Ianab

Get down to the Warehouse and get one of their big plastic storage bins. Transfer the water, heater, filter and fish from the tank. It will keep them safe until you can get the tank repaired or replaced. Cheers Ian

True... but you leave the fish in the Q tank for a couple of weeks then transfer them to your main tank. If they were still carrying something un-noticed then you have moved it to your main tank anyway. If they aren't carrying anything.. then the Q tank and it's filter is still 'clean'. If you are unfortunate enough to bring home a fish with some nasty pox, then it's isolated in the Q tank. In that case break out the bleach before you move the filter back to your main tank to cycle it again. There are 2 things you are trying to achieve here. First is to isolate your existing fish from a potential outbreak. But 2nd you need to provide a good enviroment to your new fish who are probably stressed and in poor condition after being flown around the country/world. Dumping them into a new or poorly cycled tank isn't going to help them at all. Thats why I keep my Q tank running and some crash test guppys in there, give the new fish the best possible chance while protecting my main tanks and fish. Cheers Ian

I keep my quarantine tank set up all the time, with a few male guppys in there to keep it ticking over. That way if I see something neat at the pet shop I can buy it knowing I have a healthy cycled tank all set up to put it in. If it's a guppy eater I can fish the guppys out first, otherwise they can stay in there. Bit like the canary in the coal mine. :-? If the newcomers AND the guppys are still healthy after 2 weeks, then all is well. If you are emptying the tank then you want to leave them running in another tank so they are ready to go again when needed. Having an extra small filter running in the back corner of a big tank cant hurt. Cheers Ian

Yeah.. by 'more fish spreading aggression' I mean when you have a big group. And like Caryl suggests it's also better to keep more females than males especially with live bearers. If you had your 2 males with 4 or more females there would still be alot of chasing going on, but not concentrated on one unfortunate fish. Anyway, seperating them was the best option Cheers Ian

A small plastic cow drinking trough would make a handy portable fish pond. I had some big comets living in one at my old house while the gardens were being re-landscaped. Only problem I had was when power to the pump went off and the cows drank most of the water :roll: Cheers Ian

I think it would be better to empty the tank. If the undergravel filter has been set up a while it will be pretty full of gunk and it will wash out when you move the tank. I would empty the tank down to one inch of water and remove the rocks and logs etc. Then you should be able to catch the plecos with a square plastic icecream container and your hands. Then scoop out the gravel and put it in a bucket and tip out the rest of the crud. You will see what I mean about the gunk after you have fished the gravel out. KEEP THE GRAVEL WET. The filter bacteria for your undergravel filter system mostly live on the gravel. If it dries out they will die off and you will have to cycle the tank again. Now haul it off to the new location, put the gravel back in and refill with warm water. Thats how I move my tanks anyway. If you dont have the undergravel filter then it may be more practical to move with the gravel and a bit of water. But with an established UG, you will arrive with an inch of mud in the bottom of the tank. Cheers Ian

How are you cycling the new tank? It should be fine to start the cycle by putting a platy in there? Fish seem to develop their own pecking order, and often someone is on the bottom of the list, sometimes more fish actually improves things by spreading the aggresion (no one fish gets chased all the time). Other times you just need to seperate them and re-arrange the fish in your tanks. Cheers Ian

My guppys are only fed dry foods and they act like little piranaha Still about a million of them though Ian

The problem is that the nutrient level for hydroponic plants is much higher than you would want in a fish tank. There are some systems that use slower growing plants like orchids and moss that grow as epiphytes in the tops of trees. They grow slower than tomatos and cucumbers, but can live on much lower nutrients. It might be possible to set up an orchid window box as a tank filter? Cheers Ian

Yup.. you need a nice new big tank for the angels and the clown loaches, the guppys and corys will be fine in the smaller tank for the little one You dont need the dream tank, a decent 4ft tank with a homebuilt stand and light hood is fine for your fish, and the angels and clowns are going to need it eventually anyway. I have been back into fish keeping for 2 years after 20 years without any, and have 5 tanks already :roll: Cheers Ian

