Random Discussion...

[NC122606]

Question of the day?:
What is one of the things that a specific fish does that annoys you? (Can be more than one)

My ABF when it comes feeding time will just sit there until everyone else’s food comes in and eat theirs. Even when I do the tap call I she had learned she sits there like a sitting duck.

 

[Feohw]

AAAAIIIEEEE Just found about betta falx.

How would they do in a community tank? would the males beat up my ram?

Best not to. They wouldn't beat up the ram, but they do best in a species only tank. Or with very small peaceful fish. Larger fish would intimidate them. There's also the problem of overeating bettas have in communities. They like their water acidic if yours isn't already.

Question of the day?:
What is one of the things that a specific fish does that annoys you? (Can be more than one)

My ABF when it comes feeding time will just sit there until everyone else’s food comes in and eat theirs. Even when I do the tap call I she had learned she sits there like a sitting duck.

One thing?? Bah! I have a whole list!

I have a guppy that massacres other guppies. I had quite a few but he ended up killing some of them.

If I try to feed my bolivians frozen foods, my banjo comes barrelling over to them, gobbles up all the food and swats them with her tail. Bloodworms are her thing. She's gotten better at sharing recently.

My pearl gourami periodically takes mouthfuls of sand or gravel and drops it on my cabomba. Nowhere else. He has it out for that plant in particular apparently.

My bolivians and gobies always dig holes. My tanks substrate always looks very silly.

My pleco is never in sight. Always hides. One of my oldest fish but I've seen him the least.

There's more, but I think you get that I'm annoyed (not really, lots of it is interesting and fun to see) by something most of my fish do.

 

[FinalFins]

Hmmmm well my

Question of the day?:
What is one of the things that a specific fish does that annoys you? (Can be more than one)

My ABF when it comes feeding time will just sit there until everyone else’s food comes in and eat theirs. Even when I do the tap call I she had learned she sits there like a sitting duck.

Hmmmm well by betta in the 5 gallon hates to eat food that is not on surface.
I drop in food and 99% of it floats for 5 seconds and then sinks by him. He WATCHES it fall and lets it be. Now I gotta do siphoning.

 

[PascalKrypt]

One thing?? Bah! I have a whole list!

I have a guppy that massacres other guppies. I had quite a few but he ended up killing some of them.

If I try to feed my bolivians frozen foods, my banjo comes barrelling over to them, gobbles up all the food and swats them with her tail. Bloodworms are her thing. She's gotten better at sharing recently.

My pearl gourami periodically takes mouthfuls of sand or gravel and drops it on my cabomba. Nowhere else. He has it out for that plant in particular apparently.

My bolivians and gobies always dig holes. My tanks substrate always looks very silly.

My pleco is never in sight. Always hides. One of my oldest fish but I've seen him the least.

There's more, but I think you get that I'm annoyed (not really, lots of it is interesting and fun to see) by something most of my fish do.

Hahaha, this is a fantastic list! Plant-hating gourami and killer guppies, sounds like you live in a dangerous house ;-)

I have one weird betta in my sorority that might be transgender or something. She was sold to me as a female and definitely has a gonopodium and an egg spot, so that settles that, but outwardly looks more like a male in body type, fin length and most of all, behaviour! The other females completely ignored her in the beginning, but moved aside for her when she passed -- so I thought she was super dominant. But then I saw some of them flirting with her on occasion. She also appears to have claimed a territory in the back corner that she chases all the other fish out of. Never aggressive though, I've never seen her exchange blows with any fish, it's all just display.
And surprise, surprise, she steals all the food. All of it. And then just swims around with it. "Nananana, this is mine and you can't have it!"

One of my male bettas, Kyoto, was housed with a pair of plecos for a short while that I was quarantining extensively for my main tank. So I dropped in floating and sinking food just before lights out, thinking that would be a good trick. But no, Mr. insisted on only going after the sinking food. And sitting on the bottom half an hour gobbling up the oversized wafer before moving on to his floating food. Not sure if he was just weird or very smart.

I seem to have finally won my battle with Mu and Jing the dojo loaches, who disappeared into my filter box several times a week despite my sealing that in every which way I could think of. Including a hole on top the size of a finger that sits well above the water line and takes several inches of crawling on the dry cover to get to. Eh. They haven't been in there for a month now, so I think I finally managed to thwart their evil plans for good.

 

[BlackSkirtTetra]

Hmmmm well my

Hmmmm well by betta in the 5 gallon hates to eat food that is not on surface.
I drop in food and 99% of it floats for 5 seconds and then sinks by him. He WATCHES it fall and lets it be. Now I gotta do siphoning.

SAME! it is so annoying! I learned tot crush it up so it floats longer.

