Adding new fish

[Newbie Bill]

I have two tanks which I think should have a little 'headroom' to add a few
more fish. Water parameters are excellent and I test and change water
regularly. I am considering small danios and/or black skirt tetras. One
tank has 3 aeneus(sp) cories, 2 ottos and 3 Buenos Aires tetras. The other
has 2 reg platys and 2 smaller growing mollies. I am salting it at only
about 2 tbsp/20 gal.

Any suggestions on adding danios or tetras to these tanks, both as far as
compatability and the lightly salted water. Also what's the fewest of each
I can add. I have seen suggestions that every fish I have, have more
species mates, but they all seem relatively active, happy and non
aggressive.

I am sure I will also be adding at least one more tank at some point, but I
am still trying to get a sense of how 'dirty' some of these freshwater fish
are. I have read platys are particularly clean and one can probably fudge
on the inch/gal rule with them - but I dont like them that much. Any other
non goldfish particularly clean or dirty? The LFS help told me if danios
and black shirts were the same size they should produce the same amount of
'waste'. Might be splitting hairs, but this doesnt sound quite right to me
since the black skirt appears to have more 'volume' than the danios.
Wouldn't size of fish also be at least somewhat a consideration other than
just length?

Thanxx for your help!

Bill

[~ Windsong ~]

"Newbie Bill" > wrote in message
. com...
> I have two tanks which I think should have a little 'headroom' to add a
few
> more fish. Water parameters are excellent and I test and change water
> regularly. I am considering small danios and/or black skirt tetras. One
> tank has 3 aeneus(sp) cories, 2 ottos and 3 Buenos Aires tetras. The
other
> has 2 reg platys and 2 smaller growing mollies. I am salting it at only
> about 2 tbsp/20 gal.
=====================
Bill, you may be better off asking these questions on one of the tropical
fish NGs. They should have some experienced people on them to answer all
your questions. If you get danios, get at least 6 to 8 as they like to
school and swim around the tank together. They will eat any fry and eggs
from other fish in the tank. They jump so keep the tank covered.
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
Remember this motto to live by:
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in
a
pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly
used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming -- "WOW -- What a Ride!"
~~<~~<~~{@
Pricelessware:
http://www.pricelessware.org
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Katra]

In article >,
"~ Windsong ~" > wrote:

> "Newbie Bill" > wrote in message
> . com...
> > I have two tanks which I think should have a little 'headroom' to add a
> few
> > more fish. Water parameters are excellent and I test and change water
> > regularly. I am considering small danios and/or black skirt tetras. One
> > tank has 3 aeneus(sp) cories, 2 ottos and 3 Buenos Aires tetras. The
> other
> > has 2 reg platys and 2 smaller growing mollies. I am salting it at only
> > about 2 tbsp/20 gal.
> =====================
> Bill, you may be better off asking these questions on one of the tropical
> fish NGs. They should have some experienced people on them to answer all
> your questions. If you get danios, get at least 6 to 8 as they like to
> school and swim around the tank together. They will eat any fry and eggs
> from other fish in the tank. They jump so keep the tank covered.

What is the best tropical fish group to join for fresh water please?
There are several I've noted, and I'd like to sign in to just one of
them.

I love goldfish but don't have any at the moment. I plan on setting up a
goldfish tank once we finish with the livingroom remodeling. ;-) We also
plan to put in a fish pond and have goldfish in there.

Right now all I have is a 1.5 gallon decorative tank that I bought to
raise tadpoles, and it now contains a new pair of bettas.

Thanks!

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

>,,<Cat's Haven Hobby Farm>,,<Katraatcenturyteldotnet>,,<

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&include=0&userid=katra

[Newbie Bill]

Yikes- thanks for the alert. I have GF and Freshwater and posted this
request on the wrong one.
Bill

"Newbie Bill" > wrote in message
. com...
>I have two tanks which I think should have a little 'headroom' to add a few
>more fish. Water parameters are excellent and I test and change water
>regularly. I am considering small danios and/or black skirt tetras. One
>tank has 3 aeneus(sp) cories, 2 ottos and 3 Buenos Aires tetras. The other
>has 2 reg platys and 2 smaller growing mollies. I am salting it at only
>about 2 tbsp/20 gal.
>
> Any suggestions on adding danios or tetras to these tanks, both as far as
> compatability and the lightly salted water. Also what's the fewest of
> each I can add. I have seen suggestions that every fish I have, have more
> species mates, but they all seem relatively active, happy and non
> aggressive.
>
> I am sure I will also be adding at least one more tank at some point, but
> I am still trying to get a sense of how 'dirty' some of these freshwater
> fish are. I have read platys are particularly clean and one can probably
> fudge on the inch/gal rule with them - but I dont like them that much.
> Any other non goldfish particularly clean or dirty? The LFS help told me
> if danios and black shirts were the same size they should produce the same
> amount of 'waste'. Might be splitting hairs, but this doesnt sound quite
> right to me since the black skirt appears to have more 'volume' than the
> danios. Wouldn't size of fish also be at least somewhat a consideration
> other than just length?
>
> Thanxx for your help!
>
> Bill
>

