Fish Thread for posting Pictures of our fish, tanks, ponds, and Q & A

[thekid]

Thankyou!

 

[kelseygirl707]

Hey Guys

Just found this thread. Hubby and I had a 55 Gal. Saltwater tank a couple years ago, but we got Red Velvet disease and all our fish died except our Blenny

. So we got discouraged and sold the whole set up. Now 2 years later we are pregnant, expecting a little boy in less than two weeks, and we are doing an ocean theme Nursery. We bought a Fluvall aquarium for the Nursery and had thought we would modify it for saltwater, but the cost would be the same as if we were to go out and get a Bigger Biocube, so we made the Fluvall freshwater, and we Ordered a 29 Gal Biocube for the living room. We are soo excited, it should be here later this week

. We also ordered Live sand, and plan to get Live rock Locally. Anybody else have a Nano Tank?

 

[halfwaynowhere]

i have a weird question.

i have a 10 gallon tank, with 2 male guppies, 3 ghost shrimp, 2 glass cats, and 1 chinese algae eater. the algae eater is my problem. its not eating. i bought the darn thing to help cut down on my algae growth. now, my tank is covered in algae, i can barely see inside, and the fish looks really thin. i even tried offering it an algae wafer a few days ago to see if it just didn't like the algae that was growing or something. but no. it seriously just sits at the bottom of my tank getting thinner.

any ideas why its not doing its job, and is actually starving itself?

 

[Andi]

Quote:
Your algae eater is starving to death. Fish that eat algae don't eat all species of algae. Its possible that the species of algae in your tank are species that the algae eater is incapable of being able to either (1) not be able to scrap off or (2) not be able to digest or (3) dislike the taste of.

Its a bit frustrating the way some fish are marketed. There is no algae eating fish, snail or shrimp out there that will eliminate the need for us to clean the glass and decorations.

If we view the way we take care of our tanks differently its easier. Algae isn't all bad. Algae is there to help balance out excess nutrients. So if you are having issues with algae it means there's too many nutrients for what ever you have in place to consume them, whether its live plants, filters or water changes. You can up one of those (or all) and/or reduce the amount of food going into the tank.

Oh, almost forgot. You need to feed your algae eater algae wafers or green beans.

 

[halfwaynowhere]

Quote:
Your algae eater is starving to death. Fish that eat algae don't eat all species of algae. Its possible that the species of algae in your tank are species that the algae eater is incapable of being able to either (1) not be able to scrap off or (2) not be able to digest or (3) dislike the taste of.

Its a bit frustrating the way some fish are marketed. There is no algae eating fish, snail or shrimp out there that will eliminate the need for us to clean the glass and decorations.

If we view the way we take care of our tanks differently its easier. Algae isn't all bad. Algae is there to help balance out excess nutrients. So if you are having issues with algae it means there's too many nutrients for what ever you have in place to consume them, whether its live plants, filters or water changes. You can up one of those (or all) and/or reduce the amount of food going into the tank.

Oh, almost forgot. You need to feed your algae eater algae wafers or green beans.

i've tried wafers, with no luck. why won't it eat those? these are the hikari brand, which seem pretty good...

i used to have a big plecostomus in this tank, which he was obviously way too big for. i fed him a wafer or two every day, and i never saw a spec of algae in the tank. i gave him to the fish store recently so he could have the space he needed.

so i can feed this guy green beans? how do i do that? do i need to chop them up? I'm not very educated on how their mouth parts work... i'd hate to see him starve to death. I can understand him not eating the algae in my tank, if maybe its the wrong kind or something. but the algae wafers are made for these types of fish, right? so why won't he eat those?

 

[Andi]

As Chinese algae eaters get older their diets change to more of a meat protein base need. They are no slackers, personality wise, and often steal food from other fish. I've even had bigger Chinese algae eaters (4"+) start attacking tank mates (which is where I start threatening to use them as bait when I go fishing) and end up removing them. Chinese algae eaters get pretty big, if their growth isn't stunted (and would eventually out grow a 10 gallon). Its possible it is sick. The green beans, if its still a younger fish will be good because the beans are easily digested. You'll notice the other fish and shrimp will enjoy it also. Use canned green beans (no butter sauce) and just drop a couple pieces in. I would usually separate the bean halves so the insides were easily accessed, but that's likely over kill. The canned beans will have a softened cellular structure because of the canning process. Raw beans are too hard and most fish would have a difficult time eating them. If the beans are devoured then toss a few more in. Plecos and bristlenose love green beans also, as well as blanched or lightly nuked and cooled zucchini.

I would get a little can of green beans and keep it in the frig to take from for a few days. After about 3 days whatever was left over the girls (chickens) got - and enjoyed.

If the algae eater is older try sinking meat protein based food such as wafers or sinking pellets. Your other tank mates will enjoy them also.

If the algae eater dies, get it out of there RIGHT AWAY! The reason I mention it is because of the chance that it might be struggling with internal parasites. As soon as a fish dies, any parasites will leave the deceased host in search of a new host. Matter of fact, if the algae eater starts having a difficult time with swimming, like its exhausted, get it out and put it down, for the safety of the other tank mates.

