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Hi guys, so my 45L tank had been housing a dwarf gourami, but sadly he died this week. I have three purple harlequin rasbora in there at the mo (originally 6), and am trying to decide how to restock it. (I can move the rasbora if need be depending on what I go for, or rebuild the shoal) My...

thanks, I expect that's it. I'll keep an eye on them!

Hi guys, I wonder if anyone can tell me if they've noticed mollies becoming more shy, and whether it might be a sign of anything bad? I doubt there's anything wrong, my mollies are behaving perfectly normally (as far as I can tell) when I watch them from across the room but recently they've...

Yeah I thought it would only be small independents. I think I'm over my fry population problems...only have females now, although the adult is still pregnant (hopefully only this lot to go though, it's been 6 months now!) and I've moved everyone around and done a major re-stock recently so I...

I don't know about guppies, but in my experience with mollies you really can't tell what colour they will actually be until they're a good 2 months old...none of my fry have kept the coloration that they were born with - I my case, it was around 50/50 for them looking like the mum or the dad...

If the danios will eat them that will probably keep it under control - you could temporarily remove hiding spaces I suppose - I used to have a tank of tiger barbs which I fed quite a few molly fry to, but they aren't really any good for a community tank. A pair of killies or a dwarf gourami...

Is there anyone else in the tank that could be gobbling up fry before you've had a chance to spot them? Have the females ever looked slightly smaller again? My biggest molly has looked pretty much constantly gravid since her first lot of fry, she sometimes looks a little slimmer if she drops a...

    yeah, I've never liked the idea of the balloon varieties! There are so many breeds of pretty much every domesticated animal which are hideously malformed...half of which have serious internal problems as well as the visible physical deformations, because someone decided that they liked the...

Inbreeding never goes well! It's a funny one, since in the wild some populations are so small that they must all be related - but then their gene pool is kept healthy because even though they may be closely related, they still have all the difficulties of survival to contend with, meaning that...

Oh yes...expect to be inundated with babies!   I had a similar problem with my mollies until I re-homed the male. My biggest female is still producing fry, it's almost 6 months since he went now so she should have run out of sperm soon! All the fish shops that I know of who take fish won't take...

Well, my lfs' tetra stock is commercially bred in Singapore, so that's definitely a no go - they had a purple variation of the harlequin rasbora, so I decided to get 6 and see what happens. So far the gourami is completely ignoring them!

Thanks, that's interesting! I did think it would take rather longer for any fish to really adapt - and the inbreeding/hybridising problems makes sense. I wonder also if the breeding environments are particularly sterile that would affect the development of their immune systems as well, if they...

Yes, I understand that the environment is very important! I do want to make my fish feel as comfortable as possible - I was only thinking of considering something like the glowlights if they were tank bred, in similar water to my tank - from what I've read, it sounds like whatever water a...

I'm still trying to find suitable tank mates for the gourami. The harlequins are still an option although I would worry about gourami aggression...the only fish that my gourami didn't stress out were the rummys - obviously they were too big for the 45L, I took them back, and I know most...

Yeah I figured it would be best to let them fight it off themselves... TBH the flashing is so infrequent (I've noticed it once or twice a few days apart) I wonder if it is just a harmless itch? I had a few cases last year (before getting my water quality properly under control) but have had no...

Ok thanks. Water parameters are fine (no ammonia or nitrite, just about to check nitrate again but it's always been under 20) pH and GH same as always. Can't think of anything that would knowably be causing stress...  It's only very occasional flashing (just the male), and definitely no sign of...

    I just thought of a possible stable water-softening method - do you think it would work if I used one of those ion-exchange pillows, but rather than using it in the tank, which would be all over the place, having a big bin full of water and use it with a spare filter to lower the GH in there...

Just introduced 6 c.sterbai to the ram tank, all seems to be well so far! 

    I second Akasha72, I wasted £20 on aquarium sand for my first tank before I cottoned on to using play sand! It's actually much easier to clean than it sounds. I've got a 20L bucket that can take it all at once, stick e garden hose in it and I've got it crystal clear in about 20 minutes! Let...

she didn't stop for anything, but they're back in the big tank with their friends now so much happier!

Ok thanks, I won't worry too much then! I'll continue with the aragonite plan for the mollies (was going to introduce a bit each week to the filter, as I gradually change out the water without adding more salt)   I emailed the people that I bought the rams from to see if they know where they...

so, my API GH/KH test kit arrived. It turns out the water supplier's dH value is a KH/GH average - in actuality, my water is KH 7, GH 15 :\ So the mollies may be fine (I've got the aragonite though so still worth making it a bit harder for them - I'm planning on aiming for 20ish...) I think the...

Thanks! I think I'll leave the gourami alone for now, let him settle in and see how he does.   That's good news about the bacteria! I'll add the corys all at once then Hopefully I'll be able to get them next week! Makes sense about the fish stress biological effect - I might change up my filter...

 I think my rams have bonded! Since I moved them to the new tank they've stuck together, following each other around checking everything out :) My guppy seems to have perked up tremendously too, he's frantically trying to mate with all the mollies...it's rather hilarious to watch...

Ok thanks! I thought that might be the case with the little fish...harlequins are pretty cool although I'd still worry about them with the temperament of my gourami! He's been in both other tanks and hassled everyone but the rummys. I somehow doubt there are any suitable tetras though!   Glad...

thanks for the suggestions Is the harlequin the only rasbora that would do well in 10dH? I do really like the small galaxy, dwarf and chili rasboras... although I don't think many of those micro-rasbora are actually rasbora! I know the galaxy is actually the celestial pearl danio...and have a...

54L re-scaped ready for the rams, just getting the temp. right before introducing them. Still a bit cloudy from the re-planting substrate hurricane! Not sure if I've gone a teensy bit overboard with the vegetation...       45L re-scaped for the DG     I managed to break the hood. Clever...

Cool, thanks - I personally don't have any way of telling who has the credentials so I'll trust you on that one! I suppose most people's arguments go along the lines of the whole being-bred-in-captivity-so-adapted-to-hard-water angle, however credible or not that is! I expect it's the case of...

Ok, never mind about the C.habrosus then! It was fishlore.com that I was looking at for their parameters :\ basically the opposite of planet catfish! Looking at that site, the ram tank would definitely be pushing it temp. wise, maybe if I can get the gourami tank a little softer...hmm C.pygmaeus...

I suppose having the DG by himself in the 45l could double as a QT....he seems fine at the mo, but then from what you said he could be the fish equivalent of typhoid Mary....I suppose not knowing where he's come from (I got him from a well-spoken-of stockist but didn't know enough at the time to...

Ok, thanks. I'll see what I can do with the killies! Maybe I'll start with a bag of aragonite in the filter, and monitor the GH and pH. I could do with a GH rise of 5-10 dH, but my pH is 7.4/7.5 and I wouldn't want that to rise much above 8!   I'll definitely put the rams in the 54L then, I've...

Ok cool, I'll try and find that out and then order some! I'm not really sure of my long term plans for the molly tank - I know I probably won't replace them, but am attached to the ones I have! I guess I could always change the substrate back again in the future if I wanted to go back to a...

Ok, well I will look into the aragonite. Could quite easily add some to existing set up depending on when I'd be able to actually get a larger tank... and I will definitely get the blue rams out of there before I do that! Do you think they'd need to go in the 54L or would they be ok in the 45L...

It just occurred to me that it might be useful to say I'm using UK gallons not US gallons. Just in case that makes a difference! 

That is a good idea -  I just had a look and Bristol water has a very in depth water parameter chart!   I don't know which measurement scales you guys are using for GH, but I've got   GH 187 (UK degrees clark 13, or german dH 10) which is lower than I was expecting  kH 146, which is definitely...

I haven't actually checked (what with having started off with mollies, I didn't initially consider it too important), I'll pick up a test kit and check before I go buying anything else! I do know that the local cichlid stockist keeps them in water that's not RO or anything, so logically as far...