Vanessa K

Thank you! I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't even tried yet. I'd have to get my husband to help me to be the "other" threat. I watched a video of somebody that took action when the fish were asleep, in the dark. Should I approach the tank wearing all black, including a ski mask? I just wish I could call a friend. As a woman it's quite easy to get help at a gas station. I just have to look confused and smile but it doesn't quite work in a town where nobody couldn't care less about fish keeping. I'm trying to prepare myself to do it by myself. I've bought another net, a black one. Just need strength and courage.

Now, I found your thread and realized that my thread was abundant. Sorry! I get frustrated on a daily basis. Not just when it comes to products, but to the dormant state of fish keeping in Sweden. Yes, we're a small country, not by size but by inhabitants. What's it like in Switzerland?

Thank you! Makes sense! I'll try that. Thank you! I'll do that!

Hi! Thank you so much for your suggestions. Fact is that he had friends, 3 to be precise. I knew that they're very territorial, and needed friends of their own kind, and asked the store staff how many would suit a 40 gallon tank and they recommended 4. The one I got now didn't agree with the store staff and stressed the life out off 2 of the others, I had so much plants that I didn't realize they're gone and a while ago I found the third one on the floor, dry. He had jumped to his death, rather than stay with the one who's left. He doesn't get any new buddies. I kind of like him, he's been with me for so long and I have a soft heart for misfits. The only good thing about him is that he makes my cardinal tetras school phenomenally.

Hi, when I winded down my guppy tank, I ended up keeping my Silver Flying Fox, Crossocheilus reticulatus, I think he's 4 years old by now. He's obnoxious, a pain in the derrière to be frank, and he even manages to be irritating enough for my puffers (Spotted Congo) to move. He does have a mark on him and I guess one of the puffers said "Enough is enough". He's even bullying the Hillstream loaches. He disturbes the peace all around. I'm thinking of rehoming him but I don't know how to catch him, lots of roots and plants, lots of hiding places - and he's fast and actually jumps. Please help with suggestions. I don't want to tear down the whole tank.

I don't know if it changed my life, but a movie I couldn't stop watching in my early teens was "The Last Picture Show", released in 1971, directed by Peter Bogdanovich. I takes place in a God forgotten town in Texas, the nearest big town is Wichita and the time period is in the 1950's. It's in black and white and I watched it on a VCR, yes I'm that old. The town is dying, hence the name, the movie theater is about to close. The portraying of the people is fantastic work. Their small town interactions, the social control for better or worse. Everybody knows everybody. It may seem a bit strange that a 14 year old Swedish girl could relate to the movie, I learned every line. Think I watched it over 15 times.I recommend it.

Hi, Jonny! Thank you so much for for suggestion, that might work, but I think I'll stick to aquatic snails, since one or two might get way from the puffers and I don't wont the snails to drown. (And I do believe they're illegal to own nowadays, they're considered invasive in some countries.)

I'm trying to breed live food for my spotted Congo puffers: snails, scuds and black worms. I have 3 tanks, including the main tank, plus two large buckets. Right now the snails have their own tank, the black worms in theirs and the scuds are in one of the buckets (the second bucket is a recreation center for poor bladder snails that involuntarily become globetrotters when the seller couldn't differentiate between Sweden and Finland (the online shop is located in Germany, we can almost wave to each other, so it shouldn't be too hard of a task). The Finnish finally read the address and after some contemplation they decided to send them to me. The ammonia level in the bags made the bags look explosive. I figured the snails were dead but I put them in a bucket, gave them a less toxic environment - do snails hibernate when the temperature drops? They looked completely dead, wouldn't move for a couple of days and then ever so slowly, some of them started crawling to the surface. They had a sponge filter and some spirulina tablets in the bucket. I'm losing focus, sorry! My question is if I can keep the black worms and the scuds in the same tank? If I've understood it right, black worms want shallow, cold water and the scuds want warmer water, and I would prefer more water, to easier keep the water quality good enough. If they do go together, what temperature should make both of them reasonably happy? I can't get yet another tank, I'm already stretching my husband's patience.

