Aquarists, UNITE!!!

[Zephyr]

Any one else out there with fish?

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/5249/img1135ba5.jpg
Just a pic of my 5 year old pride and joy. Had to do a revamp of his tank; getting him out was not fun.
http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/869/img1138af4.jpg
One of the above's tank mates; 2 year old female bristlenose pleco with "stabbers" exposed. THEY HURT.

[Lori P]

Awesome fish, Kyle. I've kept smaller fish in the past-- bettas and asst small tropicals-- but right now just have one fancy goldfish named Jeffy. He's just a baby, maybe a year old.

I've always wanted an oscar but have never had room for a big enough tank.

[Zephyr]

Awesome fish, Kyle. I've kept smaller fish in the past-- bettas and asst small tropicals-- but right now just have one fancy goldfish named Jeffy. He's just a baby, maybe a year old.

I've always wanted an oscar but have never had room for a big enough tank.Yeah, I think if his tank was any bigger (55, all to himself and the plecos) I couldn't do the maintenance.

[ATNGUY]

Cool fish Kyle. Oscars are fun fish. They are so friendly to people....I guess they know who feeds them. I have a 5 tanks set up. Mostly stuff you don't find in pet stores. Two crayfish 'rescued' from the fish monger....got 5 that were sitting on ice....two survived the thaw. One Brown Bullhead, my son found him in the mud of a seasonal pond. A Pumpkinseed, it's similar to a Bluegill. Plus a bunch of guppies...raising food. We have a few other assorted critters as well.

I think we are going to change things up a bit...we need more tanks for our snakes!

[Zephyr]

Cool fish Kyle. Oscars are fun fish. They are so friendly to people....I guess they know who feeds them. I have a 5 tanks set up. Mostly stuff you don't find in pet stores. Two crayfish 'rescued' from the fish monger....got 5 that were sitting on ice....two survived the thaw. One Brown Bullhead, my son found him in the mud of a seasonal pond. A Pumpkinseed, it's similar to a Bluegill. Plus a bunch of guppies...raising food. We have a few other assorted critters as well.

I think we are going to change things up a bit...we need more tanks for our snakes!I used to have a yellow bullhead my dad caught... I kept him for a while; interesting fish. I had to remove an anchor worm from it once; fun stuff. lol

[infernalis]

Pickerel in a large tank are a blast also:D

Have not had one in years, but they just look cool in glass...

Just have to keep a tank of fatheads to feed it...

http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/howard.whiteman/field/fish/fishgallery/pickerel.jpg

[ATNGUY]

A pickerel would be cool. A little freshwater barracuda! I can't imaging you hand fed that guy.

Back in college, some guys had their Oscars and Piranhas...everyone liked watching them destroy goldfish, but my Bluegill and Largemouths were the champion eaters.

[Stefan-A]

Pickerel in a large tank are a blast also:D
I prefer my pikes wild. ;)

[arzerkle]

we've got a fair amount of tanks that we work with wild type livebearers, north american fish i.e rainbow shiners , least killies, banded topminnows etc and some central american and west african cichlids thrown in for fun. Used to breed oscars, great fish until everything you own that holds water is filled with babies :)
Rob & Amy

[Zephyr]

A pickerel would be cool. A little freshwater barracuda! I can't imaging you hand fed that guy.

Back in college, some guys had their Oscars and Piranhas...everyone liked watching them destroy goldfish, but my Bluegill and Largemouths were the champion eaters.Never tried bass; Usually I grab a perch or two and stuff'em full of baitfish. lol

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I have an oscar also! He is one year old as of last month... I got him when he was this big ---------------

and as of now he is 8 inches long! his names Racso..... can you guess why?!:rolleyes:

two years ago, I caught a 14 inch Oscar while fishing..............

and right after that, I caught the hugest fantail goldfish I have ever seen. That thing must have weighed 4 or 5 pounds!!!

I do enjoy fishkeeping, I sold all my other chichlids besides rocso and my managuensis (sp?)... I also have a footlong common pleco and two channel cats, one is amel.

I am actually the person in charge of the fish care at my store. And I was just informed that the tanks are the cleanest in the company :D

[Lori P]

I forgot, I also have my feeder minnow tank. But I don't count those as they change all the time!

So would a 55 be adequate for an oscar?? I always thought they needed bigger... and that's why I never got one.

[Zephyr]

I forgot, I also have my feeder minnow tank. But I don't count those as they change all the time!

So would a 55 be adequate for an oscar?? I always thought they needed bigger... and that's why I never got one.40 is the bare minimum I've been told/read. 55 is the standard for an oscar and some smaller companions for cleanup.

+Shannon- I've always wanted a Manganese cichlid (AKA Jaguar lol.)
I have 3 AAA quality pearlscale fantails (one's more of a veiltail) in a 15 gallon in my room too. I love fancy goldies. :)

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

40 is the bare minimum I've been told/read. 55 is the standard for an oscar and some smaller companions for cleanup.

+Shannon- I've always wanted a Manganese cichlid (AKA Jaguar lol.)
I have 3 AAA quality pearlscale fantails (one's more of a veiltail) in a 15 gallon in my room too. I love fancy goldies. :)

lol, pearlscales!!! how big are they? you're gonna have to up your tank size eventually for those guys :P I love pearscales because they look like big round golfballs, I always get asked "oh what is wrong with them"

my manganese accidentally came in with a shipment of oscars so I got to take him home for a dollar :D he was an itty bitty thing but now hes about half the size of the oscar... a slow grower in comparison. I actually always wanted one ever since I met a HUGE one at a fish specialty store... I loved him!!!! And the lady came over to him and was like awwwe do you want a cookie? and hands him a feeder... haha

[Zephyr]

lol, pearlscales!!! how big are they? you're gonna have to up your tank size eventually for those guys :P I love pearscales because they look like big round golfballs, I always get asked "oh what is wrong with them"

my manganese accidentally came in with a shipment of oscars so I got to take him home for a dollar :D he was an itty bitty thing but now hes about half the size of the oscar... a slow grower in comparison. I actually always wanted one ever since I met a HUGE one at a fish specialty store... I loved him!!!! And the lady came over to him and was like awwwe do you want a cookie? and hands him a feeder... haha
All 3 of them are pretty much full-grown, aside from the smallest one. I really duked out their tank; double-barelled sponge filter in the corner and a strip air stone in the middle; I've been doing water changes every Saturday and the nitrite/nitrate/ammonia has stayed at zero, so every thing's going great I assume. I'll have to get pics soon; they are so adorable when they wobble around. lol

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

dear god.... full grown?! haha they are worth a good bit of money kyle. The aquarium specialty store out here (bout 40 minutes away from me) gets like $80 for their big pearlscales... each are about the size of a softball :eek:

as long as your levels are fine, then of course you dont have to worry, but sheesh I could not put up with so many water changes on top of my 100 snakes :o

[Zephyr]

Well... They were $120 imported. x.x
Which I guess is a good deal. I lurv them to pieces. They get salmon, sliced peas, green beans, blood worms, blackworms, Omega One goldfish flakes, freeze dried brine shrimp, mosquito larvae, fruit flies, fruit fly larvae, romaine lettuce, oh the list goes on. XD

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

hey, at least not everyone out there keeps poor goldfish in an unfiltered tiny bowl :(

[Zephyr]

hey, at least not everyone out there keeps poor goldfish in an unfiltered tiny bowl :(#1 pet peeve right there.

I can't even imagine how they'd survive!
The moment I noticed my babies the least bit near the surface I added the strip air stone to their tank.

