Aquarium people

"Tynk" wrote in message
oups.com...

�I'll probably weaken and get 3 small clown loaches if I see healthy
ones. :-) They've always been a favorite of mine.

That may be harder than you think. Often, as I have found out with the
last 6 or so I have had in the past 5 yrs, that they can carry
internal parasites. You can't tell if they look healthy on the
outside. In time they simply waste away and die.
I had such fun with the last 2 sets of Clowns I had because they
became quite tame, and not the usual scardy cats.

I may be remembering wrong but isn't there a food now that contains
something to get rid of internal parasites? I know Tetra makes food with
antibiotics included, but I can't remember who makes the one for internal
parasites.

They were always begging for attention, as well as food. I couldn't do
anything in the tank or near the tank without them being right there
in the mix of young angels and female bettas. I miss them, but after
the first the few I had all died slowly (wasted away), I tried again.
Another 3. Same thing. They look fantastic when you buy them. They go
through QT looking great, eating like pigs, and then months later they
look like a bag of bones swimming around with a Clown Loach coat on.
Too sad.

Oh, that is depressing. I haven't had that experience with CLs. When I
sold my three several years ago they had reached around 4 to 5" and were
several years old, still colorful and well fleshed out. Maybe the tetras I
bought had some infection, something internal. They would slowly become
lethargic, not really emaciated, lose their appetites.... then I would find
them dead. This would also happen with those powder-blue and chocolate
gouramies (sp?). The pearls would live for years. Although they get a
little larger than I like, they're gentle fish, not overly active and not
destructive.

That's why this time I just want fish to LOOK at and enjoy. I don't want
to
see fighting or have to worry about how to dispose of unwanted fry. Any
live bearers will be males only. :-))

You mentioned in another reply maybe female Bettas.
If you don't want to see fighting, then skip them.
They will fight to win the spot of alpha, and may have to put the
others in their place from time to time.
You may also see a take over.

I guess I'd only get one then. I've seen beautiful blue ones at PetsMart
for under $2. Blue is hard to find in tropicals hereabouts. If she starts
to harass any other fish she can be removed.

This isn't always a battle, as some times it's nothing more than
posturing. However, sometimes it can be brutal, and one would need to
be removed.
It's not that they're mean, or bad tempered, but like a pack of dogs
or wolves their needs to be a chain of command.
Many often see this as bad tempered fish. I don't see it that way at
all.
A school of Bettas (females only or females and one male) is run just
like a pack of wolves. Each has their place, and some must be a little
pushy at times to keep it. When the *why* of their behavior is known,
you see them in a completely different light.
--

RM....
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

"Tristie" wrote in message
oups.com...

RM
I currently have a school of 26 neon tetras in a heavily planted 90
gal tank along with a breeding pair of angels now for over 3 months
and doing just fine. Of course over time I probably had bought 40 or
so tetras but things are stable now and no deaths in a long long
time..........Just do not buy em from Wally World.........I buy all
mine from Petsmart or Petco, and QT them in water I pull from m,y 90
gal DT, for 2 weeks.(until warranty is uip anyhow) so dead ones are
easy to find and get replaced.Replacements go into a smaller separate
QT so as to not intermix one batch from another.........Only other
fish in the QT is a few cory cats.....I had these fish previously in a
60 gal and right now am contemplating on putting them into a 150 or
180 gal tank since I opened up an area in the living room when we got
rid of one of the couches....I have a 210 gal tank that could also be
used, .........but I would have to come up with some decent lights and
a hood / cover..............in whjich case right now I just do not
feel like messing around with..........
========================================
I replied to this message last night, but I don't see it on my server.

You have some really huge tanks that must make beautiful display tanks,...
also probably great for breeding. After thinking this over I'm not so sure
anymore it was my water. Maybe those small tetras carried something......
that, over a few months time, killed them off.

Why not take a few pics of your tanks, put them on something like
Photobucket and give us the link? :-)
--
RM....
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

Reel McKoi wrote:

I replied to this message last night, but I don't see it on my server.

I've seen some from you but none to Roy's post about his tetras.....

You have some really huge tanks that must make beautiful display
tanks,... also probably great for breeding. After thinking this over
I'm not so sure anymore it was my water. Maybe those small tetras
carried something...... that, over a few months time, killed them off.


Well with mine it is/was NTD along with larger fish munching on them in
the night and not the water.....I will report on my progress when I go
buy the 30 plus Cardinals/Neons in the morning for the revamped
tank......I'm really quite excited about it even though it took over 6
hours of hard graft today to transform the tank in readiness for them.....

Why not take a few pics of your tanks, put them on something like
Photobucket and give us the link? :-)

Yes, that would be good.....looking forward to seeing the pics

Gill

"Gill Passman" wrote in message
...
Reel McKoi wrote:

I replied to this message last night, but I don't see it on my server.

I've seen some from you but none to Roy's post about his tetras.....

I saw his post and replied, but my reply never showed up. Glitch on the
server most likely.

