# Here Fishy Fishy Fishy



## bunnybunbunb (Jun 15, 2008)

Anyone else here have fish? What kind do you have? Just a small set up or a big saltwater set up like I want?

I currently have 4 adult platies, 2 adult bettas and some baby platties. When I first got into fish again this year I had like 40 babies born in 2 months time, I had them in their own tank, then out of no where they all kicked the bucket(lived for awhile). About a month ago 1 of my 2 mickey females had babies, I kept them in my community tank and 1 baby is left. So yesterday morning her mom popped babies again(I was waiting ) but by the time I got there all butone had been eaten! You would think I starve them! SoI took the adults out and put them in a smaller diffrent tank to give the one time to grow, the adults arn't liking it.

I checked today to find only the 1 month old baby was left, I was like "well h***, dying even with theadults gone!". Just when I gave up looking I see a tiny fish by one of the live plants... no, 2... NO 3! So there is 2 of the newest babies left and their big sister :biggrin2:I hope they all make it. I figure in a week or two I will put theadults back. They stopped trying to eat theone baby(and it's sibling that went missing about a week ago) at 2 weeks old, soI figure that will be good timing.

I have wanted a huge 200 gallon tank with saltwater fish for so long, now I learned you can make a live reef salter water tank andI want it even more! They look so cool, coral, snails, shrimp, beautiful salty fish, it's just to awesome. Saltwater tanks cost so much and to get the stuff you need you have to order it.

I would get pictures of my fish if it wasn't almost impossible to get a good picture of a moving fish in water behind glass. :?


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## bat42072 (Jun 15, 2008)

I have guppies... I bought a male and female .... the female came from a tank that was suposed to only be females... guess what the next day she had 20 babies... theadults died with in a week but I still have 17 babies..


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## bat42072 (Jun 15, 2008)

sorry double post


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## Alexah (Jun 15, 2008)

I love fish, but I don't presently have any. I did have a betta named Bamboo Blue, but sadly he jumped ship and I didn't find him in time. I'm considering getting another betta soon, but I don't like getting them from the pet stores because they always look sick and the water is grimey. I'd rather find another place to find a betta, but I haven't thought of a way yet.

One day I'd also love to have an active saltwater tank. But I'd need to have the space, money, time, and resources before that could ever be a possibility. I'm beginning to do some research, but it's still a long ways off right now.

Fish are beautiful and I admire people who have large tanks and know a lot about fish and their care. I love watching fish - they're so calming. And I also love the sound of tank filters. It puts me to sleep in no time!

One day I'll have the tank I want, but until then I'll live vicariously through other people who do .


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## NorthernAutumn (Jun 15, 2008)

My boyfriend and I keep over 300 african cichlids (mostly mbunas) at home here. They're just as colourful and beautiful, but they're a lot less work than saltwater fish. 

I had the fish hobby first with my Amazonian cichlids (Black and Pink convicts) which bred like ... you guessed it.... rabbits! They're mouthbrooders, and the Mommies took great care of their babies!

Anyhoo, he decided he wanted his own tank. We started with a 15 gallon, and we're up to the 65 mark now... Needless to say, I am thankful for the joists in our house.Currently have 5 tanks up and running, and we're producing baby peacocks (really colourful "mutts" that are beautifully striped and marbled..) that are sold to local dealers.

My boyfriend once worked with a guy who had a saltwater setup, and the fella said that he couldn't leave home for the weekend without having a reliable friend (who knew a lotabout fish) taking care of the tank! Being such a fragile marine ecosystem to start with, and then trying to take care of it "in vitro" is a REALLY challenging job that needs a lot of equipment and monitoring devices AND time.

Sadly,most saltwater fish are poisoned lightly in the wild, then transported to dealers who sell them to the aquarium market. Many specimens don't make it past a year in captivity (dietary issues and stress). I'mso glad that most freshwater speciesaredomestically cultivated in tanks; If yo're in Florida, lucky you! So many fish farms!!!!

Let me see if I can find some pics of my fish Mafia...