[~ Windsong ~]

"Katra" > wrote in message
...
> What is the best tropical fish group to join for fresh water please?

## I don't know since I have not been on one in several years. Just type in
"aquarium" and look for a few. Try them all and stick with the one you like
best. :-)

> There are several I've noted, and I'd like to sign in to just one of
> them.

## Try several.

> I love goldfish but don't have any at the moment. I plan on setting up a
> goldfish tank once we finish with the livingroom remodeling. ;-) We also
> plan to put in a fish pond and have goldfish in there.

## You'll love ponds. The GF do so much better outdoors than in indoor
tanks.

> Right now all I have is a 1.5 gallon decorative tank that I bought to
> raise tadpoles, and it now contains a new pair of bettas.

## Please leave the tadpoles until you have your pond. Most will perish in
a small tank. When they turn into frogs or toads then what? They will need
an endless stream of LIVE insects....

--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
Pricelessware:
http://www.pricelessware.org
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Katra]

In article >,
"~ Windsong ~" > wrote:

> "Katra" > wrote in message
> ...
> > What is the best tropical fish group to join for fresh water please?
>
> ## I don't know since I have not been on one in several years. Just type in
> "aquarium" and look for a few. Try them all and stick with the one you like
> best. :-)
>
> > There are several I've noted, and I'd like to sign in to just one of
> > them.
>
> ## Try several.

Ok. I'll see which one gets the most traffic.

>
> > I love goldfish but don't have any at the moment. I plan on setting up a
> > goldfish tank once we finish with the livingroom remodeling. ;-) We also
> > plan to put in a fish pond and have goldfish in there.
>
> ## You'll love ponds. The GF do so much better outdoors than in indoor
> tanks.

So I've seen lurking here! That is encouraging.

>
> > Right now all I have is a 1.5 gallon decorative tank that I bought to
> > raise tadpoles, and it now contains a new pair of bettas.
>
> ## Please leave the tadpoles until you have your pond. Most will perish in
> a small tank. When they turn into frogs or toads then what? They will need
> an endless stream of LIVE insects....

Well, only one of the toads made it, but all three frogs have made it. I
got the frog tadpoles from the pet store.

One is a bullfrog and will be kept as a pet!
The other two are leopard frogs and eating well now. I will build them a
habitat with the new pond. I'm very much looking forward to it!

I'm feeding them live crickets from the pet store...

I'm sure that once the pond is built, mother nature will supply other
frogs! <lol> Leopard frogs are native to this area.

Thanks!!!
--
K.

[~ Windsong ~]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Katra" >
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria.freshwater.goldfish
Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 1:14 AM
Subject: Re: Adding new fish


> In article >,
> "~ Windsong ~" > wrote:
> > ## Please leave the tadpoles until you have your pond. Most will perish
in
> > a small tank. When they turn into frogs or toads then what? They will
need
> > an endless stream of LIVE insects....

> Well, only one of the toads made it, but all three frogs have made it. I
> got the frog tadpoles from the pet store.
> One is a bullfrog and will be kept as a pet!
> The other two are leopard frogs and eating well now. I will build them a
> habitat with the new pond. I'm very much looking forward to it!
> I'm feeding them live crickets from the pet store...

## I hope they survive until you get your pond built. Try a larger variety
of live insects if you can.

> I'm sure that once the pond is built, mother nature will supply other
> frogs! <lol> Leopard frogs are native to this area.

## Your outdoor pond will be overrun with frogs in no time. :-) We had to
cover our ponds, in part, because the bullfrogs were eating all our GF and
smaller koi. I do have several 150 gallon in-ground kiddy-pools for the
frogs, toads and amphibians. They double as pools to raise pond plants.

> Thanks!!!
> K.

Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"If At First You Don't Succeed,
Blame Someone Else And Seek Counseling!"
~~~~~~~ }<((((((o>
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
Completely FREE software:
http://www.pricelessware.org
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Katra]

In article >,
"~ Windsong ~" > wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Katra" >
> Newsgroups: rec.aquaria.freshwater.goldfish
> Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 1:14 AM
> Subject: Re: Adding new fish
>
>
> > In article >,
> > "~ Windsong ~" > wrote:
> > > ## Please leave the tadpoles until you have your pond. Most will perish
> in
> > > a small tank. When they turn into frogs or toads then what? They will
> need
> > > an endless stream of LIVE insects....
>
> > Well, only one of the toads made it, but all three frogs have made it. I
> > got the frog tadpoles from the pet store.
> > One is a bullfrog and will be kept as a pet!
> > The other two are leopard frogs and eating well now. I will build them a
> > habitat with the new pond. I'm very much looking forward to it!
> > I'm feeding them live crickets from the pet store...
>
> ## I hope they survive until you get your pond built. Try a larger variety
> of live insects if you can.

<snort> They should! (the two leopard frogs)
They ate 5 bucks worth of crickets in the past 3 days! :-P

I'll get them more Saturday. They are getting a little larger now so
should be able to take mediums. They are nearly 2" long now. They've
lived a month past morphing now at this stage.

The bullfrog is not ready to eat yet. Still has a bit of tail left to
absorb.

>
> > I'm sure that once the pond is built, mother nature will supply other
> > frogs! <lol> Leopard frogs are native to this area.
>
> ## Your outdoor pond will be overrun with frogs in no time. :-) We had to
> cover our ponds, in part, because the bullfrogs were eating all our GF and
> smaller koi. I do have several 150 gallon in-ground kiddy-pools for the
> frogs, toads and amphibians. They double as pools to raise pond plants.

Well, you could always eat the bullfrogs! <lol>

I can get pond plants out of our local river, but I'd have to be
careful. The local river has fish leeches in it.

>
> > Thanks!!!
> > K.
>
> Carol.... the frugal ponder...
> "If At First You Don't Succeed,
> Blame Someone Else And Seek Counseling!"
> ~~~~~~~ }<((((((o>
> http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
> Completely FREE software:
> http://www.pricelessware.org
> http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
--
K.

Sprout the MungBean to reply

"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell‹you
see, I have friends in both places." --Mark Twain

[~ Windsong ~]

"Katra" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "~ Windsong ~" > wrote:
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Katra" >
> > Newsgroups: rec.aquaria.freshwater.goldfish
> > Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 1:14 AM
> > Subject: Re: Adding new fish
> >
> >
> > > In article >,
> > > "~ Windsong ~" > wrote:
> > > > ## Please leave the tadpoles until you have your pond. Most will
perish
> > in
> > > > a small tank. When they turn into frogs or toads then what? They
will
> > need
> > > > an endless stream of LIVE insects....
> >
> > > Well, only one of the toads made it, but all three frogs have made it.
I
> > > got the frog tadpoles from the pet store.
> > > One is a bullfrog and will be kept as a pet!
> > > The other two are leopard frogs and eating well now. I will build them
a
> > > habitat with the new pond. I'm very much looking forward to it!
> > > I'm feeding them live crickets from the pet store...
> >
> > ## I hope they survive until you get your pond built. Try a larger
variety
> > of live insects if you can.
>
> <snort> They should! (the two leopard frogs)
> They ate 5 bucks worth of crickets in the past 3 days! :-P

$$ You may want to shake the crickets in a baggie with a vitamin/mineral
powder. Crickets aren't a complete diet I was told years ago. Try to find
"other" insects as well, including worms (that's what I meant by a larger
variety.)

> I'll get them more Saturday. They are getting a little larger now so
> should be able to take mediums. They are nearly 2" long now. They've
> lived a month past morphing now at this stage.

$$ That's great news. :-)

> The bullfrog is not ready to eat yet. Still has a bit of tail left to
> absorb.

$$ You can keep her cool to slow the change. Less feeding until spring.

> > > I'm sure that once the pond is built, mother nature will supply other
> > > frogs! <lol> Leopard frogs are native to this area.

> > ## Your outdoor pond will be overrun with frogs in no time. :-) We
had to
> > cover our ponds, in part, because the bullfrogs were eating all our GF
and
> > smaller koi. I do have several 150 gallon in-ground kiddy-pools for the
> > frogs, toads and amphibians. They double as pools to raise pond plants.

> Well, you could always eat the bullfrogs! <lol>

$$ Nope. When the numbers get out of hand I net them out and dump them in
the lake about 1/2 a mile away.

> I can get pond plants out of our local river, but I'd have to be
> careful. The local river has fish leeches in it.

$$ I use Potassium Permanganate to clean "wild" plants.

--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"If At First You Don't Succeed,
Blame Someone Else And Seek Counseling!"
~~~~~~~ }<((((((o>
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
Completely FREE software:
http://www.pricelessware.org
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Katra]

