Hi I'm new here

[Hilary]

First of all I'd like to say, I love Kiwi humour! This would be the biggest thing I have missed about NZ since moving to Aus. 2.5 years ago.

I started keeping fish a few months ago, before that I totally wasn't interested in the 5 gouramis and 2 corys my husband was guilted into taking on by a family member. He wasn't taught much of anything about keeping fish, like cleaning out the tank etc. He did his best with them but over those 2 yrs 2 of the gouramis died, 1 just disappeared and the other one died from what I now think was fish TB, and one of the corys died of unknown causes. It never occurred to us to look on the Net for fish info and help. It hit me one day that we owed it to these fish to actually look after them, not just keep them.

I decided to get a new tank and new fish friends for them and do whatever I could to make them happy. My husband gave me the go-ahead and now we have 72 fish. I research the fish before buying them so I know what sort of things to expect and how to care for them. We are really enjoying our fish now.

We have:

6 litre (1.5 gal) divided: empty ATM (had 2 bettas in it but felt sorry for them)

11 litre(3 gal): 8 guppy fry I am babysitting for my sister who doesn't have accommodation for them yet.

11 litre(3 gal): 1 male betta splendens

76 litre (20 gal): 15 neon tetras, 6 x-ray (pristella) tetras, 5 zebra danios, 5 leopard danios, 4 kulhii loaches (1 black), 2 bristlenose catfish, 4 corys, 2 dwarf gouramis, 1 male betta splendens, 5 rainbowfish. Dwarfs and rainbows were moved here from big tank this week to make room for new bala.

190 litre (50 gal): 10 tiger barbs (5 albino), 2 angels, 2 silver dollars, 3 bala sharks (2 small, 1 6-7inch), 1 pearl gourami, 1 3-spot gourami, 1 golden gourami, 2 bristlenose catfish

We will be getting a bigger tank within the next couple of weeks but don't know how big to get - any suggestions? The only fish that is big ATM is the one bala we were given unexpectedly(?) last week. The other fish are all small and growing, except the pearl, 3-spot and golden gouramis and one of the corys, these four are about 6ish years old. I have decided to use AquaClear 500's on this new tank, how many would I need for it? I plan on moving everyone up a tank, would this work? Both communities are getting along fine so far. I am thinking of using the 76 litre tank as a hospital tank.

Any suggestions and advice would be much appreciated.

[Caryl]

Hi Hilary and welcome to the fishroom. I would have thought Aussie and kiwi humour to be similar enough for you not to miss it :roll:

Your tanks seem very heavily stocked to me. I hope you do regular water changes and have plenty of filtration.

As to a new tank - always get the biggest you have room for and can afford (and the floor can support). You can never have too much tank!! :lol:

Keep an eye on the larger shark and make sure he doesn't bully the smaller ones.

That 6 litre tank would make a good hospital/quarantine tank when required.

Quite a few of us are in the chat room every night from 8.30 - 9pm our time so pop in and say Hi sometime 8)

[Pegasus]

My diagnosis is that you are truly and utterly addicted, and the only cure is more tanks.. (the bigger the better of course).. .. but watch those fish levels, and keep up with the water changes.

Welcome Hilary... Really great to see you here, and hope you can post some pics when you get time.

[Hilary]

Caryl

Your tanks seem very heavily stocked to me. I hope you do regular water changes and have plenty of filtration.

As to a new tank - always get the biggest you have room for and can afford (and the floor can support). You can never have too much tank!!

Yes I know they are full at the moment, I do 20-30% weekly water changes, I am currently running an AquaClear 500 on the big tank, a Nathura PF1 on the 76L and an air pump running small filters on the two small tanks. What would you suggest as a minimum tank size to get? My lfs said a 6ft would be fine for the balas and his tankmates. Does this sound right? We have concrete floors so no problem with support.

Pegasus,

thank you for your wise diagnosis, you're absolutely right

I really need to find out what size tank to get soon so I can buy one hopefully this weekend.

[Caryl]

Sharks need lots of swimming space so the longer the tank the better so they have room to cruise. A 6ft sounds good to me (for a start :lol: )

I would be more inclined to use external canister filters rather than the AquaClears on larger tanks though. I have an AquaClear 500 running on my 4ft tank but it is usually supported by a Shark internal or another external canister filter like a Fluval 404 or, more recently, a Jebo 819.

[Pegasus]

Hi again Hilary,

Can't "really" advise you on what tank you should or shouldn't get.. but you said above...

I started keeping fish a few months ago, before that I totally wasn't interested

... so it may be time to sit back and take a long look at what you have and where your interests are going to be focused twelve months from now.

As above... you certainly have the bug... but this is normal, and your eagerness to get more tanks is just part of the addiction, but not always the answer.

The fact that you are pretty new to all this makes me wonder (JMO) that you may be just rushing things too much, and that it may be better to exchange some of your stock for something more suited to the equipment you have at present... until such times as you are fully confident with all the ups and downs of fishkeeping.

Again... (JMO).. but we see so many who rush head first into this hobby, then come crashing down when things begin to go wrong... and this can happen in "hours".... not days or months.

Hope that this doesn't sound too negative, but it is only mentioned to save you some heartbreak later on.

Bill.

[Hilary]

Pegasus,

I didn't like reading the truth in your post but I appreciate your comments and concern, you have made some good points there.

A few years ago my daughter, then around 10yrs old, was constantly nagging me to let her have a cat. I didn't want one so for about a year I kept saying no. Finally I gave in and took her to the SPCA to see what they had, we took two cats home that day (they were brothers and had to be adopted to the same family). I thought, 'what am I thinking? I didn't want any cats before this.' My daughter is now 15yrs old and we wouldn't be without our very loved cats. Basically, I'm the sort of person who doesn't realise what I've been missing until I get it, then I wonder why I didn't get it so much sooner. I am a Christian and in the same way I believe God matches children with their parents, I believe He also he does that with our pets.

I also know my limits and only want one more tank right now so my balas, etc will be happy. This will fix the overcrowding problem too. I hope this isn't too much rambling.

Caryl,

I will look into canister filters, I haven't done much research on them as I have heard bad things about the reliability of Fluvals. Is it true that with canister filters you don't need as high flow rate? I have been looking at 6-8 footers second-hand, 8ft would probably be my upper limit for the space I have for the new tank to go in.

[Caryl]

Well Imust admit my Fluval 404's have been annoying me. I recently purchased a Jebo 819 but have not had it long enough (1 week) to give it a fair evaluation but so far it is very good and quiet. I have to touch it to feel the vibration to make sure it is actually running!

Many people swear by Eheims. Just avoid their wet/dry filters. Eheims are a lot dearer than others.

[Snowman]

Hi Hillary , i use Eheim 2213 cannister filters in my tanks and have been very impressed by them , they are slightly dearer than some other filters but seem to last forever , have even had guppies & swordtail babies survive for 2 mths in the bottom after being sucked up by the intake LOL

[Hilary]

Hi Guys

thanks for the info about your filters. I think I'll see how theAquaclear goes for a while, the only complaint I have about it is that it ate Gary, my applesnail. We found him the other day, partially sucked into the intake pipe grill thing. Otherwise it seems to be doing the job well.

[Caryl]

I am sure Gary was unwell before being sucked up the filter. That would have been a consequence of his illness or death, the filter would not have done it if we was well and alive as they don't have that much suck.

[DiverJohn]

HI Hilary,

Sharks are kewl eh?? I have got 2 (aprox 8" each) in my 1.1m tank. Also in there are 7 Gold Barbs, 20 Harlequins, A pleco, and 5 catfish of various sizes. Oh and 6 Kulhi loaches that I never see :-? . It is quite heavily planted and my sharks are actually spending alot of time just chillin in the background - would you belive they can actually hide in the plants? Anyway in total my tank is about 250l and I think its too small for my sharks. I dont think its over crowed, but i am certainly not going to go putting 50 neons in there!! I run an Eheim 2226 Pro II. I think it would be fair to say you cant have too much filtration.

I've been keeping fish almost 1 year now. And have already purchased another tank, its 5x2x2 (about 550l). I am looking at having between 2000-2500 litre per hour of filtration on the new tank. How i accomplish that is another matter

When I get the new carpet, the new tank goes in. Hope my fishies appreciate it!! My sis- in -law came ova the other night, with the two sharks hiding in the corner she asked "What are those two up to?"