[Stefan-A]

I can't even imagine how they'd survive!
I suppose they don't.

[Zephyr]

I suppose they don't.I've seen them live... Suppose the dying would be a better fate.

[Loren]

Dont have the Oscar anymore, heater got turned off when we were moving a couple years ago and he went floating. He was 10" long. Still have the Pleco, he's about 14" now.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/fish_tank.JPG

[Zephyr]

Oh, tough. x.x
When I first got Oscar (Creative, eh? lol) his titanium heater, I forgot to put the water sensor in. All of my tiger botias died at 95 fahrenheit, but somehow him and the plecos survived.

[Loren]

If I didnt have the reptiles to take care of, I would do a big( I mean reinforce -the -floorboards "big") saltwater tank- but no way I'm doing both at once.

[Zephyr]

If I didnt have the reptiles to take care of, I would do a big( I mean reinforce -the -floorboards "big") saltwater tank- but no way I'm doing both at once.Saltwater tanks annoy me. Too much startup effort. lol

If I had my way I'd do a 125 gallon with jet outputs on one side and receivers on the other end with a whole bunch of botias and barbs.

[ATNGUY]

I was out the other day collecting specimens for my bigger tank...

[Zephyr]

I was out the other day collecting specimens for my bigger tank...lol
Enginuitive use for a fishing rod.

[reptile3]

I didn't know they had stabbers?? Wow.... I just bought a pleco about 3 weeks ago, so he is still small.

We have had several freshwater fish tanks in the last 10 yrs.

My daughter wants an Oscar bad!!!

[Zephyr]

I didn't know they had stabbers?? Wow.... I just bought a pleco about 3 weeks ago, so he is still small.

We have had several freshwater fish tanks in the last 10 yrs.

My daughter wants an Oscar bad!!!

1. Only the bristlenose and "exotic" species have them; the standard plecs just have stabby pectoral fins.
2. Make sure she's ready for the commitment... I've read articles saying oscars are in breeding condition anywhere from 14-20 years, and that's just how long they're good reproduction wise!

[reptile3]

Well... They were $120 imported. x.x
Which I guess is a good deal. I lurv them to pieces. They get salmon, sliced peas, green beans, blood worms, blackworms, Omega One goldfish flakes, freeze dried brine shrimp, mosquito larvae, fruit flies, fruit fly larvae, romaine lettuce, oh the list goes on. XD

I didn't know fish could eat all that? I give my fish the Omega One goldfish flakes, freeze dried brine shrimp. But that is it!!!

[Zephyr]

I didn't know fish could eat all that? I give my fish the Omega One goldfish flakes, freeze dried brine shrimp. But that is it!!!


Well, not in one setting of course! XD
But goldfish are omnivores, siding more towards the carnivorous side; most veggies I give them have to blanched first, and anything "dry" has to be thoroughly soaked so it won't throw their swimbladder off.

[reptile3]

Here is my fishy *bigfoot*(kids named him) he passed last Monday.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/reptile3/reptile3%20-2/100_9085.jpg

We were given the fish to us by a friend, it also came with another fantail white goldfish, I assume. I just started to learn about Ryukin Goldfish.

We have 2 other goldfish, & a black one.. I will post the pics seperate.

[reptile3]

Here are the 4 fish I have left plus the pleco

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/reptile3/reptile3%20-2/DSC00269.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/reptile3/reptile3%20-2/DSC00274.jpg

[Zephyr]

Such cuties!
It's a shame that ryukin passed; it was a beautiful fish. ):

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I had a Ryukin when I was younger in a little pond that literally was all white with a red heart on his side.... amazing... my little brother poured bubbles into my pond :(:(:(:(

[Charlet_2007]

Some fish and a 380g tank.. We have sooooooooooo many babies now that we don't know what to do with lol.. :D:D

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/zoie18_2001/S6302840.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/zoie18_2001/S6302842.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/zoie18_2001/S6302843.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/zoie18_2001/S6302844.jpg

[reptile3]

Whoa... that is a huge tank..and I see your pleco, pretty big!!! My brother needs one like that for his fish., he has a silver arowana, named Bin Laden
He was mad at me for taking his picture, http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/reptile3/100_8996.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/reptile3/100_8994.jpg

This fish his HUGE, when he eats his mouth opens like a drawbridge, pretty cool! He likes to stare at you, when you sit next to his tank!!LOL



Some fish and a 380g tank.. We have sooooooooooo many babies now that we don't know what to do with lol.. :D:D

[Lori P]

I didn't know fish could eat all that? I give my fish the Omega One goldfish flakes, freeze dried brine shrimp. But that is it!!!





Stephanie, start by offering chopped, cooked peas... they go nuts!! And then introduce other foods. I've never had any fish refuse peas, from bettas to the feeder minnows.

Wow, these are some awesome tanks and fish... they exhaust me just looking at them... lol

[Charlet_2007]

lol yeah our pleco is 15 inches the smaller one in there is 10 inches... we've had the biggest one Lucky for 5 years now... he went thu a house fire and everything.. hince the name lucky lol oh yeah the $400.00 filter for this bad boy tank lol

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/zoie18_2001/S6302834.jpg

[infernalis]

380 gallons, wow thats a ton and a half of water!

Hope your floors are strong!!:D

[prattypus]

I used to have a 55 with some tiger oscars.

[anji1971]

I have a 5G tank with various tetras, a betta, and an albino cory. It's my first ever aquarium, and more than enough of a job for me.:p

[Charlet_2007]

380 gallons, wow thats a ton and a half of water!

Hope your floors are strong!!:D\

yeap all one floor house lol :D:D:D

[infernalis]

I guess I can chime in now. The oscar likes Dace minnows also:D

[Garter_Gertie]

I have guppies... Living in Peeps and Jeeps swimming pool. Like for like six weeks. They're starting to get territorial...

[Snake lover 3-25]

i have a 20 gal with 1 siamese sucker fish.... i bu=ig huge yellow gold fish 2 minnows and 7 goldfish (out of 10 carnival fish that have lived so far since earlier this year):D

[Hornets23]

I have a betta. Ive tried the fancy guppies literally 3 times..and every time they died within a few weeks. I dont what the deal is but ive given up on guppies.

[infernalis]

OK, the Oscar is cool. It pushes a golf ball around on the bottom like a toy:D it eats feeder fish in a manner that reminds me of Chompie eating.

The colors are just stunning, Oh man what am I doing???

I don't even like fish, unless they are batter dipped and deep fried:eek:

Suddenly here I am sitting at the computer listening to the filter waterfall and air bubbles popping.....

And it stares at me!!!!

[Lori P]

ROFL!!!! What's his name, Wayne?

[olive oil]

I have a 45 corner back hex. It's a beautiful tank big but doesn't take up to much floor space. Right now it has a angel and some cherry barbs and some kind of fish my son caught out of the creek and threw in. I had to tell him not to do that anymore or he would have had it full!!! I'm not adding anything new cause I think I'm going to get some kind of little lizards when it's empty again. I also keep my feeder guppies in a 20 gallon with my turtle Tippie. My favorite had to be my tiger oscar though! I had "oscar" about 19 years ago. The prettiest setup though had to be when I had my Discus. I had a huge Amazon Sword plant in there and some driftwood. Beautiful fish!

[infernalis]

ROFL!!!! What's his name, Wayne?


"Peach" - She's a purty girl:D

Have to figure out how to get a good picture, I tried through the glass, she keeps moving in closer every time I get a focus on her.

[jitami]

OK, the Oscar is cool.....snip....And it stares at me!!!!

