:(

FL CommunityFans · November 2nd, 2009

Hey guys. I'm copy/pasting this from planetcatfish as that's where I went initially look for dory help. I figured I'd post the story portion here though as I haven't been around in awhile and the story is why.

Quote:

Long story short: I had a great tank setup originally that had a mixture of escondido carpintis, green terror, various plecs, a peacock eel, and some botia striata. many said the tank would end in death because of the aggressive fish. I kept the tank for 8 months with never an accident and all my fish out all the time acting as if they were showing off. It was a great community. My escondido and green terror had gotten to 8" and 7" respectively and all my loaches and plecs were 'plump' and happy.. usually resting on the rocks underneath the eheim spray bars and sitting directly under the currents.

My wife and I took our daughters on vacation, and made plans to have all of our pets taken care of. her father was supposed to handle it but mid vacation I found out her brother in law was the one doing the care taking. Huge red flags for me but nothing I could do at the time.. I was already gone. I left directions to the detail one when, how, and how much to feed and adjust things accordingly. it was so descript my 6 year old knew what needed to be done.

We come home from vacation and I find almost the entire bag (brand new bag) of food dumped in to the tank. Several of the fish were already dead and floating and you could tell it'd been like that for awhile as the food was very soggy and broken a part but not because it had been eaten. It has just disintegrated over time in the water. I lost hundreds of dollars of fish. her brother is no longer allowed around our house or near our kids (long story but the whole house was wrecked and he had the nerve to attack us and claim we were lying and making things up when we found another womans clothes in our house and they weren't my wife's!!!))

Ok, so I really said more than I intended but I just wanted to give an idea of where I am coming from. I had a LOT of time invested in to my fish and I loved them incredibly. I'd sit at the tank (in our bedroom) and rock our youngest to sleep. I'd sit there for 2 hours every night just watchin them. After this incident, I was so sick to my stomach I wanted to break the thing down and sale it. I've had it listed for the last 2 weeks at a steal of a price (less than a 1/4 of what you would pay for everything that comes with it) just to get it out of the house. I was cleaning it up pretty good today and sat and looked at it. After a bunch of no-shows from folks who feigned interest in the tank I started wondering what I could put in it if I kept the tank.

This brings me to cory cats. Our first tank we got about 2 years ago now and it was a 29gallon. it has my first 3 cory cats in it which are julii's or trili's (not sure honestly). They're going on 2 years of age now and are still the coolest things I've ever seen. they survived a tank burst when the original 29gallon had the back blow out. Petsmart refunded me/replaced the tank and they've been in the current tank for a long time now.

the really tl;dr version:
Regarding the 75 gallon, how many corys would be ideal to have for a school, and how many different schools could be done? Also what other fish would be ideal to house with them? Top fish would be a necessity I would imagine? The tank has 3m colorquartz black sand that is s-grade. it's almost finer than sand honestly. I also have a-lot- of driftwood and a good bit of river rock as well. Suggestions would be grand or tank pics of similar ideas that you have.

So that's where I've been and where I'm at right now. Still feel sick when I think about the old fish.

Tony G. · November 2nd, 2009

Sorry for your loss

Have you thought of starting a large community tank?

Red1313 · November 2nd, 2009

<hugs>

bolivianbaby · November 2nd, 2009

I am SO SORRY you had to go through that

.

click · November 2nd, 2009

Sorry to hear about your loss.

You are a caring fish owner and is not your fault what happend to your previous stock. Maybe the fact that you couldn't sell the tank at a low price was a sign that you should not give up this hobby.

Sadly I cannot offer suggestions for stocking since I'm new to this, but I want to wish you all the best with your new tank. Although your new fish will not replace the old ones in your heart, I am sure they will bring you a lot of joy.

Can't wait to see the pics.

Lucy · November 2nd, 2009

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss and problems with your family. I wondered why I haven't seen you around the forum.

Is there any certain kind of fish you're interested in? I've enjoyed my cardinals. They're very colorful and soothing to watch. At feeding time it's a burst of blue and red darting all over. My husband calls it a burst of color.
Sometimes they school, sometimes they do their own thing. My Glow Lights often school with them.
Maybe you would like a nice school of larger Tetras and Angels as a centerpiece.

Best of luck whatever you decide.

MissMTS · November 3rd, 2009

I am so sorry to hear about your poor fish

That must have been so devastating for you. I am sorry for your family problems as well, which I am sure didn't make the whole incident easier to cope with. Don't let this discourage your love for fish keeping.

A group of Geophagus Orange Head Tapajos would be really cool along with your cories. Rainbowfish would be an awesome schooling fish to throw in there as well.

You could do the following:

10-12 Cories
6 Geophagus Orange Heads
6 Large Rainbowfish (Red Irian, Turquoise, or Boesmani)

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do, and keep us posted

peacemaker92 · November 3rd, 2009

I'm so sorry for your loss... Wished you didn't have to go through that.

aquarist48 · November 3rd, 2009

Hello FLCommunityFans. What a sad happening of events for you folks. I just don't understand some people and their antics. It really makes you wonder how some get as far as they do in life.
Best wishes to you and yours!
Ken

namehater · November 3rd, 2009

sorry to hear about your tank issues, that really sucks. did you put a lump of the dudes head?

as for stocking, what size of fish are you thinking about stocking? if you like african cichlids, a 75g is a sweet size for an african rift setup. if you arent a fan of those i would suggest stocking a pair of angelfish, a school of cory cats (id say 9), some sort of tetra school (stock about 15), and id toss in a bristlenose pleco. i would also heavily plant the tank if you go with the angelfish.

MizRamzi · November 3rd, 2009

This sure brings back some memories. Wont let nobody care for my fish any more. I'm sorry for your loss. Please don't give up. There are fishes out there that need someone like you and your family. Good luck

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