The PetCo's around here sell java moss in "balls" ... they also sell marimo balls.............. the java moss are the ones floating and usually attached to a line with a weight.. marimo balls sink by themselves as long as theres no air trapped and they're a lighter green than the moss...
New Tank - I Got My Fish!
- Thread starter GrecoTank
- Start date
OK, what about..
1 Apple Snail (Mystery Snail, your way)
8 Cardinal Tetras (which you will need to make sure have been kept in same water as you have before you buy them)
1 pair of Dwarf Gourami (Colisa lalia)
You'll probably be able to top up Cardinal Tetras later, depending on how you feel the tank is doing.
1 Apple Snail (Mystery Snail, your way)
8 Cardinal Tetras (which you will need to make sure have been kept in same water as you have before you buy them)
1 pair of Dwarf Gourami (Colisa lalia)
You'll probably be able to top up Cardinal Tetras later, depending on how you feel the tank is doing.
OP
OP
GrecoTank
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After a few days of my tank consistently digesting 4ppm of ammonia and subsequent nitrites within 12 hours, I went and got my fish.
I did a 90% water change before adding the fish. I made sure their original water stats matched mine, and when I got the bags, I placed them into the tank to float and match temps. After that finished I gradually introduced water to match pH and avoid shocking the fish (I think the car ride was bad enough).
Anyway here's what I got:
8 Harlequin Rasboras
2 Blue Dwarf Guoramis
They are so cool looking!! The school stays together and love to swim against the current of the filter and bubbler. The Gouramis have been hanging around the Parthenon, occasionally touching each other and raising for air.
They all seem very content at the moment. I will keep you updated. Oh, and I decided to wait before I got a snail. I am going to let a bit more algae grow first.
Thanks guys and gals!
I did a 90% water change before adding the fish. I made sure their original water stats matched mine, and when I got the bags, I placed them into the tank to float and match temps. After that finished I gradually introduced water to match pH and avoid shocking the fish (I think the car ride was bad enough).
Anyway here's what I got:
8 Harlequin Rasboras
2 Blue Dwarf Guoramis
They are so cool looking!! The school stays together and love to swim against the current of the filter and bubbler. The Gouramis have been hanging around the Parthenon, occasionally touching each other and raising for air.
They all seem very content at the moment. I will keep you updated. Oh, and I decided to wait before I got a snail. I am going to let a bit more algae grow first.
Thanks guys and gals!
Congratulations on your new fish!
Do keep testing the water for a few more days, just to be sure and everything and do keep a diary/record of what goes on in the tank, it is good practice long term.
A note on algae and snails: it's a bit of a myth! Most snails need extra feeding and will eat fish food over algae. Apple snails do best on algae tablets/wafers/pellets and vegetables.
Do keep testing the water for a few more days, just to be sure and everything and do keep a diary/record of what goes on in the tank, it is good practice long term.
A note on algae and snails: it's a bit of a myth! Most snails need extra feeding and will eat fish food over algae. Apple snails do best on algae tablets/wafers/pellets and vegetables.
Curiosity101
Is now at University! :D
I imagine you're likely to find agression issues between the dwarves. If you have a male (or two) then they tend to map out territorys that are at least 15g and so often fight alot in smaller tanks. One tends to become submissive and hide, the other will strut around owning the whole tank.
Be ready to note this behaviour (often within a week or two of adding them if they're fully grown or near fully grown), and be ready to rehome one if/when it happens.
Be ready to note this behaviour (often within a week or two of adding them if they're fully grown or near fully grown), and be ready to rehome one if/when it happens.
Just read through this post and youve done awesome! What a brilliant start to the hobby and what is obviously going to be a great tank! Excellent choice of fish as well 
Brilliant! Well done
Lets see some more pictures though We can try and work out if you have a male and a female
Wills
Brilliant! Well done Lets see some more pictures though
We can try and work out if you have a male and a female Wills
It looks to me as if you are doing fine GrecoTank. Your harlequins are among the best fish you could use in a new tank. I find they can survive and thrive in the worst possible tank conditions. If both of your DGs are blue in color, you have two males. A female DG is a pale grayish color that looks like nothing at all interesting beside a colorful male. That means the warning that you got from C101 is well worth heeding. I would keep a close eye on those gouramis for signs of aggression so that you can intervene if needed.
OP
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GrecoTank
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Well there is no need to worry about the Gouramis being aggressive to one another. One died about 8 hours after I got it.
I took them both back (yes, they took my dead fish). The one that died was acting strangely after he got to my tank, and at one point, I noticed what I thought was one of his feelers all bunched up and raw looking. I figured one of the rasboras go to it or something. Little did I know that both his feelers were fine and that what I was seeing was a long stringy white fecal mass coming from his anus. The other one began exhibiting the same long stringy white feces before the other died, but it was acting normal. I looked around the internet and determined that they must have had some kind of parasite when I got them.
That's ok. The rasboras are absolutely thriving and seem to be having a great time in the tank. They consistently school together and appear to be having quite obvious fun. They will chase each other, pair off and race around it seems, and they really enjoy playing in the bubbles. Their favorite hobby I have noticed is swimming against the current of the filter as if it were a treadmill (they do this often). They have been eating a healthy mixture of flakes, crisps, and blood worm. I feed them twice a day (not more than they eat in a few minutes). They seem to be having a blast and will probably end up as long term residents.
I still want to get more fish for the tank, but I think I will go to the fish store instead of PetCo. They have been less than stellar.
Oh, there is one addition to the tank besides the rasboras. It appears a tiny snail got in somehow along the way. He crawls around and seems to be enjoying himself. I know these are seen as bad, but I don't really mind him in there. If he reproduces to the point of it being an issue, i'll do something. Until then he can chill wherever.
