Fresh and Salt Water Fish Forum?

[acpart]

I like the aquatics idea too. I have an indoor/outdoor fish pond made from a 35 gallon stock tank. It's out on my porch from June to Oct. and inside for the winter. I have water plants (black taro, papyrus and water lily and some others) and a breeding population of neon rosy barbs/Indian flame barbs. I just added some Endlers in Oct. and they are starting to breed.

Aliza

 

[GeckoStud]

Good contribution I had forgotten about over all aquatics. Nice add!

 

[GeckoStud]

I finally got my tank setup and ready. Its a 29 gal setup with fake plants and some cool looking slate, I'll take some pictures when it actually has some fish in it. Now all there is to do is wait a few days for the bacteria to populate it and it will be ready for some fish. Now mind you I don't plan on adding these all at the same time, I will do it gradually as to not upset ammonia levels much. But I think I'm gonna do tiger barbs and maybe some cherry barbs. Apart from that I was really interested in a ghost knife I know they get really big but I was planning on getting a real small one and giving it to my cousin for his big 150 gal when it gets to big for mine. Does anyone know how much these guys usually go for?

 

[cullens]

im in for aquatics also as i keep salt and freshwater tanks

 

[BettaDragon]

I love fish though I've given up on them. I used to attempt to breed bettas (I was cursed with overly violent males). I gave up on them this summer after this huge disease killed just about everything. The whole thing made me rather dislike anything with an average lifespan under 15 years. I still love fish though (as long as I'm not getting attached) and I'd love a fish forum.

 

[GeckoStud]

I got my fish over the course of this week and put some of the final touches in today. So as it stands I have my 29 gal tank as such: A whole, the left side, and the right side. Alot of caves and crevices, a shallow one and a more open one. I managed to get one good pic of one of my fish and it was the one I couldn't remember the name of. Its some kind of chichlid (hope i spelled that right). Its supposed to be a docile one and so far hasn't bothered my other fish.

Fish List:
2x Honey sunset gourami (yellow)
2x Honey sunset blue gourami (red)
2x Hoplo catfish
3x Kuhli loach
1x ? chichlid
1x Gold nugget pleco
1x Clown pleco
1x Rubber lip pleco

 

[LadyGecko]

Hi Derek

That tank looks great
Kudos to you for doing a fishless cycle on the tank !!

:main_thumbsup:

Just curious-what did you use to cycle the tank?
Did you just borrow some gravel from an established tank or did you use the "so many drops" of ammonia per day to start the nitrogen building?

I remember there being a live bacteria product introduced on the market right before I got out of fish keeping that was supposed to really work unlike all of the previous products on the market
I can't for the life of me remember the name of it right now but it had to be kept refrigerated to stay good-even in transit

A quick tip-don't add any more fish for a while and test the water daily for a few weeks-just adding the current fish will probably start a mini-cycle to handle the increased Bio-load

Take it slow no matter how tempting that it is to add more fish

Are you using a filter that hangs on the back on the tank?
The Bio-wheels are really good filters for that purpose
I think that their band name is Penguin but there are probably other manufacturers making them now and I believe that they even sell just the wheels to fit onto any brand/make back filter

Sandy

PS-I a;ways have trouble remembering how to spell Cichlid-lol

 

[LadyGecko]

I ran out of editing time-lol

I think that the last pic of the lovely cichlid is a Krebensis-not sure tho

 

[cullens]

derek your cichlid looks like a (Julidochromis marlieri).

ladygecko the bacteria in the market is called bio spira

ill see if i can get som pics of my fish

 

[GeckoStud]

Yeah its called bio spira. I did a fishless cycle for a week and I got a newly "used" filter pack from my neighbor. I also had a good deal of decorations and stuff from other established tanks in there for the whole week. My filter is one that hangs from the back of the tank, I'm not sure what kind it is but it said "bio filtration etc" on it so I don't know.

Also, I know I have added a bit to many fish at once, but all the places that have good fish that are near me are over 40 minutes from my house. One of the ones I went to this weekend was an hour away so yeah I splurged a bit. So when I get the opportunity I may break the rules slightly . But yeah I'm done adding fish for a while, I'll probably let it go for a few weeks or a month or so before I even think about adding more.

