New To Fish Keeping

[riordan89]

Hi all,

I am very new to keeping tropical fish, but already it is turning into an addiction rather than a hobbie. i have great help avalible to me as my grandad has bread and kept all sort of fish all his life and also have avery good relationship with my local fish shop worker who has all sorts of knowledge.

i am learning fast and have had to learn very quickly from rookie mistakes. just want some feedback on what you all think of my set up.

i have a juwel rio 125 with an added air stone that has now been running for 6 months.

my first addition was 5 head and tail light tetras what are sill going strong, followed by 5 cardinal tetra. i then added 2 clown plecos and then 2 red tailed sharks where the problems began. one of the sharks was quickly killed in a fight for territory then my cardinal populaulation soon started to suffer. however i still kept it. i kept re stocking the tank with some rather expensive fish at times, such as ghost knife, 2 electric blue rams but the shark continued to savage them so it was time to go and he was taken back to the fish shop and the tank very quickly calmed.

it now holds

5 head and tail light tetras
2 denisoni barbs (torpedo barbs) very fun to watch.
2 clown plecos
10 Cardinal tetras
5 king blue tetras
5 penquin tetras
5 rummy nose tetras
1 ghost knife
5 haliquins

i have resently added 3 yo yo botias after an outbreak of cone snail conleny wat was very quickly growing.

please let me know what you think and and tips on keeping any of these fish

 

[riordan89]

sorry this is a correction of my original post wthout the simple mistakes lol also just to correct again the tank is a rio 125 not 25

 

[fish_tank0311]

Good job on picking cardinals, and not neons, neons are VERY prone to several diseases, especially dropsy. Not sure if those barbs are aggressive, but if they get aggressive put more into the school and they will keep it to themselves. Now, about that ghost knife fish. Im also new to fish keeping, but have about 9 months experience, with 3 tanks. as you can see below. I have always wanted a ghost knife fish, but have been told they are a difficult one. What do you think? Had any trouble with him?

 

[MewMew42]

its okay haha but you can do a full edit on our original post to correct any mistakes =]

do you have a test kit? if not i would advise you to get a liquid based one such as the api master test kit [try ebay]

a test kit is the best was to tell if you are over stocked, you shouldnt be seeing any ammonia or nitrites in an established, correctly stocked tank

otherwise [bar the barbs and ghosty] the fish are suitable for the tank...i believe unless someone can correctly [forgive me ive been at work doing this all day lol]

 

[riordan89]

I have found the ghost knife a very intresting fish amazing to watch when you can see it. this is m second one as my first was very quickly killed by my red tail shark. so far i have had very little problems with it i was informed that they are very shy and hid away what i have found so far. i was also informed that they are delicate small amounts of stress will have a big effect on the fish. i have been feeding it on frozen blood worm aswell as flake and so far its been fine. However i have just been told thatey they can grow big and get preditory so if this happening i will have to let the shop re addopt him.

so far i have not brought any test kits as my local shop has been doing water test weekly for me and so far they have all come out ok. the barbs have been in there from the start ad have yet to show aggresion but on your advise i may start to think about getting them rehomed along with the ghost knife.

 

[onebto]

Welcome to TFF.

3 YoYo Loach ( Botia almorhae ) will out grow a 125 litre tank I am afraid. They can reach 6 inches in length and they can become very full bodied fish.

A genral synopsis of them I hope it is of use: http/www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-almorhae

Regards onebto

 

[riordan89]

the yo yo,s were brought for a short stay to help out ith the snail population as soon as they are to big they will be rehomed in my grandads 500 litre tank. i may also be investing in a second tank this time a bigger one so they may get rehomed in there as well.

 

[Assaye]

i have a juwel rio 125 with an added air stone that has now been running for 6 months.

my first addition was 5 head and tail light tetras what are sill going strong, followed by 5 cardinal tetra. i then added 2 clown plecos and then 2 red tailed sharks where the problems began. one of the sharks was quickly killed in a fight for territory then my cardinal populaulation soon started to suffer. however i still kept it. i kept re stocking the tank with some rather expensive fish at times, such as ghost knife, 2 electric blue rams but the shark continued to savage them so it was time to go and he was taken back to the fish shop and the tank very quickly calmed.

I see you discovered that the beautiful red tailed black sharks are actually pretty mean fish! They are best in a 180+ litre tank with other robust tank-mates. I'm glad you re-homed him

Just some notes on your stocking. If I don't mention it, it means it's fine:

2 denisoni barbs - these guys are very active and grow to 6 inches long. They outgrow your tank and should be kept in groups of 5+ (at least). I'd strongly suggest re-homing them.
1 ghost knife - this guy can get to 24 inches long. He's a real monster and your smaller fish will get eaten when he gets bigger. He needs a truly massive tank. Even your grandfather's tank won't be big enough for a full grown specimen.
3 yo yo botias - another large fish, grows to 6 inches +. Keep an eye on them and move them once the snails are sorted. Do not be tempted to keep them.

