whetu Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 More neons! Always more neons! There's nothing as gorgeous as a huge school of neons! (I think you get my drift :lol: ) Also tiger barbs can be aggressive and nippy, especially if there are only a few in the tank. So now you'll need more tiger barbs! :lol: Ok now you've got some active, colourful fish for the middle of your tank so you'll be needing - Something for the top layer - Something for the bottom - Something to keep the tank clear of algae I would recommend a bristlenose as your algae-eater because they're tough and cool-looking and you don't need a whole school of them, and they will stay smallish. But wait until your tanks a bit more mature, boost your other schools, and wait for the algae to begin growing before you get a bristlenose. (probably a few weeks will do it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 Yip. Whetu is right. You need something for the top, bottom and middle (thats what makes a community tank awesome because theirs always something happening). For the bottom get corys the middle make your school of neons bigger (can never have too many neons :lol: ), the top I'd get platys but but you may not like them. Also when you get algae get a BN (my opinion they're the best for their size). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Posted July 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 More neons! Always more neons! There's nothing as gorgeous as a huge school of neons! (I think you get my drift :lol: ) Also tiger barbs can be aggressive and nippy, especially if there are only a few in the tank. So now you'll need more tiger barbs! :lol: Ok now you've got some active, colourful fish for the middle of your tank so you'll be needing - Something for the top layer - Something for the bottom - Something to keep the tank clear of algae I would recommend a bristlenose as your algae-eater because they're tough and cool-looking and you don't need a whole school of them, and they will stay smallish. But wait until your tanks a bit more mature, boost your other schools, and wait for the algae to begin growing before you get a bristlenose. (probably a few weeks will do it) Cheers mate, yep will be getting a few more Neons to add to the ones we have. What are a good fish for the top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 All fish that have mouths that face up (iuf that makes sense) will hang around the top. EDIT: What about killies? I think most killies can go in a community tank and the have bright colours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Posted July 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 All fish that have mouths that face up (iuf that makes sense) will hang around the top. EDIT: What about killies? I think most killies can go in a community tank and the have bright colours Good middle of the tank like neons etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 Do you mean fish that are good in the middle of the tank like neons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Posted July 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 Do you mean fish that are good in the middle of the tank like neons? Yep, and basically a good mix of filling the whole tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 In my tank on the bottom I have BNs, corys and khulie loaches (these are the greatest fish ever and are really cool to watch but the like to hide). In the middle I have my rams that stay at the middle area and my glowlight / neon school is in the middle. I also have black widow tetras in there. In the top I have platys (they're colourful and actice), siamese fighters (nice and colourful and cool to watch jump get food out your hand 8) ), baby angels (but they grow fast and I'll have to get rid of them soon). I also have guppys but I'm getting rid of the soon as I don't really like them. I'm also getting some Australe golds that I'll breed in another tank and put some males in the tank as trhey're really colourful. I'm pretty sure I've missed something but I add it up later if I have. The tanks heavily planted down the back and low growing ones in the front so it's cool watching them just appear out of the plants. Also silver sharks are a cool looking fish and hang out around the top to middle area. Just go to your lfs and check out the fish and note down the ones you like and then we can give you advice on what will work together and what won't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Posted July 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 In my tank on the bottom I have BNs, corys and khulie loaches (these are the greatest fish ever and are really cool to watch but the like to hide). In the middle I have my rams that stay at the middle area and my glowlight / neon school is in the middle. I also have black widow tetras in there. In the top I have platys (they're colourful and actice), siamese fighters (nice and colourful and cool to watch jump get food out your hand 8) ), baby angels (but they grow fast and I'll have to get rid of them soon). I also have guppys but I'm getting rid of the soon as I don't really like them. I'm also getting some Australe golds that I'll breed in another tank and put some males in the tank as trhey're really colourful. I'm pretty sure I've missed something but I add it up later if I have. The tanks heavily planted down the back and low growing ones in the front so it's cool watching them just appear out of the plants. Also silver sharks are a cool looking fish and hang out around the top to middle area. Just go to your lfs and check out the fish and note down the ones you like and then we can give you advice on what will work together and what won't. hey thats great, cheers Def keen to have a silver shark, just the one would be right? Ive heard Blue Rams are a great fish and have seen a few pics of them, for now im happy to get the tank going, planted and sticking to the 'cheaper' fish Otherwise id be gutted to lose the costlier ones so soon after starting up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 I would be quite comfortable putting clown loaches in a 120ltr tank. I've had a few in various tanks of mine over the years without any issue and no tank was larger than 150ltrs. If the fish are in a smaller tank they wont grow as large as they would in a much larger tank - basically constrained by their environment. Same goes for silver sharks - and if they do get too big just sell them off on trademe or back to your local LFS. Other fish I'd recommend for the top of the tank are danios, guppies, hatchets (make sure you tank has a full lid as they'll jump) I'd go spend a bit of time in a couple of LFS and see what fish take your fancy. Find out what they are and then do a bit of research to see if they are compatible with your other fish and tank conditions. Cam - totally agree on the Khulis they are awesome arent they. I thought i'd lost mine and eventually turned up about 2 months later. The horse faced loaches are like that too. I had one that only really came out at night and also thought I'd lost him until I was watching a game of footy in the early hours and I spotted him peering out at me lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 I have 6 khulie and lost one for a while and found him in the filter still alive :lol: . Hatchets are cool as well but I ran out of room (and they're expensive). I had blue rams and gold rams and they're both cool. I got rid of the blues as they were 2 males and I thought they were the ones attacking my fish (but I don't think they were and I regret getting rid of them ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 JK, with regards to clown loaches: I agree that they would be ok in this size tank for a while as they do grow slowly. But they need to be in a school, and they do live a long time and grow very big, so eventually virgil will need to up-size the tank or get rid of the loaches. Some people find it difficult to part with a fish they have had for a long time, so there are a lot of clown loaches living in tanks that are too small for them in less than ideal conditions. The idea that fish constrain their size according to the size of tank they are in is out-dated in my opinion. This is something people often say to justify keeping fish in unsuitably small tanks. It goes along with the goldfish-in-a-bowl kind of thinking that was popular many years ago. When there are so many other kinds of loaches, cories etc to choose from for the bottom of the tank, I think it would be a shame for virgil to see clown loaches as one of the best options when (IMO) they are not. Edit: sorry JK I just re-read that and it sounds a bit harsh :oops: I didn't mean it to sound so critical, it's just I have clown loaches which I've had for about seven years and if I had really understood then what I know now, I probably would choose a different kind of loach that wouldn't grow so big. