Funkytown

I say, screw the goldfish and concentrate on adopting his new "pet" eels. Mind you, $200 on feeder fish is kinda pricey...

Thanks Mystic. I'm in an apartment, and there's really only one spot for my tank. It's sweet though. I'm not worried. Got it sorted.

I enjoy your posts. :lol: I just paid a visit to Jansens in Aucks, and there are some interesting coldwater fish. I'm sure you'll find some to your taste. The american flagfish (a killie) is interesting (to me) if not bold, but I don't mind the "puggish" mountain minnows either. Good Luck.

Feed them? Thanks.

That sounds like a good idea actually...

What are they? These little white worms look no thicker than a human hair, and are maybe 1.5-2cm long. At first glance they look like just a bit of debris floating around, but they move and squiggle. I think the must've come from a plant that I bought at the lfs. Is this a normal, healthy part of my little ecosystem, or something more sinister? Choice, Brian

Yeah. What gives?

Is there a way to sex peppered corys? Do corys breed readily? Ta, Brian [Edit]

Yeah, I don't think I'll sweat it until it cracks 30...

So it's been over a week with just my two corys (dubbed Cory and Dora :roll: ) in the tank, Ammonia was at 0, so I figured it was time to add another two to the tank. I was going to go get another cory and a bristlenose, but the bristlenoses didn't look too flash (did they have whitespot?), so I figured I would hold off. What to get then? I wasn't sure if I wanted 4 corys in my little 34 litre, and I didn't want to get 5 tetras and jump from 2 to 7 fish so quickly, so I got 1 cory and one dwarf gourami (blue). I realized how healthy Cory and Dora ( :roll: ) were when I saw the poor cory I just got. He was dumped in the same bag at the lfs as the gourami, even though they were from separate tanks, with only a cupful of water from his tank to assimilate (?) the water conditions. He wasn't looking happy when he got home, floating at the top and a little off on one side. Once he was in the tank tho, he seemed determined to keep up with his new room-mates, and has been following them around ok. The Dwarf Gourami is a little shy, but seems fine. So slight change of plan on the stocking schedule, but all's well (so far). Brian

Your joke about my white belly.... :lol:

Yeah, I figured. The thought was that if the heater was switching on to keep the temp up during the night, then maybe lowering that "night-time" temp would result in a lower "daytime" temp. I don't think the heater is turning on at all now though... Thanks for the advice guys. I won't sweat it (even if my fish do). Brian

Awww.....Even with George Michael's "Would you like me to seduce you?" song playing in the background? :lol: (Alan...that's a good one! )

Is that okay? Does that create too much of a cold "draft" for the fish? Could I just throw in an ice-cube or two (sans the margarita mix)? It's overcast today. Might rain... :roll:

Fish and I have more in common than I thought. I'm just cycling the tank, and the two corys are the sole occupants. How do you sex peppered corys? Thanks

Hey everyone. I'm curious to know if my corys are normal. Usually during the night, or after the tank-light has gone out, the bigger of my two corys will swim up and down the front of the tank, time after time. This happens during the day too, but not as often. Usually when I come home, I'm greeted with a white cory-belly squigling up the tank, then it disappears at the top, and re-appears at the bottom to do it again. I don't have a problem with this, but I just didn't expect a cory to behave this way. Only one of them is doing it (to my knowledge). Temp is a little warm right now, pH is 7ish, and I haven't got any other test kits (tisk tisk, I know). Small tank, only 34 litre, so maybe its just doing cardio training... Let me know if this sounds bad, will you? Thanks, Brian

So how do I cool my tank down? I've noticed over the last few days of decent weather (finally) the temp of my 34 litre AquaOne setup as indicated by my cheapy thermometer is climbing out of the "Green Zone" towards 27-28 degrees. I had the heater set to 24, and I've turned it down further to 23ish, but I think the light and ambient temp are really to blame. I'm thinking if I can get the tank to cool down at night to around 23-24ish, then it'll be sweet for the next day. This is an untested thought though. Right now the tank seems to be good at retaining heat built up over the day, even with the light off, and doesn't seem to get below 26. Anybody have problems with overheating tanks before? I'm thinking of just doing a partial water change with some cooler water, but I'd have to do it slowly so not to shock the fish. I think if I can just get it down to the 24 range, then it will cycle around that temp throughout the day, instead of where it is now. Any thoughts? Should I even worry about it? Am reluctant to make any major changes as the fish are still swimming as-is. Thanks, Brian

