I purchased a used freshwater set up on craigslist a few weeks back for my 17mo daughter (which I care for of course). This is my first tank of any kind and my husbands second. He had a guppy tank as a child. When we bought the 37g tank, it came with a few live plants, bogwood and assorted other decorations, 12 adult platys, 2 fry, 1 bristlenose pleco, 2 amano shrimp, 5 pencilfish, and 2 SAE. To that we have added 1 albino red tail shark, 3 leopard (julii) corys, 1 more amano shrimp, and 6 neon tetras. I have also added several plants.
So for my list of questions.
The SAE and pencilfish looked so much alike that I thought the only bottom feeder we had was the pleco on the first trip to the lfs, hence the cory's. Other than the ton of hair algae we also acquired in the purchase of the tank, I haven't had any algae problems. No surprise with that many algae eaters. The hair algae is pretty much gone now. I worry that I have too many bottom feeders/algae eaters. The SAE have grown quite a bit, you can no longer confuse them with pencilfish, they are way too big. All the fish seem fine, but I want to make sure I'm not starving them. I feed a couple of bottom feeder pellets or algae wafers a day. I believe all my "cleaners" will eat leftover food, correct? Any other indicators I should look for?
Speaking of leftover food, my hubby feeds them 2 of the 3 feedings and i recently stopped the midday feeding because I felt he was overfeeding. In hubby's defense, he didn't realize that overfeeding caused problems with the water balance, so maybe he'll stop doing it. I kept finding furry bits of pink floating around and assumed this was old food. Is it?
The pencilfish seem to like to hang out around the heater. I don't know if they are cold or they just like the area. I have a couple of amazon swords planted right in front and the water from the filter flows in right next to it, but they are out of the current. The temp runs between 78-82 degrees. The tank has a thermometer that sticks to the outside of the tank and I don't understand how to read it. The square next to 78 is green and the square next to 82 is orange. All others are black. Is this an accurate type of thermometer, or is there a better one?
Last, the filter. I have the Cascade 700 canister filter and it has the ability to control the flow of water on the intake and outtake hoses. Is there any reason to have it at anything less than 100%? I get a swirling current on one side of the tank and it pushes the sword leaves around a bit, but I haven't noticed a problem with the fish, tho they seem more likely to go behind the plants then out front.
That completes my first list. I'm sure more will be forthcoming
:
So for my list of questions.
The SAE and pencilfish looked so much alike that I thought the only bottom feeder we had was the pleco on the first trip to the lfs, hence the cory's. Other than the ton of hair algae we also acquired in the purchase of the tank, I haven't had any algae problems. No surprise with that many algae eaters. The hair algae is pretty much gone now. I worry that I have too many bottom feeders/algae eaters. The SAE have grown quite a bit, you can no longer confuse them with pencilfish, they are way too big. All the fish seem fine, but I want to make sure I'm not starving them. I feed a couple of bottom feeder pellets or algae wafers a day. I believe all my "cleaners" will eat leftover food, correct? Any other indicators I should look for?
Speaking of leftover food, my hubby feeds them 2 of the 3 feedings and i recently stopped the midday feeding because I felt he was overfeeding. In hubby's defense, he didn't realize that overfeeding caused problems with the water balance, so maybe he'll stop doing it. I kept finding furry bits of pink floating around and assumed this was old food. Is it?
The pencilfish seem to like to hang out around the heater. I don't know if they are cold or they just like the area. I have a couple of amazon swords planted right in front and the water from the filter flows in right next to it, but they are out of the current. The temp runs between 78-82 degrees. The tank has a thermometer that sticks to the outside of the tank and I don't understand how to read it. The square next to 78 is green and the square next to 82 is orange. All others are black. Is this an accurate type of thermometer, or is there a better one?
Last, the filter. I have the Cascade 700 canister filter and it has the ability to control the flow of water on the intake and outtake hoses. Is there any reason to have it at anything less than 100%? I get a swirling current on one side of the tank and it pushes the sword leaves around a bit, but I haven't noticed a problem with the fish, tho they seem more likely to go behind the plants then out front.
That completes my first list. I'm sure more will be forthcoming
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