Janelle Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 OK, so I am now severely overstocked and as some of my fish grow (*ahem* goldfish) their compatibility decreases, so I am left with a couple of options: Get rid of some fish or get a bigger tank or get more tanks. A bigger tank is out of question just at this stage because I don't want to have to set it up just in time to move it again when our lease runs out at the end of January, and we already have five tanks in the lounge and not really any more room or plugs for more, so my best bet is to rethink my setup. My rectangular tank has about 75-80 litres of water (not sure now... got big rocks in there that make up quite a bit of volume). I have a brand new bought-last-week powerhead filter with spraybar (the size recommended for 80-200 litres, so the flow is quite strong) using the filters from my old powerhead (bit of jerry-rigging there but it worked). The temperature varies between 21 and 24, give or take a degree, depending on the time of day. It is somewhat live-planted on one side but I also have a couple of fake decorations back in the tank as much as I hate them, just to give the fish more places to hide. And here's my current stock in order of what I am most fond of: 1x small but rapidly growing shubunkin goldfish (named Edward Elric) 11x white cloud mountain minnows (ex-Wok stock) 3x borneo suckers 6x peppered corydoras 3x platies (1 male, 2 females) 5x (exciting and healthy albeit poor quality) pearl danios A grand total of 29 fish! Unfortunately I am attached to all of them now, and that is where I have to decide which ones must go. At the moment I have been changing about a half bucket of water every couple of days to keep the water quality up and scoop the poop, and so far all the fish have stayed healthy and active and shown no visible signs of stress (wow). Although I am most fond of the goldfish and would be somewhat picky which home he goes to (I think he is absolutely stunningly gorgeous) he is actually the biggest pain in the bum, especially when it comes to eating the food intended for other fish. The rest of the fish are negotiable depending..... Any suggestions for what fish to keep/get rid of or offers of interest from Chchians? Apologies for the long-windedness of this post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Well I hate to say it but your favourite is also the odd man out and will grow the biggest. He would be happiest in a pond. What about getting a fibreglass or plastic pond you can take with you when you move? Any space for one? You say you have 5 tanks. Is it not possible to spread the load out a bit over the other tanks or are they specialised (ie African, brackish etc)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted August 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 I'd like to get rid of my favourite first, he's a little pig and it would be good to get rid of him now before he gets much bigger. Not really any space for a pond, as much as I want one. I did look around for a couple on Trade Me but until I have somewhere a bit more permanent I don't think it's a good idea. I own two tanks... the other one holds my daphnia culture and snails which I grow and then feed to the clown loaches. My boyfriend has one small (14L) tank which holds his betta, and the other two tropical tanks belong to our flatmate so I'm not sure he'd take to me adding fish (and just personally I think I take better care of my tank than he does his). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 How about just a half wine barrel with a couple plants in it for your shubunkin? You could have a pair in a wine barrel and if you sit it on some bricks you can use just a regular hose as a syphon for cleaning. I don't run a pump in mine at all. Just keep it well shaded and well planted. Have you got a picture of him? How big is he now? I love shubunkins and have some myself. I've got about 8 in a pond at our rental and tenants just love them to bits too! They sit there and dangle their fingers in the water and the fish always come see them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted August 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 I'd love to do the wine barrel but it seems like a lot of expenditure to house my little fish. Same with the drinking trough, although I did consider lining a planter with something but I wouldn't really have a clue how to go about it properly. It's hard to measure him but I think he's about 6-8 centimetres now and growing fast. I only have a crappy phone cam to take pictures with so I can't get a clear shot of him. He has a lot of red and black, some blue (? - it's not white...) and white on his face. His colours sort of bleed into his top fin and there's black going very strongly through most of his tail and edging his side fins. I love shubs but I think the ones with lots of white are ugly, so I like to go for the reds and blacks (Canterbury colours, haha). The situation has changed slightly in the tank...... it seems I still have 29 fish but I am now minus a pearl danio (?? - I'm sure I had five...) and plus a baby.... something.... possibly a platy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted August 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 OK.... I'm thinking.... Find a new home for the goldfish and the pearl danios (lovely fish but not my favourites), and take the number of wcmm down to eight. That will give me about 20 fish and the platies will be the largest so with my usual regular cleaning it shouldn't overload the tank too much. How does that sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted August 24, 2007 Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 Sounds better. How about getting rid of the platys as well? They will keep dropping fry every 4 - 6 weeks. I know the wcmms will breed but they are smaller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted August 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 I like the platies, lol. They are about the only splash of colour in my tank. I only got the male recently, so maybe I can swap him out for another female instead or just get rid of him completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted August 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 I struck a deal with my mother that she could have some of my fish if she moved her large goldfish back out into the pond where they belong!!! It seems to be working so far, so I will probably be rigging up and cycling her tank for subtropical soon, and then I will have some place for my excess fish to go. No worries, my mum has admitted she has no idea how to look after fish, so I'll be doing the maintenance on her tank once a week when I visit. =) This way I can sort of have another tank, it will just be somewhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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