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FishCat_16
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I haven't posted a picture of the tank recently. Akasha- I finally got that black background and it makes a world of difference!
Return My New Tank?
- Thread starter FishCat_16
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I haven't posted a picture of the tank recently. Akasha- I finally got that black background and it makes a world of difference!
it does make a big difference! Your plants really stand out now.
I've not kept Ellioti's so I don't feel confident advising on them. They are a lovely fish though. The Bolivian ram I do believe is a little more easy going and that's why I'd recommend them. They are a very good cichlid for the beginner as they are so laid back in comparison to some of the others. Other easy going cichlids are the keyhole cichlid and laeatacara curviceps. Curviceps does like it very soft though which is why I've not recommended them.
I've just had a read about keyhole cichlids and they are fussy (I knew them to be a very shy species) and it does say not to add them to an immature aquarium - which yours is so they are probably off the list. Here's what it says though in case you want to read it yourself
http
/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/cleithracara-maronii/
I've not kept Ellioti's so I don't feel confident advising on them. They are a lovely fish though. The Bolivian ram I do believe is a little more easy going and that's why I'd recommend them. They are a very good cichlid for the beginner as they are so laid back in comparison to some of the others. Other easy going cichlids are the keyhole cichlid and laeatacara curviceps. Curviceps does like it very soft though which is why I've not recommended them.
I've just had a read about keyhole cichlids and they are fussy (I knew them to be a very shy species) and it does say not to add them to an immature aquarium - which yours is so they are probably off the list. Here's what it says though in case you want to read it yourself
http
/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/cleithracara-maronii/
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FishCat_16
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I read about the curviceps after I read about your guy you recently lost. Too bad my water isn't soft enough- they are a good looking fish.
It seems like there are quite a lot of species that are inadvisable to add to an immature tank. Even the rams I think I saw somewhere advising not to... how do I know when I no longer have that? Are there certain things to look for or is just after a given amount of time.. say 6 months, or whatever length, that it must be up and running and stocked with fish?
It seems like there are quite a lot of species that are inadvisable to add to an immature tank. Even the rams I think I saw somewhere advising not to... how do I know when I no longer have that? Are there certain things to look for or is just after a given amount of time.. say 6 months, or whatever length, that it must be up and running and stocked with fish?
well your tank is cycled now so I'd say a couple of months. I thought about it later and I wondered if what they are meaning is for people who do fish in cycles. Some fish are really sensitive to bad water - which is what you get when you fish-in cycle and I'm now wondering if that is where the comment of 'immature tanks' is stemming from.
When I got my rams I got curviceps around the same time. Both went into my Rekord 800 which was nearly 3ft long. Then I got the chance of a 4ft tank (Rio 180) and I jumped at it. I moved all my fish into that tank straight away and within weeks they were breeding. I think you need to take that comment with a pinch of salt. I think though that curviceps and the keyhole would need the tank to have more plants as they are very shy and need places to hide. The ram is a little more confident in nature and so would do better - same with the ellioti from my brief knowledge of them
When I got my rams I got curviceps around the same time. Both went into my Rekord 800 which was nearly 3ft long. Then I got the chance of a 4ft tank (Rio 180) and I jumped at it. I moved all my fish into that tank straight away and within weeks they were breeding. I think you need to take that comment with a pinch of salt. I think though that curviceps and the keyhole would need the tank to have more plants as they are very shy and need places to hide. The ram is a little more confident in nature and so would do better - same with the ellioti from my brief knowledge of them
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FishCat_16
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Akasha72 said:well your tank is cycled now so I'd say a couple of months. I thought about it later and I wondered if what they are meaning is for people who do fish in cycles. Some fish are really sensitive to bad water - which is what you get when you fish-in cycle and I'm now wondering if that is where the comment of 'immature tanks' is stemming from.
This is what I have wondered if that's what they meant. I'll put some other hopefully hardier fish in there and make sure bacteria are still up snuff.
