SilverBlade86

I was thinking of getting just one to start off, then slowly adding in one or two more. Would that be fine? Or will it get lonely?

How many clown loaches in a tank? I've been reading a bit about them and it seems they need to be in groups of 5 or more to be happy? My tank can't possibly take that many. How many people have kept clown loaches in schools of less then 5? How well did your loaches do?

The other fish do pick at the pellets I drop for my BNs and the BNs do the same to whatever flakes drop from the surface. I will try some frozen bloodworms, but it seems to me that it seems the most expensive to purchase. But anything for the fish yes? Will get some cucumber/courgette tomorrow, its just that I cant seem to buy them in small amounts as this sleepout has no fridge and the only fridge is in the house.

Doh I could have sworn I typed it in. I've got guppies, swords, angels, minnows, tiger barbs and a few BNs. BNs are happy with their pellets, but the rest aren't with the tubifex anymore.

What else can I feed my fish besides flakes and dried tubifex? My fish are literally sick of eating those two and prefer looking around the tank for food. I just bought some microworms (got some fry) and am thinking of hunting some live daphnia. Any other kind of food that I can find?

And just today, I was scouring the tank for snails when my friend spotted a tiny little thing. Turns out that she gave birth again! My tank is looking a little orangy now.

oO, I cant see any bars on that female at all! Ohh, and Loopy, the female Swordtail that you sold me just recently gave birth to her first batch. I have got around 8-10 surviving fry swimming in the tank at around 1cm ish.

Yeah I can, I was talking to the guy from Organisms about it, and it was only when he said that females have vertical bars that I realized that I might have had a female instead of a male. And yes Loopy, this was the big, aggressive guy that you said you had to get rid off. (Weird though, I did see him or her flare once ...)The other sadly did not do too well when I shifted him from the small tank to the big tank and passed away.

Finally managed to get some pics. Bad pictures sorry. I could only use my camera phone.

Is it even remotely possible that male fighters have vertical bars? Cause I either have a really common looking male or a really pretty female, and I dont know what he/she is!

A simple tactic is to get a rubber band, and a piece of gravel. Attach plant to the gravel, and bury it so the rubber band isn't seen. Of course, Silver Dollars do eat plants ...

Erm, I kinda ran into a problem. How exactly do you catch a reasonably sized BN in a heavily planted tank? This is heavily planted as well. Cant get a picture at all!

I'll try to get a picture up. He's of a reasonable size, just that he's getting picked on at the moment. My bigger guy is a real bully, now that I see him more often. Dunno if thats a good thing or not.

$#@$@$)(@&$@($&@$ That confirms I have 2 males then. *&$)@#&*(@#&$#@(*& Anyone in Chch wanna trade a reasonable sized male BN for a female? :-?

Update on the tank. I've been feeding the tank once a day instead of 3 times a day, and leaving the lights off more often, as well as feeding in the same spot. I've noticed great results! I see both BNs more often, and its fun to see them chase away other fish from eating their pellets. However, I noticed that my big "female" turns out to be a he! Now I see him chasing away the smaller male around the tank and away from the food. Now, I want to make sure I'm absolutely right before I swap him for a female, so how exactly do I know how big the bristles get? The bigger BN is easier to see as his bristles has now developed forks in it, so it has to be a male. The smaller BN has bristles as well, fairly large ones, but without forks. Whats a sure fire way to find out if my BNs are female?

If you just filled the tank recently there might be air bubbles in the tank. They pose no harm and will disappear in a few days. Also, it is not recommended that fish be added immediately into the tank after it is setup, however, guppies are usually one of the, if not the hardiest fishes around, and I've had no problems with guppies going in straight to the tank after filling it up. Members of the forums will need more info about your tank, eg how long its been up, how big it is, equipment etc etc. They should be then be able to assist you better than I can.

I wish I could find 3footers for 20 dollars, its quite rare to find it here! Main reason was I saw some guy who had a pair of Convicts in a tank perhaps slightly bigger than that. I had no idea it was bad for them.

Oh, ok. I was actually thinking of buying this for my fry, then suddenly thought it might be a good excuse to get a pair of Convicts. I have a 3footer at the moment, but Cichlids in general dont go well with Swordtails, Guppies, Tiger Barbs and Angels right? Edit - Also, thanks for the fast replies. I really didnt expect it to be this fast :lol:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pe ... 253802.htm Should have posted it earlier. :oops:

I wish my BNs had the same personality. I tried turning the lights off but leaving the living room lights on. After half an hour, I saw my male BN sitting on the driftwood and staring at me. But when I tried to feed him he ran and hid. :-?

That is extremely helpful, thank you very much. Will try this soon. Hopefully they'll come out more often. It's quite sad when you pay good money for a fish you rarely see at all. (Even though some people actually think BNs are hideous. Philistines)

If they are nocturnal, that explains a lot actually. They come out once in a while when the lights are off but hide when I try to take a look at them. On a side note, my female Sword just gave birth! I got around 6 fry swimming around the tank and they are just starting to turn orange. How big are they when born and am I correct in saying that there probably was more but are eaten by the rest of the fish? They are around 2-3 mm long at this stage and are orange. When did she give birth? I didn't notice anything till my Dad saw a few orange things swimming in the floating plants.

What can I do to make my BNs less shy? I've got both a male and a female and they do not seem to like to venture out often from their hiding spots. Is this common? Edit - Tank is a 3 footer, have Swords, Guppies, Tiger Barbs and Angels in there. All fish are small and still growing.

Heh, I was lucky to stumble into this thread before I made a new one. I have the same plants and they wont stop growing! They are now past the water level and touching the top of the tank. Will trim them and let them grow more, I like these plants.

I'm leaving the light on everyday. A friend told me that this is bad for the BNs because they wont come out as much. Is this true? Also, does growing the fastest means that a fish is a runt? I have 3 Angels which when I bought them were the same size, but one of them is eating and growing so fast, I swear he grows at least a cm a week! The others meanwhile arent as enthusiastic at eating as the biggest, and are smaller. Are the slow growers going to be bigger?