Recent content by julielover

Nitrates don't cycle out. The best and easiest way to remove them is theough water changes.

I would say your fish is a female (short dorsal and full belly). Blues are often very agressive when mating.

Both crushed coral and oyster shells are made of the same substance, calcium carbonate. They both will give you a high ph (8.0+). If you collect the Oyster Shell yourself, make sure you have washed any organic matter away before using them.

They will get along fine. Rams tend to stay near the bottom and Angels at mid level. Both like good plant cover, like Val and Amazon Swords. Both fish need good water quality so don't overcrowd them and practice frequent water changes.

Congo Tetras are great active swimmers. They need a large, long tzank to be happy., They also tend to feed on the surface (they like flightless fruitfies).

Discus don't mix with other large fish. You need to keeep the Discus tank as clean as possble by understocking. Small Plecos or Corys will help to keep their tank clean.

The best fishes for a tank with a crushed coral sub-strat are Rift Valley Cichlids, Livebearers, Brackishwater fishes and some Rainbows. It wil kill any fish whose original home was a tropical Rainforest (Tetras, Rasboras, Corys, West African and South American Cichids).

The Honeys are one of the more agressive Gouramis, despite their small size. Like all Gouramis they like floating plants. If any of your fish start to make a bubble nests, they will become very territrial.

Your Nitrite should be cycling into Nitrate. Cycling should be complete in 8 weeks. Try cutting down on the frequency of your water changes. Your bacteria needs some Nitrite to work on.

I have a Pleco in each of 4 tanks (20-55) and they do a great job clearing algae. Large ones can't clinge to the sides of the tank like small ones can. Introducing a new fish to a long term stable community of fish is always risky. Your introduced Pleco may do fine or may not.

The life span of most iivebearers is 3-5 years. When you get them from your dealer they are probably at least one year old already. Mollies in saltwater seem to have the longest lifespan.

My experience with the Blues is that they are not as agressive as the North Ameriacn Crayfsh. They get along fine with Cichlids and fish that stay near the surface (Danios). Corys might be in trouble. Latter my Blue changed color and wasn't blue anymore.

Angels tend to be bullies when alone but not so much when you have two or more. Angels also need warm (78+) and clean water (low Nitrates). Try to keep the hardness low.

Corys are not agressive toward ones of the same species. A good number is 6 in a 10G and 8 in a 20G. I have had a flock of Green Corys beat up on another species. Inless you have a large tank (55+) keep all you Corys the same species.

Ich is always present in your water. The things that could bring it on in your fish include a sudden Temperature change, a drastic Hardness change, a sudden Salinity change or a big ph change. Always inspect new fish for Ich. They have gone through a very stressfull environment before getting...