Tanis

hey guys and girls.

this morning i tested my water to see how it was going with its cycle, already 3 weeks in with high nitrites low nitrates and at the time low ammonia (actual results not recorded as forum was down at the time and i couldnt find a pen). i can only hope this means the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight.

i have the tank planted which is allowing my fish flakes to not leave any nastys once the cycle is done. ofcourse with the plants came one..ten...twenty odd snails, i tried to count how many there where but new ones appeared each time i looked away. guess it means i will need a snail hunter when its time for fish haha.

as far as the fish choice is going im getting closer to deciding on what i want, theres some silver dollars at my LFS and i like their crazy personality so perhaps 4 of them, 2 gouramis (what kind of gouramis is still unknown), possibily either a red tail or rainbow shark, some kind of sucker fish (bristlenose perhaps) and perhaps some rainbow fish if i can keep the tank in harmony.

my patience hopefully is about to pay off in a big way, come on lady luck.

aquarist48

Hello Tanis. Glad to hear things are going well with your fishless cycle. Hang in there Will be looking forward to seeing pictures once it's up and running. Your stocking list sounds good. I might worry a bit though about having two gouramis (especially if they are both male) in the same tank. I'm sure you'll get some more responses on matter. Keep us updated! Have a good weekend!

Saxobone

Very Nice.

As far as the snails...I wish to suggest getting 2 or 3 Clown Loaches not only because they lovvve eating the little snails and are extremely efficient at devouring every last one no question, but also because their behaviors are intriguing and they are beautiful.

However I have been told that although mine are still less than 2 inches long, most consider it cruel to keep them in a tank that size (mine is 55 gal) because of the size they are capable of achieving.

Sorry if I'm babbling but I am getting to my point...

Does anyone know of any other fish that DEVOUR snails and take care of the infestation the way clown loaches do?

Sincerely,
Cory

Lifesabeach

The Silver Dollars are great, but they will enjoy your plants. My two have a go, but are not to aggressive - I try to keep them well fed, but I have been warned that they can do a good job on them!

Tanis

thank you all for your responses,

saxobone i have considered clown loaches (theres a few at my LFS) which are still very small, but yes as u said they appear to need a larger tank for them to be happy and grow to their full potential.

with the gouramis since the ones at my LFS are in the same small tank (about 12 of them) im hoping to get lucky and find two that get along, as i really do like this fish and having just one doesnt seem to do them justice.

as far as the silver dollars eating all my plants, hopefully they can eat some snails along the way haha. i can always hunt down a hardy plant that can survive their rampages, or atleast hope i do.

a quick question tho, would the shark hunt and kill off the snails? just seems like a shark-like thing to do, lurk around the tank looking for little snails to attack and devour

Tanis

YAAAYY!!!! the tanks finnally cycled, im super happy reading a 0/0/40. now all i have to do is a water change and run out to get some fish

that said ive decided on the 5 silver dollars, 1 gouramis (possibly 2 if i feel there is 2 happy gouramis that dont kill each other at the lfs), 1 RTS and im going to see if i can manage 3 bristlenose's (theres plent of places for them to hide from the RTS if he turns territorial).

id like to be able to add the silver dollars first, give them a week to get their heads around the place and allow the bacteria to adapt, then i would like to introduce the gourami/'s and bristlenoses, followd by RTS a week later. does this sound somewhat reasonable?

Lucy

Congrats on the cycle! Great feeling, isn' it?
Sorry, I don't know about the compatability or order that the fish should be added.
Just wanted to celebrate your finished cyle!!

peacemaker92

CONGRATS on the cycle! WELL DONE!

aquarist48

Good morning. Your plans sound fine. As for the Silver Dollars I wouldn't count on them eating any snails as they are herbivores. Adding the red tail shark (RTS) last is a must. You can pretty much count on territorial issues with the RTS even though you do add him last but hopefully it won't be so bad. Don't over stock.
Best of luck and by all means keep us posted.
Ken

bolivianbaby

Congratulations on the cycle Aquarist48 has ya covered-RTS must go in last.

Tanis

thanks for the support everyone, ive introduced 5 silver dollars into the tank today (i am aware of the 2-3 per week rule however i felt that for the sake of keeping them as comfortable as possible separating them would only cause more stress).

they are at this point exploring and enjoying their far larger tank, tho they seem most active when the light is off, perhaps over time with regular feeding times and regular light on/off times i should be able to keep them happy. next week should see the introduction of gouramis and possibly bristlenoses, the week after will see my RTS which should be the last fish i add for some time.

im still playing with the idea of rainbow fish somewhere befor the RTS but i will watch and see how the silver dollar and gouramis go first befor making that decision.

Lucy

Yay, new fish!
They probably need more time to get used to their tank. Be sure to keep an eye on your water parameters since your tank is newly cycled.

So where's the ? Hmmmm? lol

Tanis

haha its currently 10:42pm here and the fish are suppose to be winding down as the lights are off (tho they seem to want to do their own thing) so tomorrow i should be able to provide a pic or two for anyone who wishes to see.

and i will assure u that i will be keeping a very close eye on how my water is going, last thing i need is a mini cycle breaking out.

aquarist48

Sounds good Tanis. Don't be surprised if it takes a week or so for the Silver Dollars to adapt.

Tanis

ok so the waters been doing fine, the silver dollars are loving life as they swim about in good health eating all my plants.

today i picked up 2 dwarf blue gouramis, a bit of a gamble going with 2 but only time will tell and a quarantine tank is being established just incase the worst arrises.

at this moment both the gouramis are being slightly hostile, i put this down to creating the pecking order within the tank, they nip each other, they nip the silver dollars, the silver dollars nip back. i basically have a school yard in my fish tank and time outs are well within reason.

all else is traveling along well, a close eye on my parameters and an even closer eye on my fish should see this tank being very healthy for some time yet (fingers crossed)

jdhef

Hopefully your two Gouramis will get along okay. I have two in my 36 and they seem to get along well with each other.

Tanis

Hey all, well my tank is humming along nicely as my fish have all gotten used to each other, however i had my first casuality as my small gourami unexplicably wedged itself between the filter and glass and for reasons unknown failed to escape and passed away.

since then however the gourami and silver dollars have blended nicely as they waft around the tank trying to devour anything other then thoes dam snails haha.

this time around i decided it was high time to drop in a pic or two of my tank as it stands, enjoy.

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aquarist48

Beautiful!!!!
Ken

redlessi

beautiful tank...........