Regular Member Migaloo Posted December 3, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 First of all I just want to thank everyone for all their suggestions and advice in my "thinking of going tropical" thread! Thank you so so much guys! Without you I would never have found these wonderful little fish to set my tropical community tank up with! Apart from feeling excited, I actually feel a little angry with myself. I dont know what came over me today. I just went in to buy a few corys and next thing I knew I came home with all these fish! I just hope my tank handles the bioload! Looks like I'll be testing the water twice a day for a while to make sure!... I'm dont really forsee a great problem as and I can easily keep it under control with water changes (daily if I have to).... but still, I feel a little aprehensive! Did I get too many? 2 dwarf gouramis - am trying out to see how two go together re aggression - they are quite spectacular little things! 5 Blue Rams - I only wanted 4, but there were only 5 in the shop tank. I felt sorry to leave just one there all alone. 2x albino corys and 2x other cories (dont know what they're called)- these are all tiny - smaller than my guppies!! The white ones just seem to forrage, but the spotty/stripy ones are soooo active all over the tank and they already stop at the glass to say hello to me!! They are mega adorable and super playful! My OH says "I love those little dudes!" And 4x Balloon Mollies - these guys were very shy for the first few hours hiding behind the filter, but now they have come around and are swimming around the tank! A group shot after I dropped in an algea wafer!... All those beautiful colours! And of course the token cat photo - he finds the tropicals much more interesting than the goldies and gets a perfect viwing spot from the top of my piano!! I also wanted to add... I dont think I will end up with enough room for discus so will have to rule them out at this stage. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sasha Posted December 3, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 oh wow what great fish. my dad had a tropical fish tank years ago when i was little, we named everyfish in the tank. x 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Hidr Posted December 3, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 Lovely with luck you'll get a pair with all those rams. But you well need to rehome the rest cause once they pair up they may start to bully the others. Also need lots of hiding places your rams well like them and you have two male gouramis and they are known for fighting if not enough places to get away. Looking good. Good luck. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Migaloo Posted December 3, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 Thanks guys! There are already alot of nooks, crannies, caves and hiding places in the tank. Its 'reasonably' heavily planted (with silk plants), but I will be adding more plants and 'stuff' to it as I find it... Hopefully this will help with any aggression - I guess its just a matter of keeing a close eye and dealing with any issues as they arise, but my fingers are crossed! A have actually been looking for some really tall plants but havent found any yet (the tank is 2 foot deep with water... anyway... its still a work in progress! LOL - I can see the reflecion of my recap oranda in this photo! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sasha Posted December 3, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 can i just ask ,i no its off topic ,but some of you have nothing int th bottom of your tanks ,eg gravel. why is that, is it better. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Captain Findus Goldfish Posted December 3, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 can i just ask ,i no its off topic ,but some of you have nothing int th bottom of your tanks ,eg gravel. why is that, is it better. that is especially recommended for goldies because they are so dirty and sensitive to bacteria at the same time It keeps the tank much more sanitary. Migaloo I LOVE YOUR TANK!!!! I love the decoration and the fish you chose! What AWESOME colors! Are you going to be getting a pleco too? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Migaloo Posted December 3, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 Barebottom is much easier to keep clean - the dirt doesnt get stuck in between the gravel and cause nasty bacteria! However, its personal preference really. I personally like to have a substrate for display tanks, but I only keep a thin layer - enough to bury the plants in - and I dont mind vacuuming it at all My QT tank is kept barebottom though, and I am finding this so easy! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Migaloo Posted December 3, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 can i just ask ,i no its off topic ,but some of you have nothing int th bottom of your tanks ,eg gravel. why is that, is it better. that is especially recommended for goldies because they are so dirty and sensitive to bacteria at the same time It keeps the tank much more sanitary. Migaloo I LOVE YOUR TANK!!!! I love the decoration and the fish you chose! What AWESOME colors! Are you going to be getting a pleco too? Thanks! Captain Findus! I was thinking of getting a peppermint bristlenose and/or a longfin bristlenose... however, I saw these borneo suckers today and they looked pretty awesome and dont grow big, but yes, there will be some sort of small type of pleco in there. I need to research the borneos 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member johann_pond Posted December 3, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 Very nice set up, the tank looks great. I would keep checking the water twice a day for a while. Adding that many fish at one time will cause an ammonia spike for sure. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Kateana Posted December 3, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 Nice choices and pretty setup Migaloo! I think my favorites are the Gouramis and the Rams. I hope the two Gouramis coexist well for you. I also like your spotted Cory, he's really beautiful. It's a shame you had to x out the Discus. I've been wanting some for quite some time now, and now that my new homes tap pH is 6.2 or so, I may just be able to start on that dream trop tank! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Migaloo Posted December 3, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 J-Pond - that's exactly what Im worried about! I only pray that because the fish are so small and water volume is large it wont be too bad! But yes... I'm certainly going to make sure my params are spot on twice a day! Kateana - I will have to live vicariously through your discus! You should so do it!!! Discus are awesome! Do it do it do it!! I really just dont think ther'll be room for them. From what Ive read (I joined a discus forum to learn basic stuff about them LOL) Aparantly they do best in groups of 5 or more and recommended is 1 discus per 10 gal as good general rule. I thought I might be able to have 4, but I dont really know if its possible. