New Aquarium

Discussion in 'Members Hobbies' started by Fat Controller, Sep 2, 2018.

  1. kazzawazza

    kazzawazza Total Gardener

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    I also had a pair of kissing gouramis
    gourami-pink-kissing-gourami-1_1024x1024.jpg
     
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    • Fat Controller

      Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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      The rate these guppies are going, there will be no room in the tank :biggrin:
       
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      • Fat Controller

        Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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        I thought they were a wee bit aggressive though?
         
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        • kazzawazza

          kazzawazza Total Gardener

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          Mine weren’t :scratch:
           
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          • Fat Controller

            Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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            Might give them a shot at some point too. Before any of that, I need to find the copy of the Karma Sutra that has clearly been hidden somewhere in the tank :biggrin:
             
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            • BigC

              BigC Super Gardener

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              API Aquarium Freshwater Master Test Kit
               
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              • ricky101

                ricky101 Total Gardener

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                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 ! :smile:

                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 ? :)

                IMG_0924.JPG
                 
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                • Fat Controller

                  Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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                  Not a lot to report here really - we have had two losses, one being one of the mollies and one of the tiny baby guppies; no idea what took the molly, she was hanging about at the top of the tank in the same place for hours on one day, then in the evening seemed fine - I did wonder about constipation, but saw her have a dump, she was OK the following morning and dead as a doornail the following evening. The guppy, I think that was simply infant mortality.

                  The only issue we have had with the dwarf gourami so far is that the male has somehow managed to injure himself - he has a sore on his cheek, which looks to me as though he has gotten himself stuck somewhere and took a wee chunk out of himself getting out; no idea where he could have done it though, as I can see no obvious traps in the tank. It has been slowly improving, but we have just this afternoon done a water change (about 30%), taken the carbon out of the filter and have started to put some meds in just to help him along. Everything else seems happy as Larry to be fair, and the water tests are all coming up good - even the pH has dropped to a steady 6.8

                  Mrs C fusses over them on a regular basis, checking on the wee ones etc, and they all know that humans = treats; we are mixing things up for them, with algae wafers, lettuce, courgette, cucumber, tropical flake, tropical granules, dried daphnia and dried bloodworm - the only thing we haven't slotted in yet is some sort of live food (advice/suggestions welcome!).

                  For me, it is the plecs that have the most character..... when you see them. They hide a lot of the time, but when they are out they have bags of character, without being aggressive.

                  I wouldn't be concerned about dwarf gouramis being aggressive @ricky101, as I certainly haven't seen any signs of it.
                   
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                  • ricky101

                    ricky101 Total Gardener

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                    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...
                     
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                    • Fat Controller

                      Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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                      Do they do dried brine shrimp then?

                      I don't think that infection should be a problem now - my immune system should effectively be as good as yours or anyone elses for that matter. The medication that I was on that suppressed my immune system is long gone (and proved to be the wrong thing anyway!), but if there is little to no benefit of live food I won't bother.

                      The tank is big enough for a cube of something I think, at over 300litres, but a cube of what would be the question. Anyway, they will get some lettuce this evening which some of them seem to enjoy.

                      I suppose he could have had a falling out with his missus, but it would seem very odd as they tend to mill about with each other quite happily, and neither seems to dominate. I will keep an eye on them. Interestingly, as the room is darkening, I have a shoal of neons up at the end of the tank that is right next to my chair, all looking at me as if for food.....
                       
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                      • ricky101

                        ricky101 Total Gardener

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                        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 ..?

                        001159.jpg
                         
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                        • Fat Controller

                          Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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                          I don't have one anywhere near, but I would imagine that Amazon would do them - I will have a look.

                          I have a few snails, and I must confess to having a bit of a clear out the other night - had about six or seven on the front glass, so they were netted and chucked outside to their fate (most likely magpie food).

                          We've just had a frantic ten minutes looking for the other white molly - nowhere in sight, despite searching with a torch, so we decided to switch the lights off and wait for an hour to see if she appeared. Not even five minutes, and she appeared as if to say "why has it gone dark?" - - she must have been hiding inside the big log ornament, as it is hollow.
                           
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                          • ricky101

                            ricky101 Total Gardener

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                            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
                             
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                            • Fat Controller

                              Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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                              I might get some of those in time - I had looked at them, but then wondered about the logic of replacing one type of snail with another.

                              Mr Gourami passed away yesterday morning - I had a feeling that it was coming, as he had been hanging about in the tank in pretty much the same position all day on Wednesday, and didn't eat either. Burial appropriately done after work.

                              Now, onto other matters - we have two guppies that we are wondering if they are about to drop more babies. What do you think?

                              Preggers1.png
                              Preggers2.png
                               
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                              • ricky101

                                ricky101 Total Gardener

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                                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.

                                001169.jpg
                                 
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