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## bunnybunbunb (Jun 15, 2008)

We tried African Cichilds once but as I said before, our walmart's fish sucks. They wasn't cheap(for a fish) and then died right after. We have tried many diffrent species of freshwater fish and only Platies and Bettas seem to be able to live.


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## NorthernAutumn (Jun 15, 2008)

I hope everyone with fishes knows that walmart has a 5 day return policy, dead or alive... I bring them dead fish in baggies whenever possible 

Am also notorious for savingdead fish whenever they kick off, sticking them in the freezer, going to Wally world to get another fish, &"faking its death". Unethical, but it makes the hobby cheaper...

BTW, Africans need coral in order to have the correct pH ,8<(don't know if you knew that )

What kind of.... filtration system are you running? Water conditioning? food?

Poor products will really sink ya...


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Jun 15, 2008)

I have four bettas and I am getting some tetras today! Well, actually, theircoming with an 18-gallon tank that my older sister is picking up today, but she is going to get cichlids and just let the cichlids eat the tetras, so I am rescuing the tetras and putting them in with my two female bettas - whom eventually I will be moving in together in a community tank.  

Emily


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## naturestee (Jun 15, 2008)

If you're looking for better quality/healthier fish, see if there are any fish clubs in your area. An old friend of mine was in one and a lot of them bred their favorites and sold extras to particular favored shops (Milwaukee, so they had some choice). Either find out where they sell their fish to and go there, or ask if they have a show or a swap meet kind of thing cause you can get tons of awesome fish, plants, etc. that way. He really helped me get going.

I've let my tanks fall to the wayside since I got the bunnies. I used to have a 2.5 g (betta and live plants), 5 g (male guppies and live plants), 10 g (assorted small community and plants) and my "rescued" 29 g from an old neighbor who was going to flush the fish and chuck the aquarium... assortment of mismatched tetras + other community fish. Planted of course. I love me my low-light aquarium gardens. I can't afford the tech for high light.

All I have left right now is the 29 g, the rest are in storage. I was letting the tetras slowly die off of age without replacing them, then got a handful of platies two weeks ago... which apparently carried ick which is killing the last of the ancient tetras off. Poor buggers. Oh, and a Kribensis. I'm hoping he'll keep the baby platy population under control... And 3 cories for a cleanup crew. I luv me some cories, they're like playful little puppies.

My hubby wants me to do salt water but even though I get paid to DO chemistry, mainly water chem now, I don't want to do that much work at home!


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## bunbunbinkie (Jun 15, 2008)

I have always had fish. Bettas in the beginning, then I got a Red Devil (a South American chiclid I believe) and he lived about 8 years. When I lost him I tried (and am still trying) my luck with African Chiclids. They are mean little s#@&* and at one point I had 6. Now I'm down to one, a Jewel Chiclid who I hardly ever see. She always hides and Ive seriously thought about getting rid of her because I have a 40 gallon tank with visualy NO fish in it. Then I feel really bad, and decide to keep her...but she is ferocious and will attack anything I have yet to put in with her. Shes less than 2 inches long and the other fish in with her were almost 6 inches.... UGH. ullhair:

I also have a betta on my desk in a little 2 gallon aquarium. Maybe I should just stick to those!!!!


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## bunnybunbunb (Jun 16, 2008)

I have real seashells in my tank to keep correct PH for my community fish, I also got this "Correct PH" stuff that I put a tablet in every 2 months or so.

I use AquaSafe for conditioning my water, didn't know there was really anything else that took more than the chlorine out.

As for food I use Tetra Tropical Flakes as well as a mixture of some other things I have(bloodworms, krill, etc) which they get once every few days. My Bettas will ONLY eat bloodworms, they just spit the betta pellets out :X

I have 1 Platy that doesn't look great. I got her pregnant quite a few months ago and thought I was going to loose her after she had them but she lived. She hasn't gotton pregnant or been whatI would call "healthy looking" since.

As for filtration I just have what comes with the normal "starter kit".

As for Ick, naturestee, it is caused by stress. I have had a couple outbreaks just the little bit of time I have had my fish. When i bring new fish in I now add half dose for treatment of Ick to prevent it. Your Platies didn't have to carry it, just caused it.

