My first ever tank!

[ambrosia04]

It's a shame they are showing aggression, as the Honey Gurami is normally very peaceful. I have two gold Honey Guramis and two Red Honey Guramis. I also have a Pearl Gurami. All of them get on great with each other and with all of my other tankmates. I deliberately only added one Pearl, as they can be a little aggressive due to trying to be the dominant one. I would highly recommend having plenty of floaters and roots for them to forage in. When I feed small pellets, I drop a few among the floaters, and they love hunting them out.

They have lots of amazon frogbit and hornwort and oday they seemed to love the frozen brine shrimp! But he is just aggresive-ish outside of feeding time idk what triggers it I'll need to look more closely, but he is going to the LFS when I get my hands on a confirmed female ngl...
BTW, my fish were marketed as "Colisa Chuna Dorada" (Golden Colisa Chuna") and the new fish store Im talking to has really clear Honey Colisa Chuna females, so I was wondering if I could "mix" them together?
I looked around and it mostly says they are the same? Like, if they are not going to breed hybrid that'll make their live worse I'd rather have a honey even if they are less vibrant, I just want their movement and personalities

 

[ambrosia04]

Just to keep the journal updated

<- Kira (this is from the first day, now he has more orange on his tail, he's really calm)

<- Mango (bully, shame on him )

<- Sol a few days after she came \\ Sol now ->

 

[ambrosia04]

My TDS is at 367ppm and I don't understand why??? I topped off with bottled water (27ppm) and haven't used any fertilizers or tap water
I have only fed the fish with fluval bug bites (tropical and bottom feeder)

 

[ambrosia04]

Meet Maribel! (Bel for friends)
The name is bc Sol's full name is Marisol and Mirabelle prunes are yellow/orange! and Mango is also a fruit hahaha

She's exploring around and following the other gouramis! Let's see if mango doesn't bully them anymore

 

[ambrosia04]

I'm thinking of buying this filter and change my current one, because having to put sponges and nylon and a stocking around it to prevent filter deaths (and still getting some a bit ago) and having to clean the filter almost weekly and it moving no water is a bit frustrating

My current filter doesn't have ceramic media, just a big sponge, could I cut that up and put that in the media compartment in the new one to start using the new one inmediatly? Or even after moving all the sponge should I run them at the same time for a while?
Also, would the filter in the photo be a good option? In my current filter I've found boraras merah, lots and lots of baby shrimps and uncountable snails, would this one prevent it? I plan on using the cascade attachment to prevent the waterfall effect:

If not could you please recommend one that's small/internal and does work for my tank? If it's not above 30€ it'd be appreciated!
With the Hygger one I'm going to have to cut my lid a bit for it to fit the clamp, but oh well

 

[Essjay]

I have an Aquael filter in my shrimp tank which is basically a sponge with a pump on top. It can't suck up newly hatched shrimp, which are tiny. Depending on the tank size (I've forgotten ) look at either the Pat Mini or Turbo Mini - the company is Polish, if you can get their products in Spain.

PAT Mini - Aquael

www.aquael.com

Turbo Mini - Aquael

www.aquael.com

 

[ambrosia04]

I have an Aquael filter in my shrimp tank which is basically a sponge with a pump on top. It can't suck up newly hatched shrimp, which are tiny. Depending on the tank size (I've forgotten ) look at either the Pat Mini or Turbo Mini - the company is Polish, if you can get their products in Spain.

PAT Mini - Aquael

www.aquael.com

View attachment 384875

Turbo Mini - Aquael

www.aquael.com

View attachment 384876

will look into these thanks a lot! Won't the pump be a problem for my rasboras? 3 have already died because of the waterfall effect

 

[Essjay]

These filters don't have a waterfall effect, the outflow is under water. The speed of flow can also be altered - my Pat Mini in the shrimp tank is on the slowest setting. The Turbo Mini has a venturi option but you don't have to use it if you prefer without.
If shrimp are OK with these filters, fish should not have any issues.

 

[ambrosia04]

ended up buying this one! (My LFS guy recommended it and it was on sale LOL)
What should I do now, leave them both for a while together (how long?)
Could I just take the sponge from my current filter, cut it up in cubes and put it in the ceramic ball media slot?

 

[Essjay]

If you can fit all the current sponge in there, then yes cut it up any way to make it fit. Leave the old sponge in there for a few weeks, then swap it for the ceramic medium a bit at a time.
If you can't get it all in, use as much as you can. It is usually OK to lose up to a third of mature media when taking some to start a new tank so as long as there's at least 2/3 old sponge it should be OK.

Keep an eye on both ammonia and nitrite for several days until you are sure they are staying at zero.

 

[ambrosia04]

If you can fit all the current sponge in there, then yes cut it up any way to make it fit. Leave the old sponge in there for a few weeks, then swap it for the ceramic medium a bit at a time.
If you can't get it all in, use as much as you can. It is usually OK to lose up to a third of mature media when taking some to start a new tank so as long as there's at least 2/3 old sponge it should be OK.

Keep an eye on both ammonia and nitrite for several days until you are sure they are staying at zero.

Thanks a lot! If I can't put it all in I'm planning on putting it in a nylon bag and float it together!
And will test daily, thanks a lot! ^^

 

[ambrosia04]

I'm so happy! The temp has been consistently between 25.1ºC and 25.6ºC, the fan is the best thing I bought lol!
Also I counted my boraras and all of them seem to be doing better, no slime coat I could see!

 

[ambrosia04]

Mel my wild honey gourami female recently grew this black vertical line? Idk what it is, it's not a wound and she's moving and eating perfectly. Haven't seen anyone harassing her either.
It's strange to me bc it doesn't look like a horizontal body stripe nor a black beard for a male so I'm a bit dumbstruck

 

[MattW]

I do know Betta's can develop vertical stripes that are due to stress. Since gouramis are similar to bettas, that may be what it is. The only other thing I can think of is that it's a young fish growing into new colouration.

 

[ambrosia04]

I do know Betta's can develop vertical stripes that are due to stress. Since gouramis are similar to bettas, that may be what it is. The only other thing I can think of is that it's a young fish growing into new colouration.

I have looked everywhere and I can't fins anything about it! She is always left alone by everyone and just checked the water parameters and all is ok!
The only different thing is the last 2 days even with the fan at top speed the water stays around 26ºC during the day but idk what else could be wrong!