How observant are you of your tank? Share your fish experience..

[sciencefiction]

I just wanted to open a thread to discuss general fish experiences...

I am not sure many will share but why not?

Most folks here seem to take a lot of care for their plants and are consumed with the idea of achieving a great admirable aquascape.

How about the fish? How much attention do you pay to them and how important are they in the grander scheme of things?

Would you actually sacrifice the "ideal" look of the tank/aquascape, or the fish if one doesn't work well with the other? Does the method of keeping your fish tank(planted, non-planted, high tech, low tech, etc...) also provide the best habitat for your fish? If yes, why...if no...why not and what do you think you can do better in your next fish adventure?

What does it take to keep healthy fish to full life spans?

And what brought you into this hobby in the first place?

Please share your story even if it is an embarassing example from the past...We all have "fish" skeletons in our closet


I'll start with one of my older stories....

I started keeping fish in buckets( I think I still do, ha, ha but more modern ones)...My mother used to buy live fish for human consumption...I'd pick the liveliest one and stick it in a bucket in the bathroom and feed it bread crumbs...Most of them poor fish died pretty soon with the water becoming super cloudy in the mean time... Then I thought some fish just can't be kept in captivity so I started visiting the tropical fish shops...There I got myself guppies, snails and plants....I put them in glass jars...The snails didn't survive either , you can guess about the rest...In fact, my friend and I used to think snails are very sensitive ...The plants didn't make it long either...No light...oops.. We also used to have very cold winters where I lived...I didn't purchase a heater for years (but kept buying tropical plants and tropical fish)...neither did I purchase a filter....I had no clue fish produce ammonia....and the importance of it being taken care of by means of filtration and/or plants....

So it took me years in the age of no internet communication to do right by any water critter....But I cried every time I killed a fish...I think I cried like that for the first 6-7 years of my fish keeping "career"... I got better in time and got better at noticing things...and started doing things by intuition and observation rather than any concrete knowledge..I noticed that when I did a water change, scraping the dirty glass of my filterless tank and making it sparkling clean kills my fish. I noticed that aged water didn't stress them as much as straight tap water....I noticed that the less I feed, made my water appear less cloudy...and I learned like that taking baby steps until I manged to keep a river loach(caught for bait) alive for 5 years(in a filterless, unheated, unlit tank....)I used to do a 100% water change weekly, moving the poor thing in a glass jar...dumping all water and debris from its tank and filling it with aged water (which I kept in "my red bucket" no one was allowed to use).My mom used to give out about the state of the tank(dirty glass)....

I was sent on a summer camp as a grown up teenager and my mom washed the tank with soap thoroughly in my absence scraping all "dirt" out of it).....fish was dead when I came back two weeks later....I was devastated at the time...It was a really likeable and actually active fish considering how it lived..., It looked similar to kuhli loaches in shape and size, but cold water type loach as it was caught locally there. To this day I don't know what species of fish it was....I've never seen it in fish shops ever....

To cut that long story shorter..I think it took me ages, years to learn for the better...but every dead fish or bad experience I've had has thought me how to be better "next time" and this still applies to this day...though now I try to learn a bit faster

Please feel welcomed to share your story, current or past...

 

[Aqua360]

I don't use liquid carbon or co2 in any tank with fish, it's my preference; instead i tend to do 50% water changes and add liquid ferts, and tbh it's given me the best results with plants I've had. To me the fish are as important as the aquascape, the only fish I keep now are betta; but I love shrimp also

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Does the method of keeping your fish tank(planted, non-planted, high tech, low tech, etc...) also provide the best habitat for your fish? If yes, why...if no...why not and what do you think you can do better in your next fish adventure?

I just try and find fish that are happy in heavily planted rain-water tanks and then I basically keep them until they expire, which is ideally somewhere near their natural life span. Ideally I want fish that will maintain themselves across generations, but I've had a lot of total failures with Marbled Hatchets etc. and eventual failure with Threadfin Rainbows, various Apistogramma, Corydoras pygmaeus, Otocinclus where I've ended up with just one sex or just one fish without noticing.

I don't mind if I only see the fish rarely, the only down-side is that I have a lot of fish where I got them as by-catch, or I ended up with a lot of fry and no market locally for them. I gave away all my Apistogramma trifasciata, because even though I really liked them as fish, the males couldn't be kept together and the juveniles didn't sell. I really regretted it after I'd done it, but it was for the best. I also stopped keeping Norman's Lamp-eye, because they were very prolific, and nobody wanted them locally.

At the moment I have an assortment of by-catch Copella and Pyrrhulina, where I have no hope of finding another of the same species and they will potentially live for the next ~five years. They eat absolutely everything, so they aren't ideal tank mates and it means that I don't get any fry in the tanks they are in.

When I have a spare tank again I would like to have another go with Dicrossus maculatus, but if I do try them again, I'm going to feed them a lot more carefully.

cheers Darrel

 

[zozo]

How about the fish? How much attention do you pay to them and how important are they in the grander scheme of things?