NorthernAutumn, you might not believe this but our walmart has a NO LIMIT garentee on fish. They started it just before they moved and turned into a super center. I have bought fish from other stores and taken back to them, haha. Half the time they don't ask for a receipt and even if they do and you don't have one they will give you a replacement but it has to be the same species. If you have a receipt you can get any fish that cost the same or less. It's nice because their fish dies so much and I find fish always die RIGHT after the end date but with no end date it is great


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## YukonDaisy (Jun 16, 2008)

*I have:*

*A29 gallon with three goldfish it it. A Fantail, a Telescope frantail and a Black Moor that is turning orange. X)
A new-to-me 25 gallon with 1 Giant Danio, 1 Rosy Barb, 1 Black Neon Tetra, 1 RedEyed Tetra and 3 Neon Tetras.These are my first tropicals!
A 15 gallon with a Chinese Algae Eater
A5 gallon with a crown-tail Betta
Two 1 gallons with Bettas.*


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## bunnybunbunb (Jun 16, 2008)

You can't get crowntails around here, only veiltails. I love halfmoon crowntails, they are so lovely!

I have 1 Purple and White male veiltail and 1 white with pink(red when mad)tips female veiltail. I have tried breeding them a few times since I have learned how to care for the babies but the male just cases the female. I mean I have *only* tried about 15 times... ugg. I know it is hard but normally it is the raising of the babies that is hard not the breeding.


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## LadyBug (Jun 16, 2008)

i have three small-ish (fresh water)angels(Lily(white), Lizzie(calico) and no-name(stripey)(anybody got name ideas? this is what she looks like(not my pic




))

and i also have three panda corys and a otto cat.

Alexah, here's a few web sites that sell bettas-

http://royalbettas.com/

http://www.liveaquaria.com/

(i used to have a betta that looked just like the one on the home page on this web site! his name was Indigo, Indi for short)

http://www.bettas-jimsonnier.com/
Edited To Add(on June, 17, 2008): the fish has been named! Emily(little sister)wanted Ella, so i said ok. and the fish has also died:grumpy:. i don't think i'm gonna get another new one, Lily and Lizzie seem to get along fine together, and the other angels keep dieing(sp?):X


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## NorthernAutumn (Jun 16, 2008)

bunbunbinkie, we've found that a major key to dealing with our Africans is to pack the tank full of fishes, and throw on an awesome filtration unit plus weekly/biweekly water changes.

When I'm talking packed, I'm suggeting at least 35 big cichlids in the 65 gallon that I have. When my bf started out, we had 12 stupidly expensive babies; a number that quickly dwindled down to 5 or 6. And that's when the real fights started....

Another theory we use is the concept of "no territory". Using a large pile of live rock down the center of the tank, it turns the place into a racetrack with hidey-hole shortcuts inbetween the rocks. That's where the wusses and babies hang out. THe rest of my guys shove gravel around, mate like crazy, and get into pushing matches. 

I agree with the little S**** comment, wholeheartedly. 

BTW, the latin name for your jewel is Hemichromis bimaculatus. Throw that into google and head for the compatibility pages. 

Here's something I found for you_:_

[align=justify]*Spawning aggression*. Hemichromis bimaculatus, widely known as the Jewel cichlid, is a truly magnificent fish. However, when spawning in the limited space of an aquarium it becomes as deadly as it can get. Even the female may be killed on the spot if "she" doesn't accept the males courting. Certainly, getting six of them in a community tank will always result in big troubles. This species is simply incompatible because of its spawning behavior.[/align]
[align=justify]http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquainfo/fish_compatibility_2.html.[/align]
[align=justify]You could always trade him/her back to the pet store/another hobbiest, and get yourself a mbuna setup (much easier to mix and match...)[/align]
[align=justify][/align]


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## NorthernAutumn (Jun 16, 2008)

bunnybunbunb, that's awesome!

Try this on for size some time. Bring the dead fish in a big ol' bait bucket to customer service and hand it to the kid in training. 

I didn't mean to do it, but the reaction was so good!!!


