KittenFishMom

Well, I fell in love with a half cylinder 9 gallon tank on craigslist. It was only $10 and came with a hood, light, filter, gravel and decor. Oh and at the last minute, the 3 goldfish that were in the tank. I told the seller I didn't want the goldfish, but the person that was going to take them backed out on her. I really wanted the tank for my betta, so I said "no problem, I will find a home for them." And I did find someone who was happy to take the goldfish in a week or so. It has been a week, and that person hasn't gotten back to me, so it is back to the drawing board. (I don't want to pester this person and push the fish on him. If he isn't showing interest in getting the fish, I don't imaging he will show interest in caring for them.) In the mean time I have been feeding them Xtreme flakes and pellets, bbs, a bit of betta food, and a bunch of snails. I put some snails in the tank for the algae control, because it is not a planted tank. I didn't know goldfish liked snails so much. I am open to any advice on caring for the goldfish while I have them. I will rehome the goldfish as soon as I find a good home for them. In the mean time, I think I would like to find a "clean up crew" tank mate for them. Goldfish are messy. What would be a good tankmate for the goldfish to help keep the tank cleaner until they find their new home? One of the goldfish is a brighter orange and has a very nice long forked tail. The other 2 have normal tails. one is orange, the other is white with orange splotches. I look forward to hearing from you.

@ColuI'm sorry, but now I am confused again. Do I want 55 gallons of 0.3% or 55 gallons of 3.0% in the 55 gallon tank? I can wipe it down with lots on 3%, but if I am filling it at 1 to 10, then the percentage drops to 0.3%. If you use 3% to clean nets, will 0.3% clean a tank?

@Colu so the final 55 gallon would be 0.3%, and that is strong enough over time, before it breaks down to kill everything?. That is good news. 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide would run about $50 to $60 per gallon, times 5 gallons.

@Colu I think I will need 5 gallons of 30% hydrogen peroxide to add to 50 gallons of water to get 55 gallons of 3% hydrogen peroxide. Does that sound right to you?

@Colu What strength hydrogen peroxide do I want to use? I assume I want food grade, right? Amazon has 3& and 12% in gallons

@ColuWOW that sounds SO much easier! Now to get about 6 gallons of peroxide. I'll call Cornell's Chem department stock room and see if they can recommend a source.

@Torrey There was no sign of disease. It was my native tank. Probably lots of pathogens that the tropical fish have never seen. Probably a few leeches too, but I didn't see any. The substrate is removed. Just rocks and pebbles to be boiled. The tank is bare. How much bleach for a 55 gallon tank? We have chlorine pool test strips. We can not rinse it in the yard, there is snow and a thick layer of ice everywhere.

I found a home for the native fish in some educational display tanks and have taken EVERYTHING out of the 55 tank and let it dry for a week. I am ready to start sanitizing it. Does washing it down with a lot of full strength peroxide, then drying it for another week sound like it should do the trick? I also have a gallon of white vinegar that I could start with, then rise and dry and the follow with peroxide. I want to get this tank really clean and safe before I start my build on it. I would rather go with over cleaning it than have problems down the road. I'm open to all suggestions, except boiling it. I really don't have a pot that will hold a 55 gallon tank. P.S. We took photos of the native tank before we took everything out. Will post them after I get them off the camera and scale them.

Flagfish is in with the neon tetras, and all is going smoothly so for. I tell you, it is an adventure trying to net a fish in a tall hex tank. Seemed like I was always sliding over a seam when I wanted the glass to be straight. I probably had a net that was too wide for the job.

She has that female spot, so I will give it a try. Thanks !

I say a video where they put Styrofoam under the substrate before putting heavy rocks in to avoid pressure points. I asked on the forum about it. I will see if I can find it.

Can I put a female American flagfish in with some small neon tetras? My betta was chasing my flagfish, so I moved her to the guppy community tank. Then the betta got bored so rearranged the betta tank and I moved some guppy fry to the betta tank, because the fry are much faster than the betta. The fry and betta seems happy together. Now I am no longer seeing any new fry in the guppy tank, and I think the flagfish is behind this. The guppy tank is full of pregnant females that look like they will explode. I can not tell if they are postponing giving birth, or some are giving birth and the flagfish is gobbling them. I don't need a lot of guppy fry, but a few are fun to see and watch. My new 10 gallon tank has cycled with 4 medium sponge filters and I moved the 12 little tetras there yesterday. Water tested all zeros today after feeding them last night. Can I move the female flagfish in with the tetras? The flagfish is not full grown, and I am feeding the tank lightly to protect the cycle. What go you Nerms think? Will the tetras be safe? Will the cycle be safe? All thoughts are very welcome ! (I love this friendly, supportive, knowledgeable forum, where I can ask dumb questions and get kind responses)

The UGF I bought is 5.25 inches across. There is a smaller size, also a "betta volcano" that is even smaller. I would guess reducing the total open area on the UGF would increase the current under the UGF. Also, sealing the bottom of the UGF with a removeable cover could help maintain the current within the UGF. I am just guessing. I was thinking today that attaching something like this at the end of the UGF's uplift tube could work well for eggs. It is a " Fluval Multi-Chamber Holding and Breeding Box, Medium". If you took the bars off the bottom of the uplift tube, it could add a second boost to the suction. This model hangs outside of the tank, but I think the circulating water would keep the eggs warm enough. Maybe some insulating foam on the outside of the bottom of the holding chamber would help, since that is where the eggs would sit. the "V" shaped separator is removable.

