BYC Aquarium Thread

[tinychicky]

Username:Tinychicky
Years keeping fish: i've had my 29 gal. for about a year now, before that was a ten gal with mainly guppies and cory catfish. other that that i've had betta-in-a-bowl type fish since i was four or five years old.
A few species you have kept: Danios, Guppies and a few other live bearers, Bettas,corydoras catfish, barbs, gouramis and a few others.
Favorite Species: hands down corydoras catfish. they seem to have so much more personality than some other fish. i like bettas too, but not petstore veiltails. i like halfmoons and well bred crowntails.
How many tanks do you currently have: 2
Do you have other creatures besides fish? a couple apple snails in my 29 gal. and i'm thinking of getting a few cherry shrimp.
Any Advice for people new to fish keeping? PLAN PLAN PLAN before you even get a tank! you'll save yourself from making a lot of mistakes later.

my 29 gallon is planted with peppered corys, pineapple swords, zebra danios, gold barbs, and a red tailed shark. my ten gal. is also planted with 2 gouramis, a few zebra danios and 3 cherry barbs. i'm thinking a few shrimp couldn't hurt there either.


kevin, i feed my fish twice a day but skip one day a week

 

[mz.candiz]

How often does everyone feed their fish? Once a day, 2xs a day, Every other day, etc?

My Oscars get fed 2 days in a row and 1 day off typically, depending on what meal they are getting. If they are getting a high protein meal (say prawns) I'll give them a day off after or a veggie meal the next day to keep everything moving good in them.

My planted tank is usually NLS pellets once a day, algae wafers every second day. It has micro rasboras in it and they have slightly faster metabolisms than my other fish.

The rest of my tanks are usually every second day, unless there is babies and I increase depending on species and stage of development. I have a rescue Oscar juvenile right now and he is fed smaller meals 3x a day cause they grow so fast compared to other species.

 

[tinychicky]

ugh my new barbs have swim bladder disease. that's what i get for buying fish at petco. i'm going to treat them with a broad spectum antibiotic i think (that's what i've read is the right thing to do anyway). which brand is best?

 

[Kevin565]

I recommend Melafix

 

[mz.candiz]

ugh my new barbs have swim bladder disease. that's what i get for buying fish at petco. i'm going to treat them with a broad spectum antibiotic i think (that's what i've read is the right thing to do anyway). which brand is best?

There are many different things that can cause swim bladder disease; from poor water conditions being the most frequent offender, to constipation, parasites, genetics, and also bacterial infections. Antibiotics will only help if it is a bacterial cause.

I would first test your water chemistry, and do a water change if needed. Also, make sure that your water temperatures haven't been fluctuating. Do the barbs look bloated? Or are they just having issues swimming? You should refrain from feeding them for a couple of days to see if constipation or over-feeding is the issue. After 3-5 days of fasting you can feed them a mushed up pea to relieve any digestion issues. Epsom salts also work quite well for helping to flush their system.

As far as antibiotics a combination of Maracyn and Maracyn 2 will alleviate most bacterial infections.

 

[tinychicky]

wow thanks for all the great info. they're swimming along the bottom on thier sides/upsidedown but otherwise normal. i did test my water and it was a little hard but only slightly. i just got them a couple days ago so it was more likely a problem at petco than in my aquarium. my other fish are fine. i'll try a salt bath first, give them a day or two then maybe try something else if that doesn't work. thanks

Originally Posted by mz.candiz

 

[mz.candiz]

Yes, I definitely agree the problem is probably from the pet store. The biggest issue with larger pet chains is not only the conditions of their tanks, but their suppliers. Oftentimes, the fish are breed in the fish equivalent of a puppy-mill situation. It's more about mass production than actual quality, and this usually leads to line breeding with poor genetics being bred into the fish over and over. Then the overcrowded grow-out tanks where fish are subjected to poor water quality leads to chronic infections. It can get to the point where just the stress of moving a fish into a new tank will cause flare ups.

On top of that (I am not sure of Petco's system) but alot of the larger pet chains have filter systems where all of their tanks go through one main filter which means if there is one sick fish in one tank all of their fish are exposed to it.

 

[MobyQuail]

 

[cochins1088]

hmm.. This thread doesn't look very active, but I'll chime in!

I've got a 4000 gallon pond, 125 gallon tank, 55 gallon tank, 46 gallon tank, 2 20 gallon tanks, and a ton of 10 gallon tanks.

I keep mainly koi and goldfish, but I've had many other fish as well such as guppies, swordtails, platys, mollies, bettas, pelcos, gouramis, cave fish, freshwater blue lobsters, knife fish, self cloning crayfish, chinese algae eaters, nearly every variety of goldfish, and many others.

I'll post some pictures later.

 

[knjinnm]

hmm.. This thread doesn't look very active, but I'll chime in!

I've got a 4000 gallon pond, 125 gallon tank, 55 gallon tank, 46 gallon tank, 2 20 gallon tanks, and a ton of 10 gallon tanks.

I keep mainly koi and goldfish, but I've had many other fish as well such as guppies, swordtails, platys, mollies, bettas, pelcos, gouramis, cave fish, freshwater blue lobsters, knife fish, self cloning crayfish, chinese algae eaters, nearly every variety of goldfish, and many others.

I'll post some pictures later.

What is aself cloning crayfish?