I'll take some pictures of my puffers to perhaps confirm my guessing. The tank is heavily planted with nooks and crannies and even though I've had them for a while now, I can't tell them apart. So to take pictures is a challenge. It's very obvious that one of the four (lost the fifth that got a fungal infection in a wound, at least that's what it looked like. It was hiding and when I eventually found it, I removed it from the main tank and tried to medicate but to no avail.) Well one of the four left is a male, no doubt about it but I think the other three are females. If I look at them from above those three look like a pear, the tail being the "stick" (I don't even know what that woody thing is called in Swedish). Am I right to think in that way? And they are way bigger than the one I know for certain is a male. (I'm trying to tell them that they're supposed to be "the friendly puffer" and not fight amongst themselves "That's not very ladylike!" They won't listen so maybe I'll have to make tough decisions and re-home one or two of them). So, am I right about the pear shape from above means it's a female? Edit: I've taken pictures now, but I think I might need help uploading them by my husband. Gen X here, sorry!

Hi, I just love aquarium co-op, Cory is a guru to me. My problem is that I don't live in the US, I live in Sweden (Nobel prize?). Sweden is a desert when it comes to fish keeping. Sure, there is a society for cichlid enthusiasts but that's about it. I used to keep cichlids but now I'm into puffers and that's almost unheard of. Pea puffers, yes, but the rest (as schoutedeni in my case) is a big "Que?!" I live in a small town, one hour from the capital, and I can't even find live food - not to mention snails. I've had to import the fish (from Germany). It took me a while to find them at all, the same for snails and live food like blood worms. Frozen, they rather starve. They're captive bred so one would think that they'd been used to frozen food, but nope. I'd like to have a thread for us non US citizens. Where to get yadayada. I live in the EU, and we have totally different brands. Sure, there is Germany, but the problem with Germans is that they speak German. I can cope, my German is okay, but I prefer to use English. Us Europeans, let's help each other!

Thank you so much! (to all of you!) I'm a bit nervous. They haven't sent them yet, but I trust that they will. I will make updates! And probably become a bit needy lol. I've tried to do my research but I wanna give them a good home, not just a decent one.

Hi, I've finally (we're talking at least a year) managed to get my hands on the Schoutedeni, 4 actually, and I've prepared for them, seasoned tank, good filtration etc, and I'm waiting for them to arrive. My question is, they're from a good retailer, captive bred, but they're being transported for well over 24 hours - the retailer's in Germany and I'm in Sweden. What should I do when they arrive? To keep them under water I know but do I open the bag as soon as possible or let it float for temperature acclimating? Put them in a container in the water they came with? - and gradually fill water from the tank? I'm a little anxious using the water they came in, don't wanna risk creating an ammonia pike since they've traveled for a while. And finally - when do I try to get them to eat? I suppose they haven't eaten for a while, not to foul the water etc. Should I let them be, to let them get used to their surrounding or what?

I've bought both a feeder cone, a pipette and a feeder ring. I'll just have to watch them when I feed them and also if some of them become skinny. This forum is fantastic. People are really trying to help rather than feeding their ego. If I have any luck, once I get the new fish, I'll try to record what works best.

Thank you both for the suggestions! I'll try all of them and see what's working!🙏

First I wanna apologize to the people that answered me a long time ago and I didn't reply. Life happened. Well, what do I do when I have very fast and eager fish when it's feeding time - and fish that are not so fast. I get that I could feed on each side of the tank, but what else?

I've placed my Eheim Air Pump 400 in a drawer (and yes, I check that the pump doesn't get too hot). And yes, I have to leave space for the air hose through not closing the drawer entirely. It works.

Maybe it already exists (please tell me where I can find it if it does). When I do water changes on my preliminary tiny aquarium, I use the "old" method; I start the procedure by sucking the hose and let the water flow into a bucket. My problem is that my fish see my hand as "Jippie! Here comes the food hand!" And like retriever puppies they have no self-preservation what so ever. I try to scare them off but they keep getting too close the suction and end up the bucket and I have to catch them to return them into the aquarium. I bought a Python system but how on earth could I use it without condemning some fish to being flushed down the drain. It's ok for now carrying buckets but when I get my 120 Gallons that's not an option. Is there a solution to that already - otherwise that's a product I'd need.

Thank you! If I manage to not kill them I promise I will! 😊

Gaaah! Of course I mean "rare" and I don't know how to correct it. Moderators! Please help a woman in need!