 

[Feohw]

Hahaha, this is a fantastic list! Plant-hating gourami and killer guppies, sounds like you live in a dangerous house ;-)

Very dangerous. I live in constant fear

I have one weird betta in my sorority that might be transgender or something. She was sold to me as a female and definitely has a gonopodium and an egg spot, so that settles that, but outwardly looks more like a male in body type, fin length and most of all, behaviour! The other females completely ignored her in the beginning, but moved aside for her when she passed -- so I thought she was super dominant. But then I saw some of them flirting with her on occasion. She also appears to have claimed a territory in the back corner that she chases all the other fish out of. Never aggressive though, I've never seen her exchange blows with any fish, it's all just display.
And surprise, surprise, she steals all the food. All of it. And then just swims around with it. "Nananana, this is mine and you can't have it!"

One of my male bettas, Kyoto, was housed with a pair of plecos for a short while that I was quarantining extensively for my main tank. So I dropped in floating and sinking food just before lights out, thinking that would be a good trick. But no, Mr. insisted on only going after the sinking food. And sitting on the bottom half an hour gobbling up the oversized wafer before moving on to his floating food. Not sure if he was just weird or very smart.

I seem to have finally won my battle with Mu and Jing the dojo loaches, who disappeared into my filter box several times a week despite my sealing that in every which way I could think of. Including a hole on top the size of a finger that sits well above the water line and takes several inches of crawling on the dry cover to get to. Eh. They haven't been in there for a month now, so I think I finally managed to thwart their evil plans for good.

It would be kinda cool if it was actually a male. One of the few with a successful harem! Hopefully it is female though just to be sure the tank will last! I loved seeing the interactions and politics within my sorority. I only have two of them left. The least dominant (the only one to never get sick oddly enough) and the most dominant - she's partly blind now. Dropsy took the other three.

My bettas have always done the same as your male. Community bettas have been a pain for me as they get bloated by stealing the bottom dwellers food. I still haven't learned my lesson though - all my bettas have been in communities.

I seem to have finally won my battle with Mu and Jing the dojo loaches, who disappeared into my filter box several times a week despite my sealing that in every which way I could think of. Including a hole on top the size of a finger that sits well above the water line and takes several inches of crawling on the dry cover to get to. Eh. They haven't been in there for a month now, so I think I finally managed to thwart their evil plans for good.

Gotta love those fish that seem like evil masterminds. My gobies always seem to be up to something mischievous. I'm sure your dojos have something in store for you! Or not.

Hmmmm well my

Hmmmm well by betta in the 5 gallon hates to eat food that is not on surface.
I drop in food and 99% of it floats for 5 seconds and then sinks by him. He WATCHES it fall and lets it be. Now I gotta do siphoning.

My betta can only eat off the top. She can't see food that falls. That's the good thing about having a near blind betta. She can't overeat unless I make a mistake. My other betta is a pig that eats food no matter where it is.

 

[CMB]

Hahaha, this is a fantastic list! Plant-hating gourami and killer guppies, sounds like you live in a dangerous house ;-)

I have one weird betta in my sorority that might be transgender or something. She was sold to me as a female and definitely has a gonopodium and an egg spot, so that settles that, but outwardly looks more like a male in body type, fin length and most of all, behaviour! The other females completely ignored her in the beginning, but moved aside for her when she passed -- so I thought she was super dominant. But then I saw some of them flirting with her on occasion. She also appears to have claimed a territory in the back corner that she chases all the other fish out of. Never aggressive though, I've never seen her exchange blows with any fish, it's all just display.
And surprise, surprise, she steals all the food. All of it. And then just swims around with it. "Nananana, this is mine and you can't have it!"

One of my male bettas, Kyoto, was housed with a pair of plecos for a short while that I was quarantining extensively for my main tank. So I dropped in floating and sinking food just before lights out, thinking that would be a good trick. But no, Mr. insisted on only going after the sinking food. And sitting on the bottom half an hour gobbling up the oversized wafer before moving on to his floating food. Not sure if he was just weird or very smart.

I seem to have finally won my battle with Mu and Jing the dojo loaches, who disappeared into my filter box several times a week despite my sealing that in every which way I could think of. Including a hole on top the size of a finger that sits well above the water line and takes several inches of crawling on the dry cover to get to. Eh. They haven't been in there for a month now, so I think I finally managed to thwart their evil plans for good.

My boy tried that when I kept him with African Dwarf Frogs. He went to the bottom to steal their food because he liked it better. Only apparently the frogs were more aggressive than the Betta, because one of them went after him and lightly bit his tail fin. After that, he refused to eat any food off the bottom of the tank, even if there were no frogs in sight. I think I must have ended up with the most bizarrely peaceful Betta out there.

 

[Feohw]

CMB are you able to tell your rams apart at a glance? One of the things I love about them is that they all have such distinct looks! All of mine are really easy to tell apart - unlike with many other fish I have. (not counting colour - but facial and body structure).

I wonder if this is the same with angels Crispii? Can you tell your altums apart based on facial differences and such pretty easily? Probably is the case. Keyholes NC122606?

 

[CMB]

CMB are you able to tell your rams apart at a glance? One of the things I love about them is that they all have such distinct looks! All of mine are really easy to tell apart - unlike with many other fish I have. (not counting colour - but facial and body structure).