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Posted July 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 Cheers for the advice guys so far, i got up this morning and peered into the tank with my heart a little low just in case any died in the night...nop all there and accounted for The Loaches sound a great fish, Animates here in silverdale have at least a couple of clown ones (small too) but ill look up the Khuli's as well. Question J.K..how do you lose a fish for 2 months!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Posted July 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 One thing that concerns me is the fish hanging around the filter, i have one of those boxy shaped Fluval ones, theres a gap between it and the tank of only a few mil's and i often see them swimming between it and the glass. I lost about 4 neons last week, vanished. Only when i adjusted the filter (ie took it out of the tank) did they all appear floating up to the surface. I can only assume they were trapped in and around it. Just wondering if this is normal behavior and something i really cant do anything about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 whetu - how big are your clown loaches? 7years is a good stint for one of them aint it? I've never had them that long to see how much they would grow. Like cars, jobs, women and fishing gear, I have no issues trading them in other models / opportunities. Ok bit different with women now that I'm married :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 Actually clown loaches live quite a bit longer than 7 years. Can't remember the natural lifespan, but its something rediculous. You don't see many older ones is it takes a dedicated fish keeper to get fish to that age in general, and clowns are a bit more sensitive again. They're a great fish though, I love'm. For mid-swimmers I recommend black neons over neons. Black Neons school better, seem healthier etc. The standard neon tetras have a short life span as well. They'll only school when scared but when relaxed they're a cool fish to watch, its quite suprising when you see their personalities emerge under relaxed conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 whetu - how big are your clown loaches? 7years is a good stint for one of them aint it? I've never had them that long to see how much they would grow. Like cars, jobs, women and fishing gear, I have no issues trading them in other models / opportunities. Ok bit different with women now that I'm married :lol: :lol: I've had three of my loaches for seven years, two for four years and one itsy-bitsy recent acquisition. Interestingly one of the seven-year-olds is about 12 cm long, but the other two seven-year-olds and the two four-year-olds are about 9 to 10 cm long. So there is obviously individual variation in growth rates, and they also go through growth spurts rather than growing steadily. When I started they (the first 3) were in a two-foot tank. In a couple of years I got a three-footer and now I have them in a four-footer. In another couple of years I anticipate I will have to get them a six-foot tank. Sweetysmum on this forum has a clown loach that is 25 years old and about a foot long, so mine are just babies compared to hers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firenzenz Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 Clown Loaches live probably in excess ofr triple the time period you're talking and I've seen a school of 20cm ++- in Asia. They wont outgrow 120ltr for years. Need to have a group, same for Khuli's Dwarf chains stay smaller and also eat snails. I have angelicus loach which seem also to be slow growing. Harlequins are great mid level option- they will hold there always Tiger barbs-need numbers that then tend to take over, and nippy.I'd Flick them now for the sake of tank harmony IMO Rams- Agree, get the tank sorted and settled- need minimum 1/2 mtr of tank bottom for a pair . Maybe a heavily planted area of the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Totally agree bout black neons oh yea GREAT fish.. was gonna mention them myself.. and glowlights.. lovely combo. saw a tank once in jansens just full of about 100 black neons only.......incredible sight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zabman Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 I got 8 black phantom tetras a couple of weeks ago - think they are beautiful and exciting to watch - especially feeding time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Posted July 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Totally agree bout black neons oh yea GREAT fish.. was gonna mention them myself.. and glowlights.. lovely combo. saw a tank once in jansens just full of about 100 black neons only.......incredible sight Was tempted to grab some lastnight as well to join the other neons. Maybe a split of the two latter down the track? Added some plants as well, a selection of cheap plants from animates. No idea their names as they didnt have any shown. Any hints as how to help them grow and generally stay alive, just a matter of sticking them in the gravel and leave them to it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firenzenz Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Keep lights on during day, there are things like flourish etc to promote growth. Get the odd longer lasting plant( more expensive ones) to add to the others so when the cheap ones putter out or get a bit ropey they will grow up the the space Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Plants make every tank look better in my opinion. When I first started my tank up I put these fertiliser balls in the gravel that helps the plants that get the nutriunts (sp?) from the gravel and they were great and they lasted 6-8months I think it said on the box. If you have sword plants it will make it grow great mine was putting out 2-3 leaves a week but the BNs would always eat it :evil: and I threw it away in the end. For plants that get their nutriunts from the water you can use flourish but I only used mine twice so don't know if it does that much :roll: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Posted July 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Keep lights on during day, there are things like flourish etc to promote growth. Get the odd longer lasting plant( more expensive ones) to add to the others so when the cheap ones putter out or get a bit ropey they will grow up the the space Cheers, yep since the tank was set up the lights have been left on all day everyday (7am - 6-7pm) There are some stunning planted tanks on display here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Posted July 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Just got home and they are still all alive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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