The more plants I get, the more fascinated (and nerdy) I get. The plan was from the beginning to keep African and/or South American cichlids and as we know, plants and cichlids aren't a match made in heaven. I earlier kept Oscars for example and one of them got startled and decided that he wanted to spend some time pretending to be a dab whelmed by gravel. Think grounder. Well, for now, much because of bad influence from Cory, I keep guppies, and guppies and even more guppies - I'm overwhelmed by guppies. And plants. All this ramble has to do with that I f o u n d "Anubias Bartieri Nana Pinto", in Hungary of all places. Here in Sweden none of the established retailers have them in stock. Why I don't know, maybe "Tropica" doesn't think these plants grow fast enough to be good business. I just wanted to share that I'm ridiculously happy about a plant, it's gonna melt, I'm sure, but I'll do what ever I can to keep it alive and hopefully thrive.

Thank you, really! I know I'm ranting but there really is an other way. We could pay people to carry it, money isn't an issue - it's just a principle of his. What provokes me is that the thing that keeps him emotionally going is music, he plays the saxophone, jazz mostly, he used to be a freelancer - he tries to get me involved and sometimes I try. I don't get it, not in full, but I'm ok with that, I can see that it makes him happy. I just wish that he could do the same for me. It's difficult because he is a good man, really, not many men could put up with me. Even I don't put up with me most of the time. I just want a slightly bigger tank, that he'd just let me be. To sit there and watch the tank means so much to me - but the guppies haven't heard of safe sex and the joy is to se what the fry will look like. It's just a glass container.

I know this is going to sound ridiculous but I'm too old to care. To watch life, the circle of life in my 20 Gallon aquarium, is so rewarding, it's a comfort to my soul, and my soul sure needs comfort. 20 Gallons is not much, not if you're older than 12. I sold my 190 Gallon and now my husband feels that he has to put his foot down "You'll have to adjust - if we can't carry it 3 stairs " him and me - that's ridiculous - his father was and athlete, even had a degree, but my husband doesn't and nor do and I don't care and I used to TAP DANCE - 25 years ago, I don't carry things. My husband says "If we can't carry it all the way up to our flat, it's a no-no - you'll have to adjust." I don't adjust. That's not who I am, if he wants "adjust" he'll have to look for Tinder.

Yeah, I get it. If you're trying to run a business that's a completely different thing. My late Father had a record store and in the late 70's early 80's we're talking vinyl (yes I'm that old). Vinyl may be retro chic but it's also very sensitive. You're only supposed to touch the edge. I f you can see finger prints somebody's not been careful enough. Sometimes customers came back with records that obviously had been used as breakfast trays. They could be very upset "It was like this when I bought it". We knew that it was a straight out lie, but how to deal with it was a delicate thing. Reputation is everything. On the other hand, like you say, every time somebody made such a claim and we accepted the "truth" and gave a refund, we lost money and the margin wasn't big at all.

Yes, I hope so too. I turned out that the glass in it self isn't that expensive, it's the work and he lives in a small flat. 190 Gallons is a lot of water.

After my to be quarantine tank started to leak my husband simply refused to get my main tank started, a 190 Gallon. It became a big no-no, so I had to re-think. We sold the 190 Gallon, the buyer was responsible for the transport after they'd signed a buyer's contract that stipulated that as soon as they'd started to move the tank, it wasn't our responsibility anymore. This was necessary because we live on the third floor with no elevator. They came, fought like heroes, 190 Gallons is h e a v y and managed to carry it down all the way, without getting themselves or the tank harmed. My husband had told them over and over again that they had to be more than just two men, that they needed straps and so on but the buyer wouldn't listen. So that they managed to get it down in one piece, it was so impressing. They drove away, and just on a hint I messaged them and said that I hoped everything went well. It hadn't. They'd dropped the tank when they'd tried to unload it "My friend slipped" and he was so very unhappy. He had Siamese Catfish that needed a bigger home. The front glass had cracked. This is in Sweden and their Swedish was everything but perfect. And they lived in a small place that God forgot. I said I'd check what could be done. I checked for retailers of glass suitable for aquariums (I never knew how many kinds of different glass there are). One aquarium builder said that they'd have to take the whole aquarium apart, not just the front since silicon doesn't stick to silicon (that's already "burnt"). The buyer felt overwhelmed and I could see why. This man couldn't actually afford an aquarium of that size, this was it. I decided to refund him some of the money he'd paid. He was so thankful that he sent me(and my husband) a bouquet of flowers. These are the best flowers I've ever received. (My own journey, how I'll move on - is in the making.