# Aquarium Thread



## MargotC (18 August 2016)

Following on from my "Experiences with fishless cycling?" thread.

I currently have a planted 115 litre tank with a group of eleven Puntius titteya, commonly known as Cherry barbs. These include my initial surprise fry that hatched in the secondhand tank I brought home. The barbs frequently spawn; I have yet to discover live fry as they are quick to eat the results.

I also have a planted 63 litre tank that is home to a blue and red male veiltail Betta splendens. I had trouble sourcing the plakat Betta I wanted and ended up bringing one home from the local store. His name is Gable as I happened to be watching Gone with the Wind on the day. He is much improved since coming here; he has coloured up a little and his torn fins, from being kept with male guppies at the store, have grown back. I was new to Bettas before this guy but he is a delight.

So naturally I am currently planning a third tank; this time with the intention of stocking a species of Corydoras and possibly also a shoal of Boraras brigittae. I intend to use sand substrate, Mopani wood for hardscape, and to complete the aquascape with plenty of plants.

As you can tell from the species I keep I have soft water. So many species to choose from and not enough space at present.

I would post pictures in this initial post but unfortunately my phone lost the battle with the tiled bathroom floor and the screen is in smithereens. I intend to post updated tank pictures at a later date.

This is not intended as a thread exclusively about my own tanks and fishes so do feel free to join in with yours.


----------



## millikins (18 August 2016)

You are very restrained in keeping species only tanks! I have a semi octagonal patio pond in the conservatory. It is temperate, temp about 68F and has a thriving colony of guppies, been going about 10 years so hardy little mongrels, some checkered barbs and dozens of butterfly goodeids, which have been rather too successful and are almost nose to tail in there. I had some rosy barbs too, they are lovely fish but lost the last couple earlier this year. I put a spawning mat upside down on the surface which allows one or too babies to escape when they spawn.


----------



## MargotC (18 August 2016)

millikins said:



			You are very restrained in keeping species only tanks! I have a semi octagonal patio pond in the conservatory. It is temperate, temp about 68F and has a thriving colony of guppies, been going about 10 years so hardy little mongrels, some checkered barbs and dozens of butterfly goodeids, which have been rather too successful and are almost nose to tail in there. I had some rosy barbs too, they are lovely fish but lost the last couple earlier this year. I put a spawning mat upside down on the surface which allows one or too babies to escape when they spawn.
		
Click to expand...

You are so lucky to have a pond! How much work is it maintenance-wise? I originally wanted to keep male guppies and bought the smaller tank with those in mind, but my soft water made that impossible and I had to rethink. Those are beautiful fish you have.

I do dearly wish I had the means to do a large community; I would probably go for an Amazon species biotope. The barb tank was originally purchased with a small community in mind, but before I could stock it it turned out a fry had hatched; the previous owner kept the barbs in the tank and this one egg made it through the move. So I hadn't the heart to give the single fry away to someone who kept a group, and subsequently I had to supply him with appropriate numbers. The barbs being barbs they are a little too boisterous and nippy for what I originally wanted to keep and that is how I ended up like this. Mind you they are fascinating fish in their own right.

In addition to several alternative species of Cories, and B. brigittae, I would love to keep the red variant of Trichogaster chuna. They are beautiful. I painstakingly searched the Internet for species that fit my water and have compiled a list of tens of species from South America and South East Asia that I have an interest in keeping when money and space permits. I would love a room set up with fish tanks in mind. When I win the lottery, eh.

I would be thrilled to discover viable fry in my tank! It is the ultimate proof your fish are thriving is it not. But since it is already close to fully stocked I am probably fortunate that they eat their efforts for now.


----------



## Nudibranch (19 August 2016)

Some lovely sounding aquariums! I was "lucky" enough (?!) to marry someone who is even more fish obsessed so we have;

Coldwater tank with one black and one gold axolotls. They have spawned and hatched babies but as yet I've never been able to get them to take even brine shrimp.

100 litre breakfast bar tank with cardinals, corydoras and khuli loach.