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## maisy126 (Jun 16, 2008)

Currently we have:
An extemely old pleco (common)
A male blue gourami
1 silver tipped tetra, female
4 neons
2 male peppered corydora's
1 ringed crayfish, female (MO species, we're in MN lol took her up with us)

Before we moved, we had two F ringed crayfish, and the bigger one ate ALL of our 5 silver tipped tetras except that poor, lonely girl.

Even before _that_ we went to Wal-mart to get me and my sister our first fish....

Guppies *sigh*
The lady there told us two have like 2 females for every 1 male, we got 2 males, 2 females which went to 2 females and 1 male.

Our itty, bitty, teeny, tiny 10 gallon was full in a month. Aaaand, the filter blew *yuck!* so we moved all the guppies that were alive into a 30 gallon (our current one, none of them are alive now though) and it really looked pretty with all those rainbowish tails swimming around.
You can look on my zootoo page (same username) and see my other pets.


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## bunnybunbunb (Jun 16, 2008)

I'm going to have a spastic attack! We went to a petstore we know of in lexington today and OMG GUESS WHAT?????? Crowntails!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got the most beautiful yellow with black male! If only he was half mood but I'm counting myself lucky Also picked up some Tubifix Worms... can't get them here. They was onsale and very cheap for the big thing of it Didn't see any brine shrimp/eggs, oh well.

We also went to Meijers, well what can I say? I have an illness. I love Meijers, they have such beautiful tanks, loads of plants, fish, and snails. Everytime we go I have to get some fish, always. I got me another Blue Mickey Platy(pregnant, wee!), one female guppy(you can't get females here. I got the cheapest healthest looking one whichI thought was pregnant but maybe not), a nice BIG male Golden Apple Snail(my3 smaller ones died awhile back... not sure why :?) and 3 plants! They lost the prices on the plants so he priced any plant for $1.49! I was like WOAH! They are beautiful plants, too.

*Update:* The "male" Apple Snail is a female(got a better look and remembered what I was looking for) and also found out she is a Canata insted of a Bridgs! Woot!

The Guppy IS pregnant, I can see her gravid spot better. She has very colorful fins


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## LadyBug (Jun 17, 2008)

no-namehas been named! Emily(little sister)wanted 'Ella', so i said ok. andno-name/Ella has also died:grumpy:. i don't think i'm gonna get another new one, Lily and Lizzie seem to get along fine together, and the other angels keep dieing(sp?):X


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## bunnybunbunb (Jun 18, 2008)

Mom said a few years ago my Mamaw(grandma) tried to do Angle fish. Said she bought and bought and boughtbut they never lived long. Maybe they are a fraggle breed?

Do you know if it is illness, stress, or not eating? Do you make sure the fish you buy are healthy looking, not only clean looking but not thin? I find stores don't feed or don't feed enough.


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## woahlookitsme (Apr 30, 2013)

So I know I'm resurrecting this thread from the dead but I didn't want to start a new one and this pretty much has what I wanted to put in it. The BF Finally moved our 55gallon tank up to school and we are preparing for a community tank for freshwater fish. I'm super exited because I have been picking out species for the past semester of all the fish I want. 

Here is the tank











And my first couple of fish. I will list below these guys what the BF and I also want. Well get them later this week and ill post pics.
2 Australian Rainbowfish





Once they get acclimated they are supposed to look like this:





And 1 Turquoise Rainbowfish 





he is so hard to see but once he was out of the bag he looks more like this





Right now they look funny in a big huge aquarium but we are hoping to get cardinal tetras, longfin blue and zebra danios, lamp eye tetras, maybe a couple of tiger barbs, some white clouds, and others but the one I am dying for is a killifish. I love them so much and they are so hard to find! Ill post more pics when we get more fish later this week 

Heres the killifish


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## otnorot (May 13, 2013)

This advice is from is from a 86 year old who has had 30 tanks of fish and belonged to three different aquarium clubs,have won many prizes,ribbons ect. With the problems your having raising fresh water fish I would advise you to get a lot more experience before you try salt water fish.Salt water fish are costly and its heart breaking to get up in the morning and find $300.00 dollars worth of fish floating on the top of the tank. 
Bill


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## whitelop (May 13, 2013)

We have a 55 long with 2 blood parrots, 2 golden severums and one giant african catfish. 
One of the parrots is about 2.5 years old and the other one is about a year old. The cat fish is about a year old too. And the golden severums, we've only had them for about a week. All the fish are really interactive with me. They follow my hand all around the tank and will take food right from my fingers. 
The tank started out as my husbands, but became mine since I'm the one who takes care of it now!





