Let's talk tropical fish and aquariums!

[alp]

Wow, eating dead fish .. That's part of a food chain .. I have to be careful getting rid of them. Won't keep any fish until I have moved. Painting and the smell is just terrible.

@Rajesh Sethi Thank you for the info.. I should have asked the "locals". I was clueless. I have to say I love @tbendl 's magical lotus... but lilies are also very pretty.

 

[johnny canoe]

Hello MaryMary,
I keep two tanks, a 30 and a 15. In the 30 I keep 6 long fin black widows, 2 platies, 4 bronze cory catfish, and 3 mystery snails. In the 15 I keep 10 little white cloud mountain minnows and more mystery snails. Also trumpet snails have appeared in the tanks, don't know what they came in on. I keep low light plants and feed them weekly, especially making sure the sword plants get root tabs and extra iron added to water. The fish food I use is flake, crisp, ground up new spectrum life pellets with ground up shrimp pellets, and frozen shrimp and blood worms. The mystery snails get extra veggies and I have cuttle bones and tums tablets for their healthy shells. And both tanks get water changes about every 4 or 5 days with prime used to condition fresh water.

 

[alp]

Such verdant plants in the tanks.. and so clean.. I remember when I kept mine, I had great difficulty trying to spot them in the aquatic "smog", LOL!

 

[MoonShadows]

Beautiful tanks, @johnny canoe

 

[johnny canoe]

Thanks Alp and MoonShadows.

 

[MaryMary]

@johnny canoe, your tanks are beautiful!

Are these the ones you call long fin black widows? I know them as black skirt tetras!




Are those chunks of real wood in the tanks? If so, how are they treated before being put in the water? I've seen interesting driftwood I would like to put in the tank, but I'm sure that something has to be done to them first...?

I keep low light plants and feed them weekly, especially making sure the sword plants get root tabs and extra iron added to water.

Maybe that's what goes wrong with my plants, then. I figured the rich tank water would be enough for them, I've never added anything to feed them.

 

[johnny canoe]

That's right, the black skirt and black widow are the same fish. Well it can be tricky with aquarium plants, some plants need to be fed and others don't and some need soil substrate and some don't, some need high light and some next to none. I've lost my share of plants.

 

[alp]

You need to feed aquatic plants? Oh, dear! Sometimes, I prefer plastic ones as they won't come with snail babies. But of course, plastic just doesn't look natural even though I don't mind plastic tubes or caves through which fish swim. They add a lot of interest to a tank.

 

[MaryMary]

You need to feed aquatic plants? Oh, dear! Sometimes, I prefer plastic ones as they won't come with snail babies. But of course, plastic just doesn't look natural

Feeding aquatic plants is not something that would have occurred to me, either. We have silk plants, which look more natural than plastic. We acquired an old aquarium, with the plants, from someone's garage. They thought they'd set it up again after moving in, but 5 years later, decided to just give it away. Free? Now, you're speaking my language!

We set the tank up, and within a week, there were snails. I have no idea how they got there! 5 years of dehydrating, freezing in the winter, baking in the summer... and... PRESTO!!! Instant snails, just add water!

 

[johnny canoe]

Did the snails appear before you put fish in your tank? I'm thinking that snail eggs could have been floating in the water from the pet store. The smaller snails have transparent eggs.

 

[MaryMary]

Did the snails appear before you put fish in your tank?

Yes, they did. I usually set the tank up and let it cycle for at least a week before putting fish in it. Since moving out to the boonies - I have to drive about 50 miles round trip to buy fish. That tank ran about 2 weeks with no fish in it. Snails, but no fish.

 

[alp]

50 miles to buy fish?! That's why I understand why Americans equip themselves with guns.. Nobody to fend for you if you're in trouble. Thank heavens we don't have that kind of access to guns here.

I do think snails come with water or plants. I added some plants and bang, before you know, there are snails and they are everywhere, covering the tank.. no laughing matter!

 

[MaryMary]

50 miles to buy fish?!

That's round trip, alp. 25 to, 25 from. Keep in mind, the village I live in has a population of less than 5000. A pet store would not survive here. I drive the same amount of miles to and from work every day... miles are nothing but time.

If a person is not afraid to drive fast, I can be there in 20 minutes.

That's why I understand why Americans equip themselves with guns..

Contrary to what you see in movies and the news, more of us don't have guns than the ones that do.

Although, if I lived more in the country, I'd have one. Not afraid of the people so much, but I'd probably have to kill some coyotes.

 

[alp]

Well, you live in a BIG country whilst the UK is tiny. I should have factored that into my thought.

 

[Rajesh Sethi]

I have to drive about 50 miles round trip to buy fish.

You better start to keep same kind of fish together.

My white mollies recently gave birth to 10 fries, two bicolor, one white, one black and others grey.

I found a lily bud about size of pea.

But leaves are starting to rot, don't know what's happening?



Left red circle shows leaf rotting, right one shows a flower bud, I guess!