Hi there, hello!

[fishscape]

Hi there everyone!

I'm a little new to the site in terms of posting, but I've found myself often browsing the boards that correspond to my favorite varieties of fish often in order to find out more about them. I've had a very long journey with fish since a young age, with lots of learning that's been had by this point. After all the time of looking at fish and learning about them though, I thought I'd get back to owning them, and with that, I'd join the forms that I've been lurking on for so long.

I used to keep a huge amount of guppies in a few different tanks and breed them when I was very young and inexperienced, it was a big journey and a little stressful since I didn't want to get rid of any of them. (Any money I got ended up going towards taking care of each new generation, haha.) Sadly a disease had swept through the tanks and since I was around the age of twelve I had no idea what to do.

I'm hoping I can redeem myself at this point with new tanks and better setups, specifically for my studies since I'm a Biology major. (Also though, because I just want to be able to care for my favorite fish.)

Currently, I only have one fifteen-gallon tank set up. It's planted with java ferns and has some nice driftwood in it, a shrimp stratum for the substrate, and a heater to keep the fish at a temperature they like.

In the tank there are three oto catfish and four corydoras. (Sadly, two of my corys had passed during shipment, and I'm awaiting replacements.)

I had mostly joined officially in order to post a question about one of my corys in the corydora board, as I had seen someone with a similar problem before but I'm not sure if it's the same.

It's nice to finally join though!

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

Hi and finally to TFF
just a question, is your tank filtered? I would suggest a few more ottos but it's really no biggie currently. your setup could use a nice centerpiece fish.

 

[fishscape]

Hi and finally to TFF
just a question, is your tank filtered? I would suggest a few more ottos but it's really no biggie currently. your setup could use a nice centerpiece fish.

I made sure to get a tank with a built-in filtration system since I'm not too sure how to deal with filters that aren't built in yet.
Once I'm completely sure that this first cycle is over I've been eyeing a black ghost knifefish I saw in my local pet store, but I'm worried the cholla wood would scratch his skin.
(I've been keeping track of pH, kh, GH, nitrates, nitrites, but not ammonia since I ran out of tests and am waiting for more to come in the mail. Until then, I can't be sure that the cycle is over lol.)
Thanks for the welcome

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

I made sure to get a tank with a built-in filtration system since I'm not too sure how to deal with filters that aren't built in yet.
Once I'm completely sure that this first cycle is over I've been eyeing a black ghost knifefish I saw in my local pet store, but I'm worried the cholla wood would scratch his skin.
(I've been keeping track of pH, kh, GH, nitrates, nitrites, but not ammonia since I ran out of tests and am waiting for more to come in the mail. Until then, I can't be sure that the cycle is over lol.)
Thanks for the welcome

I love a good knife fish but they grow much too big, MUCH too big. they need aprox. 100 gallons.
may I suggest a dwarf gourami, betta fish, or a pair of honey gourami

 

[Crispii]

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

 

[itiwhetu]

 

[fishscape]

I love a good knife fish but they grow much too big, MUCH too big. they need aprox. 100 gallons.
may I suggest a dwarf gourami, betta fish, or a pair of honey gourami

OHH! That is a VERY large tank, yes.
I heard that honey gourami and bettas are aggressive, is 15 gallons really big enough that they'll have enough space to leave the other fish alone?
Sorry for doubting, I've just heard a lot of stories! I do like bettas though, so I might be interested in one of those. Seeing them in the store cups always makes me sad haha

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

OHH! That is a VERY large tank, yes.
I heard that honey gourami and bettas are aggressive, is 15 gallons really big enough that they'll have enough space to leave the other fish alone?
Sorry for doubting, I've just heard a lot of stories! I do like bettas though, so I might be interested in one of those. Seeing them in the store cups always makes me sad haha

honey gouramis are actually shy in most cases. they do best in a group of around 4. It's the dwarf gourami that you need to watch out for.
A betta fish varies, you could easily get a female and that would most likely work out. when buying a female I suggest looking online at breeder's websites, because you can find especially beautiful fish.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome to TFF

 

[Colin_T]

I heard that honey gourami and bettas are aggressive, is 15 gallons really big enough that they'll have enough space to leave the other fish alone?

All labyrinth fishes (Bettas & Gouramis) are territorial to some degree and will fight with each other and other species of labyrinth fish. If you want Bettas or gouramis, just have 1 pair (1 male & 1 female) per tank. If you have a big tank, 4 foot long or bigger, you can have more than 1 pr.

With some of the smaller species of gourami you can keep groups (5-10) of them in smallish tanks (2 foot or longer), but most of the bigger gouramis should only be kept as prs or maybe 1 male& 2 females.

Bettas come in a variety of species and some are sociable and live in groups (eg: mouth brooding Bettas like Betta pugnax). Other Bettas are highly territorial and will kill other fish that come into their territory, Betta splendens (Siamese fighting fish) is one of these highly territorial species and males should be kept alone.

 

[Back in the fold]

I bid you welcome. Aren't fish cool ! ? !

 

[betta4ever!]

Welcome to the forum!!

 

[emeraldking]

A warm welcome to TFF...
Hope this new set up will work better than your previous one. And yes, sometimes even guppies can come with a manual...

 

[The603]

Welcome to the forum.