Absolutely top priority..

I guess i'll never be an alround aquascaper.. Plant wise i like to give nature the freedom to take it's cause.. Inevitable to end up with a jungle tank all the time. Rather uncontroled nature is way more beautifull and intriguing to me than tidy trimmed tanks, gardens or parks. Likely also the reason why i oftenly stray from the path into the dense growing bushes when going for a walk, sometimes on hand and feet or on my knees or climbing to get somewhere. That's what i love and where the most intriguing stuff is to find and the only places in the world i come truly to peace and do not feel alone deep inside. (i know i'm a nutter, always was)

What does it take to keep healthy fish to full life spans?

Hard to say, firstly keeping the water clean. Then knowing where they naturaly live and what they like. Example if you keep fish liking colder temps in higher temps they die sooner. So doing research about what you keep together is essential. Unfortunately if not inbred commercialy and carying defects by birth, all have to travel and endure some harship before the are taken home to a respectful caretaker. Always a gamble, but if they survive the first few weeks chances are higher they make it all the way, but then if you get them in full grown size you never know how old they realy are.

And what brought you into this hobby in the first place?

As a little kid i was already intrigued buy everything nature has to offer. And especialy the mysteries under water.. I was crazy enough to dive into the local clear ponds with an inflateable matras and diving goglles to see what going on under water. Daily went to the swamp behind an old ruine castle near my place with a net and a bucket to catch critters of all kind and drag it all home whit my bucket. Obviously my first fish were sticklebacks.. I guess i inherited this from my mom, she rather swiftly convinced my dad i needed a fish tank and so i got one. And all that is 43 years ago.. And actualy never realy stoped since.

 

[roadmaster]

I too try and keep fishes that appreciate the water I can most easily reproduce (tap water).
I much enjoy the jungle look of tanks with fishes rather than the carefully tended aquascape, but have much respect for those gifted at producing them.
Large south American cichlid's and pleco's have always been favorites .(both demand lot's of O2/clean water)
First fishes were creek chub's/crayfish I caught as a child and used for bait, and kept outdoors in large trough's or an old bath tub for a few day's until I went fishing.
Oscar was my first tropical fish.

 

[Polly]

Started back in the 70s as a kid. Begged our parents for goldfish. So we had 2 goldfish in a bare 12 inch plastic tank. Changed the water religiously every week - no conditioner then. Needless to say they didn't grow very big. Then one died.
So we got another. That died too so we just kept the one. He was about 2 when he jumped out of the tank. Came down one morning, no goldie. Eventually found him stuck to the wallpaper behind the cupboard. Put him in the tank and let him rest in my hand for a few minutes.... He was alive! Changed his water later that day as I thought it might be the problem. All our friends came to see Lazarus. One said hid dad had fish, would I like to see?

His dad's tank was L 4ft x H 3ft x 1ft. Soil, gravel, plants - loads of plants! Lights.... And the most beautiful Angel fish ! He was happy to talk about the tank and plants etc and suggested we buy an air pump and box filter, some gravel and water weed. And just change some of the water each week after letting it stand overnight. Clean just the sides of the tank after 2 months. Lazarus had a luxury residence and lived another 10 years, until my brother decided to have a tropical tank and put him in there (I had moved out by then)

At that point I had a 3ft tank, gravel, under gravel filter and stuffed with plants growing like weeds under a gro light. Pearl Gouramis, cories and about 40 danios - we were never quite sure as they kept breeding Never saw algae, nor cyano, just did 2 buckets water change monthly.
OH bought me The Aquarist Encyclopaedia by Gunther Sterba - still got it, along with other tomes and countless PF magazines.

For me, the tank and plants have to suit the fish. And I now keep fish that suit the water and each other Been a few mistakes and adventuress along the way too.

 

[sgdiscus]

My Dad kept an assortment of fishes ranging from angel fishes to oscars to tetras when I was a kid. He kept all the fishes in bare bottom tanks. I helped out with the feeding and water changes.

I had a few vivid memories that would shape my approach towards fish keeping.

First memory was me helping him to do water changes. He would take a long hose and connect it from the kitchen to the living room. Once as the tank was approaching its maximum limit, he asked me to hurry to the kitchen to turn off the tap. I slipped on the wet floor in the living room and knocked the back of my head. In between his desperation to prevent the flooding from the tank and nursing me.... for that moment he did not know what to do and was caught. That expression was priceless. These days, I learn not to run and keep the floor dry when doing water changes.

Second memory was him and my mum treating a school of neon tetras to salt bath to rid them of white spots. They did this over a few nights until they were cured of the spots. Somehow I felt really amazed when I woke up one morning to see that they were all 'good' again. As a result, I am more aware of the health of my fishes.

