New Aquarium

I also had a pair of kissing gouramis

 

Mine weren’t

 

API Aquarium Freshwater Master Test Kit

 

Hi All,

First off wondered how @Fat Controller s tank was going on, been quiet this month ?

Though I would put up a pic of my little tank from when I first planted it three weeks ago.
Still need to tidy up and hide all the hardware and wires.
Was going to use some bogwood, but its been soaking for several weeks and still leaching out loads of tannins, so found some rocks instead.

Only used gravel and sand, not adventurous enough to use @BigC s cat litter !

Most of the plants are thriving and have slowly stocked the tank with four guppies ! - have to say in my small 40cm cube 55ltr tank they seem ideal, being busy all over the tank.
Also just added three ottos which seem very happy and active.

Just wondering if I could add one or two other fish to such a small tank, probably something a bit bigger but no more than 50-60mm long, but not sure which would be best, dwarf Gourami seem popular but have read they can be difficult or aggressive.
Also keeping just one or two of a species can be a problem.

Any suggestions as to the ideal addition for my little tank ?

 

Hi,

The Gouramis injury might have been a fight with the missus ?

Also use flake and dried daphnia and brine shrimp, though they seem to prefer if I soak the dried ones in a little water first.

Live food, debatable, as some say they can carry diseases and would also be a little concerned about human contact. partic for someone like yourself with your recent problems.
Ideally you should empty the sachets into a sieve and carefully flush the contents fresh water, rather than pour the whole contents into the tank.

Frozen foods seem safer with some being irradiated (?) but they can be messy to use, unless you have a very large tank where you can readily drop a complete cube into the tank, otherwise you have to cut a cube up and defrost it, messy, and not everyone wants such 'foods' in their freezers alongside your ice cream !

Be interested to hear others experiences of these foods...

 

Hi,
Yes, Interpet do various dried foods, got mine from The Range, if you have one nearby ?
Got a tub of King British Daphina for £2.75 from elsewhere.

Wondering what to do with the snails, started off with two pin head sized ones, now much bigger and lots of little ones around.
Could pick them off easy enough, could put them in the pond, but not sure if they would survive that ..?

 

Hi FC,

While its easy enough for me to pick the sails off the glass of my small tank with some long tongs, lots still remain on the plants etc and similarly not easy for you to get to yours in a large tank.

Seems these little £2 beasties will do the job for you, will have to see if our LFSs have any.

Assassin snail: care, size, lifespan, tankmates, breeding

 

Hi FC,

Hmmm, wonder what was wrong with the Gourami, no external signs of disease , the other one ok ? all the Water parameters ok ?

Yes, those gups look ready to burst so you might have a lot more provided the other fish do not eat them ! can see the Mrs sat there acting as midwife

Think you can get away with just one Assassin snail, this page details they need a pair to breed.
Assassin Snails - The Care, Feeding, and Breeding of Assassin Snails (Clea Helena) - Aquarium Tidings

Our LSF have tanks with the males separated so you can avoid the breeding problem, but turns out one of my four gups may have been a female, but while initially ok, the last few days the others just would not leave it alone, today it was at an angle and kind of quivering rather than swimming, clearly not well, so did the kindest thing and quickly dispatched it.

Keeping it alone in a hospital tank would not have done it any favours and the lfs would not want to take such a fish back for risk of infection.

One the positive side, an Otocinclus had got itself stuck between a cable, it could not reverse , so luckily saw it and managed to free it off, but next day its nose was covered in white where I assume it had been trying to push its way out.
That was a few days ago, but now the white mark has gone and it looks good and healthy which is a good sign the water and conditions are good.

Speaking of which , you said "after Work" do you mean you are now back at work ok ? - full time or just part time while you get fully back on your feet ?

Have my tank just running on a simple temp controller and the led lights via a plug in timer but have been slowly developing a better controller, the pic shows it running on the bench and the functions it can do for now, but the hard part is going to be making that info look more presentable and modern on the screen, should keep me quiet during the snow flurries this weekend !
One of the key things is to have a large temp figure but it , or the background, will change colour if it goes too low or too high, so its easy to see from a distance whats happening.