2 Questions...

[waterdrop]

yes, both things correct.

Most here report that they use their ceramic media almost forever I think and sponges too can last a very, very long time. With sponges though, you should inspect them each time after they are old because you don't want to allow "tunneling" to occur, where the water finds an easy path and bypasses most of the surface areas.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[WillyRBeek]

yes, both things correct.

Most here report that they use their ceramic media almost forever I think and sponges too can last a very, very long time. With sponges though, you should inspect them each time after they are old because you don't want to allow "tunneling" to occur, where the water finds an easy path and bypasses most of the surface areas.

~~waterdrop~~

Ok good, that's what I was told before on this forum, I was just clarifying.

Interesting, well maybe tomorrow i'll go and cut open the biomax bags, which will make it considerably easier to swap a portion of that mature bio media into the other tank. Thanks.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

when you say blue gourami's are you referring to opaline's or to dwarf's.... both can be blue.

i've kept opalines with angels before previously, however it was in a 60gal tank, the angel was also a bit of a runt because of an incident when he was younger so he was a lot smaller and more peaceful (read stupid ) than most angels. It worked out OK but I acknowledge that this was more a fluke of circumstances than them being genuinley compatible fish.

Like I siad before, bit of a tricky one..... it most certainly can work out, however it can also go very very wrong.

 

[WillyRBeek]

when you say blue gourami's are you referring to opaline's or to dwarf's.... both can be blue.

i've kept opalines with angels before previously, however it was in a 60gal tank, the angel was also a bit of a runt because of an incident when he was younger so he was a lot smaller and more peaceful (read stupid ) than most angels. It worked out OK but I acknowledge that this was more a fluke of circumstances than them being genuinley compatible fish.

Like I siad before, bit of a tricky one..... it most certainly can work out, however it can also go very very wrong.

Yes i'm refering to the Opaline Gourami's, not the dwarfs.

Also here's an update:

This morning I took roughly about 1/4 of the biomax media from the mature tank and put it into the filter in the new tank, so that should help get that cycle started. Also, I went into the LFS today to purchase a BN plec, but the salesman(He's the manager, and really the only one working there who's judgment I trust) talked me into waiting till the tank was more mature before adding the BN. Also he informed me that my tank(25 gallon) will in all likelyhood be too small for the angels once they become full grown. Instead I ended up adding another opaline gourami and a gold gourami, which brings me to my next question:

I was almost positive that the gourami I had in my tank already was a female, although I was informed that the females have a more rounded off top fin, while the male's top fin is generally larger and more pointed. Upon getting home I discovered that the gourami I have already is in fact a male. Now, the gourami's I got today are male(The gold) and female(The opaline). Could this cause a problem down the road, having 2 males and 1 female? Should I take one of the male's back and exchange it for a female?

 

[rabbut]

I agree that the tank needs to be mature for any type of pleco. Also, a 25g long or standord won't have the height for angels... I have no direct experience of Opaline gourami outside the retail environment, so I'd wait for another member to confirm. They are IME semi-agressive so it could go either way with an all male group

HTH
Rabbut

 

[WillyRBeek]

I agree that the tank needs to be mature for any type of pleco. Also, a 25g long or standord won't have the height for angels... I have no direct experience of Opaline gourami outside the retail environment, so I'd wait for another member to confirm. They are IME semi-agressive so it could go either way with an all male group

HTH
Rabbut

What I think i'm gonna have to end up doing with the angels is i'll keep them in the community tank till they start to mature and begin to get aggressive, at that point i'll take them into the LFS and hopefully they can find a good home for them there.

As for the gouramis, it's not an all male group. There's 2 males and 1 female, and the male that's been in the tank for awhile seems to be quite aggressive towards the other 2 already, especially the female. I may need to take him back and exchange him for a female.

 

[rabbut]

If you are seeing agression before they are fully settled, it will only get worse in the comming days, I would have thought. Exchanging the male for another female would be a very smart move IMO

 

[WillyRBeek]

If you are seeing agression before they are fully settled, it will only get worse in the comming days, I would have thought. Exchanging the male for another female would be a very smart move IMO

Just got back from doing that. Now I have 2 females(Opaline) and 1 male(Gold).

Now it's just a matter of adding a couple of Cory's in a week or 2, and a BN plec another week or 2 after that, and i'll be set.

Since you and MW are both frequenting this thread, maybe you can help me with 1 other question I has, so I won't need to start up yet another topic. In my new tank i've noticed a strange white substance on the air pump tubes. It just appeared a couple of days ago, and i'm not quite sure exactly what it is. I don't see it in any other areas of the tank, and it doesn't seem to be getting any worse or any better...Any idea what i'm dealing with here?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hmmm strange substance.... this crops up a fair bit, people going 'what is this'.... and these substances are always well hard to describe. can you get a picture of it for us please? alternativley try and be a bit more descriptive!!!

 

[rabbut]

Aye, I get that on mine. I don't know what it is, but it hasen't been linked to any issues yet, so I'd say it's safe. I honestly think it's just one of those cosmetic things. Wipes off easily with a scouring pad if you're bothered

All the best
Rabbut

 

[waterdrop]

It's probably biofilm on the airlines. I get that too and it looks white. On water change day I just lift out the whole airline and airstone and firmly wipe the whole airline until its clean and new looking.

(Just saw an interesting new medical article yesterday about how they now think that the human appendix is filled with biofilms and that perhaps its use was to supply extra amounts of "good" bacteria to the gut in times after the normal bacteria was wiped out by illness. The docs who were speculating about this felt this function would no longer be needed much in our current age of anti-biotics. Seeing the word "biofilm" now gets my attention, thanks to this hobby!)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[WillyRBeek]

hmmm strange substance.... this crops up a fair bit, people going 'what is this'.... and these substances are always well hard to describe. can you get a picture of it for us please? alternativley try and be a bit more descriptive!!!

Unfortuntely I can't get a picture as I don't have a digital camera as of yet, but I wiped it off as rabbut said(Or at least wiped off as much as I could). It didn't seem to be doing any harm, but it just looked bad so I had to get rid of it.

 

[WillyRBeek]

Update on the state of the tank:

I had to take the male gouramis back to the LFS today, as over the past few days it was just beating the living crap out of the 2 females. Both of the females fins look completely ragged and this morning I thought one of them was dead(I went to scoop her out, only to find out she was still alive). I took the male back to the LFS and exchanged it for another female, which is also a fair bit smaller then the 2 females I currently have. I'm still in the process of climatizing the new gouramis, but the 2 females I already have seem much, much happier since I took the male out. When the male was in there the 2 females spent virtually every second either hiding or trying to hide from the male, now both of them are out swimming around and they seem content.

 

[rabbut]

Sorry to hear about your issues

Glad you have it sorted

All the best
Rabbut

 

[WillyRBeek]

Sorry to hear about your issues

Glad you have it sorted

All the best
Rabbut

Wouldn't say the issues are sorted out yet, i'll have to wait and see how the new female gets along with the 2 females already in the tank. In theory though, I imagine they should get along fine, as there are plenty of hiding places in the tank, and female gouramis tend not to bother one another. Also, while the 2 females that have been in the tank for the last few days are beat to hell, I don't imagine the new female will give them much trouble, as the new one is quite a bit smaller.

I've got my fingers crossed that everything works out.