I wonder if this is the same with angels Crispii? Can you tell your altums apart based on facial differences and such pretty easily? Probably is the case. Keyholes NC122606?

Some of them I can, but it can be a bit tricky sometimes.

 

[Feohw]

Some of them I can, but it can be a bit tricky sometimes.

Hmm. Maybe I just got some very diverse rams. What is your gender ratio?

 

[CMB]

Hmm. Maybe I just got some very diverse rams. What is your gender ratio?

I honestly don't know, never managed to actually sex them all.

 

[PascalKrypt]

@Feohw
It is actually really easy with my cacatuoides apisto's too. Not sure about some of the less colourful species though.

And dojos if you get wildcolour, all of them have a slightly different pattern/colour mix, body structure, width, length, etc. Maybe if I got 20 it would be harder, but a handful are easy to tell apart.

Interesting that it is mostly body structure that allows for you to see it though. I do have a strong preference for fish that can be told apart.

 

[Feohw]

I honestly don't know, never managed to actually sex them all.

After all this time? They aren't too hard to sex when you know what to look for. Especially in person. I guess its not something that's too important though.

@Feohw
It is actually really easy with my cacatuoides apisto's too. Not sure about some of the less colourful species though.

And dojos if you get wildcolour, all of them have a slightly different pattern/colour mix, body structure, width, length, etc. Maybe if I got 20 it would be harder, but a handful are easy to tell apart.

Interesting that it is mostly body structure that allows for you to see it though. I do have a strong preference for fish that can be told apart.

Nice to hear the same about apistos. Interesting about the loaches too. They wouldn't have come to mind when I think of diversity, but it makes sense. Speaking of loaches - I've always wanted horsefaces.

With my Bolivians the colour sets them apart too. The male has the most colour, but the females have more blue on them. Up until recently the male didn't have any blue - so I was excited when I saw some coming through last week. But when their colours are down its solely the shape of each ram that sets them apart. Different thicknesses, head structures, fins and so on.

 

[CMB]

After all this time? They aren't too hard to sex when you know what to look for. Especially in person. I guess its not something that's too important though.

Nice to hear the same about apistos. Interesting about the loaches too. They wouldn't have come to mind when I think of diversity, but it makes sense. Speaking of loaches - I've always wanted horsefaces.

With my Bolivians the colour sets them apart too. The male has the most colour, but the females have more blue on them. Up until recently the male didn't have any blue - so I was excited when I saw some coming through last week. But when their colours are down its solely the shape of each ram that sets them apart. Different thicknesses, head structures, fins and so on.

Honestly, I just never bothered once I realized the group was peaceful. They all get along well enough, do I figure it doesn't much seem to matter how many boys and girls I've got. Mostly, though, I'm just being lazy.

 

[PascalKrypt]

After all this time? They aren't too hard to sex when you know what to look for. Especially in person. I guess its not something that's too important though.

Nice to hear the same about apistos. Interesting about the loaches too. They wouldn't have come to mind when I think of diversity, but it makes sense. Speaking of loaches - I've always wanted horsefaces.

With my Bolivians the colour sets them apart too. The male has the most colour, but the females have more blue on them. Up until recently the male didn't have any blue - so I was excited when I saw some coming through last week. But when their colours are down its solely the shape of each ram that sets them apart. Different thicknesses, head structures, fins and so on.

I was glued to the tank wall when I first saw horsefaces, they look so peculiar! A little too weird in shape for me though, I prefer behavioural oddballs over visual ones. I don't think this goes for other kinds of loaches though. I wouldn't be able to tell my kuhli's apart if you offered me a million. I can tell my adult honeys apart but that just because I don't have too many in the same tank
I can also easily tell me ADFs apart, but I picked them on different colours and builds so it may be due to that.

And surprisingly, I can tell my male (but only the males) blue-eyes apart, they all have slightly different highlights on the orange-yellow spectrum combined with different locations and density of black spots on their fins.

That is interesting about the male ram with the blue though - do they continue to change colour as they get older or is it still a juvenile?
All my apisto's can make their bodies pale or darker depending on situation and mood but I've got one young male that can entirely change the pattern on his body as well. Sometimes he looks like a chess board with a pattern of black, diagonally aligned blocks, sometimes he just has a dark stripe, and sometimes he is suddenly palish gray with some vague dark stains. All in the course of a day. (He shares his thickly vegetated tank with a subdominant male, I think that has something to do with the wildly fluctuating displays).

 

[CHJ]

I think there is something close. The substrate I used in my tanks is basically volcanic gravel that has been soaked in fish water. It comes wet. Can’t remember the name.

If you package it and brand it something like organic feee range tank starter it will sell! LOL

Ecocomplete. After years of using it with its "Do not wash" I did a test tank with playground sand and did not wash that out of habit. All test life forms died fast including a monster Amazon sword.
So then I /facepalmed and washed the sand.

Ok, I see!

