New Fish :)

[kylealastairlove]

so today i brought myself 3 raspbora harlequins and a bristlenose plec, any tips or advice for me on how i can keep them nice and healthy and happy
on the info tag for the harlequins at the pet store it said they were suitable for begginers and that they are a peaceful community fish, but then i read somewhere that they are quite hard to look after and that they shouldnt be added to an aquarium unless its been up and running for 6-9 months ? a little confused

 

[snake007]

They are schooling fish and like to be in shoals of 6-7 I believe, I may be wrong though,
Did you cycle your tank?
What size isit?

 

[laura120381]

how did you cycle your tank? what size is it? harlequins should be kept in groups of at least 6 as they are shoaling fish. not particularly hard to care for though! you should be ok if your tank is fully cycled, your water parameters are fine and the temp/ph etc are correct for the type of fish you have.

L

 

[kylealastairlove]

i have a freshwater fish encyclopedia and i read that the minimum number in a tank is 8 so i will have to invest in some moor soon! yeah i cycled my tank and its 64L my ph is 7.6 and the temp is 75f . and both the ph and temperature seem to be staying rather stable so hopefully it'll be alright
thanks guys !

 

[laura120381]

did you do a fishless cycle? good idea to get more harlequins. do you know that BN plecos can grow to 15cm? 64l is too small a tank. are you planning on getting a bigger tank?

L

 

[twodoctors]

You need more rasbora, but you know that already.

Pleco lives in running streams naturally, hence the suction cup for a mouth. This also means that their water (in their natural habitat) is pretty fresh. This is why some sites would say they need well oxygenated water. They also poo a lot and in nature that would be washed away quickly, but in a tank you'll find lots of poo in the tank very quickly, so vacuum your gravel regularly.

Hope that helps.

Adrian

 

[kylealastairlove]

indeed i did and yes i've only just found out was a bit gutted and considering i have a piece of bog wood and a rock on the bottom and a fair bit of planting, i think i'll have to pass it on to somebody when it starts to get too big, or if i cant find anybody then i dont know what i'll do, i cant see myself being very happy having to end its life but for the moment its only small so its all good for now

thanks for your help adrian !

 

[kyleb2003]

Use the classifieds on here, someone will take it off your hands no need to euthanize it unnecessarily

 

[kylealastairlove]

good idea, why didnt i think of that lol!

 

[Mowbz]

If you cant find a home on here (unlikely, there are always people who'll take fish for free!) then your LFS should take it back.

 

[Tizer]

can you confirm the method you used to cycle your tank?