Recent content by Fiferjanis

Doh! Thanks! Well guys, I tried to liven up the frat party, but meet your new pledge. The good news is he comes with two chicks. So that's 4 girls for 3 boys... Hmm...

I got four platties about a month ago, all female. I checked this several times in the store, in the bag, in the tank... They've been in quarantine by themselves with a couple of shrimp. They started to grow bigger... And now one has a wiener/gonopodium-thing. I've heard of gender-bending...

Well... Shrimp have failed role-call twice now. I'm thinking the loaches got them. I was hoping since the loaches are all still fairly small and the shrimp were fairly big, they'd be ok for a while. Either that or my fat-*** gourami got them. (Or could they just be hiding somewhere? They...

Well, I got three green lace shrimp, all about an inch or bigger. Counted at least two this morning before I went to work. Also got some bamboo, but have to modify those a bit so the leaves are out of the water...

Hmm... See this is what I'm worried about. My Yoyo is small NOW... But I also have a green tiger Botia and a clown loach. (All under 5" at the moment). How big do they need to be to not get eaten? Sea-slug sized? ;-)

I thought snails were problematic and/or the loaches would eat them? I have sand because I didn't like gravel, and wanted loaches. Unfortunately my water is too soft/alkaline to support catfish. I've killed a pleco, emerald catfish and leopard Cory...

I use the API liquid vial tests. I'm worried that I don't have the right lighting for plants, or they'll encourage algae. I get a little brown scum, but the magnet cleans that easily enough right now. Do plants need looser substrate? For some reason it doesn't strike me as sand-friendly...

Ok, I started putting fish in my 75 gal. Tank back in March, and it's finally cycled. Ammonia, nitrites, etc. are 0. Nitrates, however, are now showing that yeah, there's poop and I over feed (5ppm). Question 1: Besides cutting back on food, should I only be doing a 20% tank water change once...

Well, I put her in the breeder box, and she had a massive poop, and was normal-sized again... So I put her back in the tank. I got some of those baby-hiding-bush things that float on the top, so if she or the other drop any, they'll at least have that... The other, however, continues to grow...

Does mine look knocked up? I got a breeder bin today for other reasons... Wondering if I should get it out of the box and put her in... What am I looking for, exactly?

How long should new fish be quarantined before adding to the main tank? Should I be hitting it with an all-purpose medication, or just watching/waiting for any anomalies? And when they say only add a few fish at a time, a few fish a day? A week? I have 6 newbs in my QT tank since Saturday...

I'd say you might be pushing it. A full-grown dwarf will be around 2", so that's 8" of your 1":1gal. Ratio. I have two new pearl gouramis in quarantine in the 10 gallon tank, but they're still small yet... But I wouldn't say they're thrilled with the accommodations.

I believe angel fish like tall tanks, right? I have a 75 gallon, and while I think it is a very nice, proportional community tank, it's only 20" tall.

Status 75 gal. Tank, water/substrate/decor added early March, ~7 fish added late March - end of cycling. What is this brown stuff accumulating on some decor? Algae? No real plants in the tank, just fake. I haven't seen any "noticeable" algae, but I wiped down the front and sides with a...

Ok! Yeah, it broke off and he's pooping some more. I didn't feed him for the past few days, and have just been feeding him a small amount of veggie flakes (today) now that the ammonia is down. (Doing water changes like a champ!). Everybody was kung-poo-fighting!