Aquarium fish - West Central Minnesota

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Betta are one of my favorite fish. They are so personable. I've taught many to eat from my fingers. I even had some of the short finned varieties, called plakats, that I taught to actually jump out of the water to grab food from my fingers as high as 3" out of the water. The long finned varieties just can't get that elevation though.

The reason the fancy guppies are so much more difficult to keep than the guppies of the good old days is guppies have gotten to be a money maker if you have the desire to get into some intensive breeding. Both guppies and bettas have their own shows where people show them just like chickens, horses or dogs. Because there's so much riding on the breeding programs, the breeders don't take any chances with disease and keep there fish rooms too clean to the point of the fish loosing the natural ability to be able to handle the normal no-big-deal types of germs in the real world. They've also weaken to the point of needing a heated aquarium to survive. At least the first generation. Second generation, or F1s are hardier. If you want to give the fancy guppies a go, then have a heated tank and keep things pristine with many large water changes.

As far as some other ideas on species, how about a relative of the guppy called an Endlers' Livebearer. They are smaller than guppies, the males are anyway, and they have neon color patterns, like neon orange and neon green on them. Another idea is a tank with freshwater shrimp. They stay little and are a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

There's really a lot of neat fish out there. Unfortunately most fish stores don't have the luxury of being able to make space for some of the neat newer stuff in the hobby. Times are tough for them and they play it safe by sticking with the tried and true that people recognize.

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The reason, I'm guessing, you're having struggles now is you have fallen into the wonderful world of marketing gimmicks. The bio-wheels are probably what's been saving your hiney. Its the disposable filter cartridges that are are the culprit. Someone was thinking when they realized people are busy, and are suckers for things of convenience. Don't get me wrong. There have been gazillions of wonderful time saving inventions that have allowed us to advance to the point we are today. The disposable cartridges aren't one of them.

Seeing you're familiar with fish keeping, you're probably familiar with the nitrogen cycle and that cycling an aquarium is a must. Its a long process that builds up the various species of bacteria that break down fish waste. Those good bacteria live on every surface in your aquarium. But where do they seem to have the heaviest population? The filter. When you replace that filter, like the manufacturer of that filter suggests (remember, they are trying to make $), you are throwing out all the good bacteria that has built up to take care of breaking down all the fish waste. When you were using the floss, you didn't throw it out. You reused it. You still had the good bacteria. That's why I say the bio-wheels have been your saving grace. You don't replace them - ever. They keep the bacteria on them. To top that off, the bacteria are more efficiently breaking down the fish waste on the bio-wheels because they have plenty of oxygen, which allows them to work harder. We work harder when we have a good supply of oxygen, too.

Its possible to buy inserts for your filters that you can put your own carbon, or whatever in. You reuse the filter type material in it. That's the work horse of the filter. The other stuff has its marginal benefits, but keeping the bacteria is the key. Just swish it in tank water that you've removed during a water change and put it back in. The next time you do a water change, leave the filter alone but siphon the gravel. The following water change leave the gravel and swish the filter again. The crystal clear happens from the carbon. Unfortunately, if you have live plants, the carbon also absorbs the fertilizer that you may be putting in your tank for the plants. I have yet to see either a fertilizer manufacturer or a filter manufacturer that informs you of that. Makes you wonder!

Too many people think aquarium keeping is difficult. Its easier then most think, once you learn some tricks to making it easier.

In my tanks with live plants I have even less maintenance. I don't have to siphon the gravel because I have soil under sand and the plants use the nutrients. I don't have to rely so heavily on filtration because the plants use fish waste as fertilizer. Life is good!

Neat, huh?

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Normally I'd say don't switch them, simply because you're going to upset the balance of both by doing that. I does sound like the inhabitants of your hex could use the space you have with the 55. If the fish and tanks that you have were mine, Id switch them and also find a new home or another tank for the goldfish. Goldfish can get to by up to 1' long, if not stunted. They are also super poopers. Maintaining good water quality will be easier if they have a tank of their own that you can focus more frequent water changes on.

I bring up stunted. You've probably all heard the saying that fish will only grow to the size of their tank. Well, its not true. Here's what's actually is going on. All fish give off a hormone that inhibits growth. It inhibits growth in not only other fish, but also themselves. Think of when you may have gone fishing as a kid and gone fishing in a lake that had tons of fish. Tons of small fish, but hardly any large fish. With fish, small doesn't mean young. It sometimes means over populated fish.

If there are a lot of fish in a given area, one of the nifty adaptations that fish have developed is this hormone I mentioned. Smaller fish don't eat as much as larger fish, right? If fish don't eat as much, that means there's more food to go around, right? So what happens when fish are in cramped tanks is the hormone gets condensed and stunts them. That's what's actually going on.

Fish breeders have discovered they can feed there fish as much as they want and not get the fish to grow any faster, but if they start doing very frequent large water changes the fish will grow much faster. More fish to sell sooner means more $ quicker. I know several breeders that raise their fry (baby fish) with 50% water changes every day! I don't recommend you do that in your tanks, its a bit of a different ball game they got going on, but that's one of the tricks some breeders do. I don't. I'm not in it for making money. Its just a hobby for me, and I'd rather keep enjoying it.

I guess I've rambled on a bit. We should probably get this thread back on track. I'd love to go on and on, but that would not be fair to someone that is just wanting to see what fish I have to offer. Feel free to PM me with any other question you have. Besides, I've made a few consecutive posts. I know that's a no-no on some forums, not sure if it is here.

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Normally I'd say don't switch them, simply because you're going to upset the balance of both by doing that. I does sound like the inhabitants of your hex could use the space you have with the 55. If the fish and tanks that you have were mine, Id switch them and also find a new home or another tank for the goldfish. Goldfish can get to by up to 1' long, if not stunted. They are also super poopers. Maintaining good water quality will be easier if they have a tank of their own that you can focus more frequent water changes on.

I bring up stunted. You've probably all heard the saying that fish will only grow to the size of their tank. Well, its not true. Here's what's actually is going on. All fish give off a hormone that inhibits growth. It inhibits growth in not only other fish, but also themselves. Think of when you may have gone fishing as a kid and gone fishing in a lake that had tons of fish. Tons of small fish, but hardly any large fish. With fish, small doesn't mean young. It sometimes means over populated fish.

If there are a lot of fish in a given area, one of the nifty adaptations that fish have developed is this hormone I mentioned. Smaller fish don't eat as much as larger fish, right? If fish don't eat as much, that means there's more food to go around, right? So what happens when fish are in cramped tanks is the hormone gets condensed and stunts them. That's what's actually going on.

Fish breeders have discovered they can feed there fish as much as they want and not get the fish to grow any faster, but if they start doing very frequent large water changes the fish will grow much faster. More fish to sell sooner means more $ quicker. I know several breeders that raise their fry (baby fish) with 50% water changes every day! I don't recommend you do that in your tanks, its a bit of a different ball game they got going on, but that's one of the tricks some breeders do. I don't. I'm not in it for making money. Its just a hobby for me, and I'd rather keep enjoying it.

I guess I've rambled on a bit. We should probably get this thread back on track. I'd love to go on and on, but that would not be fair to someone that is just wanting to see what fish I have to offer. Feel free to PM me with any other question you have. Besides, I've made a few consecutive posts. I know that's a no-no on some forums, not sure if it is here.

Thank you, but I was actually quite aware of the hormones and fish growth in captivity. Thanks anyways though

Thanks for all the info! I think you should definitely make a post over in the "Other Pets and Livestock" section. I would love to chat with you some more about keeping fish!

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Great idea. I'll look into starting one up this next week.

What do you have that would be good to keep algea out of horses water troughs

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Personally, not much in the way of fish.

Depending on what types of algae you have and where you live, there are some options I can offer. The first suggestion in barley straw. If you have horse troughs, I'm guessing they are for horses. If they're for horses, you probably have access to a supply of barley straw. If you don't, you can purchase it at various plant nurseries that carry pond plants and supplies, although it will likely be more expensive.

Barley straw gives off something that inhibits the growth of algae and develops a population on bacteria that will help break down nutrients that the algae feed off of.

There are some tricks to getting the barley to work effectively enough. First off you need to let the barley float so it has the sun shining on it and it is close to the surface for a good supply of oxygen. The bacteria that break down the nutrients the algae feed off of will multiply faster in the presence of a good oxygen supply, which is at the surface. They will also work harder in the warmest part of the water, which is at the top where the sun shines. The metabolism of the bacteria speeds up when they warm up.

You also need to have large enough of a quantity to handle the amount of algae you have. That you'll have to experiment to figure out. Occasionally keep adding to it so you will always have a supply going. You also never want to let it dry out or the bacteria die and you're back at square one. In the Spring get the barley floating in the troughs well before algae season hits.

Another idea is to add live plants to the troughs. Horses won't care. The idea is to out compete the algae. Just don't get any plants that you need to fertilize or you're not getting anywhere.

Fill the bottom of the trough with a couple of inches of sand and put some clams in there. Check with your state DNR to see if its legal to transport clams and/or collect wild ones. They will likely die over winter, but in the mean time they will filter your water and any free floating algae in it. There's also a livebearer trapdoor snail that eats several types of algae.

If you're dead set on fish, that really depends where you live. There are several fish that are algae eaters that would be better suited than the bristlenose that I have. Bristlenose are too picky with the varieties of algae they eat. Mollies, platies, Florida flag fish and possibly otocincolus are some fish to consider. Again, it really depends on what type of algae(s) you are dealing with.

If this is a tank for watering livestock, I'm not so sure they care if there's algae in it, unless its red algae, which I've heard can be toxic. It is to birds anyway (birdbaths). If the algae is red algae I'm not of much help on that one just because I don't have too much experience having to deal with that one.

Sorry its not a clear cut answer, but it gives you some things to think about.



I think I'm going to see if I can get one of the moderators to split this thread up and put the non-for-sale questions into a thread in the pet section and name it Aquarium Questions or something.

I see that the bristlenose are pending sale.
If they go back on sale I will take them if you will accept a MO for payment. I obviously wouldn't expect you to ship them until you recieved payment and I can sent it out this week.
-Jenna

I have a bizillion of the swordtails....I just dumped a bunch of them in my goldfish pond so they can 'weed them out'.

Good Luck selling your fishies!