Fish Lovers 3.0 [new poll]

[cassiopeiaa]

Username: Spoiledlimeade
How many fish tanks do you have: 2x(3 gal)
Types of fish that you have: Betta Veil-tail and Delta-tail
Your fishs' names:
Veil- Callisto
Delta- Neptune
How long have you had fish: My dad had a 55 gal when I was just a kid but I've had bettas since late April of this year.

[Hime]

I have one of those common goldfish, we got it from a lady who put it in a five gallon and the water became a green past and we just couldn't leave it, we don't have a pond and I want it to be happy so far I set it up in a 55 gallon without substrate for easy cleaning and only one ornament I know he's fish get big despite him being small now but how long do you think he could last in this tank?

Edit: also since I posted this how long do blue crayfish live? Nobody seems to agree lots of people say 2 years some say 5-7 and then a few other sites say 20 years?

I think 55gal should fit one common goldfish just fine probably rest of its life. Depends little on the dimensions though, like if the shorter side of the bottom is very close to the lenght of the fish when it's all grown up, then you may need to upgrade the tank into bigger one.

I currently have some empty tanks 29, 20long and a 10 gallon. The 29 is the closest to being set up and I am planning it as tropical community with some low light plants. The 10 gallon will be a betta tank. The 20L will be more high tech and heavily planted but I'm really not sure where to go with stocking it. Any ideas? c:

One school of 20-30 of some semi-small schooling fish and pair/harem of small gourami specis, like honey or dwarfs? Could just work with one school if you want the plant to be more of the focus of the tank.

[Toothed Goose]

Hello!

I finally moved Ammit (betta fish) to a 20 gallon tank! Yay! He's been building bubble nests nearly daily, and being more active in general. Since the tank is pretty much in the middle of our house, he can see a lot more activity than he did before in my room. He hasn't bitten his tail either! (Before he bit his fins nearly weekly).

Aaand I'm looking into getting him some tankmates. Ammit is very peaceful, I've shown him mirrors and he rarely flares. He also lived with ghost shrimp for a while and was fine with them. So, I'm thinking on adding some Panda Corydoras, sometime in the future?

But before that, I want to have it planted.

And the problem here is substrate.

Ammit's tank is currently bare bottom because it's easier to clean.
I was thinking of getting gravel, like I used to have in his old tank, but I read that it harms the Corydoras' barbels and even their snout because of them constantly digging in it.
Then I considered sand, but apparently it was also a lot of work for cleaning and maintenance and that it could get stuck in the filter.

Is there another kind of substrate that I could use?
If not, I'm also willing to only have java moss/java ferns/other species of plants that don't need to have their roots buried in substrate, and keep it bare bottom.

Thank you in advance!

[fluffycat6]

Omg I bought a filter for my 5 gallon and I didn't know it was possible for it to be this loud. It's louder than the one I call the truck filter because it sounds like a truck, I can literally hear it from outside the room with the door closed, and it says 'ultra quiet' on the box


Toothed goose- I know you said you didn't want sand but pool filter sand is really great. Not the best for plants though, that's probably its only bad quality. I have some in one tank and I've never had an issue with it getting stuck in the filter and I don't find it hard to clean or maintain at all, and it's not even dusty.

[Lonin]

Hello!

I finally moved Ammit (betta fish) to a 20 gallon tank! Yay! He's been building bubble nests nearly daily, and being more active in general. Since the tank is pretty much in the middle of our house, he can see a lot more activity than he did before in my room. He hasn't bitten his tail either! (Before he bit his fins nearly weekly).

Aaand I'm looking into getting him some tankmates. Ammit is very peaceful, I've shown him mirrors and he rarely flares. He also lived with ghost shrimp for a while and was fine with them. So, I'm thinking on adding some Panda Corydoras, sometime in the future?

But before that, I want to have it planted.

And the problem here is substrate.

Ammit's tank is currently bare bottom because it's easier to clean.
I was thinking of getting gravel, like I used to have in his old tank, but I read that it harms the Corydoras' barbels and even their snout because of them constantly digging in it.
Then I considered sand, but apparently it was also a lot of work for cleaning and maintenance and that it could get stuck in the filter.

