Some Newbie no-nos

[memphis]

dont keep angels with neons? i have never heard of this, angels will live peacfully with neons IF they have a bog enough tank, but they wont eat neons just because they are there angels are terratorial and will fish any thing that gets in there side of the tank.
And betas will also live peacfully with angels, all this is tested by myself and my angels and DISCUS live peacfully with neons and a betta. all the rest of the information is good though.

is was wondering when i read the no no of no neons with angels. i just brought a complete setup and it came with neons and angels.

the lady i got it from did say that she had lots of neons but they died. i am a begginer so is it ok for me to buy my neons?

 

[rimmer 05]

i broke like 3 or 4 of those, i read wen i was a begginner to feed regularly on the food , and my tank soon turned green, and when i went to this fish store tht a firend recomended , he sed i tht i shu by atleast 3 fish at a time, which i guess is true on some basis , and i am currently overstoked, gettin rid now tho, lots goin to new homes/ lfs, and i also bought a "suckler loach" under the influence of information tht sed it clears up algae, algae was all over , and my other fish killed it because it got to agressive

 

[*Kristy*]

that is some great advice. throwing my PH level crap in the trash can NOW! only used it twice so far, no wait my hubby put it in his tank, still tho, bye bye PH stuff. also about the angel fish and the neon fish, hubby had a few neons in his tank and they all dissappeared, wonder if the angel ate them???

im starting to become over stocked with baby guppies, seems i have maybe 30 little ones if not more. i removed my males yesterday tho, hopefully this will help.

also we buy our stuff at a german fish store, so hopefully everything in that department is okay.

thank you for all the wonderful advice. i like the idea of having a QT too, makes alot of since.

 

[rob and vic]

Then ask them if you can take a sample of their water home with you to test. Pick a tank and take a sample. If it's reasonably close then there you go.

This is what you call a 'lightning bolt'!!!! I was aware of a lot of the points, others are perhaps common sense if you've read up. But WOW, this hadn't even crossed my mind!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you... For the biggest tip I have had yet in entering the world of tropicals. It just makes so much sense.

Rob

 

[teaker1s]

one word 'research' or repent at leisure, one book I like is Aquarium fish by dick mills
ISBN 0-7513-2726-3 which is handy reference and while it's not got every fish it's a good general reference guide

 

[dodge_c_uk]

I can completely agree about the low morals of your LFS. The guy in the shop knew my tank set up and still sold me a Silver Shark that was inapropriate for my tank. I should have been suspicious when I observed the same gent attempting to sell them to an enquiring customer.

I have of course learned my lesson since then concerning prior reserch, eg see the fish, like the fish, leave the fish shop

BTW Matthew Le Tisser (my bala shark) seems happy enough. Just hope i can re home him, in a tank of mine or some one elses when he grows a little.

 

[teaker1s]

buy a bigger filter than the minimum you need-particularly internal filters that flow drops off within days

 

[Ogrt48]

Neons are a natural food source for angels..so yeah, they'll be eaten quickly.
I hate neons though, so more power to the angels. <3

 

[Cheffi]

Here's a summary of a few more of your "Don'ts":


17. Don't turn your filter off for any longer than necessary as that may cause the beneficial bacteria to die off and a deadly spike of ammonia and nitrite in your tank. Particularly don't switch your filter off at night.

[/b]

What will happen if like the other evening we had a power cut and the power was off for around 6 hrs? I assume the bacteria will start to die but what is the solution other than get a generator?

 

[lljdma06]

Here's a few more:

Don't try and cram a gazillion species into a small tank. Keep the number of species to a minimum. A tank will look much better with proper schools/shoals of 2-3 species rather than the bare minimum of a gazillion. Gazillion will eventually be an actual number if the US's debt gets any higher! If you want more species, get a larger tank. I personally like 3 species per 20g, see below for the reason why. I'm talking slim-bodied, minimal waste-producing small fish. If your fish are bigger, then that's a different ballgame.

Don't purchase all your fish species to occupy one strata of the tank, instead try to find species that will occupy different levels. It makes for a more aesthetically pleasing tank and tankmates will not bother each other so much.