Yep... Healthy = big and well fed = 100+ fry Albinos are often not as big and vigorous as normal, so smaller batches are probably normal. Anyway.. there is a big range, but even if you only get 10 fry per month, they are still million fish :lol: Cheers Ian

Ahh.. I see the problem You would probably have to leave the top open on your old tank and just stick the pipes from the external filter in.. a bit messy... Plan C: Put a couple of platys in the new tank, it's big and well filtered, they will be OK in there for a couple of weeks, by then the filter will have started to cycle and you can add a few more fish. I have a couple of little aquaone internal filters in my tanks that I can move around if I want to cycle a new tank. They aren't great filters, but they are cheap and do some good, and very handy for this situation. Cheers Ian

Yeah.. that size tank a 2x 18w fitting should be about right. I was in Mitre10 today and they had them for a sensible price ~$30. You might have to shop around for the best lamps. The normal ones are a softer yellow light, better for general room lighting. The higher 'temp' ones give a more blue light closer to natural daylight, better for growing plants. The 'colour temp' is how this is measured. Cheers Ian

What Caryl said... Plan A is to run the new filter in an established tank for a couple of weeks, let it pick up some bacteria load then transfer it and a few fish to the new tank. Plan B would be to bring the established filter and all the fish from the smaller tank and put them all in the new tank. The existing small filter would handle the job untill the new filter got established. Either way is much better than starting from a blank page (or zero bacteria). Cheers Ian

I believe they can drop between 10 and 100+ fry, mostly depends on the size and health of the female. They can breed at a fairly small size, but will only drop 10-20 fry. 50 would be normal for a mature female, but a nice Big Momma might do 100. Cheers Ian

The angel would be the prime suspect in this assault Some individuals are pretty laid back and wont worry other fish, but others, as they get bigger, look on their tankmates as a snack, and males guppys are just too tempting and slow. The guppys will survive a bit of fin nipping and it usually grows back to some extent, but for it's long term wellbeing it's probably best to seperate them. I would find a new home for one or the other. Cheers Ian

Yes a single /double / triple flouro tube is the best option, depending on how much light you want. That really depends on whether you want to grow plants or just light up your tank so you can see your fish. The compact flouros aren't as good as a proper flouro tube and reflector, but they are cheap and will work OK. Cheers Ian

Flouro lights work best, and basically you will need them to grow plants properly. They produce much more light per watt of energy used, so you can get bright enough light at the right frequencies into the tank without cooking things. You can use the compact flouro tubes in a normal bayonet fitting as cheap DIY lights. Pick the daylight colour lamps though, better for plants. If you aren't growing plants the lighing isn't so critical, you just need some so you can see the fish 8) Cheers Ian

Not a good combination :roll: They should be thinking of taking those poor Oscars OUT of a 2 ft tank about now and moving them somplace bigger, not trying to unload them in a 2ft tank to some unsuspecting beginner :-? Ian

They aren't that fussy about water parameters, they are a river fish from West Africa not a rift lake species. They do like some hiding places, plants, driftwood or rock caves. My tanks just have normal gravel, the kribs do like to sift through it looking for missed food or other tidbits, but they dont seem to dig holes or move it around much. They are fairly peacefull, but best not to keep them with delicate long finned fish (male guppys). Those long fans are just to much temptation :-? Mine are in a 4ft tank with tiger barbs, a bala shark and some plecos, they seem happy and haven't caused any trouble there yet. Cheers Ian

As long as they dont actually have some terrible disease then they probably just need clean water and food. Hope you have them quarantined just in case? Cheers Ian

White Clouds would have to be the easiest though.. about as difficult as guppys :lol: Put some white clouds in a well planted tank, feed them and wait a while. Cheers Ian

Having an establised filter in there should REDUCE the ammonia :-? I would wait a few more days, it should drop, especially if there is a cycled filter in there. Cheers Ian

Yup.. if the bristles are up on their head then they are males. The females may grow some, but they are lower down, around their mouth only. Cheers Ian

Agree on the Convicts and WCMMs. Kribensis and Bristlenose plecos are a couple of other that are easy to breed. Cheers Ian