New. Need advice, opinions, Comments!

Whoops forgot to add the pic which shows the large silk plastic plant and also how dark the java moss has turned?


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And just spotted this minute, 5 micro tiny tiny weeny snails I'm guessing they hitchhiked in on the moss, will these over run the tank? They are way too tiny to capture on the iPad camera, I'll get one later with a proper camera.

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My moss is always dark like that. You are right about the snails....hitchhiked in on the moss. They will not overrun your tank unless you overfeed. If possible, manually remove them every chance you get. Tank is looking good!!
 
Very nice looking tank!!! You are off to a great start. I really like how you have used the driftwood in it.

P.S. Jefe is extremely handsome! :D
 
Thanks for all the help and compliments.

Great news! We have 2 babies! After just 1 week of owning a fish tank! :D


They are half a cm long now, I have no idea if they were bred in the tank or may a fish have been already pregnant when I bought them in the shop?

I'm just thinking about the tetra which I started a thread on and thought maybe it was eating too much or constipated? Then learned this could have been the mother? Sooooo.... :D

Here is the thread if you didn't see it :)
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259875


I'm all excited! The other fish all seem not to bother with them especially the tetras, one of the platies chased one but it zipped back into the plants to hide and was safe again.. :)

Help and advice how to care for the two babies! ??
Much appreciated, CJ.


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I highly doubt they are neons. They scatter their eggs, which are usually then eaten by the neons or other fish or lost to fungus. It is hard to get them to successfully breed in captivity. Also, a neon egg would take days to hatch, then it would take even longer for them to become free swimming. If you did have neon babies, in a tank like that you probably wouldnt see them for at least a few weeks.

They are probably platy babies. Platies are livebearers, which means they hatch their eggs inside their body, then give birth to live babies that are already fairly large, free swimming, and able to dart away from danger and eat, poo, everything without the help of mom and dad. Most livebearer females are pregnant constantly, since they can store sperm for months. Even if all your platies are female, there is still a good chance they got "hit" (impregnated) by a male at the store or the breeder's. If you have a male and female, then chances are good you'll be having platy babies every month for the rest of their lives.

Congrats on your babies! Your tank looks like it has enough cover that they might be able to survive. Otherwise you can buy a breeder box, which can go on the inside of the tank and has netting to keep the babies separated from the other fish so they dont get eaten. They probably dont need special care if you leave them in the tank. They will pick at microscopic life in the java moss and plants and will eat any tiny pieces of flake food that come their way. You can powder up a flake for them if you want, but dont be surprised if the other fish eat it first. In my tank, unless they are a special type of livebearer I am planning on selling, I just let them fend for themselves and I usually have very few, if any, losses. I have lots of cover for them though. You can add a few floating plants like watersprite for them if you want, they will love it, just remember that it will block some of the light to the rest of the tank.

V
 
So we went to pick up my German blue ram which they ordered for me as a centre piece fish.
He has done quite a lot of hiding but does come out to explore a bit occasionally. I've called him bam bam :) He's not very blue though? Same with the gourami when we got him, so hopefully he will brighten up a bit too. He scared me for a bit because he seemed to be sitting on the bottom like in the pic but he's stopped it and is acting pretty normal now, when he's not hiding.
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We got 3 harlequins. Only when we got home we saw one only has one eye!!?
He seems fine, swimming with the other harlequins, only occasionally he swims off in the other direction, Then turns around and realises he's gone the wrong way! Lol. I don't want to bring him back, we all have a soft spot for him now. Do you think he will be ok?
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1 assassin snail, we asked about our 40+ snails which have been appearing and they said the assassin snail will eat the smaller ones and we must just pick out the bigger ones. Is this true?

Also a clown loach.. My o/h got him, but I think he is too active for the tank. He swims about a lot and quite fast too? I'm thinking ill swap him for kuhli loaches instead.


He also arrived home with a betta! I'm not happy with this, I told him a previous poster told us not to get one. Also I don't approve of the small tanks they're kept in FS's in. He said he felt sorry for the little fella and wanted to give him a better home. He's ok swimming around the top of the water. His fins don't look like they have tail rot or have been nibbled at so that's a start. They are pretty droopy though.
What will I do? Is he ok to keep or will I get him a special tank? He will have to wait a week though untill I get paid and can afford a new correct set up. Unless my 5g with only my little veiltail goldfish would be ok for him? I could pick up a small heater for that tank on wednesday. I reckon my goldfish was happier too in the warm water when he was helping cycle my tropical tank?


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I would definitely rehome the clown loach. They prefer to be in groups and he will outgrow your tank. The ram is pretty. Is it's belly area a little pinkish or blushed? Kinda looks a bit like a girlie one in that picture but hard to tell. I'm thinking its a Pebbles instead of Bam-Bam! lol I keep a dragonscale betta in my 125 gallon community tank. No issues with nippy fish. I think it depends on the personality of the fish. Try leaving him in there and watch closely. If you notice anyone picking on him, or the reverse then pull him out and then re-evaluate.
 
The gourami and betta probably wont get along so I'd recommend separating them however you see fit.

Also, the harlies probably would appreciate being in a bigger group than just three. In that size tank I would decide between them and the neons and go with about 5-6 in that school.

Definitely keep an eye out on the blue ram. They can be sensitive and don't always do well in newer tanks.

Most importantly make sure you return that clown loach.
 
Here's an update from yesterday...
My ram died :( I dont know why, either does the LFS.?
Our water seemed good for him, low ph and tested good in the shop?
I think he had a swim bladder issue because it was as if he kept sinking, he had no bright colouring either when we bought him, I reckon he was very stressed before we bought him then the second move just made everything worse for the poor little fella.

I also rehomed the betta the bf brought home. He's gone to a hobbiest with at least 8 bettas so I guess he knows what he is doing.

Still no home for the clown loach yet though. Am thinking of asking a friend who has 3 of them would he take him.

I brought the poor ram back to the shop to ask, and they refunded me with a pair of dwarf neon rainbow fish which are pretty cool.

I got 3 more harlequins so now there is 6 of them.

We are going to swap our platties too for 5 guppies.


End result of fish after our juggling will be :
( have so far)
1 dwarf neon blue gourami
6 harlequins
2 dwarf neon rainbow fish
8 neon tetras ( will probably swap these too)
1 assassin snail

(wanted)
5 guppies [instead of 3 platties]
1 female gourami



Also my mother gave me her fluval 103 canister filter, I have it up and running well,
It's much better than the internal filter which we had. I'm leaving the old filter in for a while though so I don't remove bacteria.






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