My New Pets!!!

TRIOPS!!! ill let you know when they hatch.

yyyyyyyyyayayayayayayyayayyyayayayayyaya!!!! :crazy:


-ash

We had those many years ago. Our boys' first experience with learning responsible pet ownership. Let's just say they weren't very responsible :rolleyes: .

I just googled them, they are CRAZY looking! Are they just in eggs now?

Thanks, btw, for your advice on the water changes for my sick tetra. I've been using water from the aquarium every day, while still giving him small doses of the mela fix. His eye infection seems to have stopped in its tracks! Hard to tell if it's healing, because I think he can only see through his good eye and therefore only looks at me from one side. But the improvement is there - he was bleeding from the eye the day I pulled him from the aquarium. It's been about a week. I thought I was basically just giving him a comfortable place to die (although it's a very small bowl, he was definitely more comfy in the tank, obv.) but he's hanging in there.

Ha! I've threadjacked the queen of threadjacking! Do keep me posted on those triops though...so INTERESTING!

Never seen those before,kind of strange looking,but that's not their fault:laughing:
Looking forward to seeing the hatchlings:laughing:

*runs to google*

oooh...ew... oooh... (my reaction!).... are they like sea monkeys?!

interesting.... :D

Okay, I'm very happy for you....ummmm.....but.......ewwwww.... in a cute way?:o

(this is what I got when I googled)

I got this pic when I googled....

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Triops_longicaudatus2.jpg/684px-Triops_longicaudatus2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Triops_longicaudatus2.jpg&h=122&w=139&sz=82&tbnid=WgSAs-Qiy20J:&tbnh=122&tbnw=139&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=1&ct=image&cd=1

Okay maybe my pic is the underside?

That's what I was thinking since they have 140 feet. I think they look better from the top. :laughing:

That's what I was thinking since they have 140 feet. I think they look better from the top. :laughing:

I think your right!!

Kinda creepy underneath:eek:

Can you imagine them crawling on you? :eek: :yuck:

Can you imagine them crawling on you? :eek: :yuck:


*SHUDDER* :eek:

i had forgotten i created this thread!!!!

well im sad to report, the eggs grew fungus. :cry: i was really looking forward to my new buddies. i think the temp was too warm on the water i used.

i *will* eventually get some more. until then, ill check out pics of them online because unlike SOME OF YOU GUYS i think they are cool. :laughing:

-ashley

i had forgotten i created this thread!!!!

well im sad to report, the eggs grew fungus. :cry: i was really looking forward to my new buddies. i think the temp was too warm on the water i used.

i *will* eventually get some more. until then, ill check out pics of them online because unlike SOME OF YOU GUYS i think they are cool. :laughing:

-ashley

I'm sorry to hear about your little eggies :rip:

They do seem kinda cool, but creepy at the same time :D

Sorry about your eggs W4R :rip: :grouphug:

I think they look cool from the top :cool: ....it's just the thought of the 140 feet underneath :eek: that is creepy. :D

think 'horseshoe crab' but waaaaay tinier! i think they are really cool but i also think slimy worms are cool... all the creepy crawly bugs (except spiders) are cool.....

-ashley

Creepy, crwling, flying, 6 or 8 or 140 legs ... :eek: :yell: :yuck:

I'll stick with :cat: & :dog: if you don't mind :D

*laughs* i dont blame you one bit!! i get tired of creepy crawly things sometimes. my fuzzy butts, rarely.

-ashley

i also think slimy worms are cool...

I'm with you W4R - example - Kuhli Loaches are the cooles things ever!!!

i *love love love* kuhli loaches!!!! they are even cooler with a sandy substrate or something like Eco Complete (of which ive been ultra happy with as a planted tank substrate). i currently have 4 of these- Botia kubotai (http://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-kubotai) of which are VERY active, remind me of little dolphins in their curiosity, swimming and social structure. a little aggressive though. i wasnt able to keep slower swimming fish in there. not even my lovely short finned bettas.