I also have brown algae growing atop my Parthenon and pillars. Should I be worried? Or am I stocking up on snail food for the future?
Here as some photos of the Harlequins. If you can't noticed by the orange blurs that are the fish, they don't stop moving very much.
Here they are being a bit more stationary:
Poor Gouramis:
I took them both back (yes, they took my dead fish). The one that died was acting strangely after he got to my tank, and at one point, I noticed what I thought was one of his feelers all bunched up and raw looking. I figured one of the rasboras go to it or something. Little did I know that both his feelers were fine and that what I was seeing was a long stringy white fecal mass coming from his anus. The other one began exhibiting the same long stringy white feces before the other died, but it was acting normal. I looked around the internet and determined that they must have had some kind of parasite when I got them.
That's ok. The rasboras are absolutely thriving and seem to be having a great time in the tank. They consistently school together and appear to be having quite obvious fun. They will chase each other, pair off and race around it seems, and they really enjoy playing in the bubbles. Their favorite hobby I have noticed is swimming against the current of the filter as if it were a treadmill (they do this often). They have been eating a healthy mixture of flakes, crisps, and blood worm. I feed them twice a day (not more than they eat in a few minutes). They seem to be having a blast and will probably end up as long term residents.
I still want to get more fish for the tank, but I think I will go to the fish store instead of PetCo. They have been less than stellar.
Oh, there is one addition to the tank besides the rasboras. It appears a tiny snail got in somehow along the way. He crawls around and seems to be enjoying himself. I know these are seen as bad, but I don't really mind him in there. If he reproduces to the point of it being an issue, i'll do something. Until then he can chill wherever.
I also have brown algae growing atop my Parthenon and pillars. Should I be worried? Or am I stocking up on snail food for the future?
Here as some photos of the Harlequins. If you can't noticed by the orange blurs that are the fish, they don't stop moving very much.
Here they are being a bit more stationary:
Poor Gouramis:
Let me guess... the algae that you are seeing is brown?
If so it is only diatoms and is most common in fresh tanks, caused by tiny ammonia spikes that your test kits cannot measure. If it is do not worry, it will go away as sonn as it appeared when your aquarium starts maturing...
about the possible parasites in your former fish I have no clue if they could of passed on to other fish///////
HOPEFULLY NOT... but I think if they ate some of the gourami poo0( like most fish do) then it may be likely that they could of cought them.
but PLEASE do not go by medicating the tank because of a maybe, not unless you see drfinite signs!
If so it is only diatoms and is most common in fresh tanks, caused by tiny ammonia spikes that your test kits cannot measure. If it is do not worry, it will go away as sonn as it appeared when your aquarium starts maturing...
about the possible parasites in your former fish I have no clue if they could of passed on to other fish///////
HOPEFULLY NOT... but I think if they ate some of the gourami poo0( like most fish do) then it may be likely that they could of cought them.
but PLEASE do not go by medicating the tank because of a maybe, not unless you see drfinite signs!
elisew
I don`t count sheep to get to sleep, I count fish
I`ve enjoyed reading your thread Greco, you`ve done a good job so far of being patient and more importantly.......asking for advice and actually taking notice! 
The brown algae you see in your tank is likely to be diatoms, this can be rubbed off plants and ornaments with your fingers just before you do a water change and it will stop by itself
Sorry about your Gourami, it`s sad when that happens. I noticed that nothing in the thread so far mentions acclimatising the fish before you add them to your tank, are you literally putting the fish straight into the tank when you get them home or are you flaoting the bag and then adding the fish to the tank or are your drip acclimatising them?
Sorry, I don`t mean to confuse you, I would just like to understand how you`re doing things
You will find the Harlequins to be great little fish, hardy and enjoyable to watch.
Keep up the good work!! 
The brown algae you see in your tank is likely to be diatoms, this can be rubbed off plants and ornaments with your fingers just before you do a water change and it will stop by itself
Sorry about your Gourami, it`s sad when that happens. I noticed that nothing in the thread so far mentions acclimatising the fish before you add them to your tank, are you literally putting the fish straight into the tank when you get them home or are you flaoting the bag and then adding the fish to the tank or are your drip acclimatising them?
Sorry, I don`t mean to confuse you, I would just like to understand how you`re doing things
You will find the Harlequins to be great little fish, hardy and enjoyable to watch.
Keep up the good work!!
OP
OP
GrecoTank
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Definitely, I acclimatized them to the pH and temperature.
I just place the bags that I'm given at the LFS and let them float for about the amount of time it takes to go make coffee, drink a cup, and check my email. Then when I have opened the bags, I let water in incrementally over about another 10 or so minutes. Once the difference is negligible, I just let them have it.
I just place the bags that I'm given at the LFS and let them float for about the amount of time it takes to go make coffee, drink a cup, and check my email. Then when I have opened the bags, I let water in incrementally over about another 10 or so minutes. Once the difference is negligible, I just let them have it.
Even though it probably didn't make a difference, I'll point out that it takes considerably longer to acclimatise if the difference in water quality is enough to cause a problem.. you'd be looking at more along the lines of 3+ hours, and realistically a few days for delicate fish.
It is good to hear that you are happy with the Harlequins, may I also suggest you let the tank settle before getting other fish? Get some plants, in the mean time and yes, the brown diatoms are common and nothing to worry about.. just let your tank mature.
It is good to hear that you are happy with the Harlequins, may I also suggest you let the tank settle before getting other fish? Get some plants, in the mean time
and yes, the brown diatoms are common and nothing to worry about.. just let your tank mature.
Timmy_Bee
Fishaholic
i must say i have only just found out this is a bad idea.... have done this every time i have got a new fish
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