When I got my rams I got curviceps around the same time. Both went into my Rekord 800 which was nearly 3ft long. Then I got the chance of a 4ft tank (Rio 180) and I jumped at it. I moved all my fish into that tank straight away and within weeks they were breeding. I think you need to take that comment with a pinch of salt. I think though that curviceps and the keyhole would need the tank to have more plants as they are very shy and need places to hide. The ram is a little more confident in nature and so would do better - same with the ellioti from my brief knowledge of them
I'm hoping that this is just a starting point for my plants. They seem to be kind of hard to come by around here. The LFS hasn't restocked any since I cleaned them out almost a month ago and petsmart only carries small plastic containers with small plants. I've started fertilizing them now so we'll see what happened. I didn't while I was cycling since I wasn't sure if the nitrogen in the fertilizer would affect how the cycle progressed... I already tinkered with it more than just a straightforward fishless cycle, I didn't want one more thing to worry about. I'm going to have to order from the internet I think.
I've read the rams are fairly confident in a group and especially with schools of smaller fish in higher levels of the water column since they act as a cue that all is safe. Hopefully yhr CPDs will serve that purpose for them
Now, to keep the bloody cat off the glass cover!
the plants will grow once they get their roots established. If you are adding ferts that will help, so will co2 - the liquid stuff is fine. I use easycarbo myself and find it very good.
As for fish feeling confident. Some fish need what is termed as 'dither fish'. These are the schools and shoals of things like tetra's and harlequins ... any fish that either schools or shoals really. I moved my angel pair into a tank on their own and they didn't do well, in fact the male became rather depressed. Once I moved them back to the main tank with the tetra's and harlequins they perked back up. They needed the dither fish to feel safe. Curviceps was the same. I would bet that the rams would need them too although I never tried keeping them alone.
As for fish feeling confident. Some fish need what is termed as 'dither fish'. These are the schools and shoals of things like tetra's and harlequins ... any fish that either schools or shoals really. I moved my angel pair into a tank on their own and they didn't do well, in fact the male became rather depressed. Once I moved them back to the main tank with the tetra's and harlequins they perked back up. They needed the dither fish to feel safe. Curviceps was the same. I would bet that the rams would need them too although I never tried keeping them alone.
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FishCat_16
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Yep, I have a liquid CO2 as well. I think it's API CO2 Boost.. it's the only one I could find at Petsmart. The LFS didn't have any and neither did the other pet shop I checked. I started using Flourish for my fertilizer.. again, that's all any of the shops had. I'm heading back to my home town on Wednesday for a couple of days and we have a really big fish shop there. I'm going to go in and see what they have. Maybe pick up some more plants.
I'm sick of these snails. I can't wait for my assassins to get here. I have three little conical ones that I like. But these other things are horrible! And they're everywhere! I think they're starting to eat my plants.
I'm sick of these snails. I can't wait for my assassins to get here. I have three little conical ones that I like. But these other things are horrible! And they're everywhere! I think they're starting to eat my plants.
when you get more plants run some warm water into a bucket (not too hot, about luke warm) and add some table salt to it. Then you can pop your plants into the bucket and soak them for about half an hour. Once the time is up rinse the plants really well under running water and then you can add them to the tank. The salt water should kill any snails and snail eggs too, that way you don't add any more snails
Some snails are good to have - malaysian trumpet snails are good to have as they turn the sand for you which releases any gases that can build up and they'll also eat some types of algae without eating the plants. These are cones shaped snails. Ramshorn snails are also okay to have and I don't believe they eat plants either. The problem is that now you've got an assassin snail you'll not be able to keep snails now as he'll eat any he comes across. Even larger snails such as nerites will be potential victims
Some snails are good to have - malaysian trumpet snails are good to have as they turn the sand for you which releases any gases that can build up and they'll also eat some types of algae without eating the plants. These are cones shaped snails. Ramshorn snails are also okay to have and I don't believe they eat plants either. The problem is that now you've got an assassin snail you'll not be able to keep snails now as he'll eat any he comes across. Even larger snails such as nerites will be potential victims
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FishCat_16
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Yeah, I did the salt bath on the first batch. But the second batch of plants the gal was just grabbing and stuffing... I ended up with plants I didn't ask for and I have no idea what they are but since I started the ferts and CO2, they are growing like crazy, so I guess that's good. Anyway, with the grabbing and stuffing I was so afraid she managed to get some fry in with the plants that I didn't want to salt bath baby fish so I bypassed that step. I had figured if they were in there I could have brought them back to the shop at least and they could have gone into their tank again. But alas, no baby fish... only baby snails.
