a ton of misc. questions

[WaterPond]

1. scissortail rasboras- how big do they get, i'm getting biased resualt from search engines. What would be the minimum size of a school for them?

2. I breed my own feeder guppies(even though i have nothing to feed them to) and one female has done nothing but have babies. She has had so many babies that her spine is curved and she has a large hump on her back, should i consider putting her down, she can barely swim right but is still producing babies(i think this is because it is easy for the males to catch up to her). I don't know what to do with her.

3. What is a type of small tetra that an adult angelfish will not eat?(staying under 2.5")

4. My dwarf puffer is very pale in the mornings, but when i turn the lights on he perks up and turn back to his normal colour. Is this normal?

I think that is it, i guess not a TON of questions, but just some stuff i was wondering about. It would be great is anybody could answer a few questions for me. TIA

 

[7Enigma]

#4 is normal. They generally go into a sleep state where there normal color displays are not as pronounced. This could be for survival reasons, or just requires less energy. Either way its normal.

 

[WaterPond]

ok, thats good to know. thanks so much.
Any takers for the rest of the questions?

 

[7Enigma]

I could be wrong but I was under the impression that for #3 you want to keep the angel and the tetra at approximately the same size so neither see each other as a meal. Don't quote me on that, but it makes sense to me (in either situation where one would be bigger than the other I could see one or the other making a snack).

 

[justrelax]

#3: You can keep just about anything as long as the angel (full grown) can't fit it in it's mouth. I have 2" lemon tetras with adult angels and they all get along fine. Pretty much I think no neons...

 

[DepotFish]

Plan on 6" for the rasboras. I'd put the guppy down or move it to a breeder cage so the males can't get to her. Make sure you look for signs of curving in other fish. If it isn't because of the constant pregnancy it can be signs of a serious illness like TB. But guppies do tend to curve when they get on in age and have lived such a life.

 

[JDogg]

#3 Cardinal and Rummy-nose are fine with angels...no neons though

 

[gheitman]

In answer to question number 3, I would like to suggest what is called here the Columbian red and blue tetra (aka Hyphessobrycon columbianus). It is a really beautiful, non-schooling tetra that is too large for angelfish to predate on and adds color to a tank.

 

[WaterPond]

how many rasboras do you think i should keep in a school. Is a 55gal tank ok for that amound of fish? This is kind of getting into my other tread but i plan on a 55gal tank with

3- scissortail rasboras(or more depending on how many are needed for a appropriate sized school)
2- angels
2-bolivian rams
1-honey dwarf gourami
4-marble hatchetfish
1-clown pleco

Anything else i should add?

sorry for making a kidof double post.

 

[coldmachineUK]

Hi waterpond,

My friend keeps a trio of scissortails and has had them for a long while; the largest is probably 4 1/2" I would say. I'd budget for 5" or so, but I think you would be fine with a group of 3 (she has three too, and they do still school ok). You might even push 4.

I would say with just the pleco (a clown pleco, goodgood!!!! lol) you are understocked on bottom dwellers. I'd add either one more clown pleco, or a trio of a small cory species. But, that's me and I love bottom dwelling fish so I'm biased

 

[WaterPond]

i was thinking yoyo loaches, but i dunno, still havn't decided. I want to be a little bit understocked in the whole tank so if i need to go on rescue mission to wal-mart them i have some extra sapce to put more fish in.

 

[JohnPaul]

I agree with coldmachine, you need some critters to keep the substrate clean. Yoyo's would work, just don't plan on having any snails of any sort in the tank then, because the loaches will wipe them out.

If this is a tank where you would want snails (certainly true of any sand-substrate tank, where you would want MTS), I'd say corys are a much better option than loaches.

 

[JohnPaul]

#3 Cardinal and Rummy-nose are fine with angels...no neons though

If you search the forum, you will see that others have reported their angels eating cardinal tetras. We know angels eat neons, even adult neons, and I don't think an adult cardinal is all that much larger. At the very least, I think it's safe to say that any sub-adult cardinals would at least be "at risk" in a tank with adult angels.

I've never had angels, but it also might depend on the disposition of individual fish.

Rummy-nose are significantly larger, so they should certainly be safe.

 

[WaterPond]

I already have hatchets planned for schooling fish along with the scissortail rasboras. I think i might cut out the smaller tetras so 9i can fit in some panda cories, what do you think?

 

[coldmachineUK]

Yep, with pandas you might want to keep 4 or maybe even 5, with your clown plec. They're only small (2" or thereabouts) and much prefer larger groups than other cories.

So, your stocking plan would be:

3 or 4 scissortail rasboras
2 angels
2 bolivian rams
1 honey dwarf gourami
4 marble hatchetfish
1 clown pleco
4 or 5 panda cories

?

Sounds good to me!

 

[WaterPond]

yeah, thats sounds alright.

Doing my math it seems to me that with all the adult sizes of these fish put it, there is about 51" of fish there. Good amount, or should i cut out a species of fish, so far these are all my favorite types

 

[Asher]

#3 I've got penguin tetras in with my 3 HUGE angels and they do great. In fact the angels seem to quarrel with themselves more than anything...lol...

PS: Get a khuli loach...I'm a big fan...

 

[WaterPond]

i've had khulies before, and they always just died! I like the idea of the cories

 

[Asher]

that's unfortunate...i've never had a problem with khulies but I have always had the same problem with clown loaches and bala sharks...lol...some of us are more gifted with certain fish than others i guess...

 

[WaterPond]

yeah, with me it is betta, my oldest lived 5 1/2 years.

I also have good luck with livebearers. LOL, all the "easy fish"