Yep, Yep, Yep... that's why I refuse to look at craigslist ads with them! I don't care how cheap that tank is... I do not... do not... do not... want a giant fish... even if it plays with golf balls and chomps feeder fish... and especially not if it stares at me! :D:p:D

[Lori P]

Guys, there is a really weird thing going on with Jeffy, my goldfish. Usually, he is totally outgoing, swimming all around, and everytime he sees me he does the wiggly dance. But for the last two days, he's been hiding! He stays under the big fake stump in his tank and only comes out to feed if I stay in front of the tank for several minutes. This morning, he was grazing at the front of the tank but as soon as I came close he darted under the stump and wouldn't come out.

What on earth scares a goldfish?! LOL I mean, what would alter his behavior so drastically? It's just odd...

[Garter_Gertie]

Constipation. Feed him some peas.

Either canned RINSED WELL to get the salt and stuff off; or fresh you've shelled and blanched so they're cooked.

[Garter_Gertie]

Oh. He is eating. If he's swimming fine, it's prolly not constipation. HOWEVER, peas will not hurt him and can only help.

How long have you had Jeffy? Maybe he's snoozing because the days are getting longer?

(mk, read the whole damn post, okay?)

[Lori P]

He gets peas twice a week... think he needs more? He didn't come out to eat tonite at all. And yes, when he comes out, he is swimming fine.

It's definitely not just snoozing... truly more like hiding.

I've had him about..... gosh, I don't know. Maybe a year?

Omg I have a psychotic fish.

[Garter_Gertie]

No. No more peas.

Did you have him last winter? How much light is he getting? Maybe he needs more light to see what's out 'there' than what he's getting?

Why should *I* be the only one with psychotic/neurotic pets? Ittiz nice to share the wealth. LOL!!!

Cat's pestering him? Kids?

COCKROACHES?????????????????????

[Lori P]

ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't have kids (dirty little buggers they are, spread germs you know?) And the ****-a-roaches are in the other room, I swear!!!!! LOL

Jeffy has been in the same exact spot since I got him, just now he's in a bigger tank (but that happened many weeks ago). His light has stayed the same... on at around 7 am, off at around 8 pm, all year round.

Same foods... only tank mate is an old cory cat who he's always lived with.

Can you recommend a good shrink???

[Garter_Gertie]

Bigger tank... Lower temps? Maybe he's chilly.

How old is he, do you know?

YOU'RE PSYCHOTIC! I doubt furless kids would have as many germs as ****-a-roches and last I heard they weren't prone to sallmonella... LOL!!!

Did you move Jeffy so he's in a draft and chilling?

[Zephyr]

ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't have kids (dirty little buggers they are, spread germs you know?) And the ****-a-roaches are in the other room, I swear!!!!! LOL

Jeffy has been in the same exact spot since I got him, just now he's in a bigger tank (but that happened many weeks ago). His light has stayed the same... on at around 7 am, off at around 8 pm, all year round.

Same foods... only tank mate is an old cory cat who he's always lived with.

Can you recommend a good shrink???Jeffy needs goldie friends. :)
Simple as that.
Or, to make it more aquaristically-lingo'd, he needs some "dither fish."

[Garter_Gertie]

Gosh, I've not found that to be the case.

They're very aware fish and tend to 'bond' to the humans that own them. Like Oscars.

Had Jeffy needed dither fish he'd have twitted out from get go when you got him and been hiding since the first day. It's not dither fish he needs, something else is bothering him.

[Zephyr]

Gosh, I've not found that to be the case.

They're very aware fish and tend to 'bond' to the humans that own them. Like Oscars.

Had Jeffy needed dither fish he'd have twitted out from get go when you got him and been hiding since the first day. It's not dither fish he needs, something else is bothering him.It could be the tank size too.
Especially with only one cory.
Cories = schooling catfish.
Maybe get 5 more? :)

[infernalis]

They're very aware fish and tend to 'bond' to the humans that own them. Like Oscars.

Yeah, my big ol pie plate seems to do just that.

The man that owned her passed away suddenly (Ran over by a log skidder) and the wife just ignored her, the tank was nasty! I don't blame the woman, it was her husbands Oscar, and she said every time she looked at the tank it killed her inside.

All I wanted was that tank for my corn snake, Somehow wound up with yet another lost soul to take care of.

I put a fairly large dace minnow in there, and it can outrun "Peach" so that minnow has been alive for over a week, constantly running from a hungry Oscar!

BTW - She is still getting fed, she likes the smaller dace minnows a lot, hell on goldfish too (Sorry about that, but Oscars do eat goldfish)

Our daughter just picked up a pair of fancy guppies, I get the babies:D

Anyone ever try the brightly colored guppies to get reluctant feeders to eat??

[Zephyr]

Yeah, my big ol pie plate seems to do just that.

The man that owned her passed away suddenly (Ran over by a log skidder) and the wife just ignored her, the tank was nasty! I don't blame the woman, it was her husbands Oscar, and she said every time she looked at the tank it killed her inside.

All I wanted was that tank for my corn snake, yet somehow wound up with yet another lost soul to take care of.

I put a fairly large dace minnow in there, and it can outrun "Peach" so that minnow has been alive for over a week, constantly running from a hungry Oscar!

BTW - She is still getting fed, she likes the smaller dace minnows a lot, hell on goldfish too (Sorry about that, but Oscars do eat goldfish)

Our daughter just picked up a pair of fancy guppies, I get the babies:D

Anyone ever try the brightly colored guppies to get reluctant feeders to eat??Eh, I try to avoid live fish diets with carnivorous fish... Apparently there are some thiaminase issues in there too.

Try feeding him worms; he'll love those.
Oh, oh! And bloodworms. AND Hikari cichlid pellets! They LOVE those! :P

[Garter_Gertie]

Zepher, goldfish are the dirtiest of dirty fish ever. Six cories with a goldfish would be pollution central and Lori would be cleaning the tank every day.

It's not the cory twitting out, but Jeffy. And that cory has lived with Jeffy since day one.

It's something else. I still lay the blame at the ****-a-roaches.... LOL!!!

[Zephyr]

Zepher, goldfish are the dirtiest of dirty fish ever. Six cories with a goldfish would be pollution central and Lori would be cleaning the tank every day.

It's not the cory twitting out, but Jeffy. And that cory has lived with Jeffy since day one.

It's something else. I still lay the blame at the ****-a-roaches.... LOL!!!Depends on the filtration. And cories ARE true schooling fish; they need groups of 5 or more.
As for the goldfish being dirty... For one it generally isn't good to keep a tropical fish with a coldwater fish; Jeffy might have caught a pathogen from the cory, no matter how long they've been together.

[Snake lover 3-25]

sorry i didn't know where else to put this.......:confused:

just thought maybe someone here could help:D


ok so one of my big fish.... attacked my new fish.... it's one of those black moore goldfish and i like him alot.... but my big yellow goldfish chased him around and got most of his tail.... he had a double tail.... but now all that's left is strings...... and it injured his fromt right flipper so now he can hardly swim...... he gets sucked into the filter so i had to devise a special one andd he cannot swim to his food so i have to move it right next to his face with a stick..... i got him last night and it happened about 3 hrs after i put him in the tank....... so what do i do with him??? my brother looked it up on the internet and they can grow their tails back..... but is he in any pain?? what about his fromt fin will that ever heal???:(

[infernalis]

Eh, I try to avoid live fish diets with carnivorous fish... Apparently there are some thiaminase issues in there too.

Try feeding him worms; he'll love those.
Oh, oh! And bloodworms. AND Hikari cichlid pellets! They LOVE those! :P


Yes "Peach" likes the pellets, but she has left 2 crawlers in the tank I had to skim back out the next day.