800 litre room divider aquarium with 7 discus (my all time favourites), 2 wild type angels and a shoal of lemon tetra. The discus and angels spawn regularly but the fry get eaten. 

2000 litre indoor pool with glass wall, with a pair of stingrays, a very large plec, a few rather aged cichlids (jack dempsey, firemouths, acara) and rather randomly a softshell turtle. They all get on famously! Over the tank we have a planted rainforest wall with various overhanging branches and a resident free range madagascan day gecko. It is pretty cool! We have Gouldian finches in a flight cage next to the tank too.

Outside we have a large pond with various goldies and koi. I will try and post pics at some point!

My next project is to set up a planted cube in baby NBs room when he moves into it. Hopefully with flame guppies and a betta. I am very partial to gouramis though, especially pearls.

And OH wonders why our electricity bill is so high...


----------



## Mince Pie (19 August 2016)

Axolotls!! I want one, are they hard to keep?
Margot - maybe slightly different as it's an outdoor pond but mine is an utter pain in the ass! Have now replaced pump and UV bulb so hopefully by Christmas I'll be able to see my fish again (pond currently green despite massive attempts to sort).... I have goldfish in it, would love a terrapin or two but apparently they can't be mixed so will have to wait.


----------



## Nudibranch (20 August 2016)

Axolotls are prett easy - cold water, decent filter but slow flow so maybe a spraybar, blood worm and trout pellets to eat 

Turtles/terrapins aren't supposed to be mixed but our softshell is no problem with the tropicals. And Blue Reef in Tynemouth have a big tank with goldies and lots of terrapins...just a thought


----------



## Leo Walker (20 August 2016)

And while we are on the subject of unusual stuff, I've got a newt. A Japanese Paddle Tail. I used to have loads of them in varying set ups but just have the one big one now. Hes beautiful and very tame for an aquatic animal. He begs at the side of the tank when he sees you and is a voracious hunter. I've had him years and am ridiculously attached to him  

Terrible photo, but this is him:


----------



## Mince Pie (20 August 2016)

I've got newts too, and hundreds of frogs/toads! Keep find tiny frogs on the lawn when I got to mow the grass, am paranoid about running over them!


----------



## Mince Pie (20 August 2016)




----------



## s4sugar (20 August 2016)

As I'm about to put the house on the market I've downsized to just two tanks. My 400 litre with Stanley - a Geophagus brasiliensis , a breeding group of ancistrus & a crowd of guppies and my Mum's 200 litre community tank - neons, platies, more guppies & corys.
I have the 800 litre stored in the garage to move.


----------



## MargotC (20 August 2016)

Is this litre envy I am feeling 

Those newts are adorable. I actually do not think newts and axolotls are legal pets where I live. Fascinating to see them.

What kind of water parameters do those of you have who keep mixed soft and hard water species? Mine comes out at a pH of 6,4 but tends to drop a little in the tank, and 1 degree hardness (German scale). I am stuck admiring livebearers from afar.

I do have to say based on what I observed with the one I bought I would never put a Betta in with other fish. Particularly not a colourful, long-finned, active, and nippy species like guppies. His fins took an awful beating at the store and he was very stressed. Reversely he had beat up a fair few guppies, too, as he saw them as rivals. He is a completely different fish now from the one I observed at the store.


----------



## Nudibranch (20 August 2016)

Ahh...I shall modify my guppy-betta plan then. I did wonder about nipping. There's not much to beat a beautiful betta in a lush planted tank.

Our pH is bang on 7 and water is soft though I am not sure exactly the measurement. Most of our fish are South American at the moment and it seems to suit.

And I just love the paddle tail.  He is so cute!


----------



## MargotC (20 August 2016)

I know of keepers successfully keeping Bettas with species that are "unlikely" to provoke them such as loaches (Pangio oblonga and Pangio semicincta). I expect those loaches tend to refrain from nipping at sedate fish but I am not familiar with them. I think in those few successful cases it comes down to a heavily planted tank and a Betta that acts unexpectedly calm; of course you cannot know what its temperament is like until you have it so the keeper has to be willing to take the risk and be ready to separate the fish on short notice!