Thanks for the ID on that Cichlid I new he said malwerei something but couldn't find it because I didn't remember the spelling (marlieri). Out of curiosity does it have a common name?

 

[cullens]

theres 6 sub species of the marlieri theres burundi, gombe, kalemie, katili, katoto, and samazi. yours from what ive seen looks like the burundi but dont take my word for it since im mostly into big catfish. common name i think it was just marlieri cichlid

 

[GeckoStud]

Thanks dude.

 

[cullens]

no problem

 

[LadyGecko]

Cullens
Thanks for the name of bio spira and the correction on the species of the fish

:main_thumbsup:

Is bio spira more readily available now then it was a few years back?

Sandy

 

[cullens]

im not sure on the availability since all my tanks are already cycled but i have seen some lfs around me that has it in stock.

 

[GeckoStud]

I think a few of my fish have ich, they have teeny tiny little white spots. Not many just a few here and there, a kuhli and the hoplo's seem to be the only ones affected thus far. I have read that I can use Malachite green, formalin, quinine hydrochloride, or copper to cure it.

Any recommendations? This is a total bummer... It may have had to do with the cold. When I got my fish the weather outside was under 30 degrees, and we put them into a styrofoam box to try to maximize heat. I hope its not too serious...

 

[Leopardbreeder]

Ich is a naturally occouring parasite. As far as I remember, fish always have it, but it is brought out with stress. Because they always have it, they can keep it under control, but with stress they get weak. I use chemical treatments, but most people don't like chemicals. I never had a problem with them though.

 

[miamimike]

Another really really good bacteria "starter" product is called Fritz-zyme. They have been around for years....but have a product that has to be kept refrigerated before use....it is a product I can honestly tell you works!....I am not saying the other products dont work...but I used to do trade shows alot where I would bring a couple aquariums and stock them full of fish for display and they did wonderfully when Fritz-zyme was added. I always tell people to try to get their hands on it when setting up a new aquarium....the tank cycles almost immediately. Alot of stores dont carry it though because it has to be kept refrigerated but I have yet to find another one that works near as well....JMO

Also, make sure you are careful what products you use to cure ick. Copper is very common in a lot of them and some fish are very very sensitive to copper. Most catfish and loaches being a couple of them.
I have also unfortunately found that many Tanganyikan fish are very sensitive to it as well. Another thing, you probably already know but, make sure to remove any carbon/charcoal when treating with any chemical or med because it will be removed very quickly by the carbon if you dont.

 

[GeckoStud]

Another thing, you probably already know but, make sure to remove any carbon/charcoal when treating with any chemical or med because it will be removed very quickly by the carbon if you dont.[/

Does this mean wood? Other than that its just slate and fake plants in there. So I would just remove the wood right?

 

[cullens]

Ich is a protozoal infection that afflicts fish and can rapidly kill them, most often by damaging gill tissue.
The organism goes through a life cycle of;
a small white spot feeding on your fish,
which drops off to the floor of your tank and encysts,
while encysted it divides into up to 2000 new mobile organisms,
the cyst ruptures, releasing the mobile organisms which seek out a host.
Only the mobile stage is vulnerable to treatment by anything that will not also kill your fish.

Here is an old fashioned but very effective method for treatment.
It can be used for most fish but morymids, corys, and some pims are sensitive to salt. Because the organism infest the tank, the whole tank should be treated.

Raise the temp of your tank to at least 85-86 degrees F.
Add aquarium salt (dissolved in water) at a ratio of 2 teaspoons of salt per gallon of water in your tank.
Now wait, while waiting it does not hurt to add a powerhead or airstone to increase the O2 level.
Over the first couple days your fish will look worse but then they will clear up. about the sixth day they will look clear but because some ecystments have not yet hatched keep the treatment up for the full 10 days.
If you are not able to raise the temperature you need to extend the treatment, at 85 the ich's life cycle is quick but at 72 it can take weeks, below 70F treat for 6 weeks.

There are medicines you can use but many fish are sensitive to them, you can also try just heat at 90-91 degrees F but some fish can't take that heat and some strains of ich can survive it.
The salt and heat method is one I have used several times with sucess.


took this from a fish forum i go on alot. i have used both heat and salt, and the meds and both worked main thing is tho is to crank up the heat so the ich goes thru its life cycle quicker.