New guy from Indiana

[Remington]

To be honest I have not seen them eat yet. I have started brine shrimp today. We did a batch when the guppy fry were born but the leftovers were frozen. We had two trays of frozen shrimp. I accidentally left one out yesterday and had to dump it out . So hopefully the live ones will get them excited. I put half a cube in the 55 everyday because the barbs love them and the Bala gets in on it to.
The next foreseeable issue is the barbs not letting anything hit the gravel and my rainbow shark not being able to eat. Even the sinking pellets are nibbled on and the tiger barbs take them all over the tank. So I feel like no matter how much dried bloodworms frozen brine shrimp and sinking pellets the barbs eat it all. I’m starting to feed them on one side and tried sinking pellets on the other. They farted over and munched them. Any advice on that issue will be appreciated.
I have one empty 20G and will do a build thread with it.

 

[Remington]

I bet someone reading this post is upset because I don’t quarantine fish. I just want to say if I could I would. I do not have a spare tank. Yeah I have a 20G sitting empty but it was a recent purchase.

That being said I have taught myself what to look for when buying fish. No white spots,clamped fins, etc. I also know how a stores filtration system usually work. So if one fish is sick not all of them in the store are first off. But I don’t buy fish in the row of tanks to the left or right of that tank. Also I do my best to not buy fish from pet stores. Nothing wrong with pet stores but a dedicated fish store is naturally going to put more effort into keeping the fish alive and well.

This being said. All I want for Christmas is a QT tank.... is a QT tank. Lol so I am working on getting a 10G just for QT.

 

[King Fisher]

It works out fine until it doesn't. Lol. As long as you got the coin to dose your bigger tanks and don't mind possibly treating several fish at once.

 

[Autumnsky]

One way to get food to the bottom of the tank is us a tube which reaches the bottom and you can pour the treats right above the bottom feeders.

Add food to the opposite side that the Barbs and others are, even bait them to the side opposite the bottom guys.

Then add the tube as far as you can down, without terrifying them, and it could take a little time for them to not freak out and realize that it means food!

My Congo Tetras are very large and they just take the Hikari Omnivore Bottom Feeder wafer and swim off with it in their mouth like a hamburger patty - after it is already on the bottom.

I find it requires some degree of over feeding and somewhat more frequent to larger pwc's. My soon to be realized tank build will provide those greedy maniacs a new tank, lol. So sometimes you have books and people say these fish can go together but when in your own tank you find it doesn't work in the way you would want it to.

As in my tank with these Congo Tetras are about the size of the interior of my hand - MUCH larger in the tank, than it seems to say in the books, and they can "go /live in" a 55G but these guys are WAY too big to really live comfortably in my 72G, they are going to an 80G with less fish and less plants taking up space. So when you see your own Betta just not fitting comfortably in a 2.5G maybe a 5G is better, (for that fish), or one in a 5 needing a bit more room because he swims a lot then maybe he needs a bigger tank. The one which loves to sit in one spot might not need as much room.

Point being that just because someone determines one situation is fine, you might see that you need to make changes for your particular group of fish / tank. Above examples are my personal experiences.

In addition, the QT thing can be done in a plastic tote in a pinch. I have had several instances over the years of being wiped out by a okay looking fish, like armageddon. Longer you are in it / more fish you keep, over time, likelier to be an experience you have.

 

[Remington]

Thank you for the great advice with the tube. I will try and find a piece of PVC or something like that and drop it in the cave if need be. lol. The QT tank has been added to the budget and it looks like the second week of December will be the latest I get one. I am keeping an eye on my local FB marketplace so I can scoop one up super cheap.

How do you guys feel about sponge filtration? I have been running most of my tanks with just a sponge filter. Is this just a short term type deal or can they be used as your only filtration. My planted 20G has one rated for 40G, the planted 10G is rated for 30, and the 20G split in half has two rated for 5G plus (AQco-op micro). But in my 55G I have one rated at 40G and use the HOB bio wheel. Do you think I could get away with using two sponges in the 55G or would that cause dead spots in the water?

 

[Autumnsky]

Matten filters are very useful, Flip aquatics sells them. I see people using them all the time. Economical. You can add a air bubbler at the opposite end of the tanks to keep the water moving.

Keep an eye open for free tanks. Often see them, especially 55G tanks... Especially when people are moving.

 

[Remington]

Good news. The leaf fish are hanging out with the ravenous pack of barbs now. The two leaf fish have eaten both frozen brine shrimp and dried blood worms so all is well. I acquired a piece of pvc tubing and will give it a good cleaning and let you know how well it works.

 

[Autumnsky]

Exciting and good news!

 

[Remington]

So I did a thing.... I had ordered a minnow trap to do a “local” species tank. It came in the mail and I was going to wait until next spring to use it. My girlfriend got excited and we went to the stream and placed it and we were using our fishing poles. The trap caught nothing. We however came home with six blue gill. I kept them in a bucket with a portable air supply. We had the spare 20G running with some bacteria in a bottle to help it along. Well now it’s the QT tank for these guys.

The plan: keep these guys in the 20G and hit them with some general cure for good measure. After a week or two they will be moved into the 55G.

The issue: I currently have 6 tiger barbs, 4 cherry barbs, 2 leaf fish, Bala shark, rainbow shark. In the 55G.

The solution Place cherry barbs and the leaf fish in a 20G with three guppies and a botia loach. Place the tiger barbs and sharks in the 20G currently housing the bluegills.

Future plans getting a 125 for the Bala is already in the works. I plan to put all the barbs (tiger , cherry) in with him. But if I could get the Bala to withstand the lower temps like the bluegill I would so put those guys in the 125 and catch some small mouth bass.

Please give any and all advice you can. Thank you in advance.

 

[Remington]

Well my girlfriend had other plans.... we bought another shelving unit. Much better quality. Decided that seems how we were going to empty the 55 to move it anyway might as well put the bluegills in. So I scrambled for some driftwood scrubbed it three times and threw everything together. I totally rushed everything. My tropical community fish are in a tote with filtration and a heater for now. Plan for after work is to move around the 20Gs and get them in a real tank. Probably not going to be done until Wednesday.

 

[King Fisher]

You got an understanding girlfriend

 

[Autumnsky]

True, true!

No experience here with Blue Gill, but hear they can get aggressive as they mature. Also they aren't usually supposed to be put back into the lakes ponds or rivers as they could bring disease to the native population.

Glad to hear you got a stronger shelf. Will see how this goes. You should do a build for this for sure!!!

 

[Remington]

So yesterday when I got home the bluegill tank is green. I am assuming it is due to a algae bloom. This my first tank using locally sourced drift wood, wild caught fish, cold water all in one go. I fed them some chopped worms and unfortunately all I could source was “green” night crawlers. So maybe the dye or what’re is in those worms is causing the water color. None the less I did water changes on the hospital tank and split 20G and used the rest to do a small change for the bluegill. Didn’t really help but I was unable to set out more than twenty gallons of water yesterday anyway. Today when I get home I plan to do at least a 50% water change. I am also looking into a UV bulb that could be dropped into the HOB filter.
Any recommendations on that is appreciated because I have never used one.