In article >,
"~ Windsong ~" > wrote:

<snipped for brevity>
> > >
> > > ## I hope they survive until you get your pond built. Try a larger
> variety
> > > of live insects if you can.
> >
> > <snort> They should! (the two leopard frogs)
> > They ate 5 bucks worth of crickets in the past 3 days! :-P
>
> $$ You may want to shake the crickets in a baggie with a vitamin/mineral
> powder. Crickets aren't a complete diet I was told years ago. Try to find
> "other" insects as well, including worms (that's what I meant by a larger
> variety.)

Vionate powder fits the bill. :-)
Would they eat earthworms?
I have a ton of them running around my back yard
and if I leave a piece of old rug on the ground and wet it,
it makes it easy to capture earthworms without digging holes

>
> > I'll get them more Saturday. They are getting a little larger now so
> > should be able to take mediums. They are nearly 2" long now. They've
> > lived a month past morphing now at this stage.
>
> $$ That's great news. :-)
>
> > The bullfrog is not ready to eat yet. Still has a bit of tail left to
> > absorb.
>
> $$ You can keep her cool to slow the change. Less feeding until spring.

Wouldn't that be dangerous?
I'd worry about it using up all it's fat reserves and starving?

I can afford the insects and there are on-line sources to purchase
"other" insects for reasonable prices.

>
> > Well, you could always eat the bullfrogs! <lol>
>
> $$ Nope. When the numbers get out of hand I net them out and dump them in
> the lake about 1/2 a mile away.

So long as they don't get overpopulated.... ;-)
Bullfrogs are actually worth money if you could find a market.

>
> > I can get pond plants out of our local river, but I'd have to be
> > careful. The local river has fish leeches in it.
>
> $$ I use Potassium Permanganate to clean "wild" plants.

Cool! Good advice and I appreciate that!
That will kill leeches?

Kat
--
K.

Sprout the MungBean to reply

"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell‹you
see, I have friends in both places." --Mark Twain

[~ Windsong ~]

"Katra" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "~ Windsong ~" > wrote:
>
> <snipped for brevity>
> > > >
> > > > ## I hope they survive until you get your pond built. Try a larger
> > variety
> > > > of live insects if you can.
> > >
> > > <snort> They should! (the two leopard frogs)
> > > They ate 5 bucks worth of crickets in the past 3 days! :-P
> >
> > $$ You may want to shake the crickets in a baggie with a vitamin/mineral
> > powder. Crickets aren't a complete diet I was told years ago. Try to
find
> > "other" insects as well, including worms (that's what I meant by a
larger
> > variety.)
>
> Vionate powder fits the bill. :-)
> Would they eat earthworms?

## Mine did. They also ate meal worms I raised myself. Still, they never
did as well in captivity as they do outside.

> I have a ton of them running around my back yard
> and if I leave a piece of old rug on the ground and wet it,
> it makes it easy to capture earthworms without digging holes

## There you go! :-)

> > $$ You can keep her cool to slow the change. Less feeding until spring.

> Wouldn't that be dangerous?
> I'd worry about it using up all it's fat reserves and starving?

## My outdoor 150 pools all have frog and toad tadpoles and the water is in
the 40s. They stay at the bottom and remain inactive until spring. Cool
tads don't seem interested in food.

> I can afford the insects and there are on-line sources to purchase
> "other" insects for reasonable prices.

## If you don't mind the expense.

> > $$ Nope. When the numbers get out of hand I net them out and dump them
in
> > the lake about 1/2 a mile away.

> So long as they don't get overpopulated.... ;-)
> Bullfrogs are actually worth money if you could find a market.

## So I heard but I would rather they remain alive and free. No telling
what their fate would be to sell them.


> > $$ I use Potassium Permanganate to clean "wild" plants.

> Cool! Good advice and I appreciate that!
> That will kill leeches?

## I imagine it does since they're not a real problem in my ponds. However
I have seen leeches occasionally in pools I never had wild plants in. I
have never seen them on any of my fish.


--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"If At First You Don't Succeed,
Blame Someone Else And Seek Counseling!"
~~~~~~~ }<((((((o>
Completely FREE software:
http://www.pricelessware.org
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~