Aquarium fish - West Central Minnesota

[STEPHANIELAUREN]

sent payment for the bristlenoses did you recieve it yet? when would you expect them to ship thanks

 

[Andi]

I started getting a new thread for aquariums started yesterday when my son accidentally hit the power cord to the computer. How frustrating!

It looks like its going to take a while to do because the way this site is set up, a thread can't be split like what I was thinking. I have to go back and forth to copy and paste each post and each name.

Right now, and for the next couple weeks, I'm insanely busy. I just don't have the luxury of being able to spend much time on the puter for now, so starting a new thread just has to wait.

In the mean time, if you do have a question that needs an answer, just email or PM me. I'll get on to check my messages when I can. Thanks for understanding.

 

[tamsflock]

Got my fish yesterday. Perfect packaging all were alive Minnesota to Alabama!! They have moved into the tank with the other and all are doing good.
Thank you!!

 

[4 Love of Baby Chickens]

I have a 2.5 gallon tank and a 10 gallon tank. I'm wanting to use my 2.5 gallon tank for a Betta fish that I want to buy soon and use my 10 gallon tank at the same time for some other cool fish. Like the different color Molly's there are. Do you think that I should go for both of them at the same time or just use one of them.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

What I did was to stick my betta into my ten gallon to help cycle it. I then cycled it for about 6 weeks before adding any additional fish. I really wanted a couple of dalmation mollies at first, but I did a lot of research and realized mollies would be too big for a ten gallon tank. I settled on platies instead, because they are real docile, would get along with my betta, and had similar colors and look like the mollies. I added two at a time each week until I had four platies all together. Then I added three dwarf albino cory cats. Adding them slowly helps to keep the level of harmful chemicals in the tank stabilized. I was able to keep my betta in with the platies, but you could always take him out and put him in the 2.5 gallon...or better yet, you could get ANOTHER betta and put him in the 2.5 gallon! LOL

Over about a year, I lost one platy and never replaced her. Right now I have one male platy and two females. The betta eats the babies before they grow up so I never have any problem with over population. I also have a few ramshorn snails in there and the betta enjoys snacking on them. They also keep the algae down because I was having some issues with algae as the tank was going through its cycles. Good luck with the ten gallon tank!

 

[silkiechicken]

Love the BN pleco!!! Haven't found one in the city where my tanks are. Have a 2.5 beta, 20 guppy/small tropical planted, and 30 gold fish.

 

[Andi]

4 Love of Baby Chickens, looks like Chickerdoodle13 gave you some sound advice.

Betta are wonderfully hardy fish and can be used to get an aquarium established for other fish. Just remember that the process of getting the bacteria established is a slow one. Adding just a couple fish that aren't too big at a time is a wise thing to do for a small tank like a 10 gallon. Its pretty easy for the water chemistry to become dangerously toxic fast when the water volume is small. Its frustrating taking it that slow, but its more frustrating to get excited about new fish and have them die.

You could do both at the same time if you wanted to, but worrying about just one new tank at a time has its benefits.

The water chemistry will be substantially more unstable in the 2½ gallon, just because of the smaller water volume. Here's another idea that piggy-backs on Chickerdoodle13's. You could use the Betta to get the 10 gallon established. When you're ready to get what ever fish you'd like to try in the 10, then use some of the gravel from the 10 and enough water to fill at least ½ of the 2½ gallon from the 10 gallon. By doing that it will make establishing the 2½ gallon a breeze. Its a technique called seeding. The gravel will have the beneficial bacteria living in it and so will the water. The Betta will be much happier with the move to the 2½ that way.

As far as the mollys go, yes some of them do get to be pretty big, so do your research when you're looking at the different varieties. For a 10 gallon you should avoid the sailfins. Besides the fact that they can get big, their lovely dorsal fins have a tendency to flop over when they are living in cramped quarters. I've never heard of an instance where the flopped dorsal ever recovered its erectness, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. You could probably get away with a group of 3 mollys in a 10 gallon, and 5 would be pushing it. Its difficult to have too much of a variety of colors in a small tank.

Like Chickerdoodle13 said, platys are similar looking to the mollys. There's more color options in platys than what there are in mollys, too. Just something to think about.

Silkiechicken, sounds like you have a nice variety of tanks, too. Yes, the BN haven't totally caught on in the fish stores yet. Once they figure it out though, they'll be happy they did. I don't have any more available right now. I guess I'd recommend checking with members in a local aquarium club, if you're not wanting to pay shipping. If shipping isn't a big deal, there are places online that you can usually get them. If you want tips of some places to look, give me a PM and I'll tell you of some that I know of.

Tamsflock, you are certainly welcome, and thank-you for posting the kind feedback! Aquariums have been such a wonderful part of my life. I enjoy sharing the joy of the hobby with others. Not to mention, I've met some wonderful people along the way!

About getting this topic split up. I apologize I haven't gotten it done yet. Life has been keeping me quite busy lately. Maybe next week.

I hope all of you have a wonderful AND SAFE Labor Day!