-ashley

Those are really cool!
The only loach I have right now is a clown. I bought him on my birthday and he's my fave fish. They have such personality. The ones you have are so beautiful...but I've had some bad experience with aggressive fish, and I only have a 20G, so I try to stay away from that sort of thing. I had some gouramis once, but one ate the other one and then terrorized everything else in the tank. I bought two zebra danios becuase they are really fast and less likely to allow themselves to be attacked. Then the terrorist gourami died and I was able to get some other stuff.
I've been thinking of getting a buddy for my loach though, but I need to replace my pleco with a baby one first because adding another fish right now would probably put me over my limit.
What kind of aquarium setup do you have? A really huge one?

for clown loaches??? a 75g would buy you some time but honestly, they grow to be FEET long. ive seen them, with my own eyes, *cramped* in a 300g tank. they were also over 10 years old so you have some time. loaches are very social fish and having buddies is a great idea.

gouramis are difficult to work with. some are more social than others. having a well planted (fake or real) and uneven numbers really helps out a lot. makingn sure you have plenty of space is also a must. they are large fish with large territories. they are also labyrinth fish who can breath surface air but because they are territorial, they should never be kept with other labyrinth fish such as bettas. there are tons of morphs (color differences) between types of gouramis. for example, opaline, pearl, three spot/blue are all color morphs. there are a few more in that group but thats all i rremember now. all of the 'dwarfs' are different color morphs so keeping uneven numbered groups of them together are ok. i keep sparkling gourami because i have a 'thing' for tiny fish LOL!! and they ARE tiny but also territorial. im able to keep my 5 in a well planted 10g tank. some of the more unusual gourami such as the licorice or chocolate have a very very low pH requirement of which is VERY hard to maintain.

those common plecos folks pick up should never be kept in anythign less than a 55g. they are poor algae eaters, have dietary requirements of which most folks dont know about (such as having wood to chew on, blanched veggies to eat) and also grow to be HUGE quickly... or SHOULD grow quickly but because of the build up of hormones in aquarium water, it stunts their growth. there are some smaller plecos of which are VERY COOL!! such as the rubber lip or clown.... maybe the bushy nose, of which can stay in smaller tanks like a 20 breeder btu again, they are fairly poor algae eaters.

look at some different kinds of shrimp and either a SIAMESE algae eater (not to be confused by a CHINESE algae eater... of which is the most cruel of aquarium fish) or the otocinclus. you can fit 1 per 5g and they eat LOADS of algae. unfortunately they are wild caught and delicate fish. of the 8 ive kept in my fish keeping career, ive only kept 2 alive for more than a few months. usually its internal parasites that takes them out. or possibly the stress of shippign and moving. i havent tried ordering them online but next time i will.

i do NOT have a really huge set up. not yet anyway.... :evil: my husband keeps threatening divorce if i get any more fish or tanks. :angel: i currently (perhaps i should update my signature?) 4 plakat Thai bettas, 2m/2f (in separate tanks!!!), in my 20g 4 of those loaches, 1 siamese algae eater and 3 white clouds and a 10g with 5 sparkling gouramis and 1 pea/dwarf/indian puffers(everyone calls them something different!!!). i have aspirations to set up a stupidly large system with discus and cardinal tetras and a spawning pair of scarlet plecos and MAYBE a herd of cory cats. i am currently working with a buddy of mine to build matching display tanks (5g each) for my bettas so they can move from the kitchen to my mantle in the living room (i could look at these guys all day long). id like to find new homes for my loaches and WC's and use that 20T for SW. corals. lots of corals and live rock. fish as an after thought!! :laughing:

my grandpa has a laser etcher so im still working out what i want to put on my little betta tanks. any suggestions?? :D im sooooo excited!!!

danae, i kicked you a pm, did you get it??

-ashley the fish dork

Yep, I got your PM, thanks!

I was told at my fish place that the siamese were really aggessive and was talked out of buying one! Maybe I'll look inot one next time I'm in.
I just bought a spare heater/filter from a guy that was breeding all sorts of fish in his house. He had these albino plecos that had really long and curly fins/tail - they were the cooolest thing! I told him to email me when they're ready.

I had a herd of cories once (albino) and they all got sick. One of them, the one that lived the longest, oddly, lost his tail somehow and it never grew back. They were so cute, I was very sad that they didn't last. I did everything that I could for them.

Have you ever had to dispose of a live fish, in a humane way of course, because he was sick or injured? The tetra I'm nursing now - the fish place told me it was probably an incurable parasite and I should just freeze him. I couldn't bring myself to do it, it seems like such a bad thing to do, but so common!

clove oil is the most humane thing that most folks can pull off. they say lopping the head off is the least traumatic and least painful if you can do it fast enough. lay them on a really wet piece of paper towel (wetted with tank water!) but i prefer clove oil. its a sedative (i delivered a breach baby endler once with it!!!) but in large doses it just puts them to sleep and it shuts down their system. its REALLY expensive. i keep a 1oz bottle around for emergencies. i had to use the whole bottle on a goldfish though. that was almost a $10 euthanization. :( poor Finny Foo. :candle: he is sleeping under my cat nip plants, his portal to the giant fish bowl in the sky.

cory cats (being sensitive bottom dwellers) suffer from poor water quality the worse. what do you do to keep the water clean??

i aim for weekly water changes (ie take old water out, put in new treated aged water) of 30-50%, bi-weekly gravel vacuuming and on the other weeks i change out filter media or shake/rinse them out. i also (try) to under stock and under feed. all of my fish but the gourami and white clouds get fed 2-3 times a week.

boy im chatty today!!

