Not so new, and not so huge tank that I may set up...

[2cvbloke]

Since Weather/Dojo loaches get around 8-9 inches, I'd go with a 40g minimum...which would be around 148 liters I think.

Did you get a tank? If so, what size? I'm guessing it isn't big enough for the loach since you are getting an 18inch light fixture.

Did you get the 7.5g?

Ah, big then, I'll see if I can scrounge one, but it's not likely...

Yes, the 7.5g, that's what the light and stuff is for, but it's still empty, no water etc as I'd rather have the substrate in first so it can hold some of the biological stuff during the cycling...

So for now, what fish should I get, not including the Weather loach?
And should I do a fishless or fished cycle (bearing in mind that this is my first time!!!)?

 

[JustOneMore20]

Well your fish options will be really limited. Pretty much all the fish you were looking at in the beginning of this thread will get too large.

Here are a few options:
*Male betta...nice in planted tank
*Cherry shrimp...would also like a planted tank
*3-4 male guppies
*4-6 male Endlers
*1-2 dwarf puffers...either one alone...or 2 females
*a pair of N. brevis Tang. shelldwelling cichlids (would need a high pH and some shells to live in)
(check out http://www.shelldwellers.com for more info on these guys)
*3 or so African Dwarf Frogs
*3 cherry barbs (1m/2f)...would do well in a planted tank
*Sparkling gouramis...maybe 3-4
*Bumblebee gobies...not sure how many..maybe a pair

Each of these options would stock the tank...so I mean that you should pick one...not have them all.

There are a good many options, but probably not what you are wanting to hear....

 

[2cvbloke]

Well, looking through the list, the ones I like the most are the Endlers and the Cherry Barb, although I think it'll probably be the Endlers...

Anyway, got the Fluo tube today and guess what, the light (including the caps for the controller) is about 5mm wider than the tank's lid!!! I'm sure I measured it as 18" wide!!! Oh well, I'll make it fit...

EDIT:

Fitted the light, at long last, and didn't cut myself once!!! All I did was trim the reflector down a bit and cut a couple of holes on each side of the lid for the fluo tube to go through, and it all works nicely...

 

[2cvbloke]

Nearly there, I got myself some black tank sand from the pet shop near where I work (and nearly lost 2 bags of it when the carrier bag gave way to such a weight!!!) so the next step it so get the tank to my house, put the sand in, fill it up with water, pop my filter in, stick a few plants in, and finally, get some fish!!!

ooh!!! Just thought, would these be ok in my tank do you think?:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270052111464

 

[2cvbloke]

Blimey!! All that seems like years ago!!! 8O

Anyway, I have the little 7.5g tank in my new house (I moved out of the old one as the landlord wanted to sell it :x ), I have gravel and water in there now aswell as my little filter (with the good stuff in it!!!), and as a fitting tribute to my poor hamster, I re-used his little ornament (after a good few hours cleaning and soaking in very hot water!!!), which is a Citroen 2CV, and am using it as a plantpot!!!

As for the lovely black sand I got, well, my charming young moggie decided to claw open one of the bags and rolled about in the pile of it on the carpet!!! Thank goodness for my Kirby vacuum!!! Anyway, the sand I had left is now in my mum's BIG new tank (3'x10"x1'), one of the fantails passed away before moving into the big tank, so there's just the two in there now (Mop, the one I bought and t'other one) and there's an extra pair of weather loaches in it aswell. That'll be it as far as that tank goes as I think it's plenty stocked, and I want to see the Fantails grow as they're looking much bigger now than they were in the last few pics I have in this thread of them in the Hex tank (which is in a cupboard somewhere as the light is completely screwed!!!)...