Next Question,
How do we make transportable Instant Cycle?

Just buy it?

 

[Feohw]

Honestly, I just never bothered once I realized the group was peaceful. They all get along well enough, do I figure it doesn't much seem to matter how many boys and girls I've got. Mostly, though, I'm just being lazy.

It doesn't necessarily matter sometimes, but I still like to know. That's just me though.

I wouldn't be able to tell my kuhli's apart if you offered me a million. I can tell my adult honeys apart but that just because I don't have too many in the same tank
I can also easily tell me ADFs apart, but I picked them on different colours and builds so it may be due to that.

Your dojos actually just got me wondering if kuhlis would be the same. Shame! I like to have individuals I can tell part. I have some harlequins and neons I can tell apart. (Well I did have neons I could tell apart.)

That is interesting about the male ram with the blue though - do they continue to change colour as they get older or is it still a juvenile?

He's fully grown and over a year old. Their colour just seems to increase in intensity as they age more. Not too much and I suspect it will stop soon. His fin extensions are still growing though. His pelvic fins recently got much more pointy. One of my females has always been very masculine - its only now that the male has matured a lot more that his fins are obviously more masculine than hers. My females have masculine caudal fin extensions as males should have - all of different lengths though.

All my apisto's can make their bodies pale or darker depending on situation and mood but I've got one young male that can entirely change the pattern on his body as well. Sometimes he looks like a chess board with a pattern of black, diagonally aligned blocks, sometimes he just has a dark stripe, and sometimes he is suddenly palish gray with some vague dark stains. All in the course of a day. (He shares his thickly vegetated tank with a subdominant male, I think that has something to do with the wildly fluctuating displays).

That's the same with rams. Incredibly expressive with their colours. Very easy to tell when they are stressed, content or in the mood. My male has his colours up mostly (needs to look his best with three females there), but the females will vary depending on the day or their interactions.

 

[NC122606]

CMB are you able to tell your rams apart at a glance? One of the things I love about them is that they all have such distinct looks! All of mine are really easy to tell apart - unlike with many other fish I have. (not counting colour - but facial and body structure).

I wonder if this is the same with angels Crispii? Can you tell your altums apart based on facial differences and such pretty easily? Probably is the case. Keyholes NC122606?

Actually can!
1. Keyhole #1 is a little bit more of a Cichilds face and the dorsal fin is a bit more spaced. Also a bit more colored than the others.
2. Keyhole #2 is a bit longer and it’s eye is a bit more orange than the others
3. Keyhole #3 Smallest of the bunch also dorsal fin is a bit taller than Keyhole #2
If you look at them faraway you can’t really tell.
Edit: cannot tell gender right now I’ll have to wait until I see extensions on the dorsal fins. I’m guessing 2:1 female ratio.

Ecocomplete. After years of using it with its "Do not wash" I did a test tank with playground sand and did not wash that out of habit. All test life forms died fast including a monster Amazon sword.
So then I /facepalmed and washed the sand.


Just buy it?

Maybe for freshwater, but saltwater I’m not sure how it’s supposed to do the algae cycle in under 12 hours.

 

[PascalKrypt]

It doesn't necessarily matter sometimes, but I still like to know. That's just me though.

Your dojos actually just got me wondering if kuhlis would be the same. Shame! I like to have individuals I can tell part. I have some harlequins and neons I can tell apart. (Well I did have neons I could tell apart.)

He's fully grown and over a year old. Their colour just seems to increase in intensity as they age more. Not too much and I suspect it will stop soon. His fin extensions are still growing though. His pelvic fins recently got much more pointy. One of my females has always been very masculine - its only now that the male has matured a lot more that his fins are obviously more masculine than hers. My females have masculine caudal fin extensions as males should have - all of different lengths though.


That's the same with rams. Incredibly expressive with their colours. Very easy to tell when they are stressed, content or in the mood. My male has his colours up mostly (needs to look his best with three females there), but the females will vary depending on the day or their interactions.

Well to be fair, they do have different patterns. I can two of them apart from the other two because their patterns form dots on top of their dorsal line, where it does not for the other two. Pretty sure if they often sat still in front of the glass, I would be able to tell which is which but alas I do think mine are very comfortable, they often show up foraging on the floor in front of the glass and swimming freely through the tank, foraging the floating plants. I've heard some people's kuhli's spend all day hiding despite being in a large group..

What happened to your neons? (and well, I can tell some of my tetras apart in the smaller schools because of their size or a deformity, but that is the minority... same goes for my panda cories. It is one of the reasons I'm not really a big fan of tetras. The cories are fun to watch so I'll forgive them )

Ah I see -- it is very interesting how expressive fish are with their colours right! I can see it in my betta sorority too, one female forms stress stripes when a particular other female she doesn't like chases her, then as soon as the chase stops I can see colour flooding back in seconds and the stripes facing completely. I never knew this until I became more intense involved in this hobby, I think very few people know that fish can do this and I can't really think of immediate mammal or insect comparisons.

