Chris Palma
March 30th 04, 10:11 PM
Hi all.
First of all, thanks to everyone for all the great replies to the number
of other threads I've started. I wanted to post a quick update, and ask
for suggestions of whether I should be happy with how things are now, or
if I should continue to tinker.
I have a 75 gallon aquarium, and I did a fishless cycle that ended about a
month ago. I stocked pretty quickly, and decided to choose different
breeds of dwarf fish. I ended up with the following mix:
9 honey gouramis (two different colorations)
10 threadfin rainbows
8 pygmy corydoras
4 fancy guppies (my wife really wanted these -- they're the only fish I'm
not completely happy with keeping)
2 Otos
4 Dicrossus maculatus cichlids (my LFS convinced me these would be a good
mix to add to my tank. From what I have read they would prefer more acid
water, but they seem to be ok so far. It also seems like I was lucky to
find these -- it doesn't seem that they are a very common fish.)
The rest of the aquarium includes 5 silk plants, 3 floating plastic plants
(for the gouramis, and they have definitely taken over this territory),
and 2 live plants (Java fern & Java sword). I also added two big pieces
of driftwood I bought from the LFS. One is still adding tannins to the
water, but I've been doing 20% or so water changes when it seems to be
getting too dark.
My water parameters have been pretty steady. I measure 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm
nitrites, my pH dropped slowly from 7.6 to 7.2 after adding the driftwood,
and the hardness is medium hard - hard. I haven't measured nitrates
because I don't have a test kit yet.
I've unfortunately had two casualties -- one Oto died about a week after I
added him to the tank. It looked like he may have had a wound near his
tail, but I didn't find him right away so I don't know if he got nipped,
or if the wound came after he died. I've also found one dead pygmy cory.
I have a heck of a time counting the corys, but it seems to me like I
never see the 7 that are left, so I'm a bit worried that 1-2 of my other
corys may also no longer be with me. My other worry is that one of the
gouramis is much smaller & thinner than the rest, and I wonder if he is
normal and will grow, or if he is as frail as his thinness makes him
appear.
If you've made it this far, here are my questions:
1) Any ideas about cause of death for my Oto and/or the cory? Do you
think it was natural causes, or should I be worried that someone is
picking on the catfish?
2) I want to add more fish and I think I'm going to start with more corys
& Otos. Is this a good idea? Should I be happy with the 30 odd fish I
have now and leave things be?
3) I think I can still reasonably increase my fishload because none of
the fish are that big. If my LFS ever gets pygmy rasboras, I'd love to
add those, but in the meantime I would also like to add a few more
threadfins and perhaps something entirely different. Any suggestions
here? How close do you think I am to being overstocked? My filter is an
aquaclear 100, which should be able to keep up with a fully stocked 75.
Last point here -- I don't have a quarantine tank. I'm reasonably
confident that the fish at my LFS are as healthy as at any good LFS, but I
know that this is no guarantee.
4) Lastly, if I do add more live plants, does it matter if I do that
before, after, or at the same time as adding more fish?
I realize this is long, but I promised an update, so here it is. If
anyone feels like responding to any of this, I'd appreciate it!
--chris
NB: This email address is dead. If you would like to email me directly,
please use: cpalmaATSYMBOLastro.psu.edu
First of all, thanks to everyone for all the great replies to the number
of other threads I've started. I wanted to post a quick update, and ask
for suggestions of whether I should be happy with how things are now, or
if I should continue to tinker.
I have a 75 gallon aquarium, and I did a fishless cycle that ended about a
month ago. I stocked pretty quickly, and decided to choose different
breeds of dwarf fish. I ended up with the following mix:
9 honey gouramis (two different colorations)
10 threadfin rainbows
8 pygmy corydoras
4 fancy guppies (my wife really wanted these -- they're the only fish I'm
not completely happy with keeping)
2 Otos
4 Dicrossus maculatus cichlids (my LFS convinced me these would be a good
mix to add to my tank. From what I have read they would prefer more acid
water, but they seem to be ok so far. It also seems like I was lucky to
find these -- it doesn't seem that they are a very common fish.)
The rest of the aquarium includes 5 silk plants, 3 floating plastic plants
(for the gouramis, and they have definitely taken over this territory),
and 2 live plants (Java fern & Java sword). I also added two big pieces
of driftwood I bought from the LFS. One is still adding tannins to the
water, but I've been doing 20% or so water changes when it seems to be
getting too dark.
My water parameters have been pretty steady. I measure 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm
nitrites, my pH dropped slowly from 7.6 to 7.2 after adding the driftwood,
and the hardness is medium hard - hard. I haven't measured nitrates
because I don't have a test kit yet.
I've unfortunately had two casualties -- one Oto died about a week after I
added him to the tank. It looked like he may have had a wound near his
tail, but I didn't find him right away so I don't know if he got nipped,
or if the wound came after he died. I've also found one dead pygmy cory.
I have a heck of a time counting the corys, but it seems to me like I
never see the 7 that are left, so I'm a bit worried that 1-2 of my other
corys may also no longer be with me. My other worry is that one of the
gouramis is much smaller & thinner than the rest, and I wonder if he is
normal and will grow, or if he is as frail as his thinness makes him
appear.
If you've made it this far, here are my questions:
1) Any ideas about cause of death for my Oto and/or the cory? Do you
think it was natural causes, or should I be worried that someone is
picking on the catfish?
2) I want to add more fish and I think I'm going to start with more corys
& Otos. Is this a good idea? Should I be happy with the 30 odd fish I
have now and leave things be?
3) I think I can still reasonably increase my fishload because none of
the fish are that big. If my LFS ever gets pygmy rasboras, I'd love to
add those, but in the meantime I would also like to add a few more
threadfins and perhaps something entirely different. Any suggestions
here? How close do you think I am to being overstocked? My filter is an
aquaclear 100, which should be able to keep up with a fully stocked 75.
Last point here -- I don't have a quarantine tank. I'm reasonably
confident that the fish at my LFS are as healthy as at any good LFS, but I
know that this is no guarantee.
4) Lastly, if I do add more live plants, does it matter if I do that
before, after, or at the same time as adding more fish?
I realize this is long, but I promised an update, so here it is. If
anyone feels like responding to any of this, I'd appreciate it!
--chris
NB: This email address is dead. If you would like to email me directly,
please use: cpalmaATSYMBOLastro.psu.edu