-ashley

I usually do a 30% change every week, including gravel vacuuming. Those plecos sure can poo! At the time I had my cories, though, they were in a 10 gallon, which I had a REALLY hard time maintaining. Things are dying a lot less iwth my 20. I still have the 10, and would like to use it now that I'm moving and have some more room, but I'm not sure what I should put in it. I'm thinking a couple of moors, I've always liked them, just for show.

see, i tried to keep a goldfish in a 10g... a singular goldfish.... doing daily water changes of 2g and vacuuming/filter stuff once a week and it didnt happen. ive known waaaay too many people who have had such shoddy luck with goldies. ive had a few experts on them say the first goldie should be in nothing less than a 20g and then another 10g for each one after that. considering they are genetically inferior fish and that they get to be the size of a soft ball, i tend to agree. i gave my goldy Finn exceptional care and still couldnt keep him. :(

if i ever try them again, i will get him/her from a national breeder and keep a single on in a 30g. it totally broke my heart that a fish that SHOULD live 20-60 years didnt make it a single year in my home.

a great suggestion for a 10g would run you with two of those oto cats i suggested, a handful of cherry shrimp, some live plants and perhaps a betta, a trio pf guppies (but let them eat the babies) or some sparklers like i have... maybe a pair of SMALL killifish?? or a small school(5-8) of rasboras?? i *love* axelrods rasboras!! internet pics do them NO justice!! or you could do 3 pair of threadfin rainbows?? i *love love love* threadfins!! they are so dainty and they display to each other which is just beautiful!!

OKAY!!! I HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES!! I CANT PLAY ANYMORE TODAY!!! this is my first lazy day since thanksgiving!!! dawwwwg!! i might be back later tonight. ;)

-ashley

:laughing:
Okay!!!
I will remember this thread when it comes time to move, and look into all the fishies you just suggested (the killifish look REALLY cool!).
Thanks!

ok ok ok..... im bad... im back for a second! Swift V.2.0 is getting an emergency bath... who knew Jelly was impervious to wash cloths!!!

all of those fish i suggested are far far more stunning than you will find on the net and they just get prettier after you get them in your tank and they feel healthier after being shuffled around. you could also do a single dwarf gourami in a 10g. there are some really really pretty ones. chekc out www.liveaquaria.com for their flame dwarf gourami, they suggest 20g minimum but i not sure why, they are just another color morph of the dwarf if i understand correctly. look into it if youre interested though. maybe you can find out WHY they suggest 20g instead of the usual 10g.

-ash

you could also do a single dwarf gourami in a 10g.


Do you mean having just the one fish in the 10g, total? Or the one gourami with maybe some bottom feeders or something?

so i was saying you could do the oto cats and a handful of shrimp (cherry/ghost/amano or that size) along with either-
-3 pair of threadfins(feed daily)
-a male betta(feed every other day at the most)
-1m/2f ratio of guppies(feed daily)
-6-8 small rasboras(feed daily)
-a small pair of killifish (think REALLY SMALL)(feed daily)
-1 dwarf gourami(feed every other day)
-5-8 sparkling gourami(feed daily), a little aggressive, WELL planted, think 'choking with plants'
-1-3 pea puffers(feed every other day), also a little aggressive. make territories with a cave for each with one extra, small terracotta pots work very well.

if you did the single fish ideas (single gourami, single betta) you could subtract a oto cat and do 3 or 4 kuhli loaches but i strongly suggest lots of water changes (think 50% weekly) and a sandy substrate at less than 2" deep.

also bettas, gourami, killifish, pea puffers(which are one of the only puffers commonly/uncommonly found thats actually freshwater!!!) and guppies all appreciate live food. if you have some mosquito larva or fruit flies you can catch, they will gladly eat those. :)

-ashley

I've never tried live or frozen food before. I'll try that. I looked at that Liveaquaria site you sent, and I'd love to be able to order some livestock since my fish place is somewhat limited, but I tried and tried and couldn't find any Canadian sites.