Third memory was a horrible one. Once my dad got really lazy and I think he did not feed the oscars for a long time.... when I woke up one morning, I saw that one of the smaller oscars had a big hole on its side. Apparently the big oscar had attacked the smaller one in the middle of the night. The small oscar did not die. It was just swimming around in an odd angle with a hole on one of its side. I could not remember what my dad did to it but at that moment I told myself never to keep oscars.

Last memory which I tell my own kids even today was that my dad got me a plastic tank and put in plastic plants with sponge filter. So I had the neon tetras in them. One day, I introduced a fish which I caught in a fresh water reservoir. I had no idea what that fish was. It was about 5 to 6 cm. Body was long, slim and brownish like a log (probably a baby snakehead). The next day.... all my six neon tetras disappeared. Only the culprit was left. I cannot explain my rage. I just put my hand into the plastic tank and gave the water a 'whirlwind' spin. It's pretty funny now that I recall those moments. But at that time, boy was I mad. I think I did it a few times that day until my dad stopped me and took away the tank. I was 8 or 9 year old then. This taught me an important lesson about the compatibility of fishes. Always check the size of the largest fish's mouth against and compare it to his tank mates!

So finally after my career had settled down and I had some 'me' time, I decided to start a planted tank with cardinal tetras. I had a 2 feet planted tank with cardinals and shrimps for about 10 years before upgrading to the current 5 ft tank. I believe the hobby helped to show my own kids the care and patience needed to care for other living things.

 

[sciencefiction]

Hi guys. Thank you so much for sharing your stories and point of view. I really enjoyed it. I hope the thread continues

 

[castle]

Fish to full lifespans is challenging, really, for all the fish I've tried to keep, they excelled in a species only tank. As I tend to only keep smaller fish, I find that nano tanks aren't acceptable at all, I don't think any fish should be kept in anything smaller than 60cm - sorry to preach.

Much like Darrel, I keep fish with the idea they'll keep themselves; I'll do a water change (rain/tap), provide a variety of foods, but in general I'm hoping they'll appreciate my efforts and live! To be honest though, only Celestial Pearl Danios have really sustained themselves (with occasional gene pool diversifying from me). The largest female I have must be over 4 years old now.

I don't want to sound negative, but fish are also a commitment, I've never been able to shift fish once I've got them, so I tend to take a lot of time on my fish selections.

As for the future, I can fit two more tanks in the house, a 60 * 36 *30 and a 90 *45 * 30. The 60's inhabitants are undecided, probably Dario Dario, the 90 I'm thinking about either Dermogenys pusilla, or Copella arnoldi. I'm excited about that. Not excited about the cost of lighting, fliters etc tho.

I'd like to keep a lot of other fish too, one day. Oh and my tanks are really jungles, so not really scaped, more mildly directed.

 

[castle]

Oh, I sit in front of my tank for a good hour every day, looking for life I didn't add, but am amazed to find. (small insects normally, occasionally, a fish).

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

probably Dario dario,

I've never managed to find a female yet, I've looked at hundreds without success.

either Dermogenys pusilla, or Copella arnoldi.

I've not kept Dermogenys pusilla (I don't have any hard water tanks), but I've had real problems keeping Copella arnoldi in the tank, they can jump a huge distance when they are spawning.

cheers Darrel

 

[zozo]

Hi all,I've never managed to find a female yet, I've looked at hundreds without success.I've not kept

I only know 1 LFS offering them sexed, i guess he has a breeder knowing what they are doing.. A few months ago he offered Trichopsis pumila sexed and i ordered 3 and indeed i have offspring now. But lately i saw he no longer could offer them as a pair.. So i have a hunch he has some breeders in the private sector providing him sometimes with these fish.. He's always honnest about it, if he can offer pairs he puts this on his website if he can't he sais so.

In the lfs all put together in the same tank it is near impossible to sex them. As is for the Dario.. Unfortunately this lfs does no longer sell via courier and it to far away for me to drive there for just a little harme of darios. And how darios are sexed i have no clue about.

 

[castle]

Hi all,I've never managed to find a female yet, I've looked at hundreds without success.I've not kept Dermogenys pusilla (I don't have any hard water tanks), but I've had real problems keeping Copella arnoldi in the tank, they can jump a huge distance when they are spawning.

cheers Darrel

I only know 1 LFS offering them sexed, i guess he has a breeder knowing what they are doing.. A few months ago he offered Trichopsis pumila sexed and i ordered 3 and indeed i have offspring now. But lately i saw he no longer could offer them as a pair.. So i have a hunch he has some breeders in the private sector providing him sometimes with these fish.. He's always honnest about it, if he can offer pairs he puts this on his website if he can't he sais so.

In the lfs all put together in the same tank it is near impossible to sex them. As is for the Dario.. Unfortunately this lfs does no longer sell via courier and it to far away for me to drive there for just a little harme of darios. And how darios are sexed i have no clue about.

So, kesgrave (ebay guy) sells them, and he's 50 miles away from me, so I'm tempted to drive down and get some. If there are some females there; i'll get a few pairs and report back.