What have I gotten myself into here?? If I start setting up aquariums all over the house that actually have water in them, please shoot me.

[Zephyr]

ok so one of my big fish.... attacked my new fish.... it's one of those black moore goldfish and i like him alot.... but my big yellow goldfish chased him around and got most of his tail.... he had a double tail.... but now all that's left is strings...... and it injured his fromt right flipper so now he can hardly swim...... he gets sucked into the filter so i had to devise a special one andd he cannot swim to his food so i have to move it right next to his face with a stick..... i got him last night and it happened about 3 hrs after i put him in the tank....... so what do i do with him??? my brother looked it up on the internet and they can grow their tails back..... but is he in any pain?? what about his fromt fin will that ever heal???:(Those sound like very severe injuries.
Add a little bit of aquarium salt to the water, and use a bubble filter for filtration. I suggest you isolate him too.
Put him on some antibiotics; I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I believe Maricel/Maricin? Is available at most pet stores and that'll help.
If in 3 days he isn't improving you'll have to euthanize him. ):

[Snake lover 3-25]

ok thank you:( i guess i'll have to go to the store:( i hope he pulls through..... he's a cutie.....:(


pics in a few......

[Zephyr]

Yes "Peach" likes the pellets, but she has left 2 crawlers in the tank I had to skim back out the next day.

What have I gotten myself into here?? If I start setting up aquariums all over the house that actually have water in them, please shoot me.lol
My parents kill me any time I mention "aquatics."

But I do brake for clawed frogs. :P

[Snake lover 3-25]

uploading.........:(

[Snake lover 3-25]

ok done.....



http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo296/shanley25/shanleyreptiles119.jpg

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo296/shanley25/shanleyreptiles103.jpg

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo296/shanley25/shanleyreptiles124.jpg
here is him and the other one that he gets along with..... they had the same kind of tail.....:(

[Zephyr]

Ooh.
From one side it looked okay, from the other... Egh...
Skim off the excess food and keep the water immaculate.
Put in a pinch of salt and start treating with small doses of a generic medication. Your biggest enemy is fin rot.

[Snake lover 3-25]

:( ok i'll try:) the little guy sure is worth it...... is it any good that he has improved ten fold in the last 24 hrs???
he was just kinda floating up twards the top..... but now he's swimming around ok.... and he can use his right fin..... i just saw him..... but i think it may hurt him or be difficult..... he uses it for a few secs then just tucks it back onto his side.... i just put the food in there...... but i'll take out any extra..... um... how do you give antibiotics/meds to a fish???

[Zephyr]

:( ok i'll try:) the little guy sure is worth it...... is it any good that he has improved ten fold in the last 24 hrs???
he was just kinda floating up twards the top..... but now he's swimming around ok.... and he can use his right fin..... i just saw him..... but i think it may hurt him or be difficult..... he uses it for a few secs then just tucks it back onto his side.... i just put the food in there...... but i'll take out any extra..... um... how do you give antibiotics/meds to a fish???Mix it in the water.
Follow the dosage on the bottle of medication and cut it into a 3/4 dose.
You don't want to overmedicate.
Do a 50% water change every 2 days.
That should help. :)

[Snake lover 3-25]

ok, thank you so much :)

[Snake lover 3-25]

so that gold stuff..... he's not suposed to have that??? it looks kind of natural...... it wraps around the bottom...... and is the same on both sides.... sorry the pics aren't good..... :confused:

[Charlet_2007]

mealafix or flex its at walmart it a blue bottle.. its a fish saver i swear on it..

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/zoie18_2001/pPETS-3757537t400.jpg

[Lori P]

Depends on the filtration. And cories ARE true schooling fish; they need groups of 5 or more.
As for the goldfish being dirty... For one it generally isn't good to keep a tropical fish with a coldwater fish; Jeffy might have caught a pathogen from the cory, no matter how long they've been together.

You know, Kyle brings up a good point about the poor cory. He's the last survivor from a group from years ago... and when I got Jeffy last year, the cory's last buddy had passed. I don't even know why I did it, but I moved him in with Jeffy and they've been buds ever since. I knew it was bad to have tropical with coldwater... but they both flourished, and it just kind of became normal. Jeffy stays near the cory a lot, they vaccuum the bottom together. I never got more corys, because I knew it was the wrong tank to have them in.

So... they live together in a 29 gallon tank with a three stage filter system and extra aeration. I do a 10% water change every week and vaccuum the bottom every other week.

Here's a pic, before Jeffy started hiding...

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Jeffy_new_tank_002.jpg

He hides under the stump all the time now. This morning, he swam toward me, but no wiggles...

[Lori P]

Shanley, the Melafix is indeed awesome stuff, and it's all natural; it's a tea tree oil mixture. The "gold stuff" is his coloring, it's the fin rot that's the issue. Good luck with him!!

[Garter_Gertie]

Depends on the filtration. And cories ARE true schooling fish; they need groups of 5 or more.
As for the goldfish being dirty... For one it generally isn't good to keep a tropical fish with a coldwater fish; Jeffy might have caught a pathogen from the cory, no matter how long they've been together.


Yes, cories are schooling fish, but I thought we were talking about Jeffy? I thought the cory was fine and had been even when living with only his last tank mate as a pair. Maybe I missed something awhile back...

No, one shouldn't keep tropical with coldwater fish. However there are some fish that can be kept together without detriment to each other. Cories are very varible. Guppies, too, can live with various tropicals.

The pathogen idea is a good one. However, I'd think something in the past year prior to now would have surfaced. It's been quite a long time they've been together.

Any change in the brand of food? Have you painted recently? Stuff like that, Lori?

[Lori P]

Any change in the brand of food? Have you painted recently? Stuff like that, Lori?

Nope... he always gets a big variety of food, veggies and such, But his staple food is the Omega One.

I'll keep you guys posted... it's really interesting to see such a behavior change in a fish!! I also stuck my hand in there to make sure there wasn't like some electric shock going on.

Gertie, thanks for going through so many possibilites with me!!!

[Garter_Gertie]

You're welcome, Lori. Maybe he's just going through his terrible two's and is starting to pull away from mummy... (shrugs shoulders)

[Snake lover 3-25]

sadly the little guy didn't survive the night...:( it's a shame too..... he looked like he was doing so much better last night....:( he had a proper barrial in the garden this am.......:( well..... at least he died with a full stomach....... it took me an hour and a half to make sure he got enough food......:(

[jitami]

Sorry Shanley... sounds like you did everything you could...

[Snake lover 3-25]

yup..... it's a shame...... but i'll def. go to the store and get some of that melafix...... just in case...... how much does it usually run???

[Zephyr]

I also stuck my hand in there to make sure there wasn't like some electric shock going on.

A few years ago I bred golden convict cichlids... One day the heater broke during a water change (while my pair had eggs and fry, mind you) and I stuck my hand in the water to readjust the gravel...
Let me just say, I never felt so much pain in my life.

Of course, seeing as I was a little young, I had to try it just one more time to get a feel for it. XD

Coincidentally, the pair and fry were fine. :)

[Garter_Gertie]

I've always lived in terror I'd shock the $h!t outta myself like that one day.

But do I unplug first?

HECK NO! LOL!!!

[Zephyr]

I've always lived in terror I'd shock the $h!t outta myself like that one day.

But do I unplug first?

HECK NO! LOL!!!
Let me just state... It wasn't a fun experience. lol

[jitami]

Let me just state... It wasn't a fun experience. lol

But you still had to try it again :D

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

sorry to hear about your loss Shanley...