Well with mine it is/was NTD along with larger fish munching on them in
the night and not the water.....I will report on my progress when I go buy
the 30 plus Cardinals/Neons in the morning for the revamped tank......I'm
really quite excited about it even though it took over 6 hours of hard
graft today to transform the tank in readiness for them.....

Didn't you turn your larger tank into a salt water tank? How about a few
pics of your tanks as they are now? :-)

Why not take a few pics of your tanks, put them on something like
Photobucket and give us the link? :-)

Yes, that would be good.....looking forward to seeing the pics

I'm hoping to see everyone's pics. When I add more rocks and plants I'll
take a few new ones of mine, and post the link.
--

RM....
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

Reel McKoi wrote:



Didn't you turn your larger tank into a salt water tank? How about a
few pics of your tanks as they are now? :-)

Nope.....I recklessly went out and bought another tank (well hubby did)
- it's a 350L corner tank which was the only thing I could fit
in....That's it for tanks for me now.....with the tanks and hopefully
the pond soon it is like a full-time job :-)

I need to recharge the camera before I can take any pics and I keep
forgetting :-(

Gill

"St. Clair" wrote in message
...
I've got a 55 gallon community tank, has 1 Discus, 1 Angelfish and some
Hatchetfish. I also have a 55 gallon African Cichlid tank and a 210
gallon CA/SA Cichlid tank. If you're interested, you can check out some
pictures at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifnar/s...7601124618440/

=============================
Wow! You have some beautiful healthy looking fish. :-)
--
RM....
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

"Gill Passman" wrote in message
...

Neons are dead cheap but are prone to disease.....you could get a good
group or find yourself replacing them at a few bucks each time as they get
depleted......I've always managed to keep around 5 out of a school of 20
but this is very disappointing.....my best success has been with Cardinals
(totally unsuited to my water) where I have had no losses at all.....

Cardinals seem to be much hardier. I had a few that lasted for a long time
but I don't always see them in the stores here. I'm getting around pretty
good now and can wear a normal shoe on the injured foot, so hope to get to
at least PetsMart and PetSupermarket this coming week.

..but don't just think of tetras.......one of my fav tanks houses
a couple of ember tetras and 6 cherry barbs......very pretty fish and
hardy with it and not as nippy as their relatives - I have 3M/3F and the
colour display is awesome....

I also want to take a closer look at those Rainbows you've mentioned. How
large do they usually get and are they long lived?

I'm going to skip angels for this tank because they get large, and once
they pair off you have WWIII on your hands.

Well, that's cichlids for you.....my pair are in the 6 foot tank and
haven't created to many problems yet - although I do have them as number
one suspects in the decline of the smaller fish

I love Angel fish, especially the marble and the gold ones. I only wish
there was some way to keep them from breeding and creating havoc in a tank.
I love to watch a small group of them swimming through the vals and around
the driftwood. But then the day always comes when they want to breed.......



Dunno about the water changes....it is always a constant point of interest
for me how much the pH varies in my freshwater tanks bearing in mind that
they all get the same water and quantity of changes......I'm about to try
the API plant tabs - I've been using the nutrafin ones for a while so want
to see if I get any difference (the API cost an awful lot more).......

The tabs work well but the Miracle Grow is cheaper and faster to use. I
just dump a Tbs. full into the filter outflow once a week or so. No mess no
bother. And no ammonia spikes. :-)


When you mention Miracle Grow are you talking the liquid plant food? It's
done wonders for my houseplants but I've never thought of putting it in
the tanks....

I buy the powder form for houseplants that you mix with water. But others
work as well and are cheaper.

Yes, I like my platies.....I don't worry too much about the sex these
days....if they breed the best of the batch survive or the rest become
fish food - I haven't bought any platys for years.....but the population
still maintains itself without being a problem....

Mine would get out of hand so I gave most of them to my daughter-in-law.
She was very upset to lose most of her fish to a cracked heater. We gave
them a 30Long for one of their wedding presents 19 years ago and they've had
tropical fish ever since.

If you can get nice female bettas and the tank is large enough go for
it.....but have a back up plan.....I rather suspect that the nicer female
bettas might be boys in disguise....

This is possible but I also found out that for awhile unscrupulous breeders
in Asia were treating female bettas with testosterone to grow enough finnage
to pass as males. I don't know if that is still being done.

Enjoy.....part of the fun I find is looking at what is available and then
plotting - wallet stays firmly in the bag until I know what I
want.....fishy window shopping :-)

Oh, I know what you mean! :-)) It's all part of the fun of fishkeeping.

Good luck - I'm sure that eventually you will end up with what you
want......research of course is the key but I will admit to falling fowl
of the odd impulse buy.,...

Gill
--

RM....
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

Reel McKoi wrote:


Cardinals seem to be much hardier. I had a few that lasted for a long time
but I don't always see them in the stores here.


Everyone here told me Neons were hardier than Cardinals when I was out
shopping - my experience has been the other way round so I guess it is
really a YMMV......and they were 3 times the price of Neons in the only
place I found them.....ended up with 24 Neons and 10 Cardinals....so
with the 6 tetras I already had this is a school of 40 and even still it
doesn't look quite large enough - may pick up another 10
tomorrow.....fortunatly for my plastic the place I went today didn't
have anything marine that I wanted - unfortunately for my wallet I'm
going to another place tomorrow to pick up some more tetras and some
more vals (also to sound out the Discus there) - and the other place is
really good for marine.....


