an inch because he thought he had taken out the fish, and then he forgot about it for a long time. Without any food, a Kuhli Loach managed to survive in that inch of water.
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On 2/27/2024 at 5:39 AM, Setiawan said:
I like Kuhliis too for my 20g
But which one should i buy?
Banded (normal)?
Black?
Doriae?
I think you will struggle to find anything other than normal and maybe the black kuhli loaches. I like the banded because in my opinion the black looks boring and I think the black can be even more shy.
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@WVWade The cheapest option is Petco/Petsmart half off sale. These tanks are what most people start out with and are what are tried and tested. I think almost everyone on this forum would agree that while you can go cheap on stuff like filtration (sponge), lights (nicrew), and substrate (pool filter sand), with heaters and tanks you want to buy something that you know will work because if a heater fails then your fish are cooked, and if a tank fails your fish are dead and your house is flooded.
At the bottom of the screenshot you posted it says "1 sold". The chances of finding the one person that actually bought that tank is very unlikely.
You could try building your own tank, but even then I doubt you could build a 40 gallon tank for less than the Petco half off tank based on the price of glass alone.
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All of mine have looked the like 1st video since I got them. later they got little bits of whitish blue on the tips of their fins. I have noticed mine are more washed out first in the morning. They kind of remind of my gouramis in how they are very cautious and calculated in each movement. Mine used to spar like that before I had to get the new ones.
Dan's fish is great!
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8 gallons is definitely a bit small for Kuhli loaches. In my opinion you want at least 4, but no more than 6 in that size tank.
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On 2/19/2024 at 11:28 AM, Tony s said:
Yeah, and that’s the only problem I see. People like us are going to take care of our animals. I like what my lfs does. They make sure (as much as they can) the animals are treated well. Too many people don’t have respect for their animals. They’re just decorations. And trust me, I’m not an animal welfare nut. My family actually raises livestock for a living, but animal welfare is and should be important.
I hate the idea of a throw away animal
In my case, they are Harlequin Rasboras. I have kept them since and they are some of my favorite fish. Also, if you stay up on water changes daily or even more frequently as needed and have some hungry floating plants then almost no nitrite or ammonia will be present at any time to harm the fish.
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When I set up my first tank I ghost fed for a few weeks, but I only every saw like 1ppm nitrate, and never any ammonia or nitrite. I went and got a few Harlequin Rasboras and gradually built the stocking up from there. What is weird is using both API test kit and ACO test kits I have never detected any ammonia or nitrite and very little nitrate in the last 2+ years, not even during "cycling". This is probably because when I first set up my tank I did daily water changes even before the fish was added for some reason. Probably the fact that I started off with lots of plants contributed to this.
Now that I have lots of media whenever I set up a new tank or redo an old one I just use media from another tank and let it sit for a little while while ghost feeding and then add some hardy, established fish from another tank to start it off. I think this is definitely the most simple method.
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Journal Update
Today I visited preuss pets in Lansing, MI, which is about 1.5 hours from my house. It was really cool and significantly larger than any of my more local fish shops. All the fish seemed great and there was so much stuff I wanted but I didn't want to go overboard. Anyway, I got 4 new fish.
2x Male Guppy, 2x Copella arnoldi, the Splash Tetra. They were a bit of an impulse buy because I was surprised to find them in person but I had done some previous research.
I only got a pair of these guys. There is not much information out there about them but I have an old book and it said they should be kept in pairs. The employee at the shop agreed with this so I only got a pair. They are really interesting fish because they jump out of the water to spawn on leaves. They went into the 10 gallon with the A. panduro but that is not their permanent home. So far though, they are kind of boring and dull in color but they should become better over time. Next, an update on them and the Apistogramma and their tank.
They are doing really well and I think the male is approaching full size. Not much spawning behavior yet though.
This tank is cloudy in the picture so don't mind that because I just did a water change to remove tons of tannins. Now an update on this tank as a whole. I don't like how this tank looks. In my opinion it's just a bit boring, especially because it is on my desk. I think this is a combination of fish and scape. I feel like the 10 gallon is incredibly limiting and I think I can see this reflected in the fish behavior as well. That's why I want to phase this tank out as a permanent display and change it into a quarantine/breeding tank that I can keep in the cabinet. I want to breed my Honey Gourami in it soon.
Now an update on my main bedside tank.
Don't mind my bad iPhone photos but I am really happy with how this tank looks. I think it showcases the fish really well but this tank is a bit overstocked, but all the fish get along well and this tank now has both a canister and sponge filter. I got the green neon tetras a little while ago from aquatic arts and they really make this tank look amazing.
View from sitting on my bed.
Now I am planning a new tank: An Amazon Paludarium semi-biotope tank. This tank will be 20-40 gallons and house the Pencilfish, Splash tetras, Apistogramma, and maybe the green neons or others. I am planning to build a double stand to have a poison dart frog vivarium on top. This project will be probably a little while but I am really excited.
More pictures below:
Thanks!
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Swim Bladder? issue in Honey Gourami
in Diseases
Posted · Edited by macdaddy36
Does it matter what kinds of epsom salt? Is there a specific product you would recommend?