 

[Feohw]

Actually can!
1. Keyhole #1 is a little bit more of a Cichilds face and the dorsal fin is a bit more spaced. Also a bit more colored than the others.
2. Keyhole #2 is a bit longer and it’s eye is a bit more orange than the others
3. Keyhole #3 Smallest of the bunch also dorsal fin is a bit taller than Keyhole #2
If you look at them faraway you can’t really tell.
Edit: cannot tell gender right now I’ll have to wait until I see extensions on the dorsal fins. I’m guessing 2:1 female ratio.

Nice to hear. And great description! "bit more of a Cichlids face" haha! How are they together? As peaceful as they are rumoured to be? Even more so that Bolivians from what I've heard.

Well to be fair, they do have different patterns. I can two of them apart from the other two because their patterns form dots on top of their dorsal line, where it does not for the other two. Pretty sure if they often sat still in front of the glass, I would be able to tell which is which but alas I do think mine are very comfortable, they often show up foraging on the floor in front of the glass and swimming freely through the tank, foraging the floating plants. I've heard some people's kuhli's spend all day hiding despite being in a large group..

One of the reasons I didn't get them long ago was because people told me they would just hide. Now I'm seeing lots of people with kuhlis out all the time. Ah well.....

What happened to your neons? (and well, I can tell some of my tetras apart in the smaller schools because of their size or a deformity, but that is the minority... same goes for my panda cories. It is one of the reasons I'm not really a big fan of tetras. The cories are fun to watch so I'll forgive them )

I still have them. Those that were different are dead though. My smallest was called Stephen. He never grew. He was from my first batch. They came with swim bladder issues and most died - including Stephen. The next was Tort. He was from the same batch and had swim bladder issues too. Permanently. He died a few weeks ago. Then before I could fish him out my banjo had herself a nice meal.

Ah I see -- it is very interesting how expressive fish are with their colours right! I can see it in my betta sorority too, one female forms stress stripes when a particular other female she doesn't like chases her, then as soon as the chase stops I can see colour flooding back in seconds and the stripes facing completely. I never knew this until I became more intense involved in this hobby, I think very few people know that fish can do this and I can't really think of immediate mammal or insect comparisons.

Very much so. The same is true for my old sorority too. Though the least dominant had stress stripes quite often. The most dominant never had them - though as she's Cambodian she doesn't ever. Very, very quick to show stripes and then change back. From one moment to the next it was like looking at a different fish.

 

[NC122606]

Nice to hear. And great description! "bit more of a Cichlids face" haha! How are they together? As peaceful as they are rumoured to be? Even more so that Bolivians from what I've heard.

One of the reasons I didn't get them long ago was because people told me they would just hide. Now I'm seeing lots of people with kuhlis out all the time. Ah well.....

I still have them. Those that were different are dead though. My smallest was called Stephen. He never grew. He was from my first batch. They came with swim bladder issues and most died - including Stephen. The next was Tort. He was from the same batch and had swim bladder issues too. Permanently. He died a few weeks ago. Then before I could fish him out my banjo had herself a nice meal.

Very much so. The same is true for my old sorority too. Though the least dominant had stress stripes quite often. The most dominant never had them - though as she's Cambodian she doesn't ever. Very, very quick to show stripes and then change back. From one moment to the next it was like looking at a different fish.

Exact cichild movements...
I’ve only ever seen them get crazy once around the cave, just like bumping each other. Other than that they usually hangout together or are divided into thirds of the tank.

 

[PascalKrypt]

One of the reasons I didn't get them long ago was because people told me they would just hide. Now I'm seeing lots of people with kuhlis out all the time. Ah well.....

It seems to vary a lot, I think it depends both on the individual kuhli's you have (you often see in social animal groups that one or two cheeky individuals are enough to push the entire group out in the open) and how well at home they feel in your tank. The first you obviously can't control, and the second probably only partially too as it depends on a million factors.
Funny actually, since I've been interested in kuhli's since day 1 as well (I have my dojos because I am into eel-type fish, but most of them aren't all that easy/great/interesting to keep), and also did not get them until fairly recently for the very same reason. How wrong I was!
I've attached some photos below that were taken about 48 hours after I first put them in a small QT with a juvie apisto (please ignore the terribly cloudy water, they were kicking up the uncapped soil like mad their first few days and made a mess. Parameters stayed perfectly stable though).
The rather cheeky thing wasn't even phased by the flaring dwarf cichlid and ignored Poplar completely, who eventually gave up and just let the tiny loach swim from floater to floater.
Super weird, I've never heard of any kuhlI that would just swim in the open water and scavenge floating plants. Especially in the presence of a territorial fish. Maybe they actually like low-visibility water? Since the water became clear again I haven't seen them do it.

I still have them. Those that were different are dead though. My smallest was called Stephen. He never grew. He was from my first batch. They came with swim bladder issues and most died - including Stephen. The next was Tort. He was from the same batch and had swim bladder issues too. Permanently. He died a few weeks ago. Then before I could fish him out my banjo had herself a nice meal.

