Should I've gone with the Dog instead of the Fish??!!!

[akd15]

Should have I gone with the Dog instead of the Fish??!!!

..Too late now, I guess..(already bought 2 tanks and thinking about another one.. I'm so deep inside this now that this hobby seems to have consumed me completely..so addicting...

Hi All those enthusiasts and fish lovers..I'm glad that I stumbled upon this forum for I've learnt a lot in the last one month and doing things the right way.

It all started with my boy asking for a pet and how he enjoyed playing with our friends dogs whenever we visited them..WAF (Wife Acceptance factor) was a big NO for the dog (haunted by childhood memories of being chased by a dog and I don't blame her). So, we have been dodging him for a couple of years now and finally convinced him that we would get him an aquarium..

Last month found a deal on a 60G aquarium and made an impulse buy on it and after it was picked up in the van, I look back at him in fear and ask him "Are you sure, you want to take this home? We can still return this and I can get you a toy!!! he refused and a month later here I'm staring at a 4ft empty tank in my living room going through the fish less cycling.

Looking at the size, wife said she wants the tank on the floor so the boys won't pull it down..Had to convince her and spent time and more $$$ to get additional reinforcements so the tank won't go down even during a 7.2 richter earth quake.

Initially went with a Fluval C4 filter and then read on the forum to always have a backup filter and twice the capacity. Ended up setting up another Fluval 406 and the difference is worth it..

Currently shopping for plants and stockings..Meantime, read about the benefits of QT and the fear of messing up the DT with infected fish from LFS forced me to buy a 15G to use as a QT which is going through a fish in cycle with 3 platys..

Water tests are showing progress and I'm being religious about the PWC and routine tests until I get this right without causing any harm to the fishes..

I look up to all the guidance I can get from the members of this forum and hope I can succeed in making this an enjoyable hobby for both my sons and myself!!!

Thanks again to everyone and all the articles that has been guiding me...

 

[NigelK8485]

You sound ahead of the game so far. I wish I had taken a QT tank more seriously when I started, I ended up being sent fish with ich and parasites and spent almost a month trying to combat them and watching a good amount of my original fish die.


Any ideas on stocking or plants? I'm assuming you'll be going low tech and low light at first? I'd recommend going ahead and shelling out the extra cash if you can and getting a high tech setup. Once you get started with the plants you'll want more. I started with Anubias and low light and within four months I've gone through three sets of lights, upgrading each time, setting up pressurized CO2, and over 20 something types of plants now.


Good luck with the tank and cycle, make sure to post progress pictures.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[akd15]

Thanks for the comments..It is a real motivation..I've started with a few low light plants..Anubias, Brazil Sword and Lucky Bambo (I know, can hear people screaming...read along..) I read that its not an submerged plant so did a DIY with an old shaving supplies holder caddy I had lying around..drilled a few more holes for the water to pass through and mounted it with suction cups right under the opening of the hood cover so the leaves stay out of the water). The caddy has a nice curve and depth that I thought would be a good spot for the mid level swimmers to play around and hide..I'm in the look out for some weeping moss so I can cover the white caddy with it to avoid the eye sore. Ironically, after 1 week of looking around I coudn;t find any local supplier for weeping moss and ended up ordering on ebay and it seems to ship from Malaysia. Hope it survives by the time it reaches me.

I searched on the classifieds here on the forum and couldn't find anyone selling weeping moss..Let me know if you know of any local source..

 

[ImACoolguy]

I'm with Nigel. I started off way off track and lost quite a few fish to ick before learning how to do it the right way. Victim of MTS(multiple tank syndrome) and at 3 soon 4 tanks

Once you start with plants you will want more and more. I get on the web and see a really pretty one and before I know it its in my tank. Take the time and get the right setup for those plants it will really help in the long run.

Since you haven't really decided on fish yet here's some that are easy to take care of and are very active to grab the attention of anyone looking.

Bottom feeders:

Corydoras- stay small and are all around just awesome.

Loaches- dojo, and Kuhli are common favorites. No clowns though even though they are tempting they get too big and I've seen too many people bring them home only to realize their size. P.S. I have two dojos and they are my favorite

Pictus cats- get a decent size and will eat anything it can fit in its mouth. Mine has eaten an algae wafer whole in one bite. Other than that it's a peaceful dude.