Although, I would not recommend adding another fish to that tank, looks like you have a 1 gallon tank. Even one goldfish is too much for 1 gallon of water. The proper ratio is 2 gallons of water (with a filter also) per every inch of goldfish you own... that includes their tail. That is the very least... more gallons per inch is even better. and all goldfish get wayyyy over an inch in size. My recommendation would be to move your remaining fish to a larger tank that has at least 5 gallons on water in it. I would change out a really good bit of the water and cut down on the food also. It's never a good sign when there is food left over at the top of a goldfish's tank... between the ammonia he is putting out, and the ammonia the food puts out as it rots, it can turn into a deadly situation overnight for the fish. Feed only once per day... if that. fish are like reptiles, they don't need to eat every day and will thrive if fed every other day provided you give them balanced and proper nutrition. This is especially important when keeping a goldfish in such a confined space, seeing as they put off the motherload of ammonia, and all that surplus food is going right through his tummy and out the other end. You may still want to medicate your remaining goldfish, since melafix is an all natural remedy, it will not hurt. Also use some aquarium salt, that helps to increase the fish's natural resistance to pathogens. Fish are especially susceptible to disease because the confined bit of water they live in is very effective in spreading it everywhere. If you have to move your goldfish for any reason right now, I recommend taking your clean wet hands and scooping him up that way instead of a net. Nets often slightly damage the slime coating on your fish and that can lead to a weakness in the immune system, and then sequentially, illness.

I care for the fish department of my store, and since I started doing it... our fish are thriving! And way less people are getting away with overpopulating their tanks,mixing tropical and coldwater species, and putting other fish besides bettas in unfiltered, un'aerated water because i won't allow them to do it :D

[Snake lover 3-25]

Although, I would not recommend adding another fish to that tank, looks like you have a 1 gallon tank. Even one goldfish is too much for 1 gallon of water. The proper ratio is 2 gallons of water (with a filter also) per every inch of goldfish you own... that includes their tail. That is the very least... more gallons per inch is even better. and all goldfish get wayyyy over an inch in size. My recommendation would be to move your remaining fish to a larger tank that has at least 5 gallons on water in it.
yeah i know lol that was just temporary lol the other fish the ones that hurt him in the first place are in the 20 gal behind it lol


If you have to move your goldfish for any reason right now, I recommend taking your clean wet hands and scooping him up that way instead of a net. Nets often slightly damage the slime coating on your fish and that can lead to a weakness in the immune system, and then sequentially, illness.

really???? never would have guessed!!!!:eek:



I would change out a really good bit of the water and cut down on the food also. It's never a good sign when there is food left over at the top of a goldfish's tank... between the ammonia he is putting out, and the ammonia the food puts out as it rots, it can turn into a deadly situation overnight for the fish. Feed only once per day... if that. fish are like reptiles, they don't need to eat every day and will thrive if fed every other day provided you give them balanced and proper nutrition. This is especially important when keeping a goldfish in such a confined space, seeing as they put off the motherload of ammonia, and all that surplus food is going right through his tummy and out the other end.

yup lol the pic was taken just after i put the food in....... i scooped out any excess.....



You may still want to medicate your remaining goldfish, since melafix is an all natural remedy, it will not hurt. Also use some aquarium salt, that helps to increase the fish's natural resistance to pathogens. Fish are especially susceptible to disease because the confined bit of water they live in is very effective in spreading it everywhere.


ok i'll get some and do just that:D how often can i do this just to keep them up in good shape????

[Lori P]

Random comment:

Everytime I see this thread, I think of the t shirt I used to have:

"Dyslexics! UNTIE!!" LOLOL

[Charlet_2007]

yup..... it's a shame...... but i'll def. go to the store and get some of that melafix...... just in case...... how much does it usually run???

last night bought some for mine 6.54.. so about 7.00.. mine has pop eye and i dont know how they got it.. they get a 50% water change every week.. WEIRD.. :rolleyes: try cleaning out a 380 every week lol

[Snake lover 3-25]

:eek: that must be a pain in the butt!!!!! i'll get right on that..... :)soon as i find someone to take me:(

[Garter_Gertie]

Random comment:

Everytime I see this thread, I think of the t shirt I used to have:

"Dyslexics! UNTIE!!" LOLOL


Lori, you slay me!!! Thanks for nutinn', buddy! LOL!!! I *cannot* read the title of this thread now *without* reading "UNTIE!!!"

And I crack up laughing every time I do!

[Lori P]

Then my work here is done!! LOL :D

I discovered Jeffy's problem!!!!!!!!!!

The problem is-- was-- my huge fluffy black cat Evie was getting on top of the tank and fishing!!!! :eek: I've changed tops, Evie can't fish, and Jeffy is coming back out more and more!!!!

[Zephyr]

Then my work here is done!! LOL :D

I discovered Jeffy's problem!!!!!!!!!!

The problem is-- was-- my huge fluffy black cat Evie was getting on top of the tank and fishing!!!! :eek: I've changed tops, Evie can't fish, and Jeffy is coming back out more and more!!!!
lol
I'm not surprised. XD

[kurtnagel]

I'm working on breeding mosquito fish from the local creek (Rosa, my WC radix LOVES them!!). I have about 30 roughly 2/3 female 1/3 male. I've had successful broods that were quickly eaten by the bigger fish in the tank:mad:. Just put in a large "breeding mop" so hopefully the next broods will have more of a chance. I'm a bit lazy, so want to avoid the separation tanks and such. Hopefully want to set up enough hiding places that fry can grow. Any other ideas?

[kurtnagel]

Then my work here is done!! LOL :D

I discovered Jeffy's problem!!!!!!!!!!

The problem is-- was-- my huge fluffy black cat Evie was getting on top of the tank and fishing!!!! :eek: I've changed tops, Evie can't fish, and Jeffy is coming back out more and more!!!!

LOL, Did you set up a nanny cam :D?

[drache]

I'm working on breeding mosquito fish from the local creek (Rosa, my WC radix LOVES them!!). I have about 30 roughly 2/3 female 1/3 male. I've had successful broods that were quickly eaten by the bigger fish in the tank:mad:. Just put in a large "breeding mop" so hopefully the next broods will have more of a chance. I'm a bit lazy, so want to avoid the separation tanks and such. Hopefully want to set up enough hiding places that fry can grow. Any other ideas?
the breeding mop should make a big difference

[Lori P]

LOL, Did you set up a nanny cam :D?

LOL-- didn't have to. The large splash from Evie's un-coordinated butt and the streak of wet black fur that shot by me was enough to put the pieces together in my little blond head. :D

[Garter_Gertie]

Then my work here is done!! LOL :D

I discovered Jeffy's problem!!!!!!!!!!

The problem is-- was-- my huge fluffy black cat Evie was getting on top of the tank and fishing!!!! :eek: I've changed tops, Evie can't fish, and Jeffy is coming back out more and more!!!!

Well! Clear as a bell NOW! Yup.

Glad to hear it the prob's taken care of. You and Jeffy were stressed and I'm glad things are getting back to normal. :)

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol too funny:D glad you discovered the problem lol

my cat fished out my brothers beta fish and it was found behind his dresser anout 3 months later lol it was grose:D:p

[infernalis]

Well its official, Peach wins the lottery.

I never pictured myself with an Oscar (Astronotus Ocellatus) The fiery redish orange kind.

The longer we have her, the more I like having her.(if that makes sense) like a tumor she has grown on me....

We have the perfect spot for one of those huge corner tanks.

Funny thing, that dace minnow is still in there and very much alive, it even races up top and steals pellets before peach gets to them.

