Fish Lovers 2.0

[Arowana]

I'm looking into puffers, and I know they like brackish water. To get the salt content the need, could I justput I some rocks that have a salt content in the aquarium, or is there some other method?

What species of puffers? Anything that needs salt needs actual marine salt, which you can find in stores with the other saltwater equipment. You'll have to measure it out and slowly adjust the puffer up to the proper specific gravity over a few weeks.
Aquarium salt / table salt / or anything else doesn't work.

I know my pet store had figure eight puffers, but I know people argue whether their brackish or saltwater and I'd rather have puffers that would definetly be happy. The other kind they had were pretty big and yellow (not ver bright yellow) with almost black big spots but I did not catch their name. How do you get marine salting the water? Do you just dump it in, or is it filtered in?

[Blood Storm]

anyone here ever had experience with least killifish? I caught several and even though I know how to take care of them I was wondering if anyone else owns(or has owned) them. right now I have them in a betta cup(the kind most pet stores sell bettas in. they are only in it for quarantine) and they are quite happy. for those wondering the least killifish is NOT a killifish but a livebearer and looks like a teeny tiny mosquito fish or wild guppy. they are the fourth smallest vertebrate(the third is a goby, the second if a carp, and the first at the moment is a frog) and females only reach half an inch or so(males are about half their size). once they are ready to be moved into a new tank I will set up a true betta tank(a 2 and a half gallon tank should hold four half an inch long fish will no ill effects as long as I keep the water changed out every week or so).

[BlingBling]

Anyone ever work with Discus? They're so hard to care for and expensive but I'd like to give breeding them a shot someday ^^

[Dia.]

Guys.
Guys.
GUYS.
My local pet store has PUFFERS.
I went in there to buy dog food and of course I looked at the fish.
AND THEY GOT PUFFERS. They have their own mega tank, which makes me believe they'll have them for a while.
If only I had another tank... >.>

They also have some pretty nice bettas and awesome tank sales.
I doubt I'll be allowed to buy another tank though..

[tekkai]

Anyone ever work with Discus? They're so hard to care for and expensive but I'd like to give breeding them a shot someday ^^

Can't say I've ever worked with them but I've played with the idea. Haven't seen any in my corner of the world though and the idea of shipping-in fish makes me nervous... >_<

-

Small update I guess, my Sorority is up and running with five lovely ladies (whom I adore! <3). I was playing around with AqAdvisor, and apparently my tank (10 gallons) is under stocked... I've heard AqAdvisor is very conservative and if that's the case I might end up with two more girls. I have plenty of space to quarantine the new fish and two breeder nets to make the transition easier for the new girls and my already established tank when the time comes.

I don't know, guess I'm just looking for a second opinion. My gut is telling me seven girls would be pushing the limit. :/

Another thing, I lucked out and was able to pick five laid back ladies. I had a little bit of nipping the first day and a bit of flaring for about a day or two after,but (knock on wood) there have been no fights. I did have to separate one of the girls due to bloat (food not dropsy thank goodness!!), and I had no problem reintroducing her. :)

I'm pretty confident I can pick out some healthy, easy going females once again. :D

So yeah, sorry I kind of been rambling but what do you guys think?

How many gallons is your tank? : 10 gallons
How many fish and what types are they? : Currently 5 female betta fish
How long has it been running? : Not sure, maybe around a month.
Did you cycle it? : Of course :)
What is the issue or question? : Stocking opinion.

[.muse.]

Guys, I'm falling in love with the female bettas we've been getting in lately. I'm doing a sorority tank now. Tonight I'm moving the last of the goldfish, and squishy, into the stock tank. I'm going to do a water change on the 55 and move the guppies from the 10 to the 55, and my first girl is going in the 10 tonight. She's a gorgeous big girl with a navy blue almost black base, and some bronzey brown on her lower fins. There is also this reall pretty white base with blue speckly stripes that I'm contemplating getting tonight as well, I'm on my break so I've got the rest of my shift to decide on her.

I'm so excited. Around the holiday season is when we get our really pretty bettas in, so I know ill have three girls picked out by christmas. I was going to do four girls, but I love my khuli loach too much to relocate him. I'm putting the guppies in the 55 to keep it cycling while I build it up for the jacks I want, then they are going to a lovely home in my friends tank. Maybe. It will be a while before I get my jacks so who knows, I might just end up with another tank to keep my guppies and sumo loach in. My house is slowly being taken over by animals, and I love it!

I will totally post pictures tonight of all my tanks after I get everything done. I've got about a dozen to twenty plants that are going in the 55 so I've got a lot of work to do tonight. But I just can't wait. I love reddesigning my tanks.

