A girls new tank

[Penumbra]

Scratch that. You're right. Im going to return the orange one and order two females on Saturday.

 

[Alyxx]

No matter how established a tank is, water changes are always necessary. Nothing other than a huge amount of plants will suck up nitrates, which are what you are mostly removing by doing water changes. The gravel vacuums like this are available, but more for spot cleaning and getting all the gravel clean without sucking up most of the water in your tank.

 

[Nimo]

Right.... Well I mean for a maybe every other day gravel cleaning besides water changes. After a few months (5-6) a family friend tells me you can just top off and change the water once a month. (he has 10 years of fish owning experience) so I'm hoping that my tank with proper maintenance will be there some day and that kind of... Hand held filter?... Would be quite useful. So I put some vines in there temporarily until I go to pet smart again... Their roots are exposed and the rather pathetic plant I first got I put on the surface with a foam block to float it. It's roots are hanging down and it's leaves hang over the edge of the block well into the water and a few hours later I'm seeing my male blow a few bubbles! I'm hoping with my next plants he will really make a nest. Also, my last fish in 2 weeks is going to be a second golden loach. They're so ferret like its crazy and I read that two makes for a happy loach. I read a TON so... I hope it is paying off!

There is no substitute for weekly water changes, sure you might be able to go a month with out doing a water change and your fish might survive but to me that's a bit like a human going with out a shower for a month. We can go with out a shower that long but is it healthy? Just my opinion.
The water changes replenishes the electrolytes and other nutrients that the fish need.

 

[Penumbra]

Just ordered my two females. Water change day.

 

[Penumbra]

Females are here! Took an hour to acclimate them and now, happy fish!

 

[Mogurako]

Can we get a few more pictures? That still kinda looks like a male to me.

 

[Penumbra]

The blue one is a male the two grey ones are female juveniles but here ya go

 

[Penumbra]

Females

 

[Mogurako]

Yep those are females good looking fish!

 

[Samzter]

Female dwarf Gouramis are hard to find! Luckily I have 3

 

[Penumbra]

Atlas (orange and blue) and zeus (powder blue) are very happy with their lady friends. Petsmart had a sale on aquatic plants so I bought 8 of them for 5$ (normally would be like 35!!). They were kinda sickly but now with some fish waste and some fertilizer, they're green and growing. Zeus has the less planted left side of the tank with his lady fish (blue dot on tail) and atlas has the right side with more plants and his lady fish. And my dojo LOVES me. I was changing the water yesterday and it started swimming through my fingers and poking my hand with its nose and "bouncing" away like a ferret! So cute! Too bad I don't have room for a friend for him :/ 30in of fish for 30 gallons... But only for a few months until one of my female gouramis is gravid and the spawn grow up. Then I'll move my craw dads to the 10 gallon again and im guessing I'll have 3 living gourami babies leaving me with 6 inches of fish (dojo!) to put in.

 

[paytertot]

The inch per gallon rule is long outdated

 

[Penumbra]

Well... It works still right?

 

[paytertot]

Not always. Would you put 5 German blue rams in a 10 gallon?
That's just an example. (gbrs should be kept in pairs, 20 gal/pair)

Or goldfish for example. Most of them don't belong in aquariums but for the ones that do, I'm sure you've heard the rule of 20 for the first fish and 10 for every one after that.

It just all depends on the fish, but most of the time, inch/gallon doesn't work out.

 

[Alyxx]

Or would you put an 18" long Pleco in a 20 gallon? Much more than fish length needs to be taken into account, such as activity level, bioload, and temperament. For example, even though red tailed sharks max out at 5 inches or so, they are only recommended for 55 gallon or larger tanks because they are active and territorial.

 

[Penumbra]

Good point... Well, my crawfish are old (tell tale by the white bumps on their claws) they won't live but a year more. So, by then one of my 3 tiny craw dads should have become the biggest and can move into their place. So, depending on the offspring's sex, I'll keep them. I'll keep 2 females out of whatever and sell the others (If there are others!) the crawfish are always focused on escape too. Hopefully the small crawdad that lives will be the opposite sex of Hermese. I feed the crawfish what they need to survive. Seldom more. So that keeps their waste level down from what it would be from picking up all the scraps. I hand feed my fish with a wooden... Skewer? I put a flake in and drag 1 or 2 to each fish twice a day. My dojo loves it. I feed him with my fingers. My neon tetras gobble up any left overs. Then I use two skewers like chop sticks and give my crawfish 3/4 of an algae pellet twice a day and every now and then little scraps of 99% fat free smoked ham. So... I try to keep their waste at a minimum plus the plants will help a small bit... Regular water changes... So, I have 3 neon tetras 2 big crayfish 4 gouramis and a dojo loach in my 30 gallon and 3 baby crayfish in a 2 gallon... Should I just keep a pair of gouramis in the 10 gallon tank permanently after the breeding or put my small crayfish in there?... Decisions decisions. Research and patience...

 

[Penumbra]

I know this is about fish but I need help.. This cat is feral and looks like it has 3 tails.... Whata going on???

 

[hcourts]

That's the craziest looking cat I have ever seen... Maybe a bunch of matted hair?!?!?!

 

[wacky13]

Wow ...... don't let the 3 tailed cat get near your fish!!! LOL

 

[Penumbra]

My fish have yellow dots all over them... Also 2 of my neon tetras are just gone and I have no idea where my dojo loach is!