LOTS OF QUESTIONS?

HI All,

OK I have lots of questions, my roommate has 46 gal tank and I have put 2 Crystal Platy's in the tank. I am thinking of starting my own tank and have done some research on what types of fish can go with my platy's I call them Felix and Oscar(from the odd couple) I have found out that I can put Barbs in the tank with them and it was suggested that I put 5-6 Barbs now here is the question.

Do they have to be all the same type of Barb?

I want a tank with color and have chosen Rosy Barbs, Green Tiger Barbs and Cherry longfin Barbs. I don't know what size tank I'm going to be getting I'm still in the research faze. My roommate has suggested that I take over his 46 gal tank in a few months and he would increase the size of his tank.

I you the members can help me with my research it would be greatly appreciated


Angela

 

hi, I am no expert AT ALL but I do have barbs ( naughty little beasts and I love them) ;D

I started with 5 cherry b's and 6 minnows. Then added checkered barb's. I would say from my experience and from advice given to me that you should definitely get a school of the same type. Mine now mix as a school when the mood fits but they do stick to their own kind MOST of the time.
I have to say that I never hear much about Checkered barbs but they are lovely, calmer than the Cherry b's and the male has lovely orange fins with his Check body. I'll try to get a pic of them to post.

 

Yep barbs and tetras both tend to be a lot less nippy and snippy if they have several of their own kind to pal around with. So I would say three or more of each kind would be good.
Carol

 

Thanx for the replies right now this is the list of fish I'm interested in putting in the tank

I'm thinking 3 of each type of barb Green Tiger, Cherry or Rosy and definitely a longfin Rosy.

I'm also considering Crowntail Betta, Lyretail Swordtail, Clown Loaches and maybe a few Tetra, I'm concerned about the Tetra because my research says not to put them with bigger fish, which I don't understand because in the current tank we have feeder guppies and the larger fish don't bother them at all.

Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Angela

 

Love your list of fish , all good fish but... sometimes they don't mix I'm afraid the Betta's beautiful tail would be too tempting for the barbs to resist. Most other fish are usually such aggressive eaters the Betta doesn't get enough to eat.
Your tank isn't really big enough for Clown loaches, they are best kept in groups of three or better and they can get 12 inches or better. They need lots of room to swim and the more buddies the better.
Carol

 

In my roomates tank currently there are
1 Rainbow Shark which chases the Platies sometimes
3 Tiger Barbs which don't bother any body from what I have observed.
2 Upside down Cats which hide almost all the time
1 4 Line Cat which only comes out from under the driftwood when the light is out or feeding time.
1 Striped Loach (he lost one a couple of weeks ago)
2 Diving Frogs
2 Clown Loaches about 2 inches in length
1 Clown Placo which hides most of the time but just in this past week has come out from under the wood to lay on top
5 Bala Sharks which I like alot.
And of course my 2 Crystal Red Platies.


When I checked the compatibility charts the Betta was listed as OK with the Platies and all the fish I said I was interested in were on the same list. So I thought they would all be OK together.

Looks like I need to check each one separately. Like I said earlier still in the research stages so I have at least 4-5 months to get this together the proper way..

Again thanx for all your input.

Angela

 

yep research is one of the fun parts of setting up a tank.
Here is an interesting article to read while you do research

Carol

 

My cherry's killed 2 of my guppies when I was new to fish keeping. Ate their tails! Not a nice sight so be careful re a betta.
As much as I love barbs I would not say mixing the school would be ok, Tigers are not good buddies for others!
You may have success but have a rescue tank ready!

 

sounds like a great tank - we'd love to see it and especially the platys. I don't know about barbs with platys, but other livebearers would get along with platys as well as cory cats or oto cats.

 

does your roomate know that bala sharks can grow up to 13 inches, loaches up to 12 in. and plecos can grow 2 almost two feet???

he had better be getting a REALLY big tank ;D

 

does your roomate know that bala sharks can grow up to 13 inches, loaches up to 12 in. and plecos can grow 2 almost two feet???

he had better be getting a REALLY big tank ;D

I've recently noticed, clown loaches are getting smaller in size, same with bala sharks. You have large ones that get huge, but some that stay small. Haven't figured it out, but dude at my LFS said he has been noticing the samething.

 

I'm a beginner. I bought a "self starting" siphon that doesn't work unless I beat the water. When I do water changes, I planned to use this, but it ain't working so I just scoop up a gallon with my aquarium-use-only pitcher. However, I need to clean the substrate, which is black sand. How do I do that? I'm unemployed so I can't afford expensive equipment, but I clearly need something better than this crappy vacuum/siphon/scraper that doesn't work. And what will suck up fish poop and not suck up the sand?

 

Don't use inappropriate language! You can start the water running by sucking it out from the other end and having it below the end inside the tank. Nothing will happen if you swallow fish water but I spit it out as and leave the water unattended for a little. That is what I do. I hope others can help you with the black sand. For my saltwater I put the cleaning thing right above the sand and it sucks up the debris but not the sand.

 

Sorry. I thought this site was Used by adults. I didn't know it was inappropriate. Yeah, I know how to start a siphon. It's really the vacuuming I need help with.

 

This site is used by every one who comes visit since you don't have to be a member to view it. I am not sure if "" is bad on this site but I have seen many people do it in the past. I hope the "****" didn't mean what I think. I wouldn't vacuum sand. I would vacuum right above it. Maybe you could put some net or filter floss in the vacuum to prevent loosing sand. That is what I am going to do.

 

For those stubborn spots that you just can't get without sucking up lots of sand, I used to use just a plain small hose. The one with your sipon is probably small enough, you can just pull the sipon off and use it.(if it will let you)Or you can get a cheap tubing at Home Depot...costs little. It allows you to direct the sucking action to that area without sucking up tons of sand.

Oh, and as to your siphon not starting...
Without banging the water into the siphon, you can simply submerge half or so of the tube, making sure there's no air in the line, put your finger over the end of the tube and draw it down into your bucket or whatever, take your finger off and the water should flow. Beats sucking on it or banging it up and down in the tank.

 

I try that but it makes my guppy loose its color. I feel bad doing it but there is nothing wrong with it.

 

Thanks everyone but I cannot get this stupid siphon to start. What do you all use to vacuum? Also, I dropped some algae wafers and after a few hours they're covered in a white cloudy substance. What is that?

 

Your posts has been edited. We have members of all ages and strive to keep the forum family friendly. By passing the system by using hyphens to mask a word is also not allowed.

There aren't any stupid questions on the forum. If you were wondering about something, most likely others are too.

Here's a video that shows an easy way to get the syphon started.
1-2-3 easy aquarium siphon instructions - video

 

I had sand for a while, and I actually found that a cheapo (like dollar store cheap) turkey baster works quite nicely, as long as you don't mind getting your arms wet. Just push the air out of the bulb when its out of the water (so you don't disturb your sand) then place the nozzle an inch or so above the substrate, slowly let the bulb expand and it will get the fish poo and not the sand.

Also, if you have sand I would suggest getting a helpful little snail called a Malaysian Trumpet Snail, which will stir the sand and keep it from developing toxic gas pockets, these can usually be bought very cheap as they are very prolific. If you don't want the snails, make sure you stir your sand at least once or twice a week.

Hope that helps!

 

Thanks everyone but I cannot get this stupid siphon to start. What do you all use to vacuum? Also, I dropped some algae wafers and after a few hours they're covered in a white cloudy substance. What is that?

Maybe white hair algae or something like that. Maybe it just clouded the water.

 

the white cloudy substance around the tablets is most likely the tablet beginning to mold and decay. Leave it long enough, and it will totally decay, leaving a huge blob of white mold. Try not to let it get to that stage, though.