fish pictures
- Thread starter mbhw
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ScoutCarcer
Fish Addict
I luv your Gouramis 
There Soooooo Pretty and 
There Soooooo Pretty and 
boxman
Fishaholic
Excellent pics, nice sand (inert I assume).
Look forward to seeing a few plants in there!
Look forward to seeing a few plants in there!
Thanks for the cyber thumbs up!
Boxman - inert sand. I used 100lbs of playsand from Home Depot, it is a crapshoot with thier product as I know plenty of people who have received inert sand and plenty who have recieved sand that makes thier water hard and high on the PH scale. My readings after 1 week in the tank are as follows: PH- 7.0, KH/GH are soft water according to my Red Sea PHish farms test kit. Oh, and my tap water starts off hard and ph of 7.8-8.2, and every thursday gets a massive dose of chlorine from the town. I age my water before using it, otherwise the fish will freak out from the crazy range of my tap water.
Sylvia - they have the fun task of generating a cycle for me, I have a few more pearl females, banded females and one banded male on order for this coming Monday, they will all have to kick the tank into gear. Right now all levels are still at trace amounts, and the fish started eating the second day in the tank, and eating like pigs! Oh, and hidden in my HOB filter is a bag of cycled gravel to help out.
Just so you can rest a little easier, I have 20+ years of tropical fish keeping under my belt, and I regularly do water changes, filter changes, random tank maintainance, and have cycled countless tanks of my own as well as hundreds of others when I worked in the aquarium industry as a teen/young adult.
So far so good, once the cycle finishes and the fish have the proper male/female ratio, they should color up nicely. In case anyone is curious, they are being kept on a diet of high quality spirulina and cyclops-eeze to provide them with a nice, color enhancing diet. My LFS is an amazing store, they have such high quality fish and foods. Belive it or not these two fish measure around 3" (banded) and 4" (pearl) respectively, and cost me around $18 for the pair, which although expensive, they don't kick off like the crap petland sells.
Thanks again all for the compliments, I'll post some more pics as things progress. All the best - Craig
Boxman - inert sand. I used 100lbs of playsand from Home Depot, it is a crapshoot with thier product as I know plenty of people who have received inert sand and plenty who have recieved sand that makes thier water hard and high on the PH scale. My readings after 1 week in the tank are as follows: PH- 7.0, KH/GH are soft water according to my Red Sea PHish farms test kit. Oh, and my tap water starts off hard and ph of 7.8-8.2, and every thursday gets a massive dose of chlorine from the town. I age my water before using it, otherwise the fish will freak out from the crazy range of my tap water.
Sylvia - they have the fun task of generating a cycle for me, I have a few more pearl females, banded females and one banded male on order for this coming Monday, they will all have to kick the tank into gear. Right now all levels are still at trace amounts, and the fish started eating the second day in the tank, and eating like pigs! Oh, and hidden in my HOB filter is a bag of cycled gravel to help out.
Just so you can rest a little easier, I have 20+ years of tropical fish keeping under my belt, and I regularly do water changes, filter changes, random tank maintainance, and have cycled countless tanks of my own as well as hundreds of others when I worked in the aquarium industry as a teen/young adult.
So far so good, once the cycle finishes and the fish have the proper male/female ratio, they should color up nicely. In case anyone is curious, they are being kept on a diet of high quality spirulina and cyclops-eeze to provide them with a nice, color enhancing diet. My LFS is an amazing store, they have such high quality fish and foods. Belive it or not these two fish measure around 3" (banded) and 4" (pearl) respectively, and cost me around $18 for the pair, which although expensive, they don't kick off like the crap petland sells.
Thanks again all for the compliments, I'll post some more pics as things progress. All the best - Craig
lunarflame
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very nice fish, but I am apalled by the cycling with fish.
With everything we know today in the hobby, it is completly out of the question to cycle with fish now a days in my opinion.
With everything we know today in the hobby, it is completly out of the question to cycle with fish now a days in my opinion.
I respectifully disagree. I find that cycling with ammonia can be touch and go, and often times results in a weak cycle that actually tends to go through a small recycle more often than not. Aside from Bio-spira which is not readily available, none of the over the counter bacterias really work.
Besides, if you read my entire post, I put a bag of cycled gravel in the filter, which jump starts the tank instantly.
Besides, if you read my entire post, I put a bag of cycled gravel in the filter, which jump starts the tank instantly.
abstract
Fish Herder
with all do respect, you should NOT take this tone with people...especially people who know what they are doing...although you can fishless cycle, it is not always as effective as stocking the tank gradually with hardy fish....if you know what you are doing and keep up with water changes, no fish should be put in danger when doing a cycle with fish....lunarflame said:
cycling with the same fish in mutiple tanks over and over, though, begins to be borderline cruelty IMO
lunarflame
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Ammonia is highly toxic to fish an no amount of water changes will protect them completly from permanent damage and pain.