I'll keep you posted. I'm moving iwithin the next month, so my whole setup now is going to change, and I'll have to find a place for my 10g.

i will hit my friend Joe up (he lives up there in the cold white north) and see if he knows of anywhere you Canadians can order fish.

-ashley

Awesome, thanks.

so i asked my friend in BC if there are any sites that he can order fish from. he said his LFS orders whatever fish he wants but he hasnt found any 'to the door' shippers or online fish stores for Canada. i vaguely recall running across a shrimp page that ships to Canada but i havent been able to find it. perhaps if you do a google search for Canadian fish stores and call them and ask??? they may know of sources i dont. i highly recommend shipping to the door if you can be there to receive the fish. its far less stressful on the livestock.

-ashley

Thanks, I'll do some investigating through my fish place.

w4r - I have some news...

My poor blue tetra died. I was very sad. He hung in there for a long time, in his small hospital, and sometimes he looked much better for a couple of days, others he looked quite bad. He was extremely lively right up until his last few hours. :sad:

Some better news though - I am purchasing a 65g tank for my new house! I've decided to try my hand at cichlids. Know anything about them?

The guy I'm buying the tank from put over 900$ into it and is letting me have it for 275. It includes everything but the fish. I'm SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!

thats a great deal!!! do you know what kind of equipment it comes with?? i dont know *anything* about cichlids. sorry!! i know quite a few people who know loads abotu them though. :) i just never really found them all that interesting. you could try your hand at a mated pair of discus and a handful of non aggressive tetras and a school of cory cats?? discus need *perfect* water quality though and a really low low pH. do you know what the pH of your tap (or whatever you use for water changes) is?

sorry to hear abotu your blue tetra. :( :candle: rest in peace littlest one.

-ashley

No idea, since I'm not even finished painting the place and haven't moved anything in.
I'm scared of the discus...they are SOOOOO beautiful, but I don't think I have the skill yet to take proper care of them. Maybe after a couple years of the cichlids I'll take them on. A friend of mine has about six discus, along with some other stuff, in a 95G tank, plus she operates a couple of 20 Gs in another room. Her 95 is stunning.
I think the cichlids aren't supposed to have any other species in with them, which suits me fine, since I'm still going to be running my 10 and 20 for various tropicals. I'm not even sure if I can have a pleco.
The guy says he only buys brand name equipment, so I'm guessing it's pretty good quality. I don't know what brand names he uses though. I'm going over to see it after work tonight.

Discus don't need low pH water, they prefer soft water, and that's mostly for breeding. 7.5 pH range and below is usually ok as long as the water isn't really hard. They are touchy about nitrates though, and obviously there shouldn't be any ammonia or nitrites in any tank.
The main thing with discus is to buy from a reputable breeder. There are a lot of TERRIBLE discus, they often aren't fed properly, they're bred indiscriminately and just poor quality in general, often they have parasites or other health issues. That's not what you want, you'll think you're just a horrible fishkeeper if you buy these fish since their survival rate isn't too good, they're sickly, and you WILL be overpaying even if they seem cheap compared to other discus.
If you ever decide to get into discus the best thing to do is RESEARCH how to tell a good quality discus from a poor quality discus and make sure you are buying from someone reputable.

Angelfish would be a really good choice for a 65g. They're more readily available than discus, cheaper and easier to take care of if you're inexperienced.

There are a ton of other cichlids to go for, it just depends on what type you like. I tend to go for the big aggressive ones, but I also have angelfish, africans, severums, and various other types.

I think the cichlids aren't supposed to have any other species in with them, which suits me fine, since I'm still going to be running my 10 and 20 for various tropicals. I'm not even sure if I can have a pleco.

Try to figure out the exact species you're buying. Everything I named above is a type of cichlid. They're highly variable in personality and care requirements. An oscar and an angelfish are both cichlids, and they're obviously drastically different.

:laughing: told ya i dont know anythign abotu Cichlids!!

-ashley

Wow, Evilbird, that was a great post! I will definitely be tapping into your knowledge in the future.
I have decided to start off with some Electric Yellows, since my friend is a fantastic cichlid-keeper and has a bunch of spawn. I hear that one male to two females per species is the best way to keep harmony in the tank, ans these fish are omnivores. I'm trying to lean toward omnis and herbis, as I'm really not a fan of feeding live. Would angelfish be okay with the yellows? And how about a pleco, can I put a pleco in with cichlids or will he be eaten? I ask this because the pleco I have is getting too bog for my 20, so I'll have to bring him back to the store to exchange him for a smaller one if I can't put him in my big one.
My 65 and my 30 are going to be my display tanks, I also have a 10 that I will be putting up in another room... should I use that as a hospital tank, or a tank to put my new livestock in before I introduce them to the larger tanks?
Thanks in advance for your advice - 11 tanks is amazing! How you find the time is beyond me...