Its really hard to get pictures of fish with a crappy camera! haha. The catfish hides in the log, so I never get pictures of him.


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## DUSTBUNNY-CLYDE (May 13, 2013)

I have a male betta named jasper. I've had him for 3 years. He only swims with one fin just like nemo!! he's our little buddy!!!


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## woahlookitsme (May 14, 2013)

I got more fish 

4 silver fin tetras
4 brilliant rasboras
1 julii cory cat
1 blue dwarf rainbowfish


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## otnorot (May 14, 2013)

Anyone have Killifish?I like the Blue Gularis the best. 
Bill


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## kaosu (May 14, 2013)

I breed killifish..over 200g of water in my room...15 tanks in the house and 9 out side for the summer...I breed a few types of fish,shrimp and snails..ssooo many pics I might bet around to posting some..are any of you on fish forums?


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## PaGal (May 14, 2013)

I had cory cats before and I loved those guys. Our other fish wanted to fight and be territorial, for some reason we spend a ton of time researching to get critters that get along and everything we read says they will get along but then all they do is fight. But any way the cory's were so fun, just swam around in their own happy little world bouncing off each other. 

We previously have had gouramis, I think every one available, koi and a red belly pacu named Skippy. We sold the 125 gl and have the 55 stored for now, one day we'll have fish again. We have a 20gl with one red belly newt.


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## woahlookitsme (May 14, 2013)

Kaosu do you ship your killifish?! I cannot find any that are around me and it is making me very discouraged. . .

I didnt want cory cats originally i just dont like how they look but i needed another small bottom dweller to go with our rubber lip pleco. I couldn't wait to get more fish! I was just waiting for the right time to get them. They fit perfectly into our apartment though


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## kaosu (May 15, 2013)

woahlookitsme said:


> Kaosu do you ship your killifish?! I cannot find any that are around me and it is making me very discouraged. . .
> 
> I didnt want cory cats originally i just dont like how they look but i needed another small bottom dweller to go with our rubber lip pleco. I couldn't wait to get more fish! I was just waiting for the right time to get them. They fit perfectly into our apartment though




possibly..I need to start figuring out this shipping thing as our breeding is starting to out grow the interest in our area for the types of fish we do. 

Currently I am breeding Aphyosemion bitaeniatum Lagos Red 

and _Aph_yosemion australe "chocolate" ...witch we call our male dark chocolate cuz he is super black in color

we were breeding_ 3 types of _gardneri killifish but we recently sold them all of. 
_ we also breed _Pseudomuail gertrudae, Pseudomugil furcatus 

Betta albimarginata and betta splendens ( lovely dragon scaled halfmoons )
and im most proud of my recent spawn of steatocranus tinanti..It has taken me two years..they are on par with breeding Discus!! ..so proud of my little guys! 

we also breed long fin bristle nose plecos..normal bristal nose plecos, and Heterandria formosa, working on Chlamydogobius eremius.and a few more types of fish .some rare danios ..and some more that I know im forgetting somewhere normal run of the mill livebearers but those hardly count as breeding. 

will be working on some harder to breed gudgeons soon that will be needed to be raised in salt conditions for a few months before going back to fresh. 

^_^ 
video of the Tinanti fry...look how cute they are!!!!!!!!!!! <3 ...I want to hug them all >.> (yes fish keeping is a very big passion of mine) 
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XVF3patf8Y[/ame]


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## Sweetie (May 18, 2013)

I have a 55 gallon fish tank with two clown loaches and two bristlenose plecostomuses. I had three clown loaches, but one died when I did a deep water change/clean of the 55 gallon tank. Don't know what my male clown loach died of, but the other two are doing great. I love clown loaches, they are so cool. I am planning on getting a bigger tank so that I can get more clown loaches and have a school of them, I am thinking about 50 clown loaches. If I do that, the 55 gallon will be a community tank with small fish.