The minnow is very fast, the ONLY thing that keeps it alive.:eek:

Lesser minnows have tried and failed.

[Garter_Gertie]

Yes, Dekay, they do grow on you. Years and years and years ago a friend o'mine had two platter-sized oscars and when they went to the Big Fish Bowl In The Sky we both cried and cried. They're wonderful fish; very 'cat-like,' in a way.

[olive oil]

I bet that minnows days are numbered! She'll get em one day.

[infernalis]

Fun as all get out to watch, just as the Oscar lines up for the kill, silver lightning goes flash, and it repeats until the Oscar tires of it.

When I put pellets in there the minnow will tempt fate and dart right up in front of Peach and grab one, then zing back down so fast its like a blur.

The minnow was supposed to be food, however it has been in there over a week or so.

[Loren]

Years ago I had 2 large mouth bass and 2 blue gills, all about 4", in a tank. Talk about cleaning up a bunch of feeder fish fast!
At the time, we had several large cattle tanks stocked with guppies/mosquito fish, so I could drop 20-30 in the tank any time I wanted. They were all gone in seconds.
I gave one blue gill away early on. One bass died early. One bass and 1 blue gill made it to 8.5 " long before the bass died and I gave the blue gill away. Wish I would have kept the blue gill.

[infernalis]

Sounds fascinating Loren.

Blue gills, sunfish and pumpkin seeds all look very pretty in a tank.

A 55 or larger can support a couple but like Oscars, with steady food and no predation, they will get big enough to outgrow a 55 quickly.

About the only way to keep healthy bass in captivity is a pond, they like big territory.

Sort of like the pike I once mentioned.

[Snake lover 3-25]

OMG!!! i oficially hate these fish!!!! they are causing SOOOOO many problems!!!!:eek:

first their filters are dumb so the tank turns completely yellow about every 5 DAYS.....

SECOND they love to eat and torture eachother

third their cage is death


ok so i go upstairs to check on them and make sure they haven't all died yet and notice that there is a small line of water underneath the cage.... so i go around back because a few days earlier i had accidentally chipped the corner.... it didn't go all the way through so i had thought nothing of it.... so i go around to the back of the tank and there is a HUGE crack going all the way up the side of the cage and it was spewing out water!!!!!!:eek: :mad: so i try to tape it up..... dumb idea.... now the water starts to spray out.... everywhere..... so i have to catch all the stupid fish with a cup because i can't find the net while trying to not break the tank because by this time the crack was about a cm from both the top and the bottom edges.... so finally i get out all of the fish and start to empty out the water which i had JUST replaced 2 days earlier!!!!!!:mad: i hate these fish!!!!!!!!!!! so now i have no tank for them and they are sitting in two small 2 gal tanks..... there are 7 gf, 2 minnows, one sucker fish.... 4" one big GF 4" and a snail..... all in 4 gallons of water..... omg i hate fish!!!!!:eek::mad:

[kurtnagel]

Shanley,

I can't tell you how many times I have had to rescue my fish from a rapidly draining tank. Usually from my own stupidity. The worst was when I was younger, I had just moved/refilled my 20G tank, with ~15 assorted tropicals only to find I had pinned a jar between the back of the tank and the wall. So not realizing the tension involved, I just grabbed the bottle and pulled, thinking it would just slip out. WRONG, CRACK :eek:! The water drained so fast, It was down to a couple of inches when I was catching the last fish. Since I had just transferred the tank and fish, I had a bucket near by, but I was not able to capture any of the draining water, so I had a bucket of tropical fish, no tank and a floor covered in water (thankfully basement linoleum)

[drache]

OMG!!! i oficially hate these fish!!!! they are causing SOOOOO many problems!!!!:eek:
totally with you there - so sorry about your disaster
I'm hating my fish right now and they're very close to being fed off

[Lori P]

Shanley, do some reading on how to properly cycle a tank. Until you get it cycled, you'll be fighting bacteria blooms and loosing. I'm not an expert, so that's why I'm suggesting you read up from some good sites. Good luck!!!

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol thanks:D but first i have to find a tank lol;)

[mtolypetsupply]

Here's pics of my baby and her tank.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//634/medium/IMG_2140.JPG
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//634/medium/IMG_2135.JPG

[Snake lover 3-25]

awwwww cute kid lol nice tank!!!!!!

[Garter_Gertie]

God, what a beauty. Your daughter's GOREOUS, too!

Sorry! Couldn't help that old joke!

What's her name? I can see 'rents around here doing arranged marriages! LOL!!! Give her a kiss for me.

[jitami]

OMG, Stephi, make sure that tank and dresser are bolted to the wall! I have very faint memories of little fishies flopping all over the floor when my baby sister, at about that age, climbed up on our dresser to reach the fish tank. What I remember is my mom crawling all over the floor, soaking wet, trying to catch flopping fish with her hands... my sister must have been ok.... I guess.... lol :D:rolleyes::confused::D

Ok, now that I've recovered, pick up that snuggly, footed pj wearin, baby shampoo smellin, little angel of yours and give her a big snuggle for me :) Man I miss those days!

[mtolypetsupply]

Thanks, everybody! Hanna just LOVES her fishies! I'll post pics tomorrow, but today, Gary (hubby) and I built her a "viewing platform". It's much better than the chair she dragged over (I'm saving for her tuition at MIT, my little engineer!). With the new viewing apparatus, she shouldn't be able to pull anything over, but I'll look into those furniture straps. I can get another tank and fish, but she's too cute to be all scarred up from the broken glass.

Oh, and Photoshop needs to put a few tools on their programs, like "Click here to clean up the room" or a "Declutter" button or something. LOL

[infernalis]

Oh, and Photoshop needs to put a few tools on their programs, like "Click here to clean up the room" or a "Declutter" button or something. LOL


That's why heavy cropping is so popular:D

Chop out everything but the subject you are photographing.

[infernalis]

Oscar question....

Last night Peach ate a pinky mouse and wanted more.

Are they ok to feed as treats??

Or will I slowly kill my fish?

Thanks.

P.S. (edit) I just read from a very UNRELIABLE source that fat content in the pinks can cause heart problems in Oscars.. Seems to make sense, how many mice will an Oscar get to eat in the wild?

Then again, due to the nature of this fish, I imagine anything that tries to swim in the same water is fair game?

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Such as the case with northamerican bass and virtually all other fish. Anything small enough to fit in the fishes mouth that ends up in or above the wter is fair game. I don't see how the occasional pinky would hurt him. Now a diet of purely pinks would probably be no good, but I don't see it hurting in moderation. Better than goldfish :D

[infernalis]

Thanks Shannon (again) your on early today:D

Peach gets proper fish food, and pellets. I give her leftover fish from the garter feedings from time to time as well.

[Zephyr]

Pinks are fine with Oscars.
The only thing you'll get from overfeeding with pinks is a fat Oscar; it's very hard to damage a fish's internal organs through diet.

[Garter_Gertie]

No wonder she stares you down, Dekay... She knows a loving sucker when she sees one. Bet she never got PINKIES before.

Man. You are one Romeo and know how to play all women: human, snakeish, scaleish.

[infernalis]

She will swim up and stick her head out of the water to pluck the pinky from my fingers.....:D

She likes to wreck the inside of her tank all the time too.

She acts like a monitor with fins!

[Lori P]

Wayne, that is so neat that she comes up and takes food like that. Very cool fishy!!!