I hope the little fellow comes around for you. It sounds like you have a nice community of fish.

If the algae eater doesn't make it or gets too big and starts trying to eat the others, I'd like to suggest Otocinclus. They are a sucker mouth catfish that stays little. Perfect for a 10 gallon. They are a little more challenging to keep and I recommend getting several and expect some not to acclimate. They are sweet little peaceful schooling fish and come in a few different color patterns.

 

[halfwaynowhere]

thanks for the info! I'll certainly try green beans!

I'm kind of irked at the fish store. I told them the size of my tank, and specifically asked for something that wouldn't outgrow my tank. When I buy any animal, I plan on being able to take care of it for its entire life. The guy there told me these wouldn't get much bigger than they already are. Then I found out recently that they get pretty big.

The other fish they showed me, the called candy cane, or candy stripe something. i think those were probably otocinclus. I hate common names! I'm kind of kicking myself for not doing the research up front. I thought I could trust this fish store, as the owner there really seemed to know what he was talking about when I'd gone there before, and locally, seemed to have a pretty good reputation. I figured I was better there than at Petco or Petsmart (where I know better than to ask an associate for advice).

okay, one more question- without overcrowding my tank, is there anything else I could add that would make the tank more interesting? the guppies stay close to the top, the algae eater is fine on the bottom, but everything else is pretty darn invisible, and while my tank is just in my bedroom, it would be nice to have something a bit more colorful.

 

[thekid]

the pleco does a better job than a chinese algae eater

 

[Andi]

Quote:
I know you mentioned the ghost shrimp, but what about either RCS (red cherry shrimp) or CRS (crystal red shrimp? They are more colorful and neat to watch. Chances are you probably would have limited reproduction because the guppies would fine the babies quite tasty, but you can often find the RCS at a decent price from local aquariusts. A dozen wouldn't be too many to start out with. You could even try 1/2 a dozen of each because they can't interbreed and neither will breed with the ghost shrimp either.

There are some pretty platies out there, but they prefer cooler, unheated water where as the other species you have like a little warmth. There are some nice Endlers' livebearers and their hybrids that come in a huge color variety. Another idea is some of the smaller Rasboras, which are mostly in the red/orange color. Corydorus pygmeasus are a schooling Cory, but they prefer midwater and have a neat behavior. They aren't very colorful though. If it were my tank I would get 1/2 dozen CRS (or CBS crystal black shrimp) and 1//2 dozen RCS (expecting that not all will make it) and a couple pairs of Endlers'. Keep in mind that the guppies can interbreed with the Endlers', but who knows what fun crosses will show up.

Be careful in stocking. The more you put in there, the more you have to feed, the more they will poo, the more excess nutrients, the more need to do more water changes or the more the algae will grow. You are already fighting an imbalance by the sounds of the algae you're dealing with. Any time you add or remove anything from a small ecosystem like and aquarium (especially a small volume like a 10 gallon) the balance is thrown out of whack easily. You'll need to go with the flow and adjust your maintenance to the signs your tank is telling you. Over the years I've gotten lazy and discovered that live plants, when there is enough of them that grow at a fast rate, can cut down on tank maintenance dramatically. There is a learning curve to live plants, granted, but once you get the hang of it, its easier and healthier (little to no nitrogen cycle), the fish are more at ease and, personally, I think it looks much more pleasing to the eye. To top it off, its fun to share plant trimmings with others. And yes, its possible to have lush growth with nothing more than a compact florescent light in a 10 gallon and no CO2, you do have you fertilize and there are some tricks, but live plants don't have to be an expensive ordeal. If anyone is interested I can take some pics and post them to give an idea.

 

[Andi]

Quote:
You are right, when they are young fish. Like the Chinese algae eaters, Plecos diets will turn to needing a higher meat protein once they start reaching breeding age. Unfortunately, the Plecos get huge also. The largest I ever had one get before I gave it to a fish store to use in a display because it kept sucking onto my angelfish was over 1' long. Very cool looking fish. She would let me pet her and take her out of the water (which now that I've learned about fish physiology I don't recommend it). My friends thought it was cool though.

If a person can think of fish in a utilitarian manner that they are disposable at a certain point, it could work. The fact still remains that no matter how much fish suck on the glass and decorations, there's still going to be a need for us caretakers to do our share of the load. There's also going to be a need for us to feed those fish and not expect that they are getting a proper diet on left overs and algae. Personally, I had gotten to the point of keeping sucker mouth catfish for their personalities and looks and as a result been much happier. There's such a huge variety of them out there that there's bound to be something for just about anyone. Another favorite is the bristlenose (BN for short). They max out at 5", depending on the species, don't attack other fish, unless they are starving, and for the most part leave most live plants alone. They don't eat all species of algae, but no fish does, but I've been happy with their work ethic. The males are cool looking. The albinos aren't too bad looking and the long fin variety is pretty. The BN will consume more meat at breeding age, but they remain dominantly vegetarian their entire life. (Halfwaynowhere, I don't recommend it in your tank simply because a 10 is too cramped, even though they aren't tank busters. Sure, if you got a young one it would probably survive, but I think 2 or 3 Otos are better suited to the scale of the tank you have and would be happier. You could even get different color patterns.)