If it comes down to it with the assassin, I have a small five gallon that I can set up and put him in and feed separately if I want to put in some MTS or need his services again since these little buggers are everywhere.
I just disassembled my filter for the first time... not completely, I wasn't sure how to get the bottom tubing off so I just siphoned out what water I could and rinsed my pads in some tank water. It's making a strange noise... not rattling or anything. Almost like air escaping. Some air did purge after I got it back together and primed before I turned it back on. If I press on the top of it lightly, it stops. I'm thinking maybe I got a defective o-ring. The pump and all that itself is still just as quiet as could be. But this new noise is super aggravating.
If it comes down to it with the assassin, I have a small five gallon that I can set up and put him in and feed separately if I want to put in some MTS or need his services again since these little buggers are everywhere.
I just disassembled my filter for the first time... not completely, I wasn't sure how to get the bottom tubing off so I just siphoned out what water I could and rinsed my pads in some tank water. It's making a strange noise... not rattling or anything. Almost like air escaping. Some air did purge after I got it back together and primed before I turned it back on. If I press on the top of it lightly, it stops. I'm thinking maybe I got a defective o-ring. The pump and all that itself is still just as quiet as could be. But this new noise is super aggravating.
is it an external filter? If so try tilting it gently from side to side - this helps to release the air. It's perfectly normal to get some air with externals and it normally expells itself within about an hour 
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FishCat_16
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Yeah, it's an eheim canister. I tried the tilting business this morning before I took it apart. I'm pretty sure the noise is actually coming from the hose connection to the outflow bar.
So, I'm testing out the pandas. All of the sites I've read, my hardness is at the upper end, but not yet at or beyond their tolerance limit. I've found some conflicting business on pH, some showing up to 7.4, others 7.5, and yet more all the way to 8. I'm at about 7.8 in the tank. These little things are busy, busy, busy. I did not feed them after acclimating them... they look like they are all going up and down and back and forth on the glass after the baby snails that are all over the place. Please, please, please let it be so! They also really seem to like the little caves I built in there. I'll have to go for a walk and collect some more rocks to build more.
So, I'm testing out the pandas. All of the sites I've read, my hardness is at the upper end, but not yet at or beyond their tolerance limit. I've found some conflicting business on pH, some showing up to 7.4, others 7.5, and yet more all the way to 8. I'm at about 7.8 in the tank. These little things are busy, busy, busy. I did not feed them after acclimating them... they look like they are all going up and down and back and forth on the glass after the baby snails that are all over the place. Please, please, please let it be so! They also really seem to like the little caves I built in there. I'll have to go for a walk and collect some more rocks to build more.
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FishCat_16
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I can't get over how busy they are... all over the entire tank... top to bottom and back and forth. I fed them this morning, sinking pellets, but they didn't really seem interested in them. I'm hoping it's because they gorged themselves on snailings but it's probably more down to adjusting to the new digs and new chow.
Once I get the lights on, I guess I should try to gravel vac that stuff out before my other fish arrive this afternoon. I'd like to clear out some more of the snail poo too.
Nick- I read the rams are pretty chill little fish and are safe with other smaller fishes like tetras, rasboras, and danios. I don't think I've seen them be shrimp safe except some with ghost shrimp.
Once I get the lights on, I guess I should try to gravel vac that stuff out before my other fish arrive this afternoon. I'd like to clear out some more of the snail poo too.
Nick- I read the rams are pretty chill little fish and are safe with other smaller fishes like tetras, rasboras, and danios. I don't think I've seen them be shrimp safe except some with ghost shrimp.
cories won't eat snails - not sure where you've been told that they will but they won't. You'll need to feed them a good quality sinking pellet, they will also take things like bloodworms, artemia and other meaty types of food.
It's perfectly normal to see them zooming around as you have. It means they are happy and are playing. You'll probably hear them squeak too from time to time - this is also normal. How many have you got and are they all panda cories?
It's perfectly normal to see them zooming around as you have. It means they are happy and are playing. You'll probably hear them squeak too from time to time - this is also normal. How many have you got and are they all panda cories?
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