20 gallons of what was supposed to be fun.

[ticklemepunk473]

all filler no killer

thanks for the suggestions. I have been cruising the sites since I found out my mondo grass is a complete piece of crap and I have decided that a java fern or moss (probably moss) would look killer on the rock/arch thingy I got and from what I can see the rock is perfect for them to grow on. I am probably going to invest in an anubias if I can find a good one and now I just need something with height. are there any good background fillers? anacharis maybe?.

By the way my catfish is still being crazy. Any suggestions? Comments? Anything? My red shark is taking to doing the same thing occationally and I am getting curious.

 

[ewok]

i'm going to take a couple guesses on this.... the silvery catfish.

#1 iridescent shark (pangasius sutchi or pangasius pangasius)
http://planetcatfish.com/catelog/pangasii/pangasiu/172_f.htm

i'm betting that is the one, but i'll give you a couple more options. the pangasius is pretty much entirely unsuited to aquariums. sorry. they are monsters that can reach sizes of something like 52 inches. at the size you have tho, they like to school, which means about 6 of them to get it to somewhat calm down. *but* they are always skittish (unfortunately), i like them alot myself. they are easily startled and will do a mad dash at anything in the way or lie on the bottom acting dead.

actually....... try that one and post back if i'm wrong. the behavior fits. my next guesses would be in the "pimelodus" family. pimelodus blochi, which might work ok. there are several like that, very similar. 4-line pimelodus.... but these look like "normal catfish and have long flowing whiskers. pimelodus pictus is also pretty common but has spots. that might be the best bet for you in reality. it would be closest to ideal for your tank.

good luck

 

[MrGoodbytes]

Maybe it's a longshot, but the "catfish" might be a bala shark.

As to plants, I would highly reccommend Cryptocoryne wendtii (any variety should do fine). The Mi Oya variety can get quite big so keep up with pruning if you get that.

Hygrophila polysperma is a nice plant that grows well in low light. I didn't have much luck with it, because the stemms kept melting on mine, but you might have better luck.

Limnophila sp. should do well in your tank, if you have at least 1.5WPG. It's an attractive plant that resembles Cabomba, but you get less mess.

It may seem hard, but whatever you do, DO NOT impulse purchase anything living for your aquarium. The best thing you can do is go home, research it, and then if you can keep it, you can buy it. The same goes for plants.

You said you wanted to keep tetras earlier, and were thinking three. Tetras do better in larger groups (>6, ideally >50), so three is probably not enough.

HTH,

Graeme

 

[ticklemepunk473]

As for the 1st post it is definitely not one of those giant fish. it is a pictus catfish. I went to the pet store and found out. Do these like to school? As to the 2nd post, it is DEFINITELY not a bala shark and the plant was not an impulse buy. I went there looking to buy a grass plant for the aquarium and that is what I bought. I am sorry to say that I was sold a non-aquatic plant under the premise that it was meant for an aquarium. I have given up petsmart and I am going to have to make the trip into portland to get some quality stuff. so is my catfish just lonley?


PS thanks for the plant suggestions!

 

[MrGoodbytes]

I gave up on Petsmart a while ago. I found better prices elsewhere, more selection in equipment and livestock, much better plants (Tropica, not snail-infested mush), and the people actually know stuff about fish instead of hamsters.

Graeme

 

[ticklemepunk473]

yeah petsmart has screwed me pretty good but I think I am just giving up on asking advice from their employees . I think I will go and buy a couple more pictus from there though because I know that they all three total will have been from the same tank and they are hopefully as healty as the one I have already. Plus they have a good guarantee that my small local (twice as expensive) shop doen't have. There are only about three petstores in my area (excluding portland) and I have found petco to be worse than petsmart because their people are even more retarded( as if this were possible! ) and the other small mom and pop store has not so healthy looking fish and really grubby looking tanks.

 

[Lila]

I believe Pictus Cats prefer to be in schools. They are my most favorite catfish. I would always buy at least two and they would swim everywhere together.

 

[ticklemepunk473]

yeah I have fallen in love with pictus cats and I bought two more to keep my lonely one company and they have been getting on great! they swimm all around together like you said. they like to all circle together nose to tail it is so cute.