15g - Welcome To Platyville

[the420buzz]

Hey everyone, just finished re-stocking my 15g after returning two fish that would outgrow it horribly, and decided to stock up on some platties after previously having 3 in my 5g. Just wanted to post some pictures, and hopefully figure out what types of platy I picked up in my assorted batch. Also, after getting around to counting the males and females, I unfortunatly ended up with a slightly bad ratio - 5 females, 6 males. I'll see how they get along for a bit but I'll probably need to do something about that. If anyone could please help identify the types of platties who's names are in red, I'd be greatly appreciative! I'll update them as I find them out So lets get to it. (Note that some pictures of fish may only have one fish in the shot, but the amount of them is listed next to the name of the fish)(Also, sorry about some of the quality of the pics, my cameras not the best. I'm still trying to figure out the right settings, and only after I took these did I stumble across the thread that was pinned.)

And before it's mentioned, I know it's slightly, if not a bit more than slightly, overstocked, but compared to what I just switched from, it's around the same if not a bit better. (3x Red Wags, 3x Danios, 2x Corys, 3x Baby Green Terror in a 5g tank before moving them all into my 15g, along with the 8 new platy)


THE TANK - 15g
Stand Shot -- (empty 5 gallon underneath, will be used as a fry tank soon)


Tank Shot -- (note: the two heaters in the tank are NOT both on. The left one, blocked by the coral in this shot, is on but is only activated when the temp. is too low; my room is hot in the summer, keeping the water around 80 constantly just on its own)


Feeding Time



THE PLATTIES - 9 total
Red Wag Platties (x2 - 1f, 1m -- R.I.P 1f) -- (1st: Preg. Female infront, 'Father' following behind; 2nd: Preg. Female)



Velvet Tuxedo Platties (x3 - 2f, 1m) -- (also in pic: Yellow and Black Platy (help me out on the type); the Velvets are similar in design but different in color)


Black Panther Platy (x1 - 1m) -- (Girlfriend's Choice)


"Red"? Platy (x1 - 1m) -- (Could anyone help with the type? Different shade of red than the red wags, and no black, pure red)


"Red, White, Black"? Platy (x1 - 1m) -- (Another one who's type I'm unsure of. His head is a mix of red/black, stomach areas white, and his tail is red with a black fin. I think its a Red Wag/Something mix)


"Black & Yellow"? Platy (x0 - 0f -- R.I.P) -- (Third one who's type I'm unsure of. Design is kind of like the Velvet Tuxedo's, but yellow instead of orange/red, and the black/yellow seems slimmer, though she may be younger)


Mickey Mouse Platy (x0 - 0m -- R.I.P)




EVERYONE ELSE! - 9 Total
Corydora 1 -- (Nicknamed 'Sober' for his smaller pupils)


Corydora 2 -- (Nicknamed 'Stoner' for his larger pupils )


Zebra Danios (x3 - 2f, 1m) -- (Sorry for the pics, but they (the danios) are as quick as the wind, nearly impossible to get a clear shot of. Hopefully these do. In the 2nd shot, I believe the danio on the right is carrying eggs)



Green Terror Babies (x3) -- (These are heading into my 32g once I get it running. Plus, this picture is of the biggest one, and he's only just reaching an inch. Picture the other two as medium and tiny compared to him)


Goldfish(x1) -- (He's trooped it out since I first started up my 5 gallon. Had him and two other feeder goldfish in there from my friend, and he rammed them to death to my surprise! Ever since, he hasn't showed signs of aggression and he's been growing steadily. Not quite sure what I'll end up doing with him)



Hope you enjoyed checking out my tank. I am far from finished designing it, I plan to get some plants and accessories soon as well. I have a couple cheap dollar store aquarium plants, but my friend strongly believes the base of them will crack his tank. (He gave me the 15g and 5g. I don't honestly think it will crack/break it, but I go along with his wishes as he did give it to me.) Everyone seems to get along great, the only one showing a bit of aggression towards others is the Mickey Mouse Platy, I'm not too sure why though. Nothing too bad, but every so often he'll peck at another fish. I'm leaning towards the reason possibly being the amount of males in the tank, as with my 3x Velvet Tux Platties, he got me 2 females and 1 male, but as for the assorted platties I bought along with my girlfriends choice, I think I ended up with way more males than needed. Though, I haven't done an official count yet. Loving the color swimming around my tank now though. Anyone with comments, criticism or suggestions about my new setup, I'm happy to listen.

