Just An Update!

[Lazerus]

Hi all…

Just a quick message to say hello…and Happy New Year to you all.

Since I last posted, I had 7 Rummy Nose tetra in a quarantine tank, and I’m delighted to say I did not loose any of these fish, and they are successfully integrated with my two remaining Cardinal tetra and two Otos.

They are all in flying form! Fabulous shoaling fish, and the Cardinals are happy shoaling with them.

I now have 8 big fat Cardinal Tetras & two Red Dwarf Gourami in my quarantine tank and hopefully in the next two weeks they will be joining their tank mates.

I bought an upgrade tank in my local Lidl (cause I couldn’t resist! )…its a 84L tank (20 gal) so it’s twice the size of my current tank and I’ve sourced a cabinet stand for it…so I should have it up and running in the next few weeks. I'm looking into plants and new subsrate at the moment.

I’m going to put this new tanks filter sponge in with my current tank to get it ‘seeded’ and get it on its way to be half way cycled.

So that’s it really…thats the update from me!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

great news, glad everything has finally settled down.

did you work out what the trick to the new additions was, different stockist?

 

[waterdrop]

Great to hear from you Lazerus and glad to hear things are going so well! Let us know how the new tank goes.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rabbut]

Glad to hear they are being less trouble that the last lot

Why wait to get the new tank going once you have the stand, when you can filter clone? Take 1/3 of the mature media from the existing tank's filter and pop it into the new tanks filter Replace the removed media with some from the new one and all is good. At that point, you can either continue with the usual fishless cycle procedure or add upto 1/3 of the fish load in the established tank to the new one If you fishless cycle with the mature media transfered, you can usualy be in a situation where you are ready for fish in under 2 weeks

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Lazerus]

Hi again...

Thanks! I'm delighted with these new fish....can't wait to see them all in the tank together!!! I only got the cardinals and gouramis just this morning.

Miss Wiggle I believe the difference is going to a different stockist. I will NEVER darken the door of that other place again. Its a pity because its so close to me...but sure, thats the way it goes. I can pop in there for de-chlorinator or fish food...but thats about it!

As for the new tank, yes, as soon as I have my stand, I can fill it new tank and decorate it, and I will be shifting mature medias from the current tank into the new tank, I just thought in the mean time I could pop the filter sponge into the current tank to get it started....can't do any harm.


So, now....

Now, onto a question...I'm unsure of the exact breed of my Gouramis...the label said 'Red Dwarf Gourami's' but when I look that up on the web the picture is slightly diffferent. Those ones have some blue on them...but these are just all red.

I'm must take a picture for you all to have a look at....also, I'm unsure of what sex they are....I was told that they are peaceful enough fish, yet when I read the info on them it says they are territorial....god, I hope I didn't get two aggressive male fish.

I was sure I'd be ok with them...

Right off to get the camera.

 

[rabbut]

Sounds like red honey gouramis to me

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the main problem with dwarf gourami's is they're quite disease prone, hop over to the gourami forum and have a read of the dwarf gourami FAQ which is pinned.

 

[Lazerus]

Oh dear...for some reason I thought it was the Dwarf Gourami (as in the tiger stripy orange & bluey coloured fish) that were prone to infection...I didn't realise it was these too...hmm, well, sure we'll see how it goes.

Anyway, here is a few pics....REALLY hard to get a picture of these guys!


So...what do you think? Are they Red Honey Dwarf Gourami, or something else...also how do I know what sex they are!

 

[Lazerus]

Just found a website calling these fish...'Fire Honey Gourami'...Colisa chuna

 

[waterdrop]

Two things:

Aren't "red honey dwarfs" just a color variation of dward G's and virtually the same genetically?

Also, to my eye, that digital photo is pushed in the "green direction" or something, judging by the cardinal colors. The cardinal stripe looks very orange to me rather than the red I would expect, so I wonder if the G's would look much more red too if the photo weren't off in that direction.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Lazerus]

Hi again...

You're right about these being the same geneticaly...for some reason though, I just didn't realise because they look smaller and longer than the other Dwarf G's that I mentioned. Anyway, I'll just have to watch them carefully and make sure the water is pristine as usual. Hope they'll be ok.

I haven't got the best camera in the world...but this is how the colours are in real life...the pictures are quite similar to the actual colour of the fish...

Actually, these cardinals are quite orangey now that you mention it....at the moment they are not blood red like my other cardinals in my main tank (perhaps its because they are still acclimatising after their journey?) Their bellies are a more faded orangey red colour alright.

Anyway, hopefully in a few weeks they'll be more 'vibrant' like my other guys!

 

[rabbut]

They are Red Honey Gouramis, a colour morph of the common brownish-yellow Honey gourami. I've never seen one past 3", they are very laid back but a bit finiky about water quality. They are easy to sex as adults, though going by the photo, they aren't yet old enough. Males rarely fight, and when they do, they don't do much damage to each other Wonderful community fish and hardy once settled into a mature tank

To sex them, you are looking at the Dorsal fin. On males, it is longer, pointier and raises up more than a females shorter, rounded and flatter dorsal

HTH
Rabbut