Note: I have never bred fish, I am new to the hobby, so keep that in mind when reading my posts. I bought a Lee's round under gravel filter cat no 13202 just to see if I thought it might work for guppy fry. It is in an tank under some plants, but no fish. I'll take it out and take some photos of the details for you soon. The filter cartridge is not glued, so of course I took mine apart and emptied it. I will photograph that too. The bottom of the unit is open, so covering it with a removable disk, slanted so the eggs move toward the uplift tube should reduce the amount of suction needed. You would want the disk to be removable for cleaning. It comes with a plastic plant in the middle. You could put a different stem in the hole that might be more attractive to your breed of fish.

There are smaller under gravel fish bowl filters that might give you the suction you want if you make the area over them more appealing for egg laying. If the only plants or cover in the tank are over a smaller under gravel filter, the eggs would not need to travel so far to the uplift tube.

I held a mirror up to the glass, and he flared at it. (The kitten has hidden the betta mirror.) I took the mirror away, and he is just hanging out with nothing to do. Tomorrow I will do a water change and rearrange everything in the tank so he has a reason to patrol for awhile. I love this idea,😁 but I would have to use the bath tub. I would really miss showering.☹️

My blue male betta shared a tank with a female flagfish and some peppered corys for 6 weeks. The Betta would patrol the tank and tell the flagfish to “move along” and the flagfish swam away and all were happy. Last week, the male betta started following and chasing the flagfish. After 2 days of it, I took the flagfish away from the betta and put her in with the guppies and all were happy. Now the betta seems bored. He is eating, but just swims around aimlessly, often staying in the same place for rather long periods of time. He still has 2 peppered corys in the tank with him, who are bigger than him and much to busy to notice him. I’m wondering if my betta might be bored? I don’t want to put the flagfish back in with him. I could put a few guppies in the tank, but it is only a 10 gallon tank. I’m going to feed more bbs tonight. So that might liven things up a bit. I could rearrange the rocks. There are a lot of floating plants. They tend to go where they want to go. I spend time sitting infront of the tank watching the betta, but he has not been very interested in me. I tested the water, and everything is normal and stable. It is a very stable tanks with lots of plants and only smallish 3 fish. The temp is the same as always. Do you think the betta is bored or do you think something else is going on?

I was going to give some guppy to someone, and thought I would give him some adults and some fry. but fry don't do well when given away early.

I want to get a net, or something, to catch some of the guppy fry. What kind of net will work well? I have been looking on Amazon, but I seem only find breeder boxes or nets for big fish. I don't want to hurt the fry. Maybe something big enough to scoop up the plants they are hiding in would work well? I also looked on YouTube for videos showing people catching fry in nets, but could not find any. Any advice on how to avoid stressing them would be great. I use to use a net to feed my bullhead fry. They swam into it every time they saw the net. They any their food were much bigger than the guppy fry.

Almost a long story, cut rather short: I bought a fish tank that came with 4 goldfish. I found someone who wants the goldfish in a week or so. I am hatching baby brine shrimp tonight. Is it OK if I feed goldfish baby brine shrimp? The food that came with the goldfish was expired, and I think the nutrition from the bbs would help them deal with being moved twice, but I have never had goldfish and want to be safe, not sorry, so I am asking you nerms? Other than bbs, I was going to feed them Xtreme flakes, until the next owner can take them. The next owner has been keeping goldfish, so they should be fine when they get there.

@Streetwise I have been reading the Walstad book. She says "use either potting soil or ordinary garden soil in my aquariums. They should not be mixed."Walstad, Diana Louise. Ecology of the Planted Aquarium: A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise (p. 283). Echinodorus Pub. Kindle Edition. Do you know how she define 'potting soil" vs "garden soil" I was looking at something labeled organic soil made up of worm castings and peat moss. That didn't sound much like a soil at all. I have strange well water. It is very soft with a high pH. so I think something with peat moss might be good, but I don't know. You say you are looking for a new source. If you find something that is distributed, please let me know.

@H.K.Luterman How about "The Hoocky Pooka"? "You put you left fin in you take you left fin out you put your left fin in and you swim it all about"

When I try to count my 10 tetra as they swim around and I have to start over, I end up reciting "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish" by Dr. Seuss. I have read it is a good idea to count your fish to be sure no one is hiding and not feeling well. It takes a long time when the tetras are feeding. After a number of tries I often give up. My peppered corys are always front and center, but my Agasizzi corys are always hiding and very hard to see all 3 at once. Counting my guppy community tank from craigslist is just hopeless. The happy single flag fish makes up for the countless guppies.

@TorreyI ordered a Lee's undergravel fishbowl filter. and a mesh box for collecting the fry. Now to see if I can get something cobbled together that will fit in my tall hex 10 tank. @OnlyGenusCaps Show us yours when it is built. @gardenman From what I understand, guppy fry are born with an empty air bladder, and sink until they get their act together enough to swim to the surface and fill their air bladder. So a bottom collection would collect them as they are being born. Once they fill their air bladder, they tend to hide at the top or where ever they find good cover. This might hold try for fry that hatch too. I don't know. If I get it working, I probably won't use it until next fall. I don't have a place to raise the fry, but I do have time now to work on a DIY project. I'm thinking that I could make a cylinder net with a circular floating rim that would attach to the bottom of the lift tube with an elastic draw string. Once the fry are in the net. I could lift the net off the top of the tube. Or maybe have a tube that fit over the uplift tube that the net would be attached to. Then I would cap/plug the outer tube as I lift it off the uplift tube. Almost as much run as building a dam in a small creek.

@TorreyI haven't seen any fry, so I don't know how small they are/might be. I will try to get a few photos, so you can compare the size of my neons with the size of my guppies. I am not very good at photos yet.