Reputable site? Good choices?

[LittleNami]

Hello hello everyone ^^ Been a bit since I lasted posted here, but now I am back in business with my tank. Some time ago, I had to do a but of an overhaul on my tank. My fish had all died, the bettas by some odd bloating which indicates to me bacteria in the tank and the otos by unknown means, not to mention the still rampant algae. It was finally a wake up call to me to do something serious about this tank.

I finally had the time and assistance to clean the bugger out, syphoning all the substrate, scraping clean the glass from algae, washing all the rotala indica and snipping away poor looking strands, and even cleaning out the entire filter. Needless to say, it looks much better now, but I know I want to do something more with this tank now. The rotala is growing fine, but it obviously is leaning towards my light source, which to me shows that the rest of the tank isn't getting enough light. I tried creating a reflective screen to cover the tank with while I was gone to see if that helped, but only a little. I am therefore thinking of getting new plants and giving my rotala out. I was looking at either Cabomba or Red Foxtail for the background, where there is a little less light and the rotala leans away from. Does anyone have experience with this plant that they would like to share, such as lighting needs and fertilizing and such?

I also plan to put a smaller higher light desiring carpeter in the foreground with some kind of centerpiece, maybe a cute Buddha statue, in the middle right side, sitting amidst the carpeter. Anyone have any good ideas what would replace rotala there?

As for fish, I've been looking around and here are some I've been interested in:
Black Diamond Dwarf Cory Cat
Licorice Gourami
Sparkling Gourami
Dwarf Puffer (without the intention of breeding them)
Tiger or Cherry Shrimp

All of these I am interested in because of their claimed small size. Anyone have experience on how these might do with the possible plant types above?

The site I am planning on buying these from is here:
http://www.azgardens.com/index.php

Are they a good site to buy from? Honest dealers? Good fish and plant stock?

I currently have all of this happening in a 12 gal tank, using distilled water since our city water is horrendous, fertilizing with Flourish, Flourish Excel, and Flourish Potassium as needed, although I do need to get a nitrate supplement now since that seems to bottom out from time to time. I also have 2 1 liter co2 bottles diffused by a ladder. Temperature stays around 80 degrees, but at times it might climb a little because I also have a heater in the room for the resident reptiles. If you guys need any other info to help you out in helping me, feel free to ask ^^

 

[rich311k]

None of those fish will hurt your plants. I have never dealt with AZ gardens.

The plants will grow toward the light. It is how they grow. Either of those two plants are good background plants. Cabomba can grow fast and get quite large, you will be trimming it quite a bit.

 

[FreshFish]

Az Gardens is a pretty good site. I've purchased from them before without any problems. The plants are really good quality. A little expensive though, but you get what you pay for I guess.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I bought plants from them. Shipping is spendy, but the plants were very well packaged and in excellent shape. I recommend them if you are willing to pay the little extra in shipping. But one other recommendation, make it a sizable order.

 

[LittleNami]

Trimming is thankfully not that big of an issue for me since I have to trim the Rotala constantly for my size tank. Will I have issue with the foxtail's under leaves being depleted of light much though if it gets too overgrown?

Thank you everyone for your quick responses so far ^^ On the side note, I would pay a higher price if I know that the outcome of my plants and fish would be better for it. Makes it more worth it in the end.

 

[rich311k]

If the bottoms of any stems are shaded they will lose leaves. If your rotala is growing well, the cabomba and foxtail should grow well as well.

 

[LittleNami]

I would think it is growing well, teh tips are a nice soft pink shade at times when the algae didn't cover them. I started with originally 5 stalks, clippings, and now I have 6 groupings of 10 stalks each ^^ Several of the plants have side sprouts coming off now too. If I had a camera, I would take a picture of it for everyone to see.

 

[Purrbox]

I've ordered from AzGardens once, and won't do so again. They do have excellant quality plants. Half of the shrimp I ordered were DOA, likely a direct result of sending adults instead of juveniles. I've received two shipments of shrimp from other hobbiests without a single loss. They don't provide an upfront shipping estimate, so be prepared for sticker shock. My estimate based on their info was only 1/2-1/3 of the actual shipping cost. Their customer service wasn't that great, and gave me some very poor advice. As long as you research your plants on your own and are prepared for the shipping costs, the quality of the plants may be worth it.