Mine was withdrawn at the store (he ended up being the one I brought home as he looked the healthiest of a very sorry lot and was the one I reckoned might make it through a move) but perked up once he got plants to hide in and sleep on and the stress of being nipped and having to constantly flare was removed. He also took great exception to the snails in his tank, new to him at the time, and now a couple of months later he will still have an occasional go at snails on the glass, or flare at snails on the substrate.

Depending on the individual Betta shrimp might work as tank mates. Some might get eaten but with enough plants and cover there is a fair chance. I do hope to try my hand at shrimp at some point, probably not with my Betta mind as I think they would be food. 

Any shrimp keepers?


----------



## Zero00000 (20 August 2016)

I have a 400lt planted community tank.. well it was and is trying to be.... without the help of our 2 plec (12 in+ common and small female bristleless bristlenose) stripping everything in sight.

Mainly home to Angel fish, a shoal of neon tetra, golden barbs, varying corydora and and albino rainbow shark


----------



## MargotC (20 August 2016)

Yep. I definitely have litre envy.

Any tips on how to magically transport fragile and heavy glass down precariously steep stone stairs, around a narrow ninety degree corner and through an uncooperative door and hallway? 

Next time I move I will have to vet all prospects for aquarium ease of access.


----------



## Leo Walker (21 August 2016)

MargotC said:



			Is this litre envy I am feeling 

Those newts are adorable. I actually do not think newts and axolotls are legal pets where I live. Fascinating to see them.
		
Click to expand...

Where do you live?? There are a few state in the US where you cant keep them, but its fine almost everywhere else so long as they are either captive bred or wild caught. You cant just go round grabbing certain species from your local pond


----------



## MargotC (21 August 2016)

FrankieCob said:



			Where do you live?? There are a few state in the US where you cant keep them, but its fine almost everywhere else so long as they are either captive bred or wild caught. You cant just go round grabbing certain species from your local pond 

Click to expand...

I am in Norway.  We have very strict regulations indeed. I had trouble finding a definite list of what IS allowed.


----------



## Ormsweird (21 August 2016)

I had small betta tanks and indeed small shrimp tanks. Note the separation, because when I tried to combine the two in most cases I'd see betta swimming around attacking shrimp so I'd keep them separate.

I did have a betta in my 80 litre fresh water tank (other two are marine now) and he lived fine with a shoal of corys and a few micro rasbora.  But he popped his clogs after two years sadly and now it's my shrimp tank instead.


----------



## s4sugar (21 August 2016)

I've kept and bred many Bettas over the last 40 odd years.
There are a lot of myths about them that stores perpetuate so they can sell awful tiny jails for them.
They do not live in puddles. They may be caught in puddles when floods recede and many other species in the same situation would die but their natural habitat is swampy riversides. 
When rearing you have to seperate the males as few tanks are large enough to give the 2-3 metre territory each would claim in the wild.
They are territorial & will nip guppies, not because of long fin envy as wild Bettas have short fins - but because guppy males are randy and will pester any fish that holds still long enough.
They are tropical fish & need a temperature controlled environment, they can breath air but toxins in the water still have detrimental effects on their metabolism. When rearing in 4 litre jars I had a drip system so 50-80 small fish were effectively being kept in 500 litres of filtered water. 
The can mix with many fish that don't bather then if the tank is tall enough they are fine with Neons but in a shallow tank they will overlap levels.

Keep one in a 30 litre , or bigger, tank & they make great pets.


----------



## MargotC (21 August 2016)

^ The clerk at the store was appalled I was "wasting" 63 litres on a single Betta and, eager to make a bigger sale without regard for the fish, tried to convince me he would be fine with guppies because he had been kept with them at the store. Er, no, thanks, not prepared to take that risk, I replied, and added my water was far too soft for livebearers. I doubt she knew what soft water meant and what the relevance was.