Anyway, back to my tank!! Prior to my getting it, and before my mum's fish moved into the big tank, my tank was used as a temporary home for them (whilst the new big one settled and de-chlorinated naturally and left it for a month with it's pump going) as the old one just got on my nerves as every time I thought I had fixed the light, it died again, so as my tank was sitting doing nothing I moved the fish into it with some tank water and new water, gave the gravel a good washing and put it in the little tank with the fish. They lived in there for a good few months, then we got the new tank and a month later the fish moved in with my filter sponge in the new tank's filter, so while that seeded itself I cleaned out my tank and the gravel (again) and took it home, and have only just got my filter sponge back!!! 8)

Now, as I said, it has the essentials in (water, gravel, filter and a tacky ornament!!!) aswell as a small cutting of one of the plants from my mum's new tank and the filter is ready to go!

So, I still haven't made up my mind as to what I want to put in there, I went to a garden centre recently though which had loooooads of lovely fish, aswell as some butt-ugly ones too!!! 8O

I guess the following list still stands?:

Here are a few options:
*Male betta...nice in planted tank
*Cherry shrimp...would also like a planted tank
*3-4 male guppies
*4-6 male Endlers
*1-2 dwarf puffers...either one alone...or 2 females
*a pair of N. brevis Tang. shelldwelling cichlids (would need a high pH and some shells to live in)
(check out http://www.shelldwellers.com for more info on these guys)
*3 or so African Dwarf Frogs
*3 cherry barbs (1m/2f)...would do well in a planted tank
*Sparkling gouramis...maybe 3-4
*Bumblebee gobies...not sure how many..maybe a pair

Thanks!!!

 

[2cvbloke]

Here's a couple of pics of my tank in my new house...

 

[HitTheRoadJack]

I've been lurking here today, and I've read your whole topic. :]
You're very dedicated, and your tank looks very cool. (Cute Car :0 )
You have a nice list of fish stock to choose from, the Cherry Barbs sounds lovely. But I'm just partial to barbs, don't mind me.
Keep you rmind open to all kinds of fish, you never know when you'll find some you like :]
But it sounds like all you need to do now is find the fish you want.
Have Fun with it ! :]

 

[2cvbloke]

I've been lurking here today, and I've read your whole topic. :]
You're very dedicated, and your tank looks very cool. (Cute Car :0 )
You have a nice list of fish stock to choose from, the Cherry Barbs sounds lovely. But I'm just partial to barbs, don't mind me.
Keep you rmind open to all kinds of fish, you never know when you'll find some you like :]
But it sounds like all you need to do now is find the fish you want.
Have Fun with it ! :]

Thanks, I have to be dedicated as my mum won't look after her tank, so muggins here is looking after it!!!

I've not decided on what fish to get for my tank yet, it's tough to make up my mind, I'd love to have the cherry shrimp though, as that would be a bit different to just having fish!!! But anyway, I'm feeding an empty tank (to keep the stuff in the filter alive) for now until some fish move in...

I think I did look at getting Cherry barbs when I almost had my tank in my old house, but I've completely forgotten what they look like!!!

 

[HitTheRoadJack]

I've been lurking here today, and I've read your whole topic. :]
You're very dedicated, and your tank looks very cool. (Cute Car :0 )
You have a nice list of fish stock to choose from, the Cherry Barbs sounds lovely. But I'm just partial to barbs, don't mind me.
Keep you rmind open to all kinds of fish, you never know when you'll find some you like :]
But it sounds like all you need to do now is find the fish you want.
Have Fun with it ! :]

Thanks, I have to be dedicated as my mum won't look after her tank, so muggins here is looking after it!!!

I've not decided on what fish to get for my tank yet, it's tough to make up my mind, I'd love to have the cherry shrimp though, as that would be a bit different to just having fish!!! But anyway, I'm feeding an empty tank (to keep the stuff in the filter alive) for now until some fish move in...

I think I did look at getting Cherry barbs when I almost had my tank in my old house, but I've completely forgotten what they look like!!!

I know the feeling. Nearly all our fish died because I was the only one taking care of them last time, luckily we gave some away though, thank heavens.

