Any fish knowledge?

[Pete]

Well I've recently inherited a fish tank, my dad passes away etc and it was out of his house, only problem is I don't have a clue what fish they are lol

I think one of then is called a plecco?

Bascialy are the tropical fish? Any sort inperticular? What other fish can I put with them etc?

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z389/PetePNG/eeccce9a.jpg
http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z389/PetePNG/085a0bf2.jpg

[Andy]

plec eat alot of other small ones

[Plug]

plec's like algue tablets, or cucumber, lettuce

the other i have no clue lol

im pretty sure you will be fine with any community tank fish, Guppys + mollys (if you want them to breed like funk lol)
Angels will be ok

[Andy]

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/catfish/pleco.php

[MK1_Ben]

It's a Pleco/Plectostomus Catfish.

Basic care conditions for it are water temp around 25 degrees C, well oxygenated water with heavy filtration, you should be using a biological media in the filter (and carbon if you don't have live plants in the tank). They're happily fed Pleco wafers if you're not up for preparing vegetables for them to graze on. They're quite a peaceful fish when looked after and will be fine with a variety of fish, be careful though as they grow HUGE and live for years (a couple of feet long is seen often in older fish), they can easily swallow smaller fish whole (but tend not to).

I keep quite alot of Tropical fish (3 Planted aquariums). But only really specialise in Shrimp (RCS+CRS) and various small shoaling fish (Tetra's, Rasboras etc).

[Plug]

that pleco is tiny anyway haha

mines about 10" long now and the oscars are 8-10" lol

[Pete]

Do I literally cut the veg up finely and pop it in the tank?
I have live plants in there, some big filter thing and a block that pumps out air bubbles...

Does anyone know what the worm things are?

[MK1_Ben]

Do I literally cut the veg up finely and pop it in the tank?
I have live plants in there, some big filter thing and a block that pumps out air bubbles...


You ideally want to blanch them, bring them up the boil then drop them in ice cold water, and cut up. Then they're good to go, but make sure you remove the leftovers or it will foul the tank.

The "big block" should be an internal filter (not just a powerhead), it should open and have some kind of "media" inside (ceramic rings/blocks, sponge, floss or the likes), if you have a properly setup filter you will literally only need to do 20% water changes every week (or twice a week if you can) and the filter will continue to do it's job.

I'd suggest read up alot on some aquarium sites, Tropical fishkeeping has a steep learning curve, but it's easy once you get over the initial basics.

[Plug]

just dont get a huge tank otherwise water changes become abit of a choir(sp?)

lol mines over 600 litres of water so i got to change alot of water haha

[MK1_Ben]

just dont get a huge tank otherwise water changes become abit of a choir(sp?)

lol mines over 600 litres of water so i got to change alot of water haha


My largest I have a powerhead with some aquarium hosing siliconed on the output for water changes, works quicker than any siphon :) It's very heavily planted though so I can get away with 20% weekly (running a sump on it aswell).

[Pete]

Im going to nip to a pet shop tomorrow and grab what books I can, ideally I'd like more fish, as for how big the tank is there's not much in it.
I don't know litre wise but it's about a metre long by half a metre high. And about a quater in depth.

The water is at 24•c, which is in the green on the thermo.

[MK1_Ben]

Im going to nip to a pet shop tomorrow and grab what books I can, ideally I'd like more fish, as for how big the tank is there's not much in it.
I don't know litre wise but it's about a metre long by half a metre high. And about a quater in depth.

The water is at 24•c, which is in the green on the thermo.

A tank of that size, don't get anything else. Get some live plants if anything (Amazon Swords are good for beginners), plants are one of the best things you can put in a fish tank to improve Fish health and Water condition.

Don't bother buying books, just have a read up on the internet. I've been keeping tropical fish over 4 years now and everything I know is from Forums and general reading of websites.

Planted tanks are the pinnacle of Fresh water fish keeping, and they always look awesome :) :

http://www.blueaquarium.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/dec/4FT_planted_tank_by_jervis/4FT_planted_tank_by_jervis_23.jpg

[Plug]

i was thinking about a sump setup just cba with it tbh i have 2x fluval Fx5 external filters which do the job,

[MK1_Ben]

i was thinking about a sump setup just cba with it tbh i have 2x fluval Fx5 external filters which do the job,

My sump is an old 29g. Didn't bother drilling the tank I just made a continuous siphon setup out of PVC pipe (plenty of plans on the net that are designed so they can't flood/overflow), into a drilled bucket filled with shower sponge things inside the main sump tank, which is filled with various mosses + other low light plants I throw in there as I don't want them in my main tank. Then an adjustable pond pump for the return feed (as it was the cheapest at the time).

[Pete]

Jeez your tank looks amazing,
I defiantly need more plants, but I want them like yours, as I know alot of people stick them wherever, but I want it to look nice aswell as look after the fish.
Im going to have to sign up to some forums, as im sure I'll need alot of advice on things.

[MK1_Ben]

Jeez your tank looks amazing,
I defiantly need more plants, but I want them like yours, as I know alot of people stick them wherever, but I want it to look nice aswell as look after the fish.
Im going to have to sign up to some forums, as im sure I'll need alot of advice on things.

It's not my Tank haha! just an example I pulled from google. I recently tore down my show tank as I'm rescaping it, so it looks rather worn out at the moment.

I would recommend this Forum, some VERY experienced people on there (professional breeders, keepers and aquascapers). Mainly USA based but there are quite a few people from the UK + rest of Europe (I'm on there). As mentioned above though, once you start reading into it, the science behind it seems hideously complicated, but it really isn't once you get your head around the basics of keeping the "water parameters" of a Fish tank at their optimum.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/

(figuring I'm allowed to post this here? otherwise shout at me and i'll remove the link ahah)


/edit.

