Recent content by Canuckfan

In some of the various forums , I've read of people complaining about loaches picking out the eyes of cories . Sorry , but I don't have any first hand knowledge .

In a 12 gallon , I wouldn't add any more emperor tetras . The males are extremely territorial & will defend their section of the tank . Even the females get aggressive & may eventually start harassing your cardinals when they mature . My fully grown female harasses my rasboras , especially...

I put a few ice cubes in a container of water , put it in the freezer for 40 minutes , then take it out & put the fish in it . That way you have icewater & the fish almost intantly goes into shock . Putting a fish in a bag of cold water & then putting it in the freezer is not as humane .

I've fed my emperor tetra fry on Hikari's First Bites , which is a finely powdered food that floats then slowly sinks . I tried the Wardleys liquid food , but it just scared the fry away .

A shoal of 5 cherry barbs , 2 males & 3 females , would occupy the bottom half of your tank . If you have good water conditions , a group of 6 rummynose tetras would also look great since they tend to form tight schools . For the bottom , 3 sterbai cories , with their orangey pectorals would...

Most mid to top dwelling fish should get along with it . From personal experience , fish to avoid include cories , siamese algae eaters , & kribs . Other fish to avoid would be red tailed black sharks , chinsese algae eaters , & flying foxes . I had some fire rasboras that my rainbow shark...

I'd look at a power filter like an Aquaclear 200 for your tank . As for UGF brands , they're all pretty much the same .

It's no contest , kribs are way more territorial & aggressive compared to rams . In a smallish tank , kribs & cories are a bad combo .

Adding a cannister or HOB filter will not kill the bacteria in your substrate . When you went from your natural no filtration method to a HOB filter , did you add any more fish ? Any kind of power filter would have dramatically increased the fish carrying capacity compared to your natural system...

I'm going to sound like a broken record , but UGF's aren't as bad as people make them out to be . They are great filters in certain situations . They are fine for tanks 30 gallons or smaller , for small fish such as tetras & rasboras , they are great for raising fry , & for tanks with fake...

I put spiralina tablets , blanched spinach or raw patatoes in the tank when I turn the lights off . Just drop them in your tank & your ottos should find them sometime during the night . I do it at night so that the ottos don't have a lot of competition for the food .

I place one large net in the tank & then drive the fish into it with a smaller net .

I feed my ottos boiled/blanched spinach & raw potatoes , as well as spiralina tablets .

I used to have 2 male cherry barbs , no females , & they got along great .

I'd have to echo that , my rainbow shark terrorized my cories , but left my tetras , ottos , & rasboras alone . As previouisly mentioned , I'd try adding some pvc tubing & would try to ensure the tank has plenty of plants , bogwood , & rocks . I gave up & returned the shark to the store ...