Ah I'm so sorry about your neons. With batches I'm assuming bought and not bred and raised ones?
It's sad when you get attached to named fish and lose them.. and I also understand rooting for those that stand out a little.
I do hear quite often that neons tend to die upon introduction to a new tank, even when everything seemed to be fine in terms of environment and acclimatisation. How many did you introduce in total and how many of those lived?

 

[Feohw]

It seems to vary a lot, I think it depends both on the individual kuhli's you have (you often see in social animal groups that one or two cheeky individuals are enough to push the entire group out in the open) and how well at home they feel in your tank. The first you obviously can't control, and the second probably only partially too as it depends on a million factors.
Funny actually, since I've been interested in kuhli's since day 1 as well (I have my dojos because I am into eel-type fish, but most of them aren't all that easy/great/interesting to keep), and also did not get them until fairly recently for the very same reason. How wrong I was!
I've attached some photos below that were taken about 48 hours after I first put them in a small QT with a juvie apisto (please ignore the terribly cloudy water, they were kicking up the uncapped soil like mad their first few days and made a mess. Parameters stayed perfectly stable though).
The rather cheeky thing wasn't even phased by the flaring dwarf cichlid and ignored Poplar completely, who eventually gave up and just let the tiny loach swim from floater to floater.
Super weird, I've never heard of any kuhlI that would just swim in the open water and scavenge floating plants. Especially in the presence of a territorial fish. Maybe they actually like low-visibility water? Since the water became clear again I haven't seen them do it.

I get you. All fish are different, so experiences vary quite a bit depending on some factors. Eel type fish are also my type of thing. One of the reason I got my banjo species - a banjo cat (which I love anyway) and an eel combined into one!

Where kuhlis come from, the water tends to be shaded and often blackwater. So it would make sense that low visibility water would get them out. I've seen quite a few people that have them go crazy swimming everywhere in clear tanks though. They can be very amusing fish! Always have been on my to do list. Yours was just having a great old time annoying your apisto.

Ah I'm so sorry about your neons. With batches I'm assuming bought and not bred and raised ones?
It's sad when you get attached to named fish and lose them.. and I also understand rooting for those that stand out a little.
I do hear quite often that neons tend to die upon introduction to a new tank, even when everything seemed to be fine in terms of environment and acclimatisation. How many did you introduce in total and how many of those lived?

Thank you! And yes those batches were bought. The first batch were my first fish alongside a betta. That male also died in the last few months. Never was a healthy betta. The first neons were from a normal pet shop. Similar to Petco maybe? There were 6 of them. Only 2 survived long. Only a female is left, she is the only unique one I have left.

The next batch was from a proper aquarium shop and much healthier. Of those 6 two have died. My healthy, swim bladder issue free, neons have been incredibly hardy. They've fallen out of favour with me though, as have my harlequins. Only 5 neons left out of 12. Not great a great survival rate, but 5 came with issues and the other two could have been old. I bought them as 'jumbo' which means they were older and full grown. Or they had issues unknown to me.

 

[CMB]

I get you. All fish are different, so experiences vary quite a bit depending on some factors. Eel type fish are also my type of thing. One of the reason I got my banjo species - a banjo cat (which I love anyway) and an eel combined into one!

Where kuhlis come from, the water tends to be shaded and often blackwater. So it would make sense that low visibility water would get them out. I've seen quite a few people that have them go crazy swimming everywhere in clear tanks though. They can be very amusing fish! Always have been on my to do list. Yours was just having a great old time annoying your apisto.

Thank you! And yes those batches were bought. The first batch were my first fish alongside a betta. That male also died in the last few months. Never was a healthy betta. The first neons were from a normal pet shop. Similar to Petco maybe? There were 6 of them. Only 2 survived long. Only a female is left, she is the only unique one I have left.

The next batch was from a proper aquarium shop and much healthier. Of those 6 two have died. My healthy, swim bladder issue free, neons have been incredibly hardy. They've fallen out of favour with me though, as have my harlequins. Only 5 neons left out of 12. Not great a great survival rate, but 5 came with issues and the other two could have been old. I bought them as 'jumbo' which means they were older and full grown. Or they had issues unknown to me.

So sorry to hear about your neons, sounds like you've had some bad luck with them. I've actually had good luck with neons, I got mine straight from a breader, though I'll admit I'm honestly not that fond of them anymore. They're mean and they steal the food from all my other fish, and they really don't have a ton of personality on their own.

 

[FinalFins]

I missed the whole conversation! No notifications?

 

[Feohw]

So sorry to hear about your neons, sounds like you've had some bad luck with them. I've actually had good luck with neons, I got mine straight from a breader, though I'll admit I'm honestly not that fond of them anymore. They're mean and they steal the food from all my other fish, and they really don't have a ton of personality on their own.

Thank you! Those that I've got from a proper aquarium shop are incredibly hardy. Nothing seems to faze them. I'm in the same boat as you, really they have fallen out of my good books. Never school, eat too much and aren't as attractive as cardinals. Don't particularly like cardinals now either. Not too much of a fan of my harlequins anymore either. More personality than my neons, but they eat far too much. Always have big bellies.

Celestial pearl danios is where its at. No regrets there. Love them. I was mainly keeping my neons for Tort. Now he's gone - not too much of a fan of them. Still I wouldn't trust anyone else with them. Don't want to give them away without knowing what will happen to them.

I missed the whole conversation! No notifications?

If you missed a notification and didn't press it, then it stop sending them to you.

 

[CMB]

Thank you! Those that I've got from a proper aquarium shop are incredibly hardy. Nothing seems to faze them. I'm in the same boat as you, really they have fallen out of my good books. Never school, eat too much and aren't as attractive as cardinals. Don't particularly like cardinals now either. Not too much of a fan of my harlequins anymore either. More personality than my neons, but they eat far too much. Always have big bellies.

Celestial pearl danios is where its at. No regrets there. Love them. I was mainly keeping my neons for Tort. Now he's gone - not too much of a fan of them. Still I wouldn't trust anyone else with them. Don't want to give them away without knowing what will happen to them.

If you missed a notification and didn't press it, then it stop sending them to you.

I'm just still rather bummed about my experience with ADF. They were my favorites, before they passed.

 

[PascalKrypt]

I'm just still rather bummed about my experience with ADF. They were my favorites, before they passed.

? I don't think I've heard this story about before.

I missed the whole conversation! No notifications?

Yes this seems to be a recurring problem atm. Annoying.

Thank you! Those that I've got from a proper aquarium shop are incredibly hardy. Nothing seems to faze them. I'm in the same boat as you, really they have fallen out of my good books. Never school, eat too much and aren't as attractive as cardinals. Don't particularly like cardinals now either. Not too much of a fan of my harlequins anymore either. More personality than my neons, but they eat far too much. Always have big bellies.

Celestial pearl danios is where its at. No regrets there. Love them. I was mainly keeping my neons for Tort. Now he's gone - not too much of a fan of them. Still I wouldn't trust anyone else with them. Don't want to give them away without knowing what will happen to them.

If you missed a notification and didn't press it, then it stop sending them to you.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who just doesn't like tetras in general. I have some now from a stocked tank that I took over and though I don't hate them, I am not planning on keeping about half of them and the other half is just dither/filler in several tanks. I could care less about them.

 

[Feohw]

I'm just still rather bummed about my experience with ADF. They were my favorites, before they passed.

Yeah, really sucks to lose favourites. Losing my Bolivians would be the worst! My ADF were amazing too, other than biting my betta a bit. Would you get more? Or have you?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who just doesn't like tetras in general. I have some now from a stocked tank that I took over and though I don't hate them, I am not planning on keeping about half of them and the other half is just dither/filler in several tanks. I could care less about them.

To me they just seem quite lifeless. At this stage the only tetra I may try are green fire, rummynose (likely not) or congo. I think danios are the best out of tetra/rasbora/danios. Love leopards.

 

[CMB]

? I don't think I've heard this story about before.


Yes this seems to be a recurring problem atm. Annoying.


I'm glad I'm not the only one who just doesn't like tetras in general. I have some now from a stocked tank that I took over and though I don't hate them, I am not planning on keeping about half of them and the other half is just dither/filler in several tanks. I could care less about them.

Yeah, not sure if I told it on this thread or not. Decided to set up a 10 gallon with a Betta, 4 frogs, and a couple of shrimp. Surprisingly, it was a super peaceful tank, no fights and super fun to watch. Only, the ADF apparently had the chytrid fungus, so about two months in, they just started to die. Tried treating them, but that didn't seem to help any, I think they were already too sick by the time I noticed.

Yeah, really sucks to lose favourites. Losing my Bolivians would be the worst! My ADF were amazing too, other than biting my betta a bit. Would you get more? Or have you?

To me they just seem quite lifeless. At this stage the only tetra I may try are green fire, rummynose (likely not) or congo. I think danios are the best out of tetra/rasbora/danios. Love leopards.

I wasn't sure about getting more given the prevalence of the fungus, but I just noticed today that TrinsFish has them, and I think they actually quarantine their fish pretty well. I asked them about their quartering procedures and I'm waiting to hear back. I think if they do a good job with them, I might try to get this tank back up to what it was like before the frogs passed.

 

[PascalKrypt]

Oh yuck. Very sorry to hear that.

 

[MaximumRide14]

I'm attempting to turn some duckweed into shrimp food lol. I hope it works. It would be nice to turn it into something useful.

 

[NC122606]

Just noticed this...

Ideas?
There is like little white spots on various areas.

 

[CMB]

I'm attempting to turn some duckweed into shrimp food lol. I hope it works. It would be nice to turn it into something useful.

Best of luck with that, if you manage you'll probably never have to buy shrimp food again.

 

[MaximumRide14]

Best of luck with that, if you manage you'll probably never have to buy shrimp food again.