Hey there A, I'm on the learning train too, and the same fish stood out to you and me, so I'll share with you what I've gathered so far. I too decided to go the tetra/cory/dwarf gourami route. I also looked at American Flagfish, Blue Rams, and livebearers like platties, Guppies and swordtails to swap in with the dwarf gourami. The livebearers were in real contention for a while, as they have a rep for being tough, good looking, and their breeding would be the "feature" of the tank. I settled on the dwarfs because I had some guppies when I was younger, and there was something very "usual" about livebearers, and I wanted "different" (to me). I've got a 34 liter setup. A bit smaller than yours, and I reckon by the time I'm done stocking my tank I should have... -3-4 Corys (3?) -6-10 Tetras (10?) -1-4 Dwarf Gouramis (3?) -1 bristlenose My eyes are notoriously bigger than my tank, so I'm not sure how it'll pan out yet. I'm still cycling the tank with just a couple of corys at this stage. The tank might look "full" when I put the first batch (6) of tetras in, and so I won't add more. Similarly, if I put in one dwarf and it doesn't look like it could hold 2 more, I might just stick with one (I'm avoiding having 2 as I hear a pair of males can sometimes be a little agro to each other. but 3-4 spreads the anger around more thinly). You tank isn't quite twice as big, and if I had your size, I reckon the above would go in *easy*. 2 lone corys in my tank is pretty empty. I think you'd be fine with as many as 6 or more. Just add slow and see how it's going/looking. I started with corys as the ranked well on my price/toughness/schooling not needed/eating food from the bottom, scale. With corys, I knew the food at the bottom would get eaten, not like with tetras, and I could just get 2-3, and they don't cost as much as the dwarf gourami, so if they die while I'm still learning, only my feelings are hurt, not my wallet. I've got heaps of plants in my little tank. It's choca with plants (not really, but I wanted to use the word "choca"). Maybe 8-10 or so. No CO2, and just the standard light that came with my Aquaone 380 setup. It's still early days, so I can't tell you if they're all going to make it, but I can tell you that more than a couple of plants have grown heaps in the last week. I didn't plan on actually having plant *growth*! The moral of the story is you don't *need* CO2 unless there are certain plants you really like and they need the extra CO2, or you want an awesome planted growing tank. I like the heavily planted look, and I'm going okay so far as-is. I might change my tune in a couple of months though. See how you go without it first. I'm just about to add my second batch of fish. I was trying to decide whether to get some tetras next, or another cory and a bristlenose. I'm bored of looking at the dull corys, and I'd love to put the 6 or so tetras in, but I don't want to increase the load of the tank that quickly. I think I'll get another cory and a BN. Dwarfs are going in last at this stage. If I'd gone the livebearer route, a couple of them would've gone in first. Oh yeah, temp. I was shooting for 26 at first, but with my tank setup for a few days sans fish, I saw that on the thermometer it was creeping quite high with the light on and the hot weather. I turned it down to 24 and it's still creeping up during the day. I've got it at 23 now, just to keep it from getting too toasty during the day. This is probably exasperated (is that the right word?) by having a small tank. If I could set-it and forget-it, then I'd go 26, but I think steady temp is more important than anything. 25 gives you the most room either side doesn't it? Anyway, hope this helps. I'm not an expert, but this is the way I've decided to do things and it's working so far. Fingers Crossed. Brian

Hey there, Um, that's a bigger question than you realize.... I'm a newbie myself, so I'm not particularly qualified to answer, but that won't stop me trying. It depends on what level of commitment you want. Keeping tropical fish (as opposed to coldwater fish like goldfish) is by no means hard (by all accounts), but it does help to have a little bit of knowledge, and the requisite gear. Do you have a filter? A light? A heater? Are you prepared to buy them if you don't? The answer to these questions effects the answer to your question. The 'secret' to keeping fish (from what I can tell) is keeping good water. If the temperature, acidity, and all the levels are 'good' (ie. appropriate to the fish you have), the fish will be happy. The filter is pretty important, not just to remove the big bits of gunk from the water, but to house good bacteria that eat the nasty fish-killing chemicals that build up over time. Plants can be real or plastic, whichever you prefer. Some plants grow easier than others (real plants grow better than plastic), and some plants die easier than others (real plants die easier than plastic). If you like real plants, then it's like keeping fish. Keep good water/conditions for the plants you like, and they should do okay. Just make sure you get plants (and fish) that are appropriate to your level of interest. Plants need light though, so if you want real plants, you may have to get one if you don't have one already. This is turning into a crap post, and is making it sound hard... :roll: It's like anything. You can take it as seriously as you want, and there's always a new level of challenge and reward if you want to take it on. I'll let other more qualified people go into more detail, but to me, the answer to your q is "Depends..." Depends on; -Type of fish you like. -What gear you've got/are prepared to get. -How seriously you want to take it. (eg. Marine Aquariums need more attention/learning than fresh-coldwater aquariums.) Good luck, and welcome to the forum! Brian

Fish and I have a lot in common...

Thanks Caryl! So tank polution is the main concern with overfeeding? Is there a danger associated with fish eating too much?

Hey everyone! First of all, I've read the back of the fishfood container, so I have an idea of how much to feed my fish, but I'm interested to know what the danger actually is. It sounds as though it's marginally better to underfeed your fish than to over feed them. Is this true? What is the sequense of events when you overfeed your fish (and I don't mean, too much food -> fish get sick -> fish die)? What are the risks of UNDERfeeding? What are the symptoms of both? Thanks people! Brian

Nice Dawn, thanks for that offer. I'm not at BN stage yet. I'm on the shore, and it might cost me more in gas to get out to you than to buy the fish at the lfs. I'll see what happens when my tanks is a little more cycled, and if you've still got it, and I'm heading over there, I'll ask you then. Way to share the wealth! Thanks! I got my first couple of peppered corys over the weekend, and the tank has been officially christened! I was so worried about them at first, but that worn off (a little). This weekend I might get a small group of tetras.... Thanks for all the help everyone! Brian

Thanks mate. Appreciate it. Peppered cory it is... I was up early because I was picking my mom up from the airport. I'm on driver duty. I don't normally wake at such early hours, and my brain hates alarm clocks, so it overcompensates by making me wake up well before I have to. I was awake at 5am-ish, looking at my planted, fishless aquarium, getting excited, so I had to get onto the forum... You know how it is... What was your excuse? Brian

I'm about to get my first fish and start cycling the tank. I've got the 34 litre Aquaone 380 setup. I've decided on 4 or so dwarf gouramis, a group of tetras, a couple corys and a bristlenose. Which order should I get them in and how many should I get in the first batch? I thought I'd get one gourami and 1-2 corys to start. Sound okay? As a follow-on question, should I get some special bottom-type food for the corys, or will tropical flakes be fine? Is a pea or a piece of zuchini advisable, or stick to fish-food? Thanks, Brian