Also, try to avoid shops such as "pets at home" and other chain pet stores, the smaller quirky local fish shop will be much better for healthier livestock and solid advice, rather than what some lad on his Saturday job has been told by his floor manager (generally they're wrong about most things in such shops). Plus helping the smaller businesses is always a good thing.

[windfreek]

French rubbish lol Its all about the Ehiem pro3!

450l
14 kissing gourami (breeding)
2 spotted doras (ones 11yrs old)
1 royal pleco
1 zeb pleco
Planted with C02 feed
Ehiem pro3e on 12h bio setup
Monitored by a Waterboard 8min analyzer

[Pete]

I have a local pet shop called Natural World, i know the owner aswell so im going to have a few words with him.
Could I have things like albino dwarf frogs in the tank? Just curious as to the plec fish.

[MK1_Ben]

French rubbish lol Its all about the Ehiem pro3!


Have to agree, I've had 2 Fluvals and the impellor has failed on both now. Using a Sump is my favourite to date though as all the dosing + injection of CO2 can be done into the sump, making the clarity of the main tank incredible.



I have a local pet shop called Natural World, i know the owner aswell so im going to have a few words with him.
Could I have things like albino dwarf frogs in the tank? Just curious as to the plec fish.

Get the tank as is, nice and stable, get a few more plants and make sure you're running the right filtration. Then start considering more livestock :). Even for something as small as a 30 gallon tank with 10 fish in you're looking several hours a week maintenance if it's looked after properly. My whole sunday afternoon is usually taken up by weekly maintenance of my tanks, and there's the time it takes me each day to dose the tanks with fertiliser, excel and general fish feeding. Tropical fish can be quite hardy, but nothing like Goldfish. If your Nitrates and C02 go out of a balance you can literally end up having your whole tank turn green within a day and all your Fish drop dead.

[windfreek]

I've had 2 Fluvals and the impellor has failed on both now.

I went thru 2 304 units, and where the clips held the top/impellor housing down went britte and cracked, thus resulted in the systematic flooding of my lounge, needess to say I paid more for the Ehiem, but the quaity is about 1000 timea better than that french tat!

[Plug]

i have a 6ft x 2ft x 2ft tank with 3 oscars , 2 green sev's, 1 parrot fish, 1 senagal birchir, 1 ornate birchir, and a common pleco

had the fish for about 4 years now and they where all babys when i got them other than the plec, all are over 8 inches now

and for all you fluval haters ive had my 2 Fx5's on for the past 4-5 years without any problems

[windfreek]

ive had my 2 Fx5's on for the past 4-5 years without any problems

Probably made by germans when the french were on strike! lol

[16v Nova Kev]

fish are cool end of. hope you keep them pete.
p.s sorry about your dad.

[NOV4_SPORT]

I dont really know anything about fish, but they are cool and very relaxing to watch them.

Sorry to hear about your dad buddy.

iain

[Angus Closier]

Some pictures of all your tanks + fish would be nice, Good luck with the fish and sorry about your dad.

[ward]

i started of the hard way when i was living at home about 12 years ago.
didnt read up on anything,just kept spending and making more mistakes.

altho it never stopped me as i now have a 6ft x2x2 tank in my front room which accomadates the breeding of the guppys and mollys,aswell as others.
my passion for it is somewat dissapeariing as i never have the time for it.
be prepared to spend alot of time on it and get alot of moaning of the other half

[MK1_Ben]

be prepared to spend alot of time on it and get alot of moaning of the other half

Same as Nova ownership then?

[windfreek]

Same as Nova ownership then?:thumb:

also, thought id share some photos i have

my breeding tank
http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g460/windfreek/PNG/716ca305.jpg

my other tank
http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g460/windfreek/PNG/95197c52.jpg

and some of their inhabitants
http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g460/windfreek/PNG/b861bc44.jpg

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g460/windfreek/PNG/adf515d5.jpg

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g460/windfreek/PNG/9818102b.jpg

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g460/windfreek/PNG/a9145d5f.jpg

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g460/windfreek/PNG/79ed535a.jpg

[Vausey]

think the bottom pick is an eal. and if it is it will get mahoosive! just a warning id get rid as they eat other fish..

[MK1_Ben]

think the bottom pick is an eal. and if it is it will get mahoosive! just a warning id get rid as they eat other fish..

Quite a generalised and misinformed statement, Eel's can be 5cm or less fully grown dependent upon the type.

Plus the above is not an Eel, it has whiskers (which if I'm correct Eel's don't) and it doesn't have the conjoined tail + dorsal fin (which is a characteristic feature of the eel, that long fin that runs along their length).

[windfreek]

yeah no eels here, its a Kuhli Loach, altho eel like, its no eel!

edit*
Kuhli loaches reach maturity at 2 ¾ inches (7 cm) and have a maximum length of 4 inches (10 cm)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuhli_Loach


ive just remembered quite a funny story regarding eels tho,
when me and my wife first moved in together I had an eel in my tank, it must have been 16" long but no wider than a biro, neway we had friends round a few days later, and pleased with my latest tank, went to show my guests the eel within, but could i find it.... i rearranged the whole tank in search of it but to no avail, it had gone.

several hours later i decided to put the Wii on but had to faff with some wires behind the tv first, only to reach around the back expecting to grab the RCA wire and to grab a shriveled up eel that had got out and slid its **** some 2 meters across the lounge floor!

needless to say our guests have never returned and have even divordced since then! lol

[Pete]

Well I did all my own research and learnt a hell of alot...
There's still copious amounts i can still learn.

And the little worm things are actually called Kuhli Loach