I'm getting around pretty good now and can wear a normal shoe on the
injured foot, so hope to get to at least PetsMart and PetSupermarket
this coming week.

These things take a long time to get fixed - my Mum broke her wrist at
the beginning of July and has been told at least another 5 weeks before
she can drive again. Glad you are making a good recovery...



I also want to take a closer look at those Rainbows you've mentioned. How
large do they usually get and are they long lived?

If you mean the Boesmanis - they grow to around 4-5" allegedly - my
older ones are closer to 3" but these are females. The males are very
attractive - half blue and half orange/yellow....the females are OK but
drab when compared to the males. They are described as slightly
aggressive but I've not had too many issues with them (and I keep them
with Angels). Now, the Red Rainbow I have is a different story and does
like to rule the roost - I'm watching with interest to see how he copes
with the Angels (he's just moved to the 6 foot tank). Most rainbows are
suited to high pH/hard water but there are exceptions so it's a good
idea to research first. The following site used to be a good resource
(but I haven't been there recently):-

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/...n/Contents.htm



I love Angel fish, especially the marble and the gold ones. I only wish
there was some way to keep them from breeding and creating havoc in a tank.
I love to watch a small group of them swimming through the vals and around
the driftwood. But then the day always comes when they want to
breed.......


I guess the best solution is to get them all the same sex but I
understand that it is difficult to sex them when they are juveniles. My
two swim around together but show no inclination to breed.


If you can get nice female bettas and the tank is large enough go for
it.....but have a back up plan.....I rather suspect that the nicer
female bettas might be boys in disguise....


This is possible but I also found out that for awhile unscrupulous breeders
in Asia were treating female bettas with testosterone to grow enough
finnage
to pass as males. I don't know if that is still being done.

Possible I guess........all sorts of things happen on these fish farms.....

Gill

"Tynk" wrote in message
oups.com...

The only one for internal parasites with the proper medication for
these particular worms, in a pet shop, was made by Jungle brand.
It's a pellet form and no matter what, they would not eat it.
You're supposed to only feed this food for so many days.
They ate nothing for 7 and when you have internal parasites taking
everything from you, you need every bit of food you can get daily.
I wouldn't let them go any longer than a week before I said forget
it.
I tried soaking the pellets in tank water before feeding, thinking
they were too hard. Didn't matter.
I then soaked them in tank water that thawed bloodworms in it
(thinking they'd be tricked by the scent) but nope.
None of the shops around here carry any other brand that's an
antiparasite food.
==============================
Thanks for that information. If they wont eat it, it's of no use. I have
used the Tetra antibiotic food and the do eat it but almost everything is
now immune to the common antibiotics.
--

RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

"Tynk" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Sep 3, 12:00�pm, "Reel McKoi" wrote:

If you can get nice female bettas and the tank is large enough go for
it.....but have a back up plan.....I rather suspect that the nicer
female
bettas might be boys in disguise....

This is possible but I also found out that for awhile unscrupulous
breeders
in Asia were treating female bettas with testosterone to grow enough
finnage
to pass as males. I don't know if that is still being done.


Wow, I haven't yet heard of this.
Do you have any web sites saved that discuss this?

= No I don't. This was going on before I had a computer. These fish were a
mess. I ended up with a few and started to inquire around. That's how I
found out what was going on. They looked great when purchased but without
the continuing hormone treatment their fins would appear to shorten, get
thinner, develop holes that didn't get infected... in time they looked like
ragged sickly males. I let them live out their lives in a 5g tank as they
were nowhere near as aggressive as true males.


Currently you can find some gorgeous females out there.
Nothing like *hopped up* girls, or anything, just nice quality females
of different fin varieties.
PetCo and Petsmart will occasionally get some nice ones that are mixed
in with the mass bred, typical veils.

= Yep! They have those here. They call them "fringe tails." They're very
pretty.

However, you have to check them once a week on fish day if you can.
Pet smart seems to get more long finned (normal LF females), and the
occasional *nice* double ray - Crowntails.
PetCo seems to get more of the nicer Crowntails, with the occasional
Delta or Halfmoon females.

= Petco is a little too far and their water so different from mine I stopped
going there. They do have an excellent selection of goldfish and bettas.
PetSupermarket sometimes has nice young females. Their males are nothing to
brag about. I'm kind of disappointed in that store. When they first opened
their bettas and GF were fantastic.... no more!

Quite often at PetCo's they'll also be colors varieties you don't
often see.
Just today I saw about 5 really nice long finned females at a local
Petsmart. However, only one caught my in the color department.
Body and fin wise, they were all lovely. The majority of their female
stock were mass bred veils though.

= Did you weaken and buy any? :-))

Their males, all sickly veils. = /
Be patient in looking at these 2 stores if they don't get in any
special types.
They will...it's just a matter of time.
--

RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö