We bought a 20-gallon tank this weekend and will start buying fish next weekend. It's all set up and waiting for the fish next weekend. Anyone have any ideas about numbers and kinds and sequences of fish to purchase? Try telling a 2 1/2 YO that she has to wait a week to get her fish....
Get Convict Cichlids. You're tank sounds the right size a couple...Give them caves and they will surely make babies! To find a female look at the belly. If it's orange chances are that its a female...also males seem to be a bit larger and a tad greener.... I recommend this fish type because: #1. They are hardy (can handle mild water changes unlike sensitive Discus fish) #2 They won't outgrow your tank...Unlike the Oscar (who is susceptible to hole-in-the-head disease due to various reasons..) #3 They have a beautiful striped color... #4 There are 5 or 6 main families of fishes: tetras, catfishes, cyprinids, etc.....the cichlid family is known to have "intelligent" fish. They can seemingly identify you. They show better parental care... #5 Did I mention they breed like squirrels?..,er rabbits? It is really neat to see the eggs laid on a rock slab and later mature...I had 20 little ones that gre as big as their parents in about a year...It was cool , but caused me logistical problems... Anyways it was a great thing and I jumped at the chance to offer my exhuberant recommendation... One thing is their territorial temperment (esp. when breeding)...They will pester smaller or equal size fish. At maximum, the male will reach close to 6 inch long, but usually 5 inches...female 1 inch smaller...They will breed when they are as small as 1 inch. Great fish!
me too. they died... but i was young and semi-happy about it b/c i got tired of cleaning their tank every saturday! it cut into my "playing outside with friends" time... plus my dumb little sister would never help me, even though they were technically her fish too! hmm... i'll have to remind her of that resentment the next time i see her!
In my experiences (10+yrs of fishkeeping) the female convicts do indeed have the more colorful bellies...also the males have longer dorsal fins(on top) true...but I would hardly recommend Discus to anyone but the most experienced fishkeeper.. I trained/worked as a fish expert, and I don't want to take on the hassle that is Discus. But Oscars are SO much fun to keep, personality plus Hole in the head can be fought if you do constant water changes and keep their water at the proper levels (ph,ammonia,etc..) another theory about HITH disease is that it is caused by trace electrical fields in the water...possibly solved by not having any electrical cords going in the water (heaters, powerheads, etc) noone really knows what definitely causes HITH..it's all just theories.. What is your fascination with squirrels?? True, them little buggers would churn out babies constantly. But let me tell ya..don't try to keep anything else in the tank with a breeding pair of convicts. Jewel cichlids are some nasty tempered fish and the little convicts that were half their size tore em up when they started breeding... See above..... anyway, 20 gallon tank...mainly for children to look at? You may want to go with more colorful livebearers (it pains me to say that, I don't like them personally) They will also breed as much as the cichlids..but will not grow to such a big size, so you can keep more in one tank.. My other recommendation would also be to take more than one week to get the tank running b4 adding fish..or if ya do...add only one or two small fish....and then carefully monitor the ammonia and ph to get everything into line before you add fish that the kid(s) may get attached to... There are some products that will jumpstart the tank's biological cycle (Cycle is my fav) or get some seed water from an established tank..but keep in mind that the biological cycle takes some time to get thru and until it does, the ammonia/nitrite levels are deadly to most fish... I could take all day talkin about this...if ya have anymore questions shoot me an email G/L...
Man, I would love to get some piranhas...too much paper work involved in getting one around here ( I think it's against the law to own one in Harris Cty) Closest I come to one is when I give feeders to my Oscar...