In any case I do not want to risk someone new to the hobby and reading this thread thinking they can get a Betta and put it in a community. Bound to end badly for one fish or the other. Bettas are solitary fish and whilst exceptions have existed; as fishkeepers we must always assume fish will exhibit their normal behaviour and provide for their needs accordingly. Another thing to keep in mind about Bettas is that they are able jumpers and need a well-fitted lid at all times. 

I am sure most fishkeepers know this, but for anyone intrigued by the notion of fishkeeping there is a fantastic resource called SeriouslyFish that does detailed fish species profiles listing their requirements and suitability with other species. Do your research before bringing fish home from the store! Pet stores notoriously do not give accurate advice and have little regard for the wellbeing of the fish they sell. You need only look to how goldfish are sold in spite of being unsuitable for most setups, or at how tank kits are sold without the nitrogen cycle explained. There are of course exceptions and dedicated specialists who do a wonderful job but sadly general consensus for some reason seems to be that fish are expendable and can be replaced as needed.

I might have gone on a slight tangent here but I keep my eyes on local advertisements and the amount of miskept fish and tanks that go through the site makes my eyes water.


----------



## ester (21 August 2016)

Nudibranch said:



			Some lovely sounding aquariums! I was "lucky" enough (?!) to marry someone who is even more fish obsessed so we have;

Coldwater tank with one black and one gold axolotls. They have spawned and hatched babies but as yet I've never been able to get them to take even brine shrimp.

100 litre breakfast bar tank with cardinals, corydoras and khuli loach.

800 litre room divider aquarium with 7 discus (my all time favourites), 2 wild type angels and a shoal of lemon tetra. The discus and angels spawn regularly but the fry get eaten. 

2000 litre indoor pool with glass wall, with a pair of stingrays, a very large plec, a few rather aged cichlids (jack dempsey, firemouths, acara) and rather randomly a softshell turtle. They all get on famously! Over the tank we have a planted rainforest wall with various overhanging branches and a resident free range madagascan day gecko. It is pretty cool! We have Gouldian finches in a flight cage next to the tank too.

Outside we have a large pond with various goldies and koi. I will try and post pics at some point!

My next project is to set up a planted cube in baby NBs room when he moves into it. Hopefully with flame guppies and a betta. I am very partial to gouramis though, especially pearls.

And OH wonders why our electricity bill is so high...
		
Click to expand...

You better have a good excuse for not posting pictures  I am letting the OP off as she is on a promise


----------



## s4sugar (21 August 2016)

MargotC said:



			^ The clerk at the store was appalled I was "wasting" 63 litres on a single Betta and, eager to make a bigger sale without regard for the fish, tried to convince me he would be fine with guppies because he had been kept with them at the store. Er, no, thanks, not prepared to take that risk, I replied, and added my water was far too soft for livebearers. I doubt she knew what soft water meant and what the relevance was.

In any case I do not want to risk someone new to the hobby and reading this thread thinking they can get a Betta and put it in a community. Bound to end badly for one fish or the other. Bettas are solitary fish and whilst exceptions have existed; as fishkeepers we must always assume fish will exhibit their normal behaviour and provide for their needs accordingly. Another thing to keep in mind about Bettas is that they are able jumpers and need a well-fitted lid at all times. 

I am sure most fishkeepers know this, but for anyone intrigued by the notion of fishkeeping there is a fantastic resource called SeriouslyFish that does detailed fish species profiles listing their requirements and suitability with other species. Do your research before bringing fish home from the store! Pet stores notoriously do not give accurate advice and have little regard for the wellbeing of the fish they sell. You need only look to how goldfish are sold in spite of being unsuitable for most setups, or at how tank kits are sold without the nitrogen cycle explained. There are of course exceptions and dedicated specialists who do a wonderful job but sadly general consensus for some reason seems to be that fish are expendable and can be replaced as needed.

I might have gone on a slight tangent here but I keep my eyes on local advertisements and the amount of miskept fish and tanks that go through the site makes my eyes water.
		
Click to expand...

