A Few Questions To Be Addressed

[ThatGuy]

So I've been browsing for a few days and I have this to say, WOW you guys know your stuff. That being said, I now need your wealth of knowledge to come to my aid.

I have an Aqua Edge 6.6 US gallon bookshelf tank small i know but its what i have to work with since i can't afford any bigger right now. I currently have it overstocked according to you gents (and gals) with 3 glofish, 3 platys (i'm assuming their all platys) a variatus, and 2 fiddler crabs. well i certainly don't want to harm the fish, but the pet stores here don't take fish in. and i don't know what to do. should i see if a friend wants them? if not, what should i do?

If i can get rid of all the fish (i'd like to keep the crabs) and i can switch to a sand substrate, what would you all recommend for this size tank? i would like something that would be fun to look at since the tank sits above my computer.

also, do you guys have stores that are 100% dedicated to fish? or are you shopping at pet stores with a fish section? i checked the phone book and there are 0 fish stores near me. only the mega chains (petco and petsmart) where i bought the aquarium and the fish. the reason i ask is because you guys keep naming all these cool fish and i know these two mega pet marts dont carry that wide of a range. do you guys order fish online or something?

Thanks for all the help

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, people do have fish Fed-Ex'd to them from online fish dealers. Do searches on TFF to find ideas for good dealers and you can also do google searches to get a larger list to then have dealer names to put in the TFF searches etc.

I think probably lots of people do combinations of some more common fish from bigbox stores and a few uncommon ones being shipped. The shipping costs make it more expensive usually I think.

BTW, this question is a perfect example of why it is usually recommended to newcomers to put their location in their profile for others to see. Take a look at other profiles to see what I mean - makes a difference what advice you get depending on which continent you're stuck on.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Colin_T]

people get fish from all over the place. Some buy from fish only shops, others buy from pet and aquarium shops, and others buy online.
Most shops should take fish back however if you keep your water clean there is no reason the fish can't stay in that tank.
Fidler crabs are brackish to saltwater and should really have salt in their water. The glolight tetras don't like salt. Platies can tolerate it to some degree but not enough to be living with fidler crabs.
Which area do you live in?
Perhaps see if there is an aquarium society in your area and go to a meeting or have a chat to them and find out where they get their fish from.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah definatley filling in your profile with your location would help us to help you out. i'm guessing your american from the stores you named, but who knows really!?

we've got members from all over the world here so you'll see a difference in the replies depending on which country your in, when we're advising on things like medications and products available it's definatley helpful to know what country you are in!

we're fairly lucky location wise, got quite a few dedicated fish shops round here, but regarding the more unusual fish though, strike up a friendship with the staff in the store if you can. most shops will order fish in for you. what they'll have is basically a list from their supplier of all the things they currently have, the chains like petco will pick from the list only the things they know will sell easily, but there will be plenty more on that list that they can get hold of if they know there's someone they can sell them too.

i'd definatley try and find out if you've got an aquarium society/club near you, firstly there will probably be someone there who you can give your fish too, and secondly there will probably be people breedng all sorts there that you can then get at a discounted price.

for a small tank like that you really want to look into the minature species, there's plenty of beautiful fish which can make a stunning small tank. I'd look to stock with something like this

2 Sparkling Gourami
4 microrasbora
3 pgymy cories

 

[ThatGuy]

i just put all my info into my profile so maybe that'll help out.

Is there any way i could do a small shoal of something like endlers or neon tetras (like 5-6) and then something like pgymy cories that stay on the bottom?

And i've been checking, the closest society that i found was 2 hours away in raleigh, so what should i do with my current fish??

 

[Miss Wiggle]

for the current fish, post it in the buy/sell/swap forum and see if anyone local to you wants them.

i'd say a group of 6 neons would pretty much fill the tank, however endlers are a bit smaller so 6 of them and 3 pygmy cories could work nicely.

 

[ThatGuy]

Should i try to plant it? or would i be better just getting a bunch of fakies

would tiger barbs be out of the question?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

tiger barbs are way too big for the tank

you're looking at fish with a max size of 1" tops.

personally i would go for real plants, but it's hnestly down to personal preference, do whatever you think looks nice

 

[waterdrop]

Wow, a member from Wilmington!

I love going down there for the beach or the food on the riverfront or to see the big'ole houses.

FYI, it does look like there is a "Cape Fear Aquarium Society" mentioned on the Carolina Fish Talk site. Don't know if there would be many members there - just happened to notice that off of the Raleigh Aquarium Society links.

TFF, though, is "the place to be", as the level of support and help is really quite exceptional, Miss Wiggle being a case in point. Anyway, hope you get your little 6G all worked out. If you find a source for endlers, let us know, have always sorta wanted some myself!

~~waterdrop~~ (up in Chapel Hill)

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Wow, a member from Wilmington!

I love going down there for the beach or the food on the riverfront or to see the big'ole houses.

FYI, it does look like there is a "Cape Fear Aquarium Society" mentioned on the Carolina Fish Talk site. Don't know if there would be many members there - just happened to notice that off of the Raleigh Aquarium Society links.

TFF, though, is "the place to be", as the level of support and help is really quite exceptional, Miss Wiggle being a case in point. Anyway, hope you get your little 6G all worked out. If you find a source for endlers, let us know, have always sorta wanted some myself!

~~waterdrop~~ (up in Chapel Hill)

lol, flattery gets you everywhere waterdrop!

 

[ThatGuy]

you really have been quite helpful miss wiggle, you as well waterdrop. did you go to chapel hill?

so i may have found a place for all my fish between two of my friends.

now, they have been in the tank for about 2 weeks so the filter should have bacteria built up correct? I understand that if i'm changing substrate i need to do a mini-cycle, but since i'm moving in 2 weeks, would it make more sense for me to wait and cycle once i get home?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

some bacteria will have built up in 2 weeks, but probably not all that much.

i'd say strip the tank down, then start from fresh with a fishless cycle when you get home.

 

[waterdrop]

Yup, MW is right, once you roll out of uncw (or get tired of surfing ) and come home, that would be the time to do it right and follow the whole fishless cycling process. RDD, the wonderful guy who wrote the article we use is a Duke guy, but I'm a Carolina guy and I approve... (yes, went there and there still...)