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Post by goldenpuon on Jun 5, 2010 14:15:48 GMT -5
I have to agree with Babygeige about the Tattooed Mollies. I have heard horrible things about what these fish go through. What's more, I hear they are typically weak due to the color injections they get.
I will not but tattooed, painted, dyed, or artificially colored anything when it comes to fish. (no offense to those that disagree)
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Post by Carl on Jun 5, 2010 16:53:57 GMT -5
I have to agree with Babygeige about the Tattooed Mollies. I have heard horrible things about what these fish go through. What's more, I hear they are typically weak due to the color injections they get. I will not but tattooed, painted, dyed, or artificially colored anything when it comes to fish. (no offense to those that disagree) Actually this is incorrect Renee, one of those Yahoo Answers myths made by persons with absolutely no knowledge of the fish importing, farming business; The fish are actually sent through a glass tube, and never leave the water. Then the Tattoo is applied via a laser, in less than a second. It is very quick and painless to the fish. This is a case of hype that is unfortunately all too common as our news sources no longer have any integrity any more. Many in the aquarium business claim that these fish bring more persons into the hobby who then learn how to properly care for their fish and generally move away from these "artificial fish". In fact I took over care of many Chinese Clients aquariums care when back in LA (these are very popular among many Chinese there) and found no discernible difference in life span. Please do not take this as me condoning this practice, only that this has been blown out of proportion by myths and poor reporting of the facts, & I am attempting to bring some balance here. As with many domestic animal I have seen more cruelty from breeding practices that attempt to make fish have a certain look, but render the fish very genetically weak or defenseless (a good example is the lionhead goldfish, which I would refuse to sell) Carl
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Post by babygeige on Jun 6, 2010 16:24:29 GMT -5
I may go check that other store out after all. I wasn't very excited by the selection at my usual lfs. I couldn't look at a couple of the tanks too closely because one of their large saltwater display tanks must have had a catastrophic failure shortly before we got there, water was all over the floor in that section. So I didn't want to be in the way and fall down.
But I did manage to find the tank that had Keyhole cichlids. There were only a couple in there and they looked pretty rough. One was missing an eye and the other was missing some finnage.
Their angels looked great though. The cool thing is that a lot of their angels are from local breeders. The mbuna looked ok too, from what I could tell. It was hard to see in their tanks and examine them as closely as I'd like thanks to the mess.
I still think I might go to the other one just to satisfy my curiosity.
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Post by kagome on Jun 7, 2010 1:48:53 GMT -5
Sorry about my suggestion of discus. I did not realize that you had well water that is so hard. o.O I think you're right that African cichlids would be a better choice for your water. I have the opposite, great for South Americans and you have to constantly add stuff for Africans
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Post by babygeige on Jun 9, 2010 20:30:03 GMT -5
I appreciate the suggestion Kagome! I do wish our water here was a bit on the softer side. But I think Africans will be fun too. I'm kind of nervous about how the aggression will be, but you never know until you try, right?
I should be ready for fish next weekend. The paint we're using on the stand needs a week to cure before you put anything heavy or damp on it.
If I get a mbuna/peacock mix, do you think I can have a small school of top dwellers? I wouldn't get anything too small or timid, of course... maybe some barbs of some type. Or would be really pushing my luck at that point?
Also, how well do plecos do with fine, sandy-type gravel?
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Post by babygeige on Jun 12, 2010 16:21:15 GMT -5
I decided I'm going back to the drawing board with this corner tank. I think it's going to be too hard to have a nice setup from mbuna with rocks in a corner tank. Trying to figure everything out is stressing me out a bit and more stress is definitely not what I'm going for with this.
Maybe someday I'll set up a pair of something in my 30, which is a nice long tank that will make it easier to have rocks and open swimming space.
I'd really like to get a keyhole cichlid or 2. Everything I've read raves about how pretty and peaceful they are. The keyholes at my usual lfs looked kind of sad, and the other 2 places I went to today didn't have any at all. Maybe I can get the lfs to order some, and then get some nice schooling fish to keep them company.
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Post by Carl on Jun 12, 2010 17:56:17 GMT -5
I have kept Keyhole cichlids before and along with Severums and Uaru I have found them both personable and easy to keep (even though these come from the Rio Orinoco basin of SA, they do well in a a wide variety of water conditions). So IMHO, I think they are a good choice if you decide to go with them Carl
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Post by babygeige on Jun 15, 2010 19:51:13 GMT -5
Did you have the keyhole cichlids with angels? I've read several people on the web saying that they have kept them together with no problems. It seems like they'd be ok together... The lfs should be getting some more keyholes in within the next couple of weeks. They emptied out a whole wall of tanks to replace them with new ones and naturally had to consolidate their stock. That's why the 2 keyholes they have look so rough. Maybe whoever moved them was a dummy and put them in with super aggressive cichlids or something until someone realized that was a bad idea. Anyway, they're supposed to have those new tanks up and running soon and then they will be getting more fish. Here's my stocking thoughts as of now... Keyhole cichlids Angels A nice group of harlequin rasboras, 6 or 7 Oh and the pleco too. What do you think? Not sure about the quantity of angels or keyholes. Any suggestions? I'm going to get black and white gravel. LFS has some gorgeous all black and all shimmery white angels. I think they'll look pretty cool together.