Thanks, I found something online that looks promising. The only problems are that I don't have a blender for fish stuff (I'm freezing it so I can hopefully pull it apart with my hands) and I don't have pollen, so I'll substitute that with flour.

 

[Feohw]

Just noticed this...
View attachment 631154
Ideas?
There is like little white spots on various areas.

Oh my goodness he's positively covered in spots!

Are the unnatural ones fluffy? If not could be bacterial. When my male killed my female he was damaged in the process. Spots of bacterial infection formed and spread until he had large portions of white. That looks fungusy to me though?

 

[PascalKrypt]

Just noticed this...
View attachment 631154
Ideas?
There is like little white spots on various areas.

Have you checked your nitrates recently? I've seen something similar to this on a molly that was in a tank with 50+ nitrates, did two 40% water changes on consecutive days and it disappeared on its own within a few days.
Edit: For good measure, I agree with Feohw that it looks like some kind of opportunistic bacterial or fungal infection in a stressed fish, this was the first stress source that came to mind because of the similar looks.

I'm attempting to turn some duckweed into shrimp food lol. I hope it works. It would be nice to turn it into something useful.

Do detail your process when it works out!

 

[MaximumRide14]

Do detail your process when it works out!

Will do!

Oh my goodness he's positively covered in spots!

Are the unnatural ones fluffy? If not could be bacterial. When my male killed my female he was damaged in the process. Spots of bacterial infection formed and spread until he had large portions of white. That looks fungusy to me though?

I agree, the spots look fuzzy to me too.

 

[NC122606]

Oh my goodness he's positively covered in spots!

Are the unnatural ones fluffy? If not could be bacterial. When my male killed my female he was damaged in the process. Spots of bacterial infection formed and spread until he had large portions of white. That looks fungusy to me though?

Kind of hard to tell! I’m thinking it’s not fuzzy almost like splotches.

Have you checked your nitrates recently? I've seen something similar to this on a molly that was in a tank with 50+ nitrates, did two 40% water changes on consecutive days and it disappeared on its own within a few days.
Edit: For good measure, I agree with Feohw that it looks like some kind of opportunistic bacterial or fungal infection in a stressed fish, this was the first stress source that came to mind because of the similar looks.


Do detail your process when it works out!

Haven’t checked them in a while I’m doing a 75% waterchange tomorrow.

 

[Feohw]

Kind of hard to tell! I’m thinking it’s not fuzzy almost like splotches.

Haven’t checked them in a while I’m doing a 75% waterchange tomorrow.

Could be bacterial then. I noticed you have been doing water changes every two weeks? That could have an effect. Water changes and clean water are what took care of my pearls infection.

 

[Crispii]

I wonder if this is the same with angels Crispii? Can you tell your altums apart based on facial differences and such pretty easily? Probably is the case. Keyholes NC122606?

Sorry for the late response, but I haven't been getting any notifications whatsoever for this thread.

Yes, I can differentiate between altums and other species of angels.

 

[NC122606]

Could be bacterial then. I noticed you have been doing water changes every two weeks? That could have an effect. Water changes and clean water are what took care of my pearls infection.

I can definitely do every week now because Cross country has always gotten in the way. Also I might need a new heater because my float is reading 74°

 

[Feohw]

Sorry for the late response, but I haven't been getting any notifications whatsoever for this thread.

Yes, I can differentiate between altums and other species of angels.

Thanks! But I mean between individuals of a species. Can you differentiate all of them from each other?

Seems this is happening more than before then. Have all of you that experienced this forgotten to click the notification before it happened? That's always how I stop getting notifications.

 

[Crispii]

Thanks! But I mean between individuals of a species. Can you differentiate all of them from each other?

Seems this is happening more than before then. Have all of you that experienced this forgotten to click the notification before it happened? That's always how I stop getting notifications.

For the most part, I can. However, I can't tell which of my altums had the ammonia burn on the ventral fins anymore.

I thought that nobody said anything for the past two days.

 

[FinalFins]

Me too! I don't seem to get notifications.

 

[CMB]

For the most part, I can. However, I can't tell which of my altums had the ammonia burn on the ventral fins anymore.

I thought that nobody said anything for the past two days.

Yeah, I had the same issue a few days ago. I've been checking this thread at least once a day since then, regardless of if I have a notification or not.

 

[Feohw]

Will I bring it to Mike? Or is it just that you miss the notification and lose them after that?

 

[PascalKrypt]

I think it would just help to suggest a feature where you can permanently turn notifications on, so that even if you ignore one once, they don't stop coming until you post on the thread again.

 

[CMB]

I think it would just help to suggest a feature where you can permanently turn notifications on, so that even if you ignore one once, they don't stop coming until you post on the thread again.

Yeah, like some sort of option to make a thread as high priority.

 

[NC122606]

Oh think I mentioned it but,
My heater has been weird because my thermometer sticker and float have been reading 74°. Should I get a new heater or is there something I need to do?