I currently have a community 29g tank that I've gotten bored with. I'm going to give my 15 or so fish to a former co-worker and start a new tank. It will be a cichlid tank. If you go the route that people are suggesting and get convict cichlids, just make sure you don't put docile fish or pretty much anything else in the tank (a dwarf/clown or bristlenose plecostomus MAY work; I've seen it done in Tanganykan and Mbuna cichlid tanks). Cichlids are some of the most interesting fish to watch as they protect and take care of their young. The only problem you may have is that they breed like maniacs - especially convicts. There are various kinds of convict cichlids such as the black and pink convicts, too. Cichlids tend to be very territorial, especially when they're breeding. They will attack anything they feel is a threat to their fry no matter how small or large. I've seen a couple of convicts keep a fish 3 times their size at bay to protect their offspring. They had that big fish cowering in a corner, lol. Another thing is that if you put plants into the tank, cichlids are known for ripping them up. Twenty gallons is about the minimum you want for fish in the 4 inch range. The usual rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gallon of aquarium water, but that's not a hard rule - it can vary greatly. One thing to note is that most newbies to fish keeping make is the fact they don't know about the "ammonia/aquarium cycle". This ends up killing their fish. You're not supposed to just buy a new aquarium and throw fish in - if they're not hardy enough, they could just die halfway through the cycle. Basically what "the cycle" is is a bacterial and biological process that converts ammonia to nitrites and then nitrites to nitrates. If your bacterial colony hasn't had a chance to build itself up, you will have ammonia and/or nitrite spikes which could kill the fish. The general rule is that this cycle takes about 3-4 weeks to complete, otherwise you end up possibly torturing your fish during the process. If they survive the cycling of the aquarium, they may end up with with damaged gills among other things. When I cycled my aquarium, it took about 3-4 weeks. Convicts can probably handle the cycling, but I personally wouldn't want to put any fish through that ammonia/nitrite spike. Convicts aren't exactly the prettiest fish in the world, but they can be interesting. As for the discus suggestion, I'd stay away from them. They can be an absolute PAIN to take care of for people that are inexperienced (hell, even for people that ARE experienced). My personal suggestion is that you go for something like guppies, mollies, platys, etc. as they are suited better to that tank size, plus they are more colorful and you can have more of them in that tank. Make sure you have a good filter, heater, and do regular water changes! Anyway, I have a 29g tank that I'll probably be putting Tanganykan or Mbuna African cichlids into. Let us know if you have any questions; there seems to be knowledgable people here on the subject.
DoD, we basically said the same things...why the hell isn't my post as easy to read as your's?... I guess thats why I don't post that much.... anyway,....has anyone tryed salt fish? I had a salt tank up for a few years..but it's too much work to keep going..I just don't have the time.
Rockets2k, I didn't think your post was that difficult to read. Keep posting. Anyway, I was tempted to go with a salt water setup when I get rid of my current fish, but I just think it would take up too much of my time trying to maintain it in comparison to a freshwater. But oh man are those saltwater fish beautiful. The only freshwater fish I can think of that are as cool to look at (and they're not really even that close in the "coolness" factor) are discus or some of the African cichlids. Ah well, maybe if and when I buy a house, I'll get that 150+ gallon aquarium I've always wanted. For right now, I'll have to settle for my piddly 29g.
My last fish just died today ... i mean ...i hated that son of bit*h...anyways i have a ten gallon tank w/o any fish...any suggestions??
How do you keep the little pieces of carbon from flying out of the filter? Just stuff as much cotton in there are you can?
I like the red-tailed shark. That is a mean sumbitch though. Mine would eat fish 3x his size. One day he was killed by my dog though.
I had fish before too... but they were alive. There's nothing like seeing a fish chopped into sushi while it's still alive... YUM! Ok, that's probably in poor taste, my bad.
one of my mom's old friends had a piranha in a huuuuge tank. it was pretty kickass and mean. OldManBernie: i think maybe i like sushi but i dont know yet... i need to work on it.
LOL!! I have a house and I STILL can't seem to get that big-a$$ tank I've always wanted...have to settle for my 40 long display tank and my 42 hex tanks to keep me goin... One day, I will get a reef tank goin...nothing surpasses the sheer beauty of a reef tank..corals, anemone, invertebrates..with a few small fish...but OMG! the price it costs in time and money is out there.... Oh well one day..
