neil cooney 10,416 Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 Good advice being given. Remember that when you go to your aquarium / pet shops they will tell you to get the fish in to the tanks ASAP and that any species will be suitable. The more fish that die on you , the more they sell to you. So be patient. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Simoman 110 Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 Good advice being given. Remember that when you go to your aquarium / pet shops they will tell you to get the fish in to the tanks ASAP and that any species will be suitable. The more fish that die on you , the more they sell to you. So be patient. Spot on, tanks need time to get running and establish the correct water quality........ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
littlefish 585 Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 Just a tip to make keeping your freshwater fish easier - go to your aquarium shop and buy a lump of tufa rock and set it in your tank. It stabilizes the ph and makes the conditions so much better for your fish. I am quite lazy at tank maintainance - i have a 4 foot tank with undergravel filters, every 2-3 months i empty a couple of buckets out and fill up again.........but.... this is balanced by not overfeeding or fussing at the tank. I feed 2-3 times per week with good quality Aquarian fish food. The fish - a mix of congo tetras, loaches, goldfish and very importantly..........an ancistus for good housekeeing....i haven't had to clean the inside of the glass in 10 years are thriving! Same theory goes to the pond. I think in the early days it is so easy to get too carried away with fussing at the tank and buying new fish. It really is an addictive hobby that all the family can enjoy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
littlefish 585 Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 whats the longest living fish people had in their tank i had a black widow who i had in the tank for 7 years , its still living but is now in a tank my mother in law has it was the only fish i saved when i got wiped out with whitespot and it seems happy in the new tank that i never put it back in my tank just let it stay at the mother in laws SNAP!!!! Frankie. The first fish i bought over 20 years ago was a group of black widows. One of them lived for years!!! It survived numerous outbreaks of whitespot, being terrorised by angel fish who laid eggs, heater and air pump break downs etc. In the end it seemed to have lost its bottom jaw but still swam along scooping the flakes from the surface. I still have a soft spot for them, but my favorite tropicals have to be clown loaches Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scottishlass 57 Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 This is mine , 4ft long Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Simoman 110 Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 Kirsty, im amazed that your fish have adapted to gallons of cider rather than water Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest lavyheed Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 This is mine , 4ft long Crackin clowns ever seen them doing the dead float thing? When i kept them they did it quite often. Are those silver dollars? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scottishlass 57 Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 yes they are silver dollars Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest lavyheed Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 yes they are silver dollars Those are a nice size too,i found that my plants didn't last long with a shoal of these,ended up with plastic plants Quote Link to post Share on other sites
just jack 998 Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 This is mine , 4ft long nice redtail, black? and silver shark you have there lass Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gnasher16 30,118 Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Ive kept several species of Discus over the last ten years,not the easiest fish to keep but if you can get everything right the beauty is certainly worth the expense.....ive always found the bigger the tank the more water chemistry mistakes you will get away with. Personally i wouldnt put fish in a new tank for at least 5 weeks if doing a fishless cycle....dont forget with a community tank none of the fish are living in their own perfect conditions your just averaging out to suit the majority.....hence its more difficult to get maximum size/colouration etc in a community tank...... I have a breeding pair of penang eruptions regularly spawning if theres any other discus fanciers wanting to raise a few. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kreet 0 Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 before i lost my dad we had a fish house with 109 tanks and 3 comunity tanks in the house what i would say from my personal experience is dont add tuffa unless you have brackish water fish or mollies etc as the fish do not need it and all it does is add a little salt and alter the chemistry in the water a little 90% of fresh water tropicals would have never come into contact with tuffa rock it is like putting salt in the tank if you intend on a comunity tank that the fish will stay in then bash on but if you stick them in a tank with tuffa then pass the fish on to a tank without it its like buying mollies from a pet store they have been in salted water and will be prone to disease. Anyway as for lengths of time before introduction of fish it depends on your local water chemistry and the type of fish i have owned fish from xiphophorus cortezi from both the vanasco and re degenero regions wild sword tails which both were introduced to water that had been in a bare tank with no substrate just a sponge filter after a week also apisto gramma dwarf cichlids from various genus all these and many more were f1 or wild caught from expiditions in mexico i was part of a fish club and won variouse shows as a child i also used to breed angels in pritty un mature water aswel as alot of killi fish gardneri , striatum , aplochilies etc i muct have had decent enough water but never had any bother with fish disease or loss of fry i used alot of bog wood and plants sylvinias etc which help. in my comunity tanks i had discus cardinals aphosium striatum (spelling) and many more demanding in condition fish but i didnt aproach any differently and had no problems. advice on fish shops would be Bolton Aquatics the superstore no place compares in size and variation of fish in my opinion although on trips i noticed some of the fish were in salt water always dip a finger in the tank your buying fish out and taste the water youl taste if it has salt in it we also used to visit wigan pier aquatics used to be the place to go for catfish although last time i was there was before it all changed and that was a good 7 years ago i think penrith has a cracking little place used to have some cracking discus and clowns at cracking prices . Scotland i personaly like the house of pices in dundee a bit dark and dingy not the cleenest but he has a heck of alot of fish you need to look but youl find some rarer fish mixed in with shoals , theres also ultamate discount in cupar decent enough for both marine and tropical and the cupar garden centre has some not bad fish but is not as good as it was a few years back . i aint had fish in a few years but have a 6'x2'x2' tank that ill be setting up when im in my own house with plenty bog wood ferns moss some nice comunitys and some striatum killi fish unlike the gardneri and alot of others the striatum make decent comunity fish and there colours are second to none although unless you are in with a club or decent aquarists youl struggle to get them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest robbie1 Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ferreterni 29 Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Do agree that community tanks although nice don't compare to area specific set ups. Used to run th efish/reptile section in the local garden centre and took great pleasure in setting up display tanks for different regions with appropriate live plants and species. Give s people a good idea and whats what. Discus where a pain in the hole to work with, but they are stunningly beautiful fish, and some of the cichlids set up in an all rock aquarium can be amazing to look at. Never got on with the marines totally but would be worth it if you had an interest. And whoever said about shops telling you whatever to get more sales must be using a bad shop, or chain. All pet/fish animal traders worth their salt know that you get more money, regular sales and increased business by selling good quality stock that people are happy with, and confident to come back to you again and again, even just for advice. All good shops ( space permitting) will have a quarantine area out back that isolates all new stock before putting in the shop tanks. A happy customer is a regular customer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RaiderBoy 19 Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 whats the longest living fish people had in their tank i had a black widow who i had in the tank for 7 years , its still living but is now in a tank my mother in law has it was the only fish i saved when i got wiped out with whitespot and it seems happy in the new tank that i never put it back in my tank just let it stay at the mother in laws SNAP!!!! Frankie. The first fish i bought over 20 years ago was a group of black widows. One of them lived for years!!! It survived numerous outbreaks of whitespot, being terrorised by angel fish who laid eggs, heater and air pump break downs etc. In the end it seemed to have lost its bottom jaw but still swam along scooping the flakes from the surface. I still have a soft spot for them, but my favorite tropicals have to be clown loaches ive got a white goldfish that i won from a circus when i was 4 im 16 now and the things still alive its living in my mothers pond Richard Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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