The Mum list

[LittleNami]

Oi! Ok, my mother has been dishing out the questions for you guys to answer, so I finally gave her a notepad and asked her just to write down whatever came to mind that she was in need to know. She gave me back a nice little list of items she was concerned of, so once more I ask upon everyone's extensive knowledge to help her out ^^ Keep in mind these questions are taken exactly as she wrote them out.

1. My 1 foot plecos is forever squeezing himself into tight places and getting scrapes on his skin. They are not open sores and seem to heal rapidly. I have tried to keep all sharp edges out of the tank. What can I do?

2. I have anb overly aggressive red tail shark. I don't want to get rid of him. Any ideas on how to stop the bullying?

3. How do you measure a fish? I read somewhere you don't include the caudal fin. I need to know so I can approximate how many fish to put in my new tank.

4. Has anyone glued tank decorations to the bottom of the tank to prevent them from getting dislodged? Did it work?

5. When you paint the background on a tank, do you use paint specifically for glass or will any paint work?

6. I thought black skirt tetras would school. I have 3 but they don't seem to like each other. What experience have others had with this fish?

7. I like to keep about 1/2 of my tank without light for the shyer fish- is this a good idea?

(any misspelled words are my fault, not my mum's ^^ and thanks for yany help you guys and gals can give)

 

[chotie]

1. better rearranging of rocks, ornaments. try not to have them against the glass. do you have an african cichlid tank with alot of rocks? you could also try filing down the edges of these rocks so there are no hard edges.

2. nothing can be done, sadly. red sharks are KNOWN to be agressive. a bigger tank with more hiding places "could" alleviate a little bit of bullying, but in the end, the red tail will ALWAYS act aggressive. a hard fish to keep in a community tank. maybe get a smaller tank to house just the shark?

3. tip of mouth to start of tail is usually the common measurement. be careful though. in planning a tank, it is not always a good rule to go by the "inches per gallon". an example would be a 1 foot oscar takes up MUCH more space then 12 neons measuring 1". do your research into each fish. find websites devoted to each fish (there are forums for every fish) and see how others are keeping your fish successfully.

and always check the MAX size they can get as an adult.

4. i would use weights or if you have a thick enough substrate, just push it in until it sticks. remember, certain cichlids dig up alot so heavy ornaments might be better (if any at all).

5. you can get "glass" paint, but any can work. be sure to tape down everything (including the inside of tank to prevent overspray into unwanted areas.

6. how big is your tank? how long have you had the tetras? black skirts do school.

7. which fish are you referring to? i would rather use "dither" fish to help the shy ones get more courage to come out. also, do not try to move superslow movements when handling tank duties. the more you are active in front of these fish, the more they will actively remember you and not get frightened. being active helps especially if they start associating you with "feeding time".

if the fish are nocturnal, you cant do much except turn off the lights and use moonlights to have the fish come out.

HIH.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I will just comment on the black skirts. They do school, but a good school, is atleast 6 fish IMO. In a bigger group they may school better. Most schooling fish only school when they are threatened though. They will hang out with each other, but unless there is a much bigger fish in the tank, they probably won't school.

How big is the tank? And what are the other fish in the tank?

 

[QTOFFER]

I'll take a stab at it!

1) Maybe a sign that the pleco has outgrown the tank. How big is the tank? Melafix is a good med to have on hand for treating minor cuts and scrapes, but treating a very large tank can get expensive.

2) Again, tank size may be the problem here. Red Tail sharks are notoriously aggressive toward their own kind, but generally live in peace with other fish. However, they requite alot of bottom space and may become aggressive toward other bottom dwellers if the tank is crowded.

3) Fish measurements are generally from the tip of the nose to the base of the caudal fin (where the fin rays start). Be very careful applying the 1 inch per gallon rule. It is a generally OK guide for fish smaller than 2 inches, but it quickly breaks down with big, stout bodied fish. For instance, you cannot keep a happy 10 inch pleco in a 10 gal tank.

4) Aquarium silicone can be used, but it must be applied to a completely dry tank and given a few days to cure. Personally, I wouldn't want anything glued into place because it would make cleaning difficult, and I like to rearrange things from time to time. If your mom is worried about a stack of rocks coming down on a fish, they can be removed, dried, siliconed together, and replaced in the tank when the silicone is cured.

5) Never did this, but I'd imagine that a paint formulated to adhere to glass would probably work best. Regular latex would probably peel.

6) Never had black skirts, but many tetras don't really school if there are less than six individuals.

7) So long as the tank isn't completely planted, lighting only one half will be fine. Providing lots of variously sized hiding places with driftwood, rocks, and clay flower pots helps shy fish feel more secure too. Lights should be on a timer for no more than 10 hours a day. Fish have circadian rhythms like us and nocturnal fish need periods of darkness.

HTH!

 

[moose9]

3 fish is not a school, 6 minimum for school, more is better

 

[tropicfishman]

No fear, the man of the hour is here........