Is there another kind of substrate that I could use?
If not, I'm also willing to only have java moss/java ferns/other species of plants that don't need to have their roots buried in substrate, and keep it bare bottom.

Thank you in advance!

We switched to sand in our new tank and it's so much easier than gravel. All the dirt just sits on top of the sand so you can easily vacuum it up. If you wanted plants you'd need to either put soil underneath or use root tabs depending on the plants.

[Toothed Goose]

Thank you both for the replies!

The only thing I'd heard about sand was that they didn't recommend it to me, so I was not expecting to hear that it is actually easy to clean!

I might look into it, is there a particular type/brand you would recommend?

[Hime]

Omg I bought a filter for my 5 gallon and I didn't know it was possible for it to be this loud. It's louder than the one I call the truck filter because it sounds like a truck, I can literally hear it from outside the room with the door closed, and it says 'ultra quiet' on the box .

What type of filter it is? Could have a broken propeller, some other set up piece not in place or it may have just gulped some air, which usually results in loud-ish noise. Also if it has a venturi in use, those can be pretty loud imo.

Thank you both for the replies!

The only thing I'd heard about sand was that they didn't recommend it to me, so I was not expecting to hear that it is actually easy to clean!

I might look into it, is there a particular type/brand you would recommend?

I also have sand and planted tank and I found the combination works just fine. ^^ Though I did not have a good experience with layer of long term fertilizer soil thingy under it. Long story short, I put too thick layer at some spots and it got pretty badly clogged as it was also mostly clay based I think... Ad for the sand, it works now perfectly fine without the 'clay layer' under it.
I've just bought some natural sand from the hardware store really. Cheap and natural looking. Super dirty/dusty though, so needed to be washed quite many times... But apparently if you get sand that's ment for filtering, then it's usually bit more cleaner.

There are couple things you need to be aware when buying sand for aquarium if not going for the sands specifically made for aquariums:
1) Do not get too fine grain size. Too small grain size will make it more prone to clogging, which is not good for plants or the fish in long run. Too fine and light will also get pushed around more easily and might get sucked up accidentally with the siphon. Going under 0,1 mm in grain size gets pretty risky.
2) If buying sand from hardware/general hobby stuff store make sure it contains nothing toxic to fish. Like you really don't want it to be anything but sand. Some brands will occasionally mention in the label if the sand is safe to use in aquarium or not.
3) Do not buy sand that contains limestone or other stone material which will break down/dissolve in water. That will raise the water hardness and thus buffer the pH, and often with most tropical fish that is not desirable.

[valiant.]

Thank you both for the replies!

The only thing I'd heard about sand was that they didn't recommend it to me, so I was not expecting to hear that it is actually easy to clean!

I might look into it, is there a particular type/brand you would recommend?

I have a planted sand tank and the sand I use works perfectly. It's the national geographic brand and is super clean in the bag, I think I had to rinse it for a total of ten seconds! With root tabs and liquid ferts my tank looks great, and it is super easy to clean. It also has no problem with the siphon or filter!

[calculator]

excited, planning on getting my first fish soon. want to have a ten-fifteen gallon tank bare bottom for a betta fish. kinda scared to set up the filter ahah, had a question. how long should i let the water like cycle before getting the fish?

[porygon-z]

Can I join
Username: [url=account link]tabby24247[/url]
How many fish tanks do you have: one, getting a bigger one soon when we move out.
Types of fish that you have: Guppies, bristlenose catfish, Neon tetras and Rummy nose tetras.
Your fishs' names: Guppies: Flareon, Cheesy Jim and Big Blue. Neos: Saturn, Pluto, Galaxy and Nova. Catfish: Suckerpunch and Godfrey. Rummies: Tetris, Connor, Plushtrap and Mangle. I would love to list the names of my deceased fish but their is too many :C
How long have you had fish: A year???

Also if you have pictures of you fish we would love to see them! If you have a tank with a lot of fish you are welcome to just put a picture of your tank. If the images are large or you have a lot please post links.