I love angel fish, they are no way small, they get big. The small fish that I like are neon tetras, guppies, cories, hatchet fish, and tiger barbs. I am not sure what fish I am going to have in the 55 gallon when I get a bigger tank for the clown loaches.


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## kmaben (May 18, 2013)

I know delta cargo does fish but it depends on your area. Sometimes a class is required and can take six months to facilitate. That's a problem we ran into with our Oklahoma fish store.

Dont even get me started on the fish tanks but jealous of the sevrums Morgan! Will get one when the 210 gallon is up and running.

We're active on the oscarlover forum and the cichlid forum. The hubby and I tend to favor the cichlid species, mostly central and south American.

This is Mimi my Nicaraguan Cichlid. She's insanely awesome!





Omar accidentally dropped her twice when he moved from OK back to Texas. He spent 30 minutes holding her up right until her swim bladder settled. My dad had never seen him so distraught. Omar was like "she'll divorce me over this fish you dont understand!"

However he's trying to kill his bristlenose pleco currently because it killed his rhino pleco. I love the fish drama


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## Sweetie (May 19, 2013)

kmaben: how big is the bristlenose pleco? Mine are 6 1/2 inches. I will take the bristlenose pleco off your hands if you don't want it anymore. Provided that it is big enough, because my clown loaches will go after it if it is smaller than them.


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## woahlookitsme (May 21, 2013)

My little rubber lip pleco and Cory cat passed away  

But I just got a bristlenose pleco that's about 4". He is so weird looking lol. I hope he can do a good job though and that he doesn't die. Had to treat the fish for some ick and its all cleared up now. We also have no more neon tetras left only the orange glolite ones. My rainbows are getting some nice colors very pretty!


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## kmaben (May 21, 2013)

The bristlenose and the Rhino were about four inches long. I guess too close to sub species that they fought. The bristle leaves the whip tail well enough alone. I told Omar to leave the bristle nose alone. It's in with some Jack Dempsey's in a 75gal. I do however have a one eyed leopard catfish of some species I'm still trying to determine that I may part with or not. He sat shy and timid for months. Then one day he ate up everything he could get his mouth on. He's super cool but has this voracious appetite I'm not sure what to do with. If he can get along in the 210 we'll keep him.

Sarah what kind of filters do you have on the 55? Sounds like your losing a lot of fish you shouldn't be.


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## whitelop (May 21, 2013)

I agree Sarah, to lose a catfish and a pleco is crazy! My husbands friend has a foot long pleco that he can't kill. Hes found it on the floor several times, he puts it back in the water and its alive and kicking. He put algae killer in the water, I guess not reading the directions, it killed all the goldfish he had and the pleco grew like 6 inches. haha. 

Kaley, I'm in love with your Nicaraguan! She's so pretty. Hahaha. Poor Omar, I bet he crapped a brick when he dropped her the second time! 
I love my severums too! They're really cute little guys. They instantly got along with the parrots and now they're all schooling together. Plus, they're already super interactive! I love my fish.


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## woahlookitsme (May 22, 2013)

We have one of those filters that has grates that sit below the gravel and the tubes in the back. Then we just bought a new filter for a 50 gallon (we figured that with both of those it would be okay). It wasn't just a common pleco those things don't die ever. He was a smaller maybe 1-2in rubber lip pleco. The Cory cat dying was weird though. I don't know the name of the filter we bought. I thought they were also getting food because the other fish wouldn't eat some flakes and they would fall to the bottom. I also tossed in a small algae wafer the day before they died. I'm not sure what's going on because I got our water tested and its fine.


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## Sweetie (May 22, 2013)

Woahlookitsme: what type of water test kit do you test with? I test with the liquid API test kit, and it is more accurate than test strips.


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## Ilovemyrabbit (May 22, 2013)

Everyone's fishes are so cool. To bad I don't have one. Fish are so cool!


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