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Post by Carl on Jun 16, 2010 9:50:45 GMT -5
Although I do not have any Keyhole cichlids currently, I have in the past, & one aquarium in particular that comes to mind (I had others, but his was a favorite) This was 250 gallons with Keyholes, angels, discus, cardinals, rasboras, rams, and more and I never witnessed any problems between any of the fish in this aquarium. It had dark and light areas, with both open spaces and hidden spots too. . The bottom line is I do not see a problem with your proposed fish mix, sounds cool to me, but then I have always been a SA FW fish fan. Carl
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Post by babygeige on Jun 17, 2010 17:35:22 GMT -5
Thanks for the reassurance Carl. I think I'm going to go this route.
I am on the special order list at the lfs for a couple of keyholes. They are not always available, but when they are, they'll let me know. In the meantime I may check the box stores. There is also a smaller local chain that I always forget about that I plan on checking this weekend.
This weekend we'll be moving the tank upstairs into its spot and then I can start filling it! Yay!
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Post by babygeige on Jul 3, 2010 17:27:07 GMT -5
I started stocking my new corner tank last week. I bought 4 small angel fish. They're super cute! One is sick though. I think he has some sort of parasite. I moved him to a 5 gallon today to treat him. I bought some anti-parasite meds and medicated food. I'm going to feed the medicated food to the other 3 as a preventative measure. They all seem extremely healthy though. The lfs called this week and said they got some keyhole cichlids in. I went down and checked them out today. They all had ich! Apparently they don't travel well or something. So no keyhole cichlids for me. While I was there, since I certainly didn't want to go all the way down there and just leave with medicine, I bought some Colombian Tetras. They're quite pretty. I only got 3 for now. Maybe in a week or 2 I'll get a few more. Oh and my impulse buy of the day was a Scarlet Badis for my 10 gallon. Very tiny and pretty, they're supposed to be pretty shy. I am hoping that he will adjust well to my 10 gallon. I've read mixed things about their eating habits. Some people say that they'll only eat live foods, while others say that theirs will eat prepared foods. We'll see. I'm working on getting some pictures together. It's a tricky tank to get a picture of since the front is round and it's in a room that gets a lot of light. Stay tuned!
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Post by goldenpuon on Jul 4, 2010 9:30:58 GMT -5
Sounds like you got a lot of nice fish. Hope that sick angelfish recovers. Good luck and congrats on the new fish!
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Post by Carl on Jul 4, 2010 9:43:35 GMT -5
I hope your angel gets better; what are the symptoms? As well hopefully the Keyhole Cichlids will be fine for you to bring home in a couple of weeks (some preventative measures in tank can help as well) I have only heard of the Scarlet Badis, never kept one in either mine or a clients, but they are sure pretty/cute little fish; I would love to see pictures of these in your tank when you have time Carl
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Post by babygeige on Jul 4, 2010 11:08:47 GMT -5
The angel fish didn't make it. I just hope I moved him before he was able to make any of the other angels sick. So far, they are still looking quite healthy. I'm definitely going to continue feeding that anti-parasite food for a couple of weeks before I uncross my fingers! I think I may just not bother with keyholes after all. The lfs wants 15 bucks a piece for them. I think that's a bit much for sick fish that aren't very flashy. I've still got lots of room and time to make a decision. My next step will be to get a few more Colombian tetras so I have a nice little group of them. I may also get a couple more angels. One of the stores I visited a few weeks ago had nice koi colored angels. Maybe I will get 2 of them...
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Post by babygeige on Aug 11, 2010 17:51:24 GMT -5
I'm a giant picture slacker! I have to take the pictures in the morning/early afternoon, before the sun gets around to that side of the house, but I'm only around at that time on the weekends and I always forget. Otherwise the pictures will have too much glare from the windows.
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Post by babygeige on Nov 1, 2010 17:42:12 GMT -5
I've just about got my 50 gal corner tank stocked to where I want it! Here's what I've got: 7 cories 7 Colombian Red fin tetras 1 Pleco 1 angel
So I've got this nice tall tank and the top half is empty except when it's dinner time. I was thinking of getting some fish that spend most of their time at the top of the tank so I went to the lfs to check out my options.
The guys I spoke with there recommended I get a few gouramis or some rainbows. They said that anything else that would spend time at the top of the tank would either be hyperactive and bother the angelfish or too timid and get picked on by the Tetras.
Thoughts? That makes sense to me. I am leaning toward gouramis...
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Post by Carl on Nov 1, 2010 19:26:30 GMT -5
I like the idea of Gouramis as well, however Gouramis may fight with each other, I especially have found these with the popular male Dwarf Gouramis. I am not attempting to discourage you, as I think Gouramis would add nicely to your mix, I just think this is one point to be aware of (& you likely already know ) Rainbows are more active and generally mix well and can add color IMO A couple other thoughts are pencil fish, as well many Danios tend to stay near the upper area of an aquarium Carl
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Post by babygeige on Nov 2, 2010 18:10:51 GMT -5
If I get gouramis, I'd probably get a male and 2 or 3 females to try and keep the peace. That would help, wouldn't it? I don't know what kind I'd get. I like the blue dwarf ones, but like you said, they can be iffy as far as aggression goes. Pencil fish were actually one of my first thoughts, but they didn't have any. Danios might be a bit too hyper for me. The lfs had pearl danios which were nice, but I'm not sure if I want anything that zippy right now. I don't think pencil fish are quite as zippy as Danios, are they? I'm going to have to hit my books and do some more research! There are so many choices...
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Post by Carl on Nov 3, 2010 12:14:37 GMT -5
I think this is a good idea IMO
Not from what I have observed.
Pencil Fish seem to just "hang" at the surface as do Hatchet Fish
Carl
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