The Dwarf Puffers may or may not get along with the other inhabitants of your tank. Each has it's own individual temperment. Be prepared to provide them with an alternative home if you decide to try them. Probably not a good idea to mix them with shrimp, as they will most likely be an expensive snack. If you really want to try the mix, then a test with some inexpensive ghost shrimp first would be a very good idea. Check out the Dwarf Puffer site for more information.

Please note that the information on the Cherry Shrimp is incorrect on their website. It's the females that turn bright red and not the males. Also $5 is really expensive for Cherry Red Shrimp. You should be about to get a 10-12 for $20-25 shipped from other hobbiests on the forums.

I'm concerned about the "Black Diamond Dwarf Cory Cats". All of the pictures of Corydoras Hastatus that I've seen have never had that marking on the tail. Either the fish is misidentified or could have been dyed.

 

[LittleNami]

Hello purrbox ^^ Was waiting to hear from you since you always have a nice strong opinion in these areas hehe. iu am actually starting to become most interested in the sparkling gourami, but I will definately have to do more research since they are a new species to me, never heard of them in fact. The tiger shrimp is also in my interest, but with stats like that from AZ, I'm not too keen on buying from them now. As for plants, I will be buying quite a few, but not enough probably to make the shipping cost more worth it since my tank is only 12 gal and less than half of the tank will have foxtail anyways. However, your insight on the dwark puffer and on the cory cat does help out a lot. I will need to look into cories a little more deeply if I actually would want them instead of the gourami. We'll see I guess. It will still be some time before I can buy everything, so I have plenty of time for research in the mean time ^^ Thank you much everyone!

 

[Purrbox]

You might want to check out FreshWaterInverts as a source for your shrimp. I haven't ordered from them myself, but it's run by a hobbiest and gets great reviews. I'm planning to order Tiger Shrimp from him when I'm finally ready to try another variety. You should be able to keep Tiger Shrimp and Cherry Red Shrimp in the same tank without any worries of them interbreeding. The Cherry Red Shrimp are a better starter shrimp though, since the breed really easily and are very hardy as far as shrimp go.

If you're interested in breeding the shrimp, they really shouldn't be kept with much of any other fish as practically all will make a snack of the shrimplets. They should be safe with Otos or Dwarf Cories though.

 

[JDogg]

Dwarf Puffers need a species only tank...some people have been able to keep otos and kulli loaches with them but that is dependent on the individual puffers.

 

[Hoovercat]

I wouldn't consider gouramis or puffers compatible with shrimp.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I agree with Hoover. I would count on the gouramis and puffer eating the shrimp. I was thinking about adding Sparkling gouramis to the stocking list for my new 38g, but I want shrimp as well and was told that Sparklings, although they are small, will hunt shrimp and eat them. I changed my mind, since I'd rather have the shrimp.

I'm afraid if you want the gouramis and puffer (not sure how that combo will go), that you should forget the shrimp because more than likely, they'll end up as expensive food.

I did a google search on the Cories and most of the pictures found have the diamond pattern. Some are just a little more noticeable than others. They are cute little cories.

 

[Purrbox]

I just pulled out my Baensch Aquarium Atlas #1 to check out the picture of the Corydoras Hastatus. Looks like JustOneMore20 is correct. The picture of the markings on the tail are particularly stunning on AzGarden's site, however when I looked closely at the Aquarium Atlas I saw they were there as well. The black isn't as distinct and the white isn't anywhere near as bright or defined, but still the same overall pattern.

I've always prefered the markings on the Corydoras Habrosus and Corydoras Pygmaeus, so I guess I never paid as much attention to the markings on the tail of the Corydoras Hastatus as I should have.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Same here Purrbox...I prefer the Habrosus. I'm sure AZ enhanced their photo a bit and thats why it looks so distinct on those Hastatus.

 

[LittleNami]

Anything for a good sale ^^

Puffers are definately out of the question now, since I wouldn't want that as my only species. As for shrimp, I am more keen yet on Tiger shrimp since I am not really interested in breeding shrimp just yet, yet ^^ But of course, that runs into the issue of the Sparkling Gourami and the Tiger Shrimp housed together. I guess in the end its up to me if I want to take the risk of getting both and just plan on getting some rock formations in for the shrimp to hide in, or if I want to choose one or the other.

Thank you so much though, everyone, for all this input. And thank you purrbox for the url, I will have to check it out now. If I order from them, I will have to let people know how it was.

 

[Zezmo]

Sparkling Gouramis (Pygmy Croaking Gouramis) are a definate active shrimp hunter. They will tend to attack and kill all shrimp in a tank...even without eating them.