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Kateana Posted December 3, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 I'm seriously considering it! Of course, now I'm all excited and I'll probably end up browsing Discus info all the day long... Yeah, I was planning on having 5. More if I can get away with it though. Properly, I should add. I don't want to dabble in overstocking. Now I've got the Discus bug again! This hobby is killer on my wallet... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Migaloo Posted December 3, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 Tell me about it... and discus fish aren't cheap either! The forum I was reading is called Simply Discus - seems very friendly and informative. You dont need to join to read it - I had a really good read through, but never posted. It seems like with everything else, there are varying schools of thought - I think as long as the fish are happy and healthy and free to reach potential then thats all that matters! Cant wait to see the pics of your new discus!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member kazaba Posted December 3, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 Wow, very beautiful fish! I love all of them, but I think the blue rams are my favorite.. Also, pretty kitty!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Kateana Posted December 3, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 Oh I know. My two choices of purchasing are either by Aquabid or Rocky Mountain Discus. It will depend soley on how much cash I have on me at that time. Aquabid is cheaper but does'nt have the increadible array of colors and quality that RMD offers. I don't know which way I'll turn for sure at this point, though I'm leaning towards the more expensive one, because of all the lovely varieties they have to offer. My poor, poor wallet. This whole fish-keeping thing is so addictive. You'll certainly know whenever it is that I get my hands on some! There will be pitures EVERYWHERE. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member number20121 Posted December 3, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 Lovely, I especially love the gouramis! They were my favorite fish when I was little and I always wanted to get a tank full of them I also love the variety with colors, but Hidr might be right. They are both male so there will be trouble. I have two of the blue ones and luckily they are a boy and a girl. You can tell by the colors of the male being more intensive; with the blue ones I have it shows the tip of the tail fin has an orange border. The male's is a lot deeper in color, the girl's a lot paler. How many gallons is the tank? I wonder if adding a few female gouramis instead of the rams (I don't know anything about them but Hidr knows a lot about tropical tanks, so I take her word for it) will help with this problem 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member CatfishSoup Posted December 3, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 3, 2010 i had dwarf gourami's they are prretty cool looking fish. as for discus, it would be cool, but they do get big maybe down the road it seems for you.. and for me XD i wanna see some shots of the whole tank! looks great i love my tropical tank. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Migaloo Posted December 4, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 4, 2010 (edited) Well after the first night I woke up to find everyone happily and busily going about their business! Ammonia 0, NitrI 0 and NitrA <5.... PERFECT!!! But there is a problem.... I cant find my yellow baloon molly anywhere! Yesterday he was the shyest of the lot and came out for only a little bit to have a bite to eat. He could just be hiding extremely well... but I think I'll have to pull the tank apart in case he has died... Fang the tank is 66 Gallon... plenty of room for everyone! Edited December 4, 2010 by Migaloo 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Migaloo Posted December 4, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 4, 2010 Nevermind! I found him, but he's not active like the others 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member number20121 Posted December 4, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 4, 2010 With that big of a tank you might just give the female gouramis a try. I keep reading that they are less aggressive when kept in groups. It CAN work out with these two though as the tank is large, and if you have lots of plants. I also think you are far from overstocked. A Discus will be too big though, maybe you want to get sine pretty angelfish instead then? I'm starting to love them since we got that one. And I SWEAR, this fish teleports herself from one corner of the tank to another! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Migaloo Posted December 4, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 4, 2010 Oh no, I wasnt worried about being overstocked, I was just worried about adding too many fish at once! I was still planing to add a small school of cardinal tetras and a couple of panda corys and a small pleco or two. Since the discus are out, I would love an angel (or two if possible), although not sure how they would work with the smaller fish.... hmmmm.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member number20121 Posted December 4, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 4, 2010 They say no fish that fit in their mouth. I think cardinal tetras grow larger than neons, so they might actually be fine. Ok, I just looked it up. I read that it depends on the age of the fish: adult angelfish + young cardinals: angelfish will most likely (try to) eat them adult angelfish + adult cardinals: cardinals might be too big and fast to be eaten young angelfish + any size cardinals: cardinals are much too big to be eaten, and the angelfish might not ever eat cardinals even when he grows adult and small tetras are added. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Migaloo Posted December 4, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 4, 2010 I was originally planning neons, therefore immediately disregarded the angels - but since cardinals are a deeper bodied fish, I think I should definitely revisit idea - they would be awesome! - Thanks Fang!.... Thanks again to all for sharing in my journey into the tropical world! Here's a short video of all the goings on in the tank if anyone's interested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk3RoIBDjJM 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Kateana Posted December 4, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 4, 2010 Videos are always welcome!! 'Gotta love the Corys, always darting about. There sure is alot of action in your aquarium! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member arabpaso Posted December 4, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted December 4, 2010 Your tank and fish look great so far--good job!! Your spotted cories are called "Sterbai" cories--here's a link with some info about them. http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Corydoras&species=sterbai#11 It should also be noted that most cories don't tolerate salt very well so if you ever need to salt your tank the cories should be removed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.