I recently bought a used Nanocube 28g tank for my son to take his hobby to the next level. For the past year, he'd been keeping one angelfish in a 1g tank, which he had long since outgrown.
I didn't realize when I got it that the Nanocube is for a saltwater reef aquarium. However, I didn't think there was any reason not to use it for a freshwater environment.
We cycled the tank and then we added some neon tetras. Finally, my son transferred his beloved angelfish, Stripey. Stripey seemed bewildered in the new environment for a few days, drifting in a daze and not eating or seeming to recognize his human friends. Then he snapped back to himself, and seemed more vigorous, hungry and friendly than ever.
After a couple weeks of this, I received an order of two filter pumps that were missing in the tank's built-in filter when we bought it (we were using instead a small HOB filter that we got with the setup from the previous owner). We installed the pumps, and when activated, the effluent from the two pumps enters the tank through two directional nozzles at high pressure.
This creates a *lot* of current in the tank. Plants are swaying, the tetras are swimming hard against the underwater wave. Stripey seemed to be enjoying himself, at least at first, swimming up close to the nozzle and fighting the current at different angles. But by late tonight, he seemed to me to be a bit exhausted, and I thought it was time for him to rest. He was darting around toward one of the glass sides, and twisting his body, at one point, laterally in the water like a flounder. His stripes were dark, but I've noticed that sometimes they get dark when he's excited.
I was worried that he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, so I turned the pumps off. Within a minute after the water calmed, Stripey went up to the nozzles to investigate the lack of current, and then he went to the aerator and started swimming through the rising bubbles -- something I've never seen him do before.
So I'm confused -- does he like the current, or is he upset by it? How much current is normally advisable for angelfish? For most of his life, he lived in a tiny tank with no current at all.
He's a sensitive fish, so I try not to overreact to his drama, but my son is fond of him and I don't want to do anything that will foreshorten his life or his enjoyment of it.
I appreciate any advice from forum members ...
I didn't realize when I got it that the Nanocube is for a saltwater reef aquarium. However, I didn't think there was any reason not to use it for a freshwater environment.
We cycled the tank and then we added some neon tetras. Finally, my son transferred his beloved angelfish, Stripey. Stripey seemed bewildered in the new environment for a few days, drifting in a daze and not eating or seeming to recognize his human friends. Then he snapped back to himself, and seemed more vigorous, hungry and friendly than ever.
After a couple weeks of this, I received an order of two filter pumps that were missing in the tank's built-in filter when we bought it (we were using instead a small HOB filter that we got with the setup from the previous owner). We installed the pumps, and when activated, the effluent from the two pumps enters the tank through two directional nozzles at high pressure.
This creates a *lot* of current in the tank. Plants are swaying, the tetras are swimming hard against the underwater wave. Stripey seemed to be enjoying himself, at least at first, swimming up close to the nozzle and fighting the current at different angles. But by late tonight, he seemed to me to be a bit exhausted, and I thought it was time for him to rest. He was darting around toward one of the glass sides, and twisting his body, at one point, laterally in the water like a flounder. His stripes were dark, but I've noticed that sometimes they get dark when he's excited.
I was worried that he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, so I turned the pumps off. Within a minute after the water calmed, Stripey went up to the nozzles to investigate the lack of current, and then he went to the aerator and started swimming through the rising bubbles -- something I've never seen him do before.
So I'm confused -- does he like the current, or is he upset by it? How much current is normally advisable for angelfish? For most of his life, he lived in a tiny tank with no current at all.
He's a sensitive fish, so I try not to overreact to his drama, but my son is fond of him and I don't want to do anything that will foreshorten his life or his enjoyment of it.
I appreciate any advice from forum members ...
Here is a link to the video:
