Hi there new to this forum, was introduced by a friend. Not sure how to use it at present, but I'm sure it won't take too long!

Just a little about myself....I'm new to aquaria, saw a small fish tank with an undergravel filter, gravel and an air pump for a really cheap price and thought why not? Needles to say, a hundred dollars later including two fish, it ended up being a huge waste of time and money! the two fish died within 12 hours or purchase. I had gotten everything needed, including cycle, alkaline remover, fish food, chlorine remover etc. I followed all the instructions of the pet shop and fish after fish died and died. I managed to get some fish to survive longer than the rest, fish such as the peppered corydoras seemed to be hardier than even the tetras. Despite money quickly depleting, I decided to upgrade and keep the existing fish I had, two guppies, and two peppered catfish and bought a 3 ft tank, brand new power filter ( L/hr) and got rid of my undergravel filter. I noticed the water was not clear even in my small tank and disturbing the gravel made it worse even though i was feeding very minute amounts of food to the fish. It worked! the combination of small amounts of fish and a good filtration system worked. Now I have 38+ fish in my tank and there is a beautiful symbiosis created between the species and they are surviving with no problem. It may be a little crowded but the fish are small and there's lots of room. I just bought a common pleco which i'm sure will get large later on, but I'm not sure what type he is. The pet shop wasn't much help apart from knowing it was a plecostomus. It is white and black, and greyish which zebra type markings. It may be a hypostamus but I'm not sure, anyone have a clue?

Hi and welcome Chim Chim. The common plec, Hypostomus plecostomus, is brown with mottled markings and grows up to 60cm.

There are plecs called zebra plecs but they cost big bucks.

Hiya, glad to have ya here, you'll learn lots here, sorry to hear you had a rough start.....seems to happen alot!

Yes welcome, this is certainly the place to learn about fish keeping.

Just beware though, certain people here seem to be carriers of the multiple tank syndrome and its very contagious :lol: :lol: :lol:

So far I've only had a mild infection but some others have got it real bad.

Cheers

Jude

hey thanks for the reply. Do you think it could be a zebra plec? The shop people are very young and don't really know much about fish, they had a few different plecs there all lumped under one price and one sign saying plecostomus. Are there any other common types that have the same description as I said? Thanks]

If you had a zebra plec... you would know by now (because half the FNZAS would be hassling you lol)

nahh.. zebras look like this and are rather (read stupidly!) expensive

Very very cool though

Anyways, welcome

Very cool indeed! What a groovy fish! Love the plecs (while small...ugly suckers when they get beyond 6 inches!) also love the corydoras. Welcome to the site and good luck with your fish keeping

hi there chim chim

welcome to the site

Yes thanks, definitely not a zebra plec. Everyone here is so friendly. Thanks for the welcome everyone.

Is there a possibility that my male siamese fighter can eat two male fantailed guppies also male?

Hi Chim Chim...and WELCOME!

I'm a newbie and EVERYONE here has been just fantastic helping!

Almost makes me want to move to New Zealand

Sometimes I find it hard to absorb all the info...but the people are so patient and kind...would be lost without them!

Take care!