Me And My Tanks

[Azaezl]

Hi,

I'm re-introducing myself, I did post a few days ago but it was only a short intro.

I recently bought a second hand fish tank, it's a juwel rio 240, originally it had 2 catfish in, no idea what type they are think they are bronze corys, a geophagus brasillies(the previous owner told me it was a geophagus jurupari) and a blue gourami.

Well when I got it set up and the fish put in they were fine at first, then the geo started to attack the gourami(even though I was assured by the previous woner they all got on) so I had to give him to the local fish shop, who had a female so hopefully they will be happy together

I also removed the catfish as they were so stressed because of the geo, rushed out and bought a 50 litre tank for them(got a great bargain, £30 for the tank, heater, gravel, ornaments, plants etc), they are doing fine and are so much happier!

Anyway my husband who has started to become more interested in fish spotted some senagalus in the shop and fell in love, so we bought one, we felt guilty splitting him and the other one up so we went back the next day and got the smaller one. The gourami became really friendly with the larger sengalus but couldn't always swim with him as the sen wanted to hide sometimes. So to stop the gourmai getting lonely we bought an opaline gourami.

Anyway that's my tank up to speed, all the fish are getting on really well, my tank readings are(I don't understand them as I'm a total newbie to fish);

Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 10
gh - 16
kh - 6
ph - 7.2

The fish in it are;

1 x 9 inch senagalus
1 x 7 inch senagalus
1 x 4 inch blue gourami
1 x 2 inch opaline gourami

I have an aqua pro 2 external filter, one of those 3d foamy backgrounds, rena 300 air pump.

I also have another tank with 3 fancy goldfish in. I'm hoping when we move house to get a 5ft tank to upgrade the goldfish and another 4ft to put some neons, guppys etc in.

 

[-*-MicHAeL-*-]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Do you mean senegal birchir if so they are likely to eat anything under 3 or 4 inches.

 

[Azaezl]

Hi, thanks for the welcome, Yeah they are birchir's, they haven't even attempted to harm the smaller gourami, if they do I'll have to seperate them. So far they have been the most peaceful fish out of all the fish I've got, even the larger gourami chased the smaller one at first but now they are friendly and always swim togther.

Only last night when the largest sen was eating a bit of tiger prawn the smallest gourami came right up and nipped at the prawn and the sen was fine with it. As yet neither have shown any agression whatsoever, fingers crossed they won't. Also I've read they are nocturnal but my larger one swims about during the day and night, the smaller one isn't as active during the day though.

 

[thegnu]

hi Azaezl,
you state that your nitrates are nil and your nitrites are 10. do you mean the other way round or that your nitrites are
1.0. if your tank is showing nitrites i wouldn't put anymore fish in your tank as it's not yet cycled. if your fish show some distress like flashing at objects or redness around the gills or fast swimming motions or gasping at the surface i would add some cooking salt to your water changes at half a teaspoon per gallon for 2 days or better still aquarium salt

 

[Azaezl]

Hi,

Yeah I have it the right way around but I meant to put 5 not 10, I did another test to check and it was 5. I want a plec eventually but I'm gonna wait about another month or so(providing all the tests come out ok), just need some info on what kind to get.

 

[thegnu]

if it was me i would go for a bristlenose every time. they don't get huge, their fantastic eaters of algae and aren't expensive. the ones with the bristles are the males so if they are small fish and the bristles aren't grown it can be difficult to tell

 

[Azaezl]

Yeah I've been looking into Bristle noses, someone just up the road from me is selling some, but they are only 1 inch long, plus it's too soon to get more fish for the tank. I think he said he'll have more in March so hopefully the tank will be ready for it then. I don't mind if I have a male or female, I think both look weird and wonderful