Totally agree.
 I'm an advisor on aquahobby.com but like so many forums traffic has drastically reduced over the last couple of years -possible facebook influence.
People see stock tanks crammed with fish bare of decor for easy catching and this that is what they can or should have rather than decorating the tank to suit a moderate stocking level.
Cycling gets ignored or people stick in chemicals and then the tank crashes.
I often set up tanks in waiting rooms, residential homes etc and they have to be easy maintenance and ready to go from a couple of days after set up. I use a pre matured filter sponge & add a couple of gravid livebearers - variatus platies. These soon drop visible babies and no more fish can be added until the babies are large enough to not be eaten.
A great way of slowing down stocking.
The TV shows showing tanks being set up ground fore style do cause problems with people's expectations.


----------



## s4sugar (21 August 2016)

gratuitious photo


----------



## MargotC (21 August 2016)

s4sugar said:



			Totally agree.
 I'm an advisor on aquahobby.com but like so many forums traffic has drastically reduced over the last couple of years -possible facebook influence.
People see stock tanks crammed with fish bare of decor for easy catching and this that is what they can or should have rather than decorating the tank to suit a moderate stocking level.
Cycling gets ignored or people stick in chemicals and then the tank crashes.
I often set up tanks in waiting rooms, residential homes etc and they have to be easy maintenance and ready to go from a couple of days after set up. I use a pre matured filter sponge & add a couple of gravid livebearers - variatus platies. These soon drop visible babies and no more fish can be added until the babies are large enough to not be eaten.
A great way of slowing down stocking.
The TV shows showing tanks being set up ground fore style do cause problems with people's expectations.
		
Click to expand...

Absolutely. It is a great shame. Ignorance in buyers and sellers is one thing (I wonder quite how many of the sellers actually have deep knowledge of the fish they sell; certainly not the young girls at my local store) but there is a cynical aspect to many pet stores as well. The typical example is convincing a first timer that they can take fish home the same day they take the tank home. When the poor fish succumb to ammonia poisoning they obviously need to be replaced, right? Result: more sales for the pet stores at the expense of the fish. Reversely this is also the reason a large number give up on the hobby early on. No wonder when they keep losing fish. I personally think buyers should be vetted and carefully talked through the fishless cycle and the importance of a biologically healthy aquarium. One can dream.

I frequent one dedicated fish forum but traffic is fairly low. You have the regular posters and then you have the new users who come and go, the majority with the same questions pertaining to accidental fish-in-cycles or bad stocking. I do commend those patient people who are happy to give the same answers time and time again to questions that ought to have been researched pre-purchase.

Pictures will absolutely come when my phone has been repaired, whenever that is.

I do have a picture of the first bubble nest my Betta made since I brought him home. He has since made many more; it is always a joy to watch him work on one. The plants you see are Limnobium laevigatum. I consider floating plants essential for Bettas and other anabantoids, and indeed fish in general.


----------



## s4sugar (21 August 2016)

I prefer Salvinia to Frogbit but I agree some shade at the surface helps most fish in aquaria. 
Even duckweed can be useful as it is brilliant for removing nitrates and a good idea if you are going on holiday and have any vegetarian fish.

too many people try to run before they can walk - egged on by shop staff out to make a sale.


----------



## MargotC (22 August 2016)

I have yet to try my hands at Salvinia, having to order everything online can be a little troublesome. Would you say it is hardier than the aforementioned Limnobium? I have tried and discarded three plant suppliers here but I think I may have found a reliable one that specialises in aquascaping supplies. Knock on wood. Twice I have ordered and the plants have arrived swiftly and in a superb state. I do need to hurry up with my remaining orders before it gets too cold for sending plants in the mail! There are heatpacks but most suppliers refuse to send in the winter half. I have duckweed, too, although my barbs did a number on it and I am trying to salvage the pieces. It was doing extremely well before that.


----------



## DiceArt (15 September 2016)

I have to resurrect this thread to BEG Nudibranch for pictures. Your set up sounds amazing and I am dying to see it. Please? Pretty please?


----------



## ester (15 September 2016)

dammit, I was hoping the resurrection was pics!


----------