Fish:

Angels- 1 or a pair work best. They get really tall and are great centerpieces as long as you have fish that won't nip their long fins.

Tiger barbs- peaceful but act like little pirañas. Very active and fun fish. Known to be fin nippers though.

I'm not a fan of Mollies or platys but many people like them.

Neon tetras- they are small and have very little bioload. Look gorgeous in a large school of like 10+. Some can mysteriously die. But it will even out and you will have a good healthy batch.

There's plenty of others but that's just some good suggestions.




Caleb

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[akd15]

Thanks for the advise, Caleb. I've a selection that I penned out sometime back for fish stockings..Not finalized though. Went for the platys since I'm doing the fish in cycle on the 15G QT. Didn't want to go with a big schooling guppies or tetras that might shoot up the bio load for the cycle to act up. This is what I was thinking of:

Celestial Pearl Danios
Glowlights
Dwarf Gourami
Guppies
Tetras (Neon)
Gold Rams
Harlequin Rasbora
Ancistrus sp. Bristlenose (or) Cory Cats

My boy is so interested in the glowlights..so I might end up getting a school of those. After all it all started with him and seeing his face lit up is price less!!!

I'm thinking of the number 6 for the schooling type. Is that a reasonable number or should I go more. I read any less might not make the group feel safe and happy..

The tank size is 4ft length and 2 ft deep so I'm looking at top dwellers (Gouramis/Hatcher), Tetras/Pearl Danios/Glowlights for the middle layer and Corys/Plecos for the bottom dwellers. Please suggest if there are other options. I want the tank to be colorful and with activity all over..I'll post some pics once I get the fish in there after the cycling is done.

 

[ImACoolguy]

The general schooling number is 6+ with neons I've found it to be even more. I have 10 in a very peaceful community tank and some still linger at the bottom.


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS

 

[ImACoolguy]

Thanks for the advise, Caleb. I've a selection that I penned out sometime back for fish stockings..Not finalized though. Went for the platys since I'm doing the fish in cycle on the 15G QT. Didn't want to go with a big schooling guppies or tetras that might shoot up the bio load for the cycle to act up. This is what I was thinking of:

Celestial Pearl Danios
Glowlights
Dwarf Gourami
Guppies
Tetras (Neon)
Gold Rams
Harlequin Rasbora
Ancistrus sp. Bristlenose (or) Cory Cats

My boy is so interested in the glowlights..so I might end up getting a school of those. After all it all started with him and seeing his face lit up is price less!!!

I'm thinking of the number 6 for the schooling type. Is that a reasonable number or should I go more. I read any less might not make the group feel safe and happy..

The tank size is 4ft length and 2 ft deep so I'm looking at top dwellers (Gouramis/Hatcher), Tetras/Pearl Danios/Glowlights for the middle layer and Corys/Plecos for the bottom dwellers. Please suggest if there are other options. I want the tank to be colorful and with activity all over..I'll post some pics once I get the fish in there after the cycling is done.

That's a tall tank... If you want plants a good light is going to be necessary so it will reach the bottom of the tank well.

Rams- be sure not to get 2 males or you might see some aggression.

Guppies- stick to all of one sex. Unless of course your intention was tons, by that I mean sometimes hundreds, of little fry in your tank.

Gourami- generally peaceful just make sure you only have one. Look up Dwarf Gourami Disease. It's incurable and is very common in the dwarf species(caused by poor breeding). Be on the lookout for symptoms of it.

I generally avoid pleco's. They are cool but are very messy. Lots of bioload. The bigger they are the more they poop. If you want one stick to a clown or bristlenose.


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS

 

[akd15]

Appreciate your inputs. Yeah, it is a tall narrow tank. i ditched the stock lights and bought a T8 Ultra Sun Super Daylight FL. It is rated at 6500K. Hopefully it should get me going. I plan on a DIY at some point with LED's rated for plants. I agree on the guppies. We are not ready to deal with fry's at this point. I would like to have a contained tank to start with. Is there a way, LFS employees can detect males from female fishes. From what I talk to them, I feel more educated than they are.

The other day, I mentioned about the fish less cycle using Ammonia and the person at LFS mentioned he has never heard of that. I walked away from that store and decided never to go back there.

I read about the DG disease as well. I'll keep that in mind while shopping. I was having an eye on those since they don't grow more than 2". if its only one I'm going to get, I'll look out for the Gourami's instead.