General Help Please?

[paulioo]

Cardinal tetras. Are supposed to be slightly hardier than neons, but that is probably not saying a lot. I'd check out other tetras if I were you, have a poke round the shops and then post in the characin forum to find out the hardiness of any species that takes your fancy. Spanishguy mentioned WCM's, they are a lovely fish, like slightly cooler water, so may not go well with gouramis, but fine with many corys.

You think so? Interesting. I like how you suggest a fish you've obviously never kept before. A newbie cant keep cardinals alive. They are NOT more hardy than neons. Don't suggest tetras to newbies. I don't like your fish suggestions generally. Rams? Come on dude. Don't even say the word. You go on to contradict yourself immediately and say maybe not such a great idea.

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I've only been in this hobby for around 2 years and some of the first fish i ever bought were Neon Tetras. All of which are still thriving 2 years on. I also own a pair of Bolivian Rams, who again are thriving.

So don't automatically assume that a newbie cant keep neons or rams because most newbies can.

Paul.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Cardinal tetras. Are supposed to be slightly hardier than neons, but that is probably not saying a lot. I'd check out other tetras if I were you, have a poke round the shops and then post in the characin forum to find out the hardiness of any species that takes your fancy. Spanishguy mentioned WCM's, they are a lovely fish, like slightly cooler water, so may not go well with gouramis, but fine with many corys.

You think so? Interesting. I like how you suggest a fish you've obviously never kept before. A newbie cant keep cardinals alive. They are NOT more hardy than neons. Don't suggest tetras to newbies. I don't like your fish suggestions generally. Rams? Come on dude. Don't even say the word. You go on to contradict yourself immediately and say maybe not such a great idea.

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Excuse me, I don't get this. What did I say about rams that was so offensive? I said they were not a good idea, for the same reasons as yourself. "Rams/gouramis" in my post was meant as a heading- following the list that he had made himself, not a suggestion, so there was no contradiction involved there.

"Cardinal tetras" again was not meant as a suggestion: I was just running thorugh the different posts on his list and saying what I thought of them. I suggested other tetras as some are hardier than cardinals/neons. For instance black skirt tetras, which some people even use to cycle their tanks. And by the way I have kept neons. Mine had no particular health problems, but as is well known there are a lot of very inbred sickly neons out there.

Oh, and could you see your way to adopting a more pleasant tone, even when you do disagree with other people's posts? I have not willingly done anything to offend you and would be sorry to think I had done so.

 

[spanishguy111]

Cardinal tetras. Are supposed to be slightly hardier than neons, but that is probably not saying a lot. I'd check out other tetras if I were you, have a poke round the shops and then post in the characin forum to find out the hardiness of any species that takes your fancy. Spanishguy mentioned WCM's, they are a lovely fish, like slightly cooler water, so may not go well with gouramis, but fine with many corys.

You think so? Interesting. I like how you suggest a fish you've obviously never kept before. A newbie cant keep cardinals alive. They are NOT more hardy than neons. Don't suggest tetras to newbies. I don't like your fish suggestions generally. Rams? Come on dude. Don't even say the word. You go on to contradict yourself immediately and say maybe not such a great idea.

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Excuse me, I don't get this. What did I say about rams that was so offensive? I said they were not a good idea, for the same reasons as yourself. "Rams/gouramis" in my post was meant as a heading- following the list that he had made himself, not a suggestion, so there was no contradiction involved there.

"Cardinal tetras" again was not meant as a suggestion: I was just running thorugh the different posts on his list and saying what I thought of them. I suggested other tetras as some are hardier than cardinals/neons. For instance black skirt tetras, which some people even use to cycle their tanks. And by the way I have kept neons. Mine had no particular health problems, but as is well known there are a lot of very inbred sickly neons out there.

Oh, and could you see your way to adopting a more pleasant tone, even when you do disagree with other people's posts? I have not willingly done anything to offend you and would be sorry to think I had done so.

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[/quote]


I like to shoot first and ask questions later. It seems I misread though. Sorry.

 

[trace1]

i,ve also gota say that i,ve had my neons since july, these fish have coped with a cycling tank (didn't know any better at the time) being moved into a cycled tank (after reading n learning a lot) & having the gravel changed to sand. ok mybe i,ve only had them for a couple of months but they are still thriving & doing very well in their nice 32 gallon home

 

[dwarfgourami]

OK, no probs. I could have expressed myself more clearly.


quote:
I like to shoot first and ask questions later. It seems I misread though. Sorry.