That would leave you with:

5 head and tail light tetras
2 clown plecos
10 Cardinal tetras
5 king blue tetras
5 penquin tetras
5 rummy nose tetras
5 haliquins

That's a lot of fish - far more than we'd ever suggest keeping in your tank. I would very strongly suggest re-homing two or three of the groups of 5, leaving you with 20-25 shoaling fish (still quite a lot) and two plecs. If you do that you're still breaking the "inch per gallon rule", which while a very rough guide is good for beginners with peaceful community fish.

The risk of an overstocked tank is stress caused by overcrowding and terriatorial disputes and poor water quality. The stress of being in a crowded tank is actually enough to make fish ill, and ill fish tend to die.

You've got a lot of great fish, though, so once you lower your stock a bit you can enjoy a vibrant, interesting tank!

One more thing - definitely get yourself a test kit. I know they are expensive but they are an absolute must for people that care about their fish. There will be times when disaster strikes and you need to test twice a day for some reason - maybe you had a power cut, maybe some fish are sick, maybe you have a dead fish you can't find that is making the tank toxic, maybe you added too many fish at once, etc. A good kit to get is APIs Freshwater Master Test Kit - that does ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH. Shops will often tell you the water is fine when it has low, but detetctable levels of waste chemicals. Many shop workers don't really understand the damage done by these chemicals or just want to get you to buy more fish.

 

[drobbyb]

i have a juwel rio 125 with an added air stone that has now been running for 6 months.

my first addition was 5 head and tail light tetras what are sill going strong, followed by 5 cardinal tetra. i then added 2 clown plecos and then 2 red tailed sharks where the problems began. one of the sharks was quickly killed in a fight for territory then my cardinal populaulation soon started to suffer. however i still kept it. i kept re stocking the tank with some rather expensive fish at times, such as ghost knife, 2 electric blue rams but the shark continued to savage them so it was time to go and he was taken back to the fish shop and the tank very quickly calmed.

I see you discovered that the beautiful red tailed black sharks are actually pretty mean fish! They are best in a 180+ litre tank with other robust tank-mates. I'm glad you re-homed him

Just some notes on your stocking. If I don't mention it, it means it's fine:

2 denisoni barbs - these guys are very active and grow to 6 inches long. They outgrow your tank and should be kept in groups of 5+ (at least). I'd strongly suggest re-homing them.
1 ghost knife - this guy can get to 24 inches long. He's a real monster and your smaller fish will get eaten when he gets bigger. He needs a truly massive tank. Even your grandfather's tank won't be big enough for a full grown specimen.
3 yo yo botias - another large fish, grows to 6 inches +. Keep an eye on them and move them once the snails are sorted. Do not be tempted to keep them.

That would leave you with:

5 head and tail light tetras
2 clown plecos
10 Cardinal tetras
5 king blue tetras
5 penquin tetras
5 rummy nose tetras
5 haliquins

That's a lot of fish - far more than we'd ever suggest keeping in your tank. I would very strongly suggest re-homing two or three of the groups of 5, leaving you with 20-25 shoaling fish (still quite a lot) and two plecs. If you do that you're still breaking the "inch per gallon rule", which while a very rough guide is good for beginners with peaceful community fish.

The risk of an overstocked tank is stress caused by overcrowding and terriatorial disputes and poor water quality. The stress of being in a crowded tank is actually enough to make fish ill, and ill fish tend to die.

You've got a lot of great fish, though, so once you lower your stock a bit you can enjoy a vibrant, interesting tank!

One more thing - definitely get yourself a test kit. I know they are expensive but they are an absolute must for people that care about their fish. There will be times when disaster strikes and you need to test twice a day for some reason - maybe you had a power cut, maybe some fish are sick, maybe you have a dead fish you can't find that is making the tank toxic, maybe you added too many fish at once, etc. A good kit to get is APIs Freshwater Master Test Kit - that does ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH. Shops will often tell you the water is fine when it has low, but detetctable levels of waste chemicals. Many shop workers don't really understand the damage done by these chemicals or just want to get you to buy more fish.

Agreed.

 

[fish_tank0311]

Assaye, black ghosts do get big, but they will only grow to a size according to the aquarium size.

 

[drobbyb]

That's called stunting, and it's a cruel practice.

 

[natalie265]

Assaye, black ghosts do get big, but they will only grow to a size according to the aquarium size.

Yep, because they'll be dead from stress and disease before they reach their full size.

 

[waterdrop]

I disagree with the distinction expressed in this thread between cardinal tetras and neon tetras. I used to feel this way myself and its a widespread belief but I now believe its incorrect. What both these types of tetras need is first of all a tank that is very solidly cycled (definately able to clear 5ppm of ammonia to zero ppm ammonia and nitrite in under 12 hours for a week if cycled fishlessly) and secondly a tank that has aged a full six months from the time of first being filled. Thirdly it does help if they are kept in soft acid water but this part is not an absolute and is not as important as the second thing of waiting 6 months.

If these precautions are followed, one has the best chance with these fish and the neons will really do as well as the cardinals. The choice then becomes whether one wants an added flash of silver in the look, in addition to the electric blue and orange/red.

I'm not saying these fish are not sensitive to transitions. They are! In both cases, cardinal and neon, its so common to lose one or two despite the best acclimation techniques that its better to buy a couple extra fish per every 6 or so that you get.

~~waterdrop~~