PrincessKiara
Fish Crazy
Hello! How are you guys? Chat's still acting up for me :'( Miss you all!
Anyway, I've still been busy with my fish. Bought a bagful of 20+ feeder fish (mostly mixed, unidentified livebearers; defs not guppies or anything else I know) for 5 Mexican pesos a couple weeks ago, along with two tadpoles that came in the bag. I was keeping them at school, but my lack of a heater meant that the ich and finrot some of the fish had ended up killing them all except the tadpoles. I went back today for a second try at saving some fishy lives...and seeing what else was mixed in with them LOL!
Well, this time I got what I can only assume is some type of dwarf cichlid. Around 1" long, very laterally compressed, a light tan color with darker vertical stripes running all the way down "his" body, except for the belly which is a dull, creamy white. The general fin and body shape is very similar to the below picture, but "he" is more laterally compressed, the dorsal and anal fins not so wide and more pointed, the caudal fin smaller and more rounded. The finnage is transparent; I can very clearly see the fin spines. "Jack" is sooo cute. Even if I lose all the other feeders (again), I'd really like to save him.
Right now, since I know feeders are usually disease ridden, they're being kept in a tiny tank (all I have) with methylene blue and aquarium salt added.
How can I clean the tank the other fish were sharing with the tadpoles? Will a mixture of salt and vinegar (I've heard that makes weak hydrochloric acid?) kill the ich and be safe for the tadpoles should any residue happen to remain? Or is there any chance the ich will "ride" on the tadpoles' skin and infect these new fish? If any ich should remain, how can I treat it without a heater? It doesn't get too cold now. If this fish survives, I might later want to put him in my main tank with my angels. His color is drab, but I love his body shape.
Thanks in advance!
~PK.
P.S. Assuming they survive, these rescued fish will be given into the keeping of my biology teacher when I leave school (save for the tadpoles and possibly this cichlid, which I will probably keep). I am moving, however, and must sell my tank; but since we are moving to a tropical area, I will take my six Cory cats, my snails (Briggs, ramshorn and apple), plants (hornwort, Elodea, a pygmy chain sword and an Amazon sword), and two of my angels with me. How can I pack them safely and compactly so that I can carry them on a plane, alongside all my other stuff? Would it be worth nicking a few bio-balls from my tank to plop in the plastic Rubbermaid they'll be tenanting when we arrive (just until we can buy a new tank)? I'll be taking my air pump and hosing, but not the heater (I don't think they'll need one in such a place!)
Also, where we're going, everything is very expensive, and I know a cheap place here to buy plants and fish, so I was wondering if I should stock up now on the crypts and other plants I'll be wanting later and mail them to myself just before we go.
My uncle, who's a vet, told me that in such places (Cancun and the like) the sand and seawater are so clean that I could safely put them in a fish tank and keep saltwater fish. Is that true?
Thanks again!
Anyway, I've still been busy with my fish. Bought a bagful of 20+ feeder fish (mostly mixed, unidentified livebearers; defs not guppies or anything else I know) for 5 Mexican pesos a couple weeks ago, along with two tadpoles that came in the bag. I was keeping them at school, but my lack of a heater meant that the ich and finrot some of the fish had ended up killing them all except the tadpoles. I went back today for a second try at saving some fishy lives...and seeing what else was mixed in with them LOL!
Well, this time I got what I can only assume is some type of dwarf cichlid. Around 1" long, very laterally compressed, a light tan color with darker vertical stripes running all the way down "his" body, except for the belly which is a dull, creamy white. The general fin and body shape is very similar to the below picture, but "he" is more laterally compressed, the dorsal and anal fins not so wide and more pointed, the caudal fin smaller and more rounded. The finnage is transparent; I can very clearly see the fin spines. "Jack" is sooo cute. Even if I lose all the other feeders (again), I'd really like to save him.
Right now, since I know feeders are usually disease ridden, they're being kept in a tiny tank (all I have) with methylene blue and aquarium salt added.
How can I clean the tank the other fish were sharing with the tadpoles? Will a mixture of salt and vinegar (I've heard that makes weak hydrochloric acid?) kill the ich and be safe for the tadpoles should any residue happen to remain? Or is there any chance the ich will "ride" on the tadpoles' skin and infect these new fish? If any ich should remain, how can I treat it without a heater? It doesn't get too cold now. If this fish survives, I might later want to put him in my main tank with my angels. His color is drab, but I love his body shape.
Thanks in advance!
~PK.
P.S. Assuming they survive, these rescued fish will be given into the keeping of my biology teacher when I leave school (save for the tadpoles and possibly this cichlid, which I will probably keep). I am moving, however, and must sell my tank; but since we are moving to a tropical area, I will take my six Cory cats, my snails (Briggs, ramshorn and apple), plants (hornwort, Elodea, a pygmy chain sword and an Amazon sword), and two of my angels with me. How can I pack them safely and compactly so that I can carry them on a plane, alongside all my other stuff? Would it be worth nicking a few bio-balls from my tank to plop in the plastic Rubbermaid they'll be tenanting when we arrive (just until we can buy a new tank)? I'll be taking my air pump and hosing, but not the heater (I don't think they'll need one in such a place!)
Also, where we're going, everything is very expensive, and I know a cheap place here to buy plants and fish, so I was wondering if I should stock up now on the crypts and other plants I'll be wanting later and mail them to myself just before we go.
My uncle, who's a vet, told me that in such places (Cancun and the like) the sand and seawater are so clean that I could safely put them in a fish tank and keep saltwater fish. Is that true?
Thanks again!