I picked this guy up the other day when I went to the bait store to get minnows... he had somehow flipped into the minnow tank and I mentioned what a nice looking fish he was, and the guy plopped him in my bucket and gave him to me. :-) Here he is in the isolation tank with the minnows getting de-parasited.

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/large_goldfish_11_08_002.jpg

I'll move him in with Jeffy in a few days... not sure now if that 29 gallon tank will be big enough for the both of them...

[Garter_Gertie]

Dekay, You've not seen Peaches pick up rocks from the bottom o'the tank and move them around?

Peaches is a chiclid (sp?) and they do that very frequently.

Lori, quarantine for at leat four weeks - if not six - before putting the new fishy with Jeffy... Sorry to make that a command - let me rephrase: You may want to think about quarantine The New Guy 4-6 weeks before putting him with Jeffy...

[infernalis]

MK I have seen her tip sideways and use her tail to throw gravel all over.

Tries to shove the air stone all around too.

[drache]

MK I have seen her tip sideways and use her tail to throw gravel all over.

Tries to shove the air stone all around too.
it's her pad and she's fixing it up her way - so there

[infernalis]

it's her pad and she's fixing it up her way - so there


That's the attitude she seems to have:D

Big flirt too.... or a very good beggar;)

[infernalis]

Peach ate a rat pup !!!!

she "chewed" on it for a bit, then all gone:D

Sorry if I keep rambling, I don't really do fish so my acquisition is demonstrating what I have been missing out on.

That Dace minnow is STILL in there, they so get along???

She seems to let the minnow be now, the constant chasing stopped a while ago.

On a garter food note, An acquaintance has offered me a few preggo fancy yellow tail guppies, Since they will be free and they are such good breeders, I'll have to take him up on his offer:cool:

[bio6464]

I have a spare 20 gallon long and am thinking about setting up some kind of feeder tank for my radix/easterns. Since having pretty fish isn't a concern (read fast breeding, tasty, safe for my babies)...are there any suggestions?
Jerry

[infernalis]

Guppies Jerry:D

Fancy guppies are a couple bucks each, and the big flashy tails get garters attention quickly.

Even reluctant feeders find that hard to resist.

And they breed like lab mice, big litters, lots of them and frequently.

a male and 3 females would keep you in cheap garter food for a long time.

[drache]

no more fish here - all adopted out

[olive oil]

I just scored from Craigs List, a few big clumps of Java Moss.
I'm going to cover some drift wood in it for my turtles.
She threw in a small bag of snails for them to munch on.

[jitami]

Ok fishy people... I ended up with 4 female guppies, 3 with pronounced gravid spots, but not bulging bellies, and 1 pretty little male. They've been in their new home for a couple of hours now and everything seems "ok" but I have some questions!!! (Like you didn't expect that! lol)

1. The current from my filter seems a little too strong, especially in certain areas of the tank, but they seem to manage it ok... should I somehow try to alter it??? I did place screening around the intake so that it wouldn't suck up babies, but should I be worried about the current?

2. There's something growing in my tank... the tank's only been set up since Sunday, filter/heater running since Monday and I have little alfalfa sprout looking things growing from the gravel. New gravel, took it out of the bag and rinsed it. Used aquarium, filter, air stone, castle, new plastic plants. Thoughts? I could take a picture, but they seriously look exactly like an alfalfa sprout.

3. Heat.. have a hang-on heater.. water temp yesterday morning was low 70's when I turned on the aerator... didn't check it after that, but was only high 60's this afternoon. Turned off air pump and temp is *almost* 70. Good enough for guppies? The heater has an adjustment on top and I did turn it up a bit this afternoon, but it was already almost all the way up so not sure it's going to make a huge difference?

Help!!! :D Thanks!!!

[Lori P]

The warmer it is, the more they'll breed. I don't mean boil them... lol. But do watch you temps like a haek till you get the heater regulated. Low 80's, if I remember, is good breeding temp.

Er... your alfalfa sprouts are new to me. lol Let us know if they grow out of your tank and take over your neighborhood.

Current should be ok, as long as they can go hide bhind a rock or something to get out of it if they need to.

[infernalis]

The current is why I prefer the "whisper" filters by Tetra, They have a flow dial that allows you to adjust the amount of water that passes.

[jitami]

Thanks guys! All are alive and well this morning.

Fed them for the first time and they ate like little piggies :) Will they stop eating on their own at some point? I just kept adding more food and adding more food and... you get the idea. They seemed to slow down a little so I eventually stopped, but they're still in there looking for more.

Looks like a new heater may be in our near future. Despite worrying about boiling them overnight the temp really hasn't changed.

I'm going to have to look at my filter closer to see if it has any sort of adjustment. I've read that you can put sponge material over the intake and output areas to slow the current. Of course, that can't be good for the motor, but if I'm going to have to get another one in the future anyway... ?

[infernalis]

Both of my "Whisper" filters were part of those "all or nothing" deals where I just wanted a tank for my snakes.

They have a dial on top that operates a valve....

Great filters....

Yes Tami, fish will over eat, just like our Garters will.

A pinch a day should work fine, and your water will stay cleaner.

[jitami]

A pinch a day for all 5? Not the 5 pinches they got today? :rolleyes:

[Lori P]

Well, I give my guys their staple food and then desert... lol... they get their flakes, then they get bloodworms, daphnia, beef heart, or tubifex for "desert". :-)

[infernalis]

Peach can actually eat a rat pup!!

She's so spoiled, I give her all the fish foods, plus a pinky every day:D

That Dace minnow still swims with her:eek: I get such a smile when that silly minnow swims right up and steals the shrimp pellets before the Oscar can get to it.

[mtolypetsupply]

Tami,
My only advice is, since you are planning to feed them to your snakes:

DO NOT NAME THEM.

It will be very difficult to put "Speckles" or "Floaty" on the menu.;)

Maybe name them like they named the cows at the farm where I keep my horse- there's Sirloin, Rib-Eye, Filet, and Chuck. Call them Sushi1, Sushi2, etc.:)

Okay, the only *serious* advice I can give about your areas of concern is the one about the current/filter outflow. I don't know your setup, but its good to provide still areas and fast moving, etc. Some fish like to play in bubbles from an aeration stone, some like to swim against the current, some just chill in the still waters, and some like to experience the wide variety available.

See if you can make some calmer waters with some plants (plastic is fine for this) and see where they pick to hang out. They're basically fine, however, so long as they don't look like a towel in a laundromat washing machine.

If you discover they like calmer waters, use plants and structure to create that. Don't forget hiding spots for the young ones, grass mats, etc.

And fish are weird, you have to go with what they like. I have a loach, reportedly, and morphologically, a bottom feeder. However, he likes to hunt crickets that are *above* the surface, meant for the FireBelly Toad in the viv. No one apparently told him he's supposed to eat the stuff at the bottom. Darn thing launches a good 2-4 inches out of the water.

I have weird animals.:D

[Garter_Gertie]

A pinch every third day will do fine. Don't over feed. Daily feeding is not necessary.

[jitami]

Thanks again guys!!! They do have calm spots and they really don't seem too stressed by the current, so I think we're ok there. Really, Gertie, not even every day? I already fed them this morning and they didn't eat at all...checked the food out and occasionally put a piece in their mouth before spitting it out. Everything still ok?

Oh, and no names... except maybe the male... he's Purty Boy :) The girls are all "Little Momma" :) Am I in trouble? LOL

[Lori P]

Gertie, I feed all my fish twice a day!! Omg, if I tried to cut back to once a day or, heavens forbid, skip a day, they'd jump out and mutiny!! lol Seriously, I've always fed twice a day... but I also do frequent partial water changes.

