Papa Red wrote:
I am getting ready to trade in all of my Red-tailed sharks, Gouramis,
Angelfish, Rosy barbs, et cetera, and turn most of my seven tanks over
to housing just Fancy Guppys, Platys and other live- bearing freshwater
fish, fish that I'm told do far better with a wee bit o' salt in their
water. I am also keeping a few of my Plecos, and all of my Corys [my
favourite fish species], and some male and female Bettas. But I have
heard that those species really don't do so well with salt in their
tankwater, so they will go into the tanks that won't be getting any
salt. Could you please tell me what common freshwater fish species helps
to keep their tanks clean, that like a bit o' salt, won't hassle the
other fish, and have as little possibility of eating the fry as
possible, whenever they're born and I'm not there at that moment to
transfer them over to the ten gallon tank that I have had set up for
some time, just for the baby fish? I figure that if I can start my own
little 'fish farm' right here in my home, then just maybe with all of
the extra fish that will be born, I can trade them for fish food, et
cetera, over at my LFS. But I would like to have some kind of
tank-cleaner fish, something very peaceful, like the Cory species, but a
species that can tolerate the salt that those above mentioned fish both
like and need. Thanks for your help,...
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A 0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Pax
Vobiscum,...~Dean.

You wrote:
I don't think you need to use any salt, especially with the adults. The
two champion guppy breeders in town use our moderately hard (170 ppm)
tapwater with no salt. They keep cories in their tanks to scavenge extra
food. The other thing they do is to run barebottomed tanks with
old-fashioned box filters. The bare tanks are easy to clean and the box
filters aerate the water well without any risk of sucking fry into an
impeller.
Platies don't need salt either. They're even less picky about hard water
than guppies and can live in most people's tapwater.
To answer your question about critters, I've got red ramshorn snails,
Amano shrimp, and Otocinclus living with my guppies since I need
critters to nibble algae off of plants. Ramshorn snails and Amano shrimp
will both tolerate a wide range of water conditions. I think my guppies
are eating the baby snails too, because there are far fewer than I would
expect from the number of eggs I find on the glass.
--
Elaine T =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

My response:
I use an old-style box filter in my ten gallon fry tank, and I'm going
to be placing some of my many Corys into it again. I had to empty the
fry tank last week and place it's inhabitants in other tanks, when the
year old air pump suddenly failed. I have now purchased another air
pump, and have the ten gallon tank set up again, and have placed all of
the fry and young fish back into it. In a bit, I'm going to put back in
some of the young Corys that I had in there originally. By the way, all
of my tanks are 'bare-bottom' tanks, with only artificial plants, except
for some Anacharis in my fry tank, that float on the surface of the
water.
What about Mollys, don't they need salt in their tank water? I have
some Mollys, including some beautiful 'sailfin' Mollys, who remind me of
some cows that I used to know, who, every time they saw me, would line
up against the fence, expecting a special treat,...The sailfins I have
do that, lining up against that end of their tank, and it gives me a wee
chuckle every time I see them do it.
How does one tell the difference between the different types of snails?
I bought some that the man at my LFS said were Apple snails, that
were=A0about the size of ripe plums. Well all but two of those snails
have died, but I do have some snails of undetermined species that came
with some Anacharis/Elodea densa that I bought there, including some
that have blackish shells, and have a blood-red colouring at their
openings. Some of them have gotten about a quarter inch in size. In
the 30 gallon tank that holds most of the fish that I'm going to be
trading in, there are some snails, whose dark shells are turning sort of
a striped white, which worries me. Without even a common name for them,
I have no idea if this is a normal event of that species of snail, or is
due to illness or disease. Thank you very much for all of the help that
you have and are giving me. Pax Vobiscum,...~Dean.