1. Concerning the pleco, theres really not much more you can do unless youwanna provide a huge cave for him, plecos are nocturnal and with out a shelter to hide in they will hide in tight spots to protect themselves, getting beat up is part of the process, keep a bottle of melafix near by for the bad cuts though.

2. Red tails are notorious for this, Once they get older they get mean and meaner, Only way I have slowly solved this was by adding yet another cave for him to hide in, the more places they have to hide the better off they are, you could go the other route and buy another tank or tank divider

3. I measure the entire fish, from head to tail, a fish isn't a fish without its tail now is it? So I always include the tail

4. I have glued the decorations before, be sure you use aquarium sealent that drys under water though, the only problem is that you better like where you put them other wise your gonna have to use a razor and cut them loose, an easier morep ractical way to hold them down is to buy some airline suction cups, remove the airline clip and poke a hoile on the suction cup, take the plant out of the base and put the stem in the hole, wala an easy plant hold down

5. I never have painted a tank so I can't answer that, I'm sure you would want something that wouldn't destroy the seals over time though

6. they will school sometimes, usually at first, then they break off, usually abouit 6- 8 and they will school

7. I don't see what it can hurt really, besiudes confusing your fish as they swim back and forth from dark to light, if you turn the lights on ion the morning it will daze the fish for a few minutes, so I would think this would do the same thing

 

[LittleNami]

Thank you everyone for rising to the challenge so quickly ^^ Here is the only responses I can give you all before having any final say from my mom, she is at work right now -_-'

1. The tank is 55 gal, not sure of the dimensions, but he definately has not outgrown this tank yet. I figure it is an issue that he is trying to find a place to hide because where he keeps scraping himself I notice is from the driftwood piece my mom has. Its been filed down, but it still has some harder parts left out in the open for him to rub against, and I see him often trying to squeeze under it to hide in that dark portion of it. I am thinking that until the 100 gal tank is set up, she will just have to treat him for scrapes and hope he doens't do anything too badly. We just need help really badly to get the 100 set up.

2. I am actually hoping she just gets rid of the shark. The thing has been driving her nuts for so long and she thinks that the only way she can get rid of it is mercy killing it (ice water), but do you guys know of any other way to get rid of it? Maybe trying to put it for sale on the trade forums or offering it to lfs?

3. Thanks for the advice on the fish measurements. This will help her out a lot ^^

4. The reason she is worried about decorations being moved is from our weather loaches, which have gotten fairly big now and like to shuffle under the rocks and such for hiding. Although I find it very amusing watching the rock tower shuffle side to side and the loach wiggles his tail in, my mom is getting annoyed that she can't keep the decorations in the area she wants them. Also, I thought I read somewhere else that you can glue decorations or driftwood to a tile of some sort to weight it down. Does anyone know of this?

5. Thank you regarding the painting idea, I actually thought of using it on my 12 gal as well, but at this point it is too well settled to worry about trying to paint the back of it ^^

6. See, I thought the same thing too, that you need at least 5-6 of the fish species for them to school "properly". I try to speak up on these matters, but she doesn't take my words as possibly true -_- Thank you for helping back me on this though ^^

7. As nice of a thought as it is to have half the tank lit, I am worried that it might be causing issues with her fish and the fact that she wants live plants in her next 100 gal tank. In most cases, I think that the plants she likes need moderate to high light and that it might jar her fish a bit to change from a very low lit tank to such a high lit one, but I guess if her plants do well and fill in, then her fish can hide well in that, correct?

 

[RoK]

2. I am actually hoping she just gets rid of the shark. The thing has been driving her nuts for so long and she thinks that the only way she can get rid of it is mercy killing it (ice water), but do you guys know of any other way to get rid of it? Maybe trying to put it for sale on the trade forums or offering it to lfs?..

4. The reason she is worried about decorations being moved is from our weather loaches, which have gotten fairly big now and like to shuffle under the rocks and such for hiding. Although I find it very amusing watching the rock tower shuffle side to side and the loach wiggles his tail in, my mom is getting annoyed that she can't keep the decorations in the area she wants them. Also, I thought I read somewhere else that you can glue decorations or driftwood to a tile of some sort to weight it down. Does anyone know of this?..

7. As nice of a thought as it is to have half the tank lit, I am worried that it might be causing issues with her fish and the fact that she wants live plants in her next 100 gal tank. In most cases, I think that the plants she likes need moderate to high light and that it might jar her fish a bit to change from a very low lit tank to such a high lit one, but I guess if her plants do well and fill in, then her fish can hide well in that, correct?

2. It would wrong to euthanize the fish since it is not sick and suffering. Offering it to a LFS or trying to sell it some other way would be fine. If you have to ship it, make sure to read up on what is needed in order to ship the fish.

4. Driftwood can be put onto a piece of slate with a stainless steel screw to hold it together and weigh the wood down.

7. Yes, if the plants are large enough, the fish could just hide in them.