When you are setting up a planted tank, don't add your wonderful brand new upgraded lighting until your CO2 is at the level you want it too be. When it's there, then add lots and lots of fast-growing stem plants and then turn on your lights. You'll have less algae to deal with. Once your tank is stable and algae free, you can aquascape the way you want.

Don't plant anubias or java fern all the way into the substrate. These plants have rhizomes and if water circulation is cut from the rhizome, it'll rot and your plant will die. You can cover the roots, but leave the rhizome above the substrate. Better still, attach these plants to rocks or wood.

Don't move cryptocorynes around too much in your planted tank. They don't like to be disturbed and they could melt on you. This is called cryptocoryne disease.

Now, don't toss a melted cryptocoryne right away, most of the time, if the roots aren't too badly damaged or shocked from the move, they'll grow back right as rain in a few weeks.

Of course, you are welcome to disagree with anything posted here. I am definitely not the be all and end all of tropical fish keeping.

 

[fishie_bird]

I agree and dissagree with a lot of these, like dont belive the ppl at the LFS, well then WHO will they belive, some person they met on the internet??? no, and the crap of "dont buy fish from chain pet stores" well no, I buy a LOT of my fish at petsmart... and it just so happends I whant to work their and specialize in the fish and birds section... at petsmart, I rarely have to take a fish back, ......and I do agree with the angel fish in the 10 gall though , I made that mistake, that was the first thing I did, after I got a betta, I put 2 angels in a 10gall tank...luckly, they were fine they were put in a like...120 gall planted ect.... and the thing about angels and neons, NOT TRUE, I kept angels and neons together, now a no no is not to keep neons and KILLIES together, ........ and also FEMALE bettas should be kept away from fish with long fins, such as guppys....and neons they LOVE to eat neons...

 

[ScoutCarcer]

Ive broken 1, 2, 3, 5, and 16

 

[andywg]

As this is a pin (albeit an old one) in the FAQ section, maybe some of the things need to be sorted out...

1) Don't clean out bio-media in tap water - yes, but mechanical (and mechanical only) is fine under the tap - my filter floss in my wet/dry trickle towers will ONLY come clean under the shower on full bore. The mechanical media is not there to support bacteris colonies, it is there to remove detritus fromt he water column before the bacteria can break it down and make it a nitrate factory.

6) Unless you have a UGF, most of your bacteria will be on the bio-media of your filter so extensive cleaning of the gravel should not be a problem.

7) Plants prefer to take up ammonia than nitrate, so I would not be surprised if nitrite is a preferred fertiliser than nitrate as well. However, it is important to get them right as one is toxic merely by being present,a nd the other has had no noticeable effects on fish in scientific experiments at concentrations of less than 100 ppm.

12) There is no evidence that salt burns the skin of corries (or plecos, or loaches or any other salt intolerant fish). This article: http/www.scotcat.com/articles/article84.htm goes into some detail on why catfish are not allergic to salt [credit for first putting the article on this forum goes to NMonks]. The reason for not putting salt in is because it can upset the osmoregulatory system of the fish. The only way to burn them would be to add undissolved salt, which WILL cause problems with any live creatures in a tank.

 

[1trueblue]

hi i have a 4gallon tank the tank is fully recycled in tank i have 3 fish and 1 zebra sucker should i stay at that or could u advise me on
1. how many fish i could have in tank
2. which fish i could add too tank
my tank is cold water but also i have large pump fluvalplus 2.any advice would be welcome.

[email protected]

 

[starrynightxxi]

um... okay, you can't have anymore fish in that tank, you should definately not have the plec in that tank, and you probably shouldn't have the other fish in the tank. however for future reference you can't just say you have four fish and ask advice on stocking as we need to what sort of fish they are. You can't just throw fish together randomly and assume they are going to get along, and in four gallons, very few fish are going to get along (unless they are dying which they may well be.)

So i would suggest that you ID the other three fish, and also the species of "sucker fish". You definately need a bigger tank. Pretty much the only suitable fish for that tank is one betta. i would suggest going to tropical chit chat if you want more advice as this isn't really the place.