Guppy Gal
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hi all,
I've got a 9 yr old 55g tank w/ 5 assorted fancy guppies, Mickey Mouse Platies, 3 rumminose testras, 5 neon tetras, 1 Otto cat and a couple of 5yr+ cories, nerite snails and fighting "pond snail take-over". Don't know how many ghost shrimp are living in there but it is common to see several swimming along the front of the tank at any time.
I began the journey to a planted tank about 6 months ago. Lots of learning curve there, one thing I've learned very fast...need more money!
1 29g tank with 3 pretty large red eared sliders. Got them last fall as tiny little fella's and the smallest one is bigger than my palm. The largest one is larger than my entire hand. (I think I read that over feeding causes them to grow rapidly..I'm destined to have huge green pets at this rate.) Wish list is for 55g setup. (Again..need funds).
1 30g "shark tank" in my grandson's room. Has a channel cat, red tailed shark, blue gourami (female in love with the young shark...quite a pair) and two rainbow fish, two mystery snails. (Plants include some floating wisteria, but the channel cat refuses to let any plants with roots take hold)
1 10g "fry tank". I use this in my bedroom as a nightlight
It contains various sizes of fancy guppy and platy fry, along with a half dozen ghost shrimp and several nerites.
1 10g frog tank w/ 4 dwarf frogs and breeding feeder guppies(turtle treat), 1 mystery snail several nerites.
My next tank is going to be a planted 20g red cherry shrimp tank. I tried a few dozen small fella's in the fry tank, but some of the platty fry decided red was a good treat. (sigh). I guess adult only shrimp in that tank is the rule unless you want expensive fish kibble. Funny the ghost shrimp are all over the bottom of the tank and must have established a pecking order.
I guess this intro shows I've got a terrible disease and I'm blessed in that my husband just asks "where does the next tank go" when I am given a new tank by folks who lack my passion for the aquatic.
I'm not technical in terminology, so I apologize to those who are. I am not sure of the brands but I use two hanging filters (30 - 60g) in the 55g tank, keep the temp at about 78(guppies seem to like it warmer to breed), no c02 injection(yet), not nearly enough watts for great plant growth, even with the two bulbs I've got. My substrate is run of the mill gravel, but hope to get more plant friendly soon.
If anyone is still reading this book, I'd like some advice on the new cannister filters with UV sterilization available. I found a jbj model and it only has 5w, which I know is very low for my needs, but there seems to be a setting that allows you to trap the water in the cannister for longer periods to clean it.
I've had several outbreaks of who-knows-what fish disease in the past several months. I believed it to be columaris(?) because some of my favorite guppies got "patches" on their backs, eyes became cloudy, and some of my best females died immediately after delivering just a few fry.I knew something was wrong when the guppies chose to sit ON TOP of the floating plants. I believe I've finally got the upper hand after several rounds of antibiotic and lots of water changes, but it really took a toll on my fish. Very few of my fancies survived and I even lost a few of the prolific platies. I had heard that UV sterilization may help prevent another disease outbreak. I also wanted to add more biofiltering to the tank as I don't really like the carbon inserts used with current filters. I've got small lava rock in the tank and even some mango seedlings trying to keep the Nitrate levels down (my well water's nitrate level is high and I have to supplement with bottled water)
Anyone got any suggestions for the 55g 'fix' to help prevent another disease breakout? (using quarantine tank is a given) I really miss my beautiful fancies
I've got a 9 yr old 55g tank w/ 5 assorted fancy guppies, Mickey Mouse Platies, 3 rumminose testras, 5 neon tetras, 1 Otto cat and a couple of 5yr+ cories, nerite snails and fighting "pond snail take-over". Don't know how many ghost shrimp are living in there but it is common to see several swimming along the front of the tank at any time.
I began the journey to a planted tank about 6 months ago. Lots of learning curve there, one thing I've learned very fast...need more money!
1 29g tank with 3 pretty large red eared sliders. Got them last fall as tiny little fella's and the smallest one is bigger than my palm. The largest one is larger than my entire hand. (I think I read that over feeding causes them to grow rapidly..I'm destined to have huge green pets at this rate.) Wish list is for 55g setup. (Again..need funds).
1 30g "shark tank" in my grandson's room. Has a channel cat, red tailed shark, blue gourami (female in love with the young shark...quite a pair) and two rainbow fish, two mystery snails. (Plants include some floating wisteria, but the channel cat refuses to let any plants with roots take hold)
1 10g "fry tank". I use this in my bedroom as a nightlight
It contains various sizes of fancy guppy and platy fry, along with a half dozen ghost shrimp and several nerites.1 10g frog tank w/ 4 dwarf frogs and breeding feeder guppies(turtle treat), 1 mystery snail several nerites.
My next tank is going to be a planted 20g red cherry shrimp tank. I tried a few dozen small fella's in the fry tank, but some of the platty fry decided red was a good treat. (sigh). I guess adult only shrimp in that tank is the rule unless you want expensive fish kibble. Funny the ghost shrimp are all over the bottom of the tank and must have established a pecking order.
I guess this intro shows I've got a terrible disease and I'm blessed in that my husband just asks "where does the next tank go" when I am given a new tank by folks who lack my passion for the aquatic.
I'm not technical in terminology, so I apologize to those who are. I am not sure of the brands but I use two hanging filters (30 - 60g) in the 55g tank, keep the temp at about 78(guppies seem to like it warmer to breed), no c02 injection(yet), not nearly enough watts for great plant growth, even with the two bulbs I've got. My substrate is run of the mill gravel, but hope to get more plant friendly soon.
If anyone is still reading this book, I'd like some advice on the new cannister filters with UV sterilization available. I found a jbj model and it only has 5w, which I know is very low for my needs, but there seems to be a setting that allows you to trap the water in the cannister for longer periods to clean it.
I've had several outbreaks of who-knows-what fish disease in the past several months. I believed it to be columaris(?) because some of my favorite guppies got "patches" on their backs, eyes became cloudy, and some of my best females died immediately after delivering just a few fry.I knew something was wrong when the guppies chose to sit ON TOP of the floating plants. I believe I've finally got the upper hand after several rounds of antibiotic and lots of water changes, but it really took a toll on my fish. Very few of my fancies survived and I even lost a few of the prolific platies. I had heard that UV sterilization may help prevent another disease outbreak. I also wanted to add more biofiltering to the tank as I don't really like the carbon inserts used with current filters. I've got small lava rock in the tank and even some mango seedlings trying to keep the Nitrate levels down (my well water's nitrate level is high and I have to supplement with bottled water)
Anyone got any suggestions for the 55g 'fix' to help prevent another disease breakout? (using quarantine tank is a given) I really miss my beautiful fancies