[Dakotak]

@sleipnir

AqAvisor is a good place to get ideas for stocking but not all of its stocking levels are correct.

I like the the rule Jellyaboo suggested. 1 female per 2 gallons MAX. By that rule you are at max stocking in a 10 gal.

But i have read things online saying that a 10 gal is not good for a sorority as its too small. Can a betta a expert give an opinion on that?


All this sorority talk makes me want to break out one of my spare tanks and do one....

[Cardinal]

@sleipnir

AqAvisor is a good place to get ideas for stocking but not all of its stocking levels are correct.

I like the the rule Jellyaboo suggested. 1 female per 2 gallons MAX. By that rule you are at max stocking in a 10 gal.

But i have read things online saying that a 10 gal is not good for a sorority as its too small. Can a betta a expert give an opinion on that?


All this sorority talk makes me want to break out one of my spare tanks and do one....

Not an expert, but I'd never attempt in a 10 gallon with Betta Splendens. I think a 15gal would be the minimal with a 20gallon (heavily heavily) planted being ideal for 5 females. It has to be understood that nearly all betta fish females sold are generally juvies. Once home a sorority will work out great for 1..2..3.. maybe even 4 months then all hades breaks loose and you end up with "I don't understand why its no longer working!" or yur females keep falling ill due to stress. I really don't recommend sororities at all unless you have experience with other semi to aggressive fish.

[tekkai]

@sleipnir

AqAvisor is a good place to get ideas for stocking but not all of its stocking levels are correct.

I like the the rule Jellyaboo suggested. 1 female per 2 gallons MAX. By that rule you are at max stocking in a 10 gal.

But i have read things online saying that a 10 gal is not good for a sorority as its too small. Can a betta a expert give an opinion on that?


All this sorority talk makes me want to break out one of my spare tanks and do one....

Not an expert, but I'd never attempt in a 10 gallon with Betta Splendens. I think a 15gal would be the minimal with a 20gallon (heavily heavily) planted being ideal for 5 females. It has to be understood that nearly all betta fish females sold are generally juvies. Once home a sorority will work out great for 1..2..3.. maybe even 4 months then all hades breaks loose and you end up with "I don't understand why its no longer working!" or yur females keep falling ill due to stress. I really don't recommend sororities at all unless you have experience with other semi to aggressive fish.

Thank you for the help, I'll stick to my current number. :)

@Cardinal I do plan on upgrading to a much larger tank soon (thinking 40-55 gallon and a 20 while I'm at it), I heard PetCo has a 1$ per gallon sale so I'm just hanging tight until then. :)

Until then I have the ability to temporarily separate all the girls if all Hades dose breaks loose (several small tank's I've collected over the years) so i'm not terrible worried. Also their right where I can keep a close eye on them in case one of the my girls isn't playing nice with her sisters. :P

[.muse.]

@sleipnir

AqAvisor is a good place to get ideas for stocking but not all of its stocking levels are correct.

I like the the rule Jellyaboo suggested. 1 female per 2 gallons MAX. By that rule you are at max stocking in a 10 gal.

But i have read things online saying that a 10 gal is not good for a sorority as its too small. Can a betta a expert give an opinion on that?


All this sorority talk makes me want to break out one of my spare tanks and do one....

Not an expert, but I'd never attempt in a 10 gallon with Betta Splendens. I think a 15gal would be the minimal with a 20gallon (heavily heavily) planted being ideal for 5 females. It has to be understood that nearly all betta fish females sold are generally juvies. Once home a sorority will work out great for 1..2..3.. maybe even 4 months then all hades breaks loose and you end up with "I don't understand why its no longer working!" or yur females keep falling ill due to stress. I really don't recommend sororities at all unless you have experience with other semi to aggressive fish.

That is why I'm starting my sorority with older females that have reached their adult sizing. We generally get our gals in fairly tiny, less than an inch in length. But lately we've gotten in a good deal of two inch gals, and with lovely coloring. And I'm only doing three gals in my ten, gives them each a good amount of space, on top of the fact that it is going to be heavily decorated so they aren't constantly staring each other down. And the sizing is why I decided against the lovely little white and blue gal, she's still very young, and I don't want the older lady I got today to be stressed out by the younger girl. We have a couple other good sized girls at work, but I want to get the tank all finalized and Athena settled in before introducing the other two I plan to get.

I'm going to get this adorable little greek column decor for the tank center piece, and leave Hephaestus's cave to the side like it is. Hephaestus is the Khuli loach who will remain in the tank like I was mentioning earlier. He stays in his little cave all day and is so harmless I don't see him being a problem for the ladies.