[jitami]

See, and I read that guppies have high metabolism and can be fed as much as they'll eat in 2 minutes several times a day? I just hope I don't kill Purty Boy & the Little Mommas! LOL

How often do you do water changes Lori? And how much at a time? I was thinking a gallon a week(a little less than 10%)? I could do that twice a week? I could do two gallons once a week? I dunno!!!

[Zephyr]

See, and I read that guppies have high metabolism and can be fed as much as they'll eat in 2 minutes several times a day? I just hope I don't kill Purty Boy & the Little Mommas! LOL

How often do you do water changes Lori? And how much at a time? I was thinking a gallon a week(a little less than 10%)? I could do that twice a week? I could do two gallons once a week? I dunno!!!Small, frequent water changes encourage growth.
A gallon three times a week will optimize growth with out stressing them too much.

[jitami]

Sweet! Thanks Kyle! Any thoughts on their not eating today?

[Zephyr]

Sweet! Thanks Kyle! Any thoughts on their not eating today?Probably a little stressed. Or they might want a different food. (Live =best.)

[jitami]

Live... brine shrimp... baby brine shrimp.... something else?
They chowed down on the flake food yesterday.

[infernalis]

A pinch every third day will do fine. Don't over feed. Daily feeding is not necessary.

Someone tell my Oscar that:eek:

She sucks down the food, and destroys her tank if I don't give up the groceries!

[Zephyr]

Live... brine shrimp... baby brine shrimp.... something else?
They chowed down on the flake food yesterday.
Worm bits, brine shrimp, blood worms, black worms, daphnia, silver mosquito larvae, mosquito larva, shredded beefheart, etc. Anything that they can "wrastle" with. :)
(Mosquito larvae is an absolute FAVORITE.)

[jitami]

Geez... I still have a lot of learning to do.... sigh... and all of this stuff is available where for how much money?

Hubby apologized for his whining the other night, btw... maybe he reads the board? Nah, but while it was a very nice apology I really should try to keep this offshoot of my hobby to a bare minimum of time & money...

[jitami]

WE HAVE BABIES!!! :D

I figured out the food stuff, thanks guys :) They seem to prefer frozen brine shrimp, but will now eat guppy flake, too. Temps were probably the biggest issue and the second heater took care of that... so anyway...

WE HAVE BABIES!!! :D

I'm going the au-natural route, so hopefully some of them make it to adulthood. There's tons of plants and stuff to hide it, so cross your fingers :) I've only seen two at this point, but all of the mom's still look preggers. Not sure which one dropped the babies, but there should be more coming :) Back to staring at the tank... yay...

[olive oil]

Yay Tami, I would like to raise some guppies myself!

[infernalis]

Congrats Tami, applause.......

Got some feeders the other day, and one female is BIG, so I'm keeping her around for a while.

[jitami]

Thanks Zoe & Wayne :) My neck hurts from staring at the aquarium... still not sure who's having the babies.... still have only seen two... :cool:

[olive oil]

Do you have the fancy tails or just the plain ole ones?

[jitami]

I guess fancy tails. The male is very pretty... indigo blue colors... the girls have black tails. My mom said that the girls were a lot prettier than the females we had as kids, so I'm guessing they're fancy. The babies are just too cute... so tiny... and thankfully very quick swimmers!

[olive oil]

You have stuff floating on the top for the babies to hide in?

[jitami]

I have stuff floating on top, stuff on the bottom of the tank, and fake plants going up both sides of the tank. The one baby that I see most just kinda hangs out down by the gravel. The other popped up out of the "grass" at the bottom. It's actually green christmas garland, but should give them some good cover.

[anji1971]

Good news, Tami! Best of luck with all those tiny babies.:)

[jitami]

Thanks Anji! I've seen 6 at one time, several times now, so I think that's the final count... I still can't figure out which female gave birth. They all still look preggers. Oh-well I guess. The babies really don't hide all that well, they hover near the "grassy" areas, but rarely retreat into the grass. The adults are not overly interested in them, though, so that's very cool!!! Every once in a while an adult will turn towards a baby, the baby darts a short distance away, and the adult turns and goes a different direction :) Cool :) Every once in awhile there will be an adult an inch or less away from the babies with no interest in the babies whatsoever. I'm really liking that!!!

[anji1971]

I kept feeder guppies in a small bowl when I had my first garter, and since she wanted nothing to do with them, I ended up with a pile of babies. The adults ended up eating most of them, but I didn't have anything for them to hide in. I wasn't really planning on a family at the time.
I guess if you start to worry about them, you could separate the babies till they grow bigger.

[jitami]

Yeah, I was a little worried yesterday, thinking I made a mistake not getting a breeder basket thing, but all seems well today. I wouldn't be surprised if we lost several... the adults were in full hunting/feeding mode yesterday when I found the first babies. I don't know if they were just extra stimulated or truly hunting for babies to eat? I went ahead and fed them their fave food and have probably been over feeding them ever since, but for the most part they're uninterested in the babies, so something is working. The babes will eventually be feeders, so I'm not too worried about losing a few to the adult fish, but so far so good :) I have four more girls that still need to deliver :)

[Snake lover 3-25]

congratulations:)

[Charlet_2007]

Well yesterday i went to the good ol pet store they have a amazon red tail cat fish there.. I WANT one soo badly i have the tank room as well.. they had him for 24.99 the guy told me if i took his friend the 32 inch pacu i could get them for 35.00 for both.. just dont have the money and i HATE it!!! :mad:

[jitami]

Thanks Shanley! There are still 6 today :)

[Zephyr]

Well yesterday i went to the good ol pet store they have a amazon red tail cat fish there.. I WANT one soo badly i have the tank room as well.. they had him for 24.99 the guy told me if i took his friend the 32 inch pacu i could get them for 35.00 for both.. just dont have the money and i HATE it!!! :mad:I almost bought a red tail catfish... It's roughly the same responsibility level as a monitor though. :eek:

[Snake lover 3-25]

we went to the pet store yesterday and got a sweet albino pleco!!! it's SOOOO cute:D we put him in a 10 gal with the other smaller fish from the 20 bc the koi has decided to go on a killing spree....:( i'll post pics later:)

[sschind]

Well yesterday i went to the good ol pet store they have a amazon red tail cat fish there.. I WANT one soo badly i have the tank room as well.. they had him for 24.99 the guy told me if i took his friend the 32 inch pacu i could get them for 35.00 for both.. just dont have the money and i HATE it!!! :mad:

How big of a tank do you have?

[Snake lover 3-25]

just cleaning out our fish tank filter.... and i noticed that the blue sponge inside the filter has changed color to bright purple and the smaller yellow sponge inside the same filter has changed to bright red/pink...... anyone know what could have caused this???

[infernalis]

Shanley, it could be that they are engineered to change color when it's time to change them.

I have seen purple algae in tanks before.

[jitami]

Dunno Shanley... colored fish flakes? Have you used any medications?

Hey Wayne, remember when you found the pics of the feeder & fancy guppies for me cause I was too lazy to google them myself? (I swear I had already done that!) I finally figured out what they are. All of my originals are half blacks. Some of the babies were kind of clear like the feeders in your pictures so I thought maybe I had some feeder hybrids or something? Well, one of the clear babies is a male and is beginning to color up... I've been calling him Rainbow Brite. :D Kinda fun even if they are snake food :)

[Snake lover 3-25]

Shanley, it could be that they are engineered to change color when it's time to change them.

I have seen purple algae in tanks before.


yeah that's what my sister said but we've had them and have been cleaning them for months and this has never happened....????? our koi killed the snail... could that have anything to do with it??