 

[the420buzz]

Very sad to say I've lost two of my little buddies.

The first was one of the female red wags (not the pregnant one though). For a while now, she was acting strange, either sitting at the top gasping or sitting along the bottom hiding. She stayed that way for a week or two before starting to act a bit more normal. I take it moving her into the 15g put her over again though, as once she was moved, she returned to hiding at the bottom or gasping at the top. Yesterday, I couldn't find her for most of the day and couldn't figure out where in the world she had got to. Finally, after checking everywhere I could think of (the floor, inside ornaments, under gravel possibly), I finally, unfortunately found her. Inside my treasure chest ornament, stuck underneath in a tight part of the ornament and dead.

Today didn't bring much better, unfortunately, as I awoke to find my Mickey Mouse platy dead on the bottom of the tank. I'm not exactly sure what caused it, but I know he was being aggressive towards the other fish at first. The next thing I knew, he was sitting at the bottom or top (much like the female red wag), and his fins were not spread open like they had been before.

Rough time for Platyville, indeed.

R.I.P

 

[Keithoms]

Very sad to say I've lost two of my little buddies.

The first was one of the female red wags (not the pregnant one though). For a while now, she was acting strange, either sitting at the top gasping or sitting along the bottom hiding. She stayed that way for a week or two before starting to act a bit more normal. I take it moving her into the 15g put her over again though, as once she was moved, she returned to hiding at the bottom or gasping at the top. Yesterday, I couldn't find her for most of the day and couldn't figure out where in the world she had got to. Finally, after checking everywhere I could think of (the floor, inside ornaments, under gravel possibly), I finally, unfortunately found her. Inside my treasure chest ornament, stuck underneath in a tight part of the ornament and dead.

Today didn't bring much better, unfortunately, as I awoke to find my Mickey Mouse platy dead on the bottom of the tank. I'm not exactly sure what caused it, but I know he was being aggressive towards the other fish at first. The next thing I knew, he was sitting at the bottom or top (much like the female red wag), and his fins were not spread open like they had been before.

Rough time for Platyville, indeed.

R.I.P

Is you tank cycled? Could you please provide your water stats?

 

[the420buzz]

This is going to sound bad, but I don't have a water testing kit. I know I should have, but I don't.

 

[paul_219]

Very nice tank. Looking great.

 

[the420buzz]

Thanks Paul, I appreciate it.

Have some more bad news though. My black/yellow platy (the one that is similar to the velvet tuxedos design) took quite a beating from the other fish earlier before I moved her into my 5 gallon. Her one side was beat in horribly, and her neck? (before the head) looked like it had been broken, as her head was permanently turned in one direction, and there was what looked to be a bone poking out the opposite direction of her head (picture a Y). She barely could move around, resorting to laying on the bottom struggling to stay upright. She kept getting pushed around by the current, bumping into rocks and plants, getting stuck in a plant at one point. Even when I went to net her in the 15gal to put her in the 5, she didn't even put up an effort to get away. Finally, after waiting it out and hoping she might come around, I had decided to put her out of her misery as it just looked horrible watching her suffer in there.

I used, IMO, the least-cruel method to euthanize I could think of, and that I had at my disposal. So I filled up a small glass with a few ice cubes and cold water, netted her out (again with no attempt to evade), and put her in. 10 seconds later, she had stopped breathing, no movement. Left her for a little bit more to make sure she wasn't still alive and that was that.