I know the feeling lol. Cherry shrimp sounds lovely, something new besides fish I understands. Yay! New fish will move in.

Cherry Barbs are lovely, they look like shown here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Barb

 

[verucaproduce]

I posted this in another thread too. People will start to think that I am a cherry barb pusher. lol

But this will give you an idea of exactly how red the males can get.

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s121/babypackrat/Random/?action=view&current=Cherrybarbs.flv

 

[2cvbloke]

I posted this in another thread too. People will start to think that I am a cherry barb pusher. lol

But this will give you an idea of exactly how red the males can get.

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s121/babypackrat/Random/?action=view&current=Cherrybarbs.flv

Wow!!! Those fish are amazingly red!!! But reading through that Wiki article they only turn that red when they're ready to breed. Also, I don't think my tank is really suited to Cherries, as it's pretty spartan at the moment, so I might have to get a few more plants!!!

 

[verucaproduce]

Originally I got three of them for my 5.5 gallon. Then I decided that I liked them so much that I needed more. When I bought them at the store, I couldn't tell the males from the females...they were all so pale. But now they are this red all the time.

This is them in the first tank.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=5799&cat=500&ppuser=6544

 

[2cvbloke]

Originally I got three of them for my 5.5 gallon. Then I decided that I liked them so much that I needed more. When I bought them at the store, I couldn't tell the males from the females...they were all so pale. But now they are this red all the time.

This is them in the first tank.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=5799&cat=500&ppuser=6544

Was that tank a FishRfun hex. tank by any chance?

Also, did you have Cherry shrimp in with the Barbs aswell (I looked at the next pic which had the same colour gravel)?

 

[verucaproduce]

Nope, the tank isn't a hex. The front is just strangely shaped. The back is actually flat.

It was the same tank, but by the time I got the cherry shrimp I think I had moved the barbs into a bigger tank. They were sneaky little buggers. I kept thinking they were gone, and then I would look and find them in the filter.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you will post with updates. There are so many options that it can get quite overwhelming sometimes.

 

[2cvbloke]

Nope, the tank isn't a hex. The front is just strangely shaped. The back is actually flat.

It was the same tank, but by the time I got the cherry shrimp I think I had moved the barbs into a bigger tank. They were sneaky little buggers. I kept thinking they were gone, and then I would look and find them in the filter.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you will post with updates. There are so many options that it can get quite overwhelming sometimes.

Ah, so a hex cut in half then?

I was reading that Cherry shrimp like to eat pretty much anything, so they mush have found the contents of the filter rather tasty, hence why you kept finding them there...

I've actually just been offered a HUUUGE (between 2 to 3' tall, wide and deep!!!) cube shaped tank!!! That'd certainly put my little puddle of a tank to shame!!! 8O

Can't wait to see if it fits through my house's door and up the stairs into the living room!!!

 

[2cvbloke]

I've been looking at the Endlers again, I found a breeder on eBay who has a few varieties, so I might just see what price I can get 5 males for...

 

[verucaproduce]

Too bad you aren't close. I would give you some of mine. *up to eyeballs in Endlers*

 

[2cvbloke]

Too bad you aren't close. I would give you some of mine. *up to eyeballs in Endlers*

Well, if you train them to swim accross the atlantic then I'll pick 'em up in Blackpool!!!!

 

[2cvbloke]

I'll be popping into my favourite pet shop to see if they have any Endlers for sale, if not, then there's a place in Burnley that might have some (who also sell reptiles and other vivaruim creatures!!!)...

 

[2cvbloke]

Well, of course they didn't, and they reccomended their Neon Tetras as perfect for a freshly set up tank, they said they'd try to find some endlers for me, but I forgot to go back to see if they did!!!

Ah well, I found a rather mainstream aquatics place just outside Blackpool which looks to have a good range of fish for sale, so I'll have to plan a trip there sometime (handy that I have a brother who lives there though!!!), just for fish though, well, maybe some other additional bits, but mostly fish....