There are methods of cycling with fish that are much safer, but the one used was not it. I am personally very dead set in my belief of cycling without fish, and if I come across as being rude, than fine. I just think there is no excuse for using fish now a days.
Ammonia cycling works if done properly, and there are many other methods as well.
as well, adding a bunch of seeded gravel will not jump start the tank, it will speed the process slightly, but it by no means makes the process less painful for the fish.
There are methods of cycling with fish that are much safer, but the one used was not it. I am personally very dead set in my belief of cycling without fish, and if I come across as being rude, than fine. I just think there is no excuse for using fish now a days.
Ammonia cycling works if done properly, and there are many other methods as well.
as well, adding a bunch of seeded gravel will not jump start the tank, it will speed the process slightly, but it by no means makes the process less painful for the fish.
abstract
Fish Herder
so i'm assuming your betta tank(s) are cycled?
it's not the fact that you came across as rude - just the fact that you came across god-like with a "shame on you" type of mentality that is not appreciated by anyone on this forum...fact is, by having gravel in their filter it will, from the beginning, help to colonize the filter (very quickly at that) and is much different than having a new filter and having to completly cycle a tank...
sure ammonia cycling works, but if something DOES happen incorrectly for whatever reason, the fish will suffer much more than they will in mbhw's method...
EDIT: and oh yea, by the way, a half gallon tank is way too small for a betta...not to mention that you are arguing about ammonia levels, yet you have bettas in 1/2 gallon and 1 gallon containers that couldn't possibly be cycled...even if you are changin water ever day they are affected by the ammonia too
it's not the fact that you came across as rude - just the fact that you came across god-like with a "shame on you" type of mentality that is not appreciated by anyone on this forum...fact is, by having gravel in their filter it will, from the beginning, help to colonize the filter (very quickly at that) and is much different than having a new filter and having to completly cycle a tank...
sure ammonia cycling works, but if something DOES happen incorrectly for whatever reason, the fish will suffer much more than they will in mbhw's method...
EDIT: and oh yea, by the way, a half gallon tank is way too small for a betta...not to mention that you are arguing about ammonia levels, yet you have bettas in 1/2 gallon and 1 gallon containers that couldn't possibly be cycled...even if you are changin water ever day they are affected by the ammonia too
abstract - thank you for making me feel welcome. I appreciate it.
lunarflame, again, I think you are somewhat misguided. Allow me to try and explain:
Fact: Cycling with ammonia works.
Fact: You have no idea how many fish you need to generate enough waste, then bacteria, to keep the cycle current. If you guess to little or too much, the tank will either
a) Crash badly
b ) Recycle anyway because it didn't have enough fish to maintain the first cycle.
As far as cruelty, I hardly find it cruel. Fish are tough creatures, and it's not like I'm throwing a fish into garbage water to start with. The water is free of everything. What happens is they grow accustomed to the water, and as it improves, they flourish. When a fish burns from ammonia, it's obvious what the signs are.
Yes, the bag of gravel trick works fine. I've even started many a saltwater system that way with a small bag and instantly cycled a tank, and I know it works because the added fish (butterfly fish & yellow tangs) will not handle a new saltwater cycle. It works the same in freshwater.
I came here to share some pics, enthusiasm, perhaps learn something I didn't know, and to have fun. I don't need the cyberpolice ethics, I know darn well what works and what doesn't. I've proven it through success with aquariums for over two decades. Best of luck with your fish keeping, I know I will have success with mine.
lunarflame, again, I think you are somewhat misguided. Allow me to try and explain:
Fact: Cycling with ammonia works.
Fact: You have no idea how many fish you need to generate enough waste, then bacteria, to keep the cycle current. If you guess to little or too much, the tank will either
a) Crash badly
b ) Recycle anyway because it didn't have enough fish to maintain the first cycle.
As far as cruelty, I hardly find it cruel. Fish are tough creatures, and it's not like I'm throwing a fish into garbage water to start with. The water is free of everything. What happens is they grow accustomed to the water, and as it improves, they flourish. When a fish burns from ammonia, it's obvious what the signs are.
Yes, the bag of gravel trick works fine. I've even started many a saltwater system that way with a small bag and instantly cycled a tank, and I know it works because the added fish (butterfly fish & yellow tangs) will not handle a new saltwater cycle. It works the same in freshwater.
I came here to share some pics, enthusiasm, perhaps learn something I didn't know, and to have fun. I don't need the cyberpolice ethics, I know darn well what works and what doesn't. I've proven it through success with aquariums for over two decades. Best of luck with your fish keeping, I know I will have success with mine.
abstract
Fish Herder
anytime..enjoy your stay on the forummbhw said:
I would have also complained if you were cycling with fish but the fact that you put in mature gravel assured me that you know what you are doing so good luck with your tank and, hopefuly, you'll post some more pics when they have settled a bit 
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