W4R - don't worry, you're still my #1 source for tropical advice! :laughing:

I hear that one male to two females per species is the best way to keep harmony in the tank, ans these fish are omnivores

Do at least 1:3. If there's only two females he will harass them to spawn CONSTANTLY and they'll get stressed out. If they're gonna be in a 65g I'd actually do a whole group of them, like one male and 7-10 females. Lots of rockwork or hiding places. Don't underestimate the spawning ability of most african cichlids. My male livingstoni had 5 females holding eggs within a day, lol. You may have some issues identifying male/female with that species, but I wouldn't worry about it since they're not too aggressive. You could actually keep all males if you wanted to and it would prevent unnecessary spawning.

Yup, they're ominivores, they actually lean towards being an herbivore and they consume quite a bit of algae. I let algae grow on the sides of the tank for my mbunas (electric yellows are mbunas - from lake Malawi) to graze on and they also eat Hikari and various other pellets. There's no need for live foods.

And how about a pleco, can I put a pleco in with cichlids or will he be eaten? I ask this because the pleco I have is getting too bog for my 20, so I'll have to bring him back to the store to exchange him for a smaller one if I can't put him in my big one.

I don't wanna say it's ok outright, I'd say mix them with caution. Depending on the type of pleco he might outgrow the tank anyway though. You'll have to watch that they don't nip at him, but plecos have pretty tough skin anyway and mbunas mouthes aren't made to rip stuff. Mine haven't ever bothered plecos or bottom dwellers. Electric yellows especially are fairly docile as far as africans go.

My 65 and my 30 are going to be my display tanks, I also have a 10 that I will be putting up in another room... should I use that as a hospital tank, or a tank to put my new livestock in before I introduce them to the larger tanks?

If a 10 is the only other tank you have I'd keep it as a hospital tank. As far as quarantining before adding to the bigger tank, if you're adding all the fish at once from the same source it's not necessary. If you're gonna be adding them one by one then you probably wanna quarantine.
Personally, I'm a bad fishkeeper in the respect that I don't always quarantine, lol. My LFS is pretty trustworthy though and they'll keep fish while I watch for any signs of disease, so I do have that advantage.
If you wanna cut down on the risk of a disease outbreak then it's best to quarantine for a week or more before you add to the tank.

Thanks in advance for your advice - 11 tanks is amazing! How you find the time is beyond me...

No problem. I love giving fishkeeping advice :D
I'm trying to cut down on the number of tanks, but upgrading to bigger ones. Right now I'm back down to 7, but I traded an old 75g and two 55g tanks for a brand new 125g. It doesn't take much time at all, every single one of my tanks right now has no substrate except for a 90g reef tank. I have powerheads blowing everything off the bottom into the filters, so I just maintain the filters and do water changes.
I do know one woman in town that has 40 fish tanks, all have undergravel filters which require several inches of substrate, so I should be asking her how she keeps up with that :eek:

Ash -
So I'm in my new house and setting up my 10g this weekend. What do you think about 6 kuhli loaches and a betta in the 10, sparsely decorated? Should work, eh? I LOVELOVELOVE kuhlis and my store has some on hold for me. I'll just be getting the betta so it doesn't look like an empty tank - you know how those kuhli's will hide.

6 is *perfect* but if they look like they are getting too big, upgrade the tank to a 20g long??? and use a soft sandy substrate!! ive had several people tell me that their kuhlis dont hide at all with the sandier substrates because the know they can hide quickly, thus dont have to hide at all.

also live foods are great too. you live in a decidedly non tropical place, most of the wild caught foods (fruit flies, mosquito larva, daphnia) arent likely (but its not impossible!) have diseases that transfer over to tropical fish. ive been feeding little bugs and mosquito larva to my bettas for a few years now.

OH and decorate away! hopefully the sand will make them feel secure enough to not hide all the time. when shopping for decor for your betta, the softer the better. live or silk plants, make sure that the rocks and driftwood are all soft edged. i use river rocks (fist sized) buried halfway by the substrate, natural drift wood, terracotta pots.... uh.... plastic caves?? handful of different things. oh slate too but i make sure i use pea gravel to take the edge off.

AND I WANT PICTURES!!

-ash

You got it buddy! Thanks for the tips!