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[spanishguy111]

i,ve also gota say that i,ve had my neons since july, these fish have coped with a cycling tank (didn't know any better at the time) being moved into a cycled tank (after reading n learning a lot) & having the gravel changed to sand. ok mybe i,ve only had them for a couple of months but they are still thriving & doing very well in their nice 32 gallon home

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You guys are running off much better genetic stock in the UK than we are here in Canada. Our neon stock has been from the same guy in Barrie Ontario for years now and its hit rock bottom. We need to start bringing in from the Czechs. Best Neons on the market right now.

Neons SHOULD be a pretty tough little fish by all means. Cardinals not so much. The higher level of hardiness of the Cardinal is really more of a myth in my experience.

 

[Annastasia]

Can I just add that Three-Spots can become aggressive when older. You'll need to keep watching for aggression problems, especially if you have a male and female because they could breed. Your tank is pretty big, so it may not be a problem. But you'll just need to watch for aggression, especially on smaller fish.

Oh yes, and just for your reference, Gold Gouramis, Opaline Gouramis, and Cosby Gouramis are all the same fish as the Three-Spot, just different color morphs or names.

I'm also surprised no one told you how to sex them. The easiest way, is to look at the dorsal fin. Male's will be longer. Here's a picture, so you can see what I mean...female on the left, male on the right.

http/www.thekrib.com/Plants/People/hurley-gold.jpg

Best of luck with your fish!

 

[CluelessScot]

Thanks to all that replied. never got a chance to go back to the shop today but i will tomorrow. Exellent advice, thanks again

 

[spanishguy111]

Can I just add that Three-Spots can become aggressive when older. You'll need to keep watching for aggression problems, especially if you have a male and female because they could breed. Your tank is pretty big, so it may not be a problem. But you'll just need to watch for aggression, especially on smaller fish.

Oh yes, and just for your reference, Gold Gouramis, Opaline Gouramis, and Cosby Gouramis are all the same fish as the Three-Spot, just different color morphs or names.

I'm also surprised no one told you how to sex them. The easiest way, is to look at the dorsal fin. Male's will be longer. Here's a picture, so you can see what I mean...female on the left, male on the right.

http/www.thekrib.com/Plants/People/hurley-gold.jpg

Best of luck with your fish!

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You call trichogaster trichopterus aggressive? Convicts are aggressive. Red devils are aggressive. Trichogaster are barely even territorial. If anything theyre a tad boisterous and prickish but they never actually HURT anything.

 

[Annastasia]

I'm just warning him. I would call them aggressive for community fish, yes. They can hurt things. There have been lots of posts in the Gourami section of them nipping on other fish, and sometimes having to be removed. Here's just one example. And yes, they can be territorial too. I've always noticed it with mine. It's pretty hard to add other fish once they have been there for a while. I'd always have to totally re-arrange the tank.

Have long have you been keeping them for? And what sexes? What other fish? As I'm surprised you haven't noticed anything.

Anyway, it's always better to be safe then sorry.

 

[CluelessScot]

What would you suggest for putting into this tank? i found a site which tells u alot about each fish... what do u think about any of these tetras?

http/www.elmersaquarium.com/10tetra.htm

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

You call trichogaster trichopterus aggressive? Convicts are aggressive. Red devils are aggressive. Trichogaster are barely even territorial. If anything theyre a tad boisterous and prickish but they never actually HURT anything.

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You don't realy want to take risks ith new community tank stocking with anything remotely aggressive- you may have had some good experiences with a particular fish with a reputation for being nippy but others havn't and you don't realy want to take risks with fish keeping.
Most fish don't stop once they become bullys and its either a matter of rehoming the bully or the victum fish.

You need to stock your tank slowly and lightly, always research as much as you can on a particular fish before you get it as many tropical fish sold grow massive or need complex diets and you don't want to be stuck with these sorts of fish early on in the hobby.
Corys prefer sand based tanks/fine gravel substrate and need their diets substituted with catfish pelets and/or algae wafers and you need to keep the substrate very clean as they can get bacterial infections or eroded barbels/whiskers if it is dirty- bronze, albino and peppered corys are good starter corys and all corys prefer to be in groups of at least 4 .
Tetras prefer to be in groups of at least 6 because they are shoaling fish that feel more secure and less stressed in larger groups although some tetra spcies can be a bit nippy so check that out before you buy them.
Livebearers like platys, mollys, guppys and swordtails are all freindly sociable fish although you need at least 2-3females per male in mixed gender groups except swordtails where its near imposible to have more than 2 males in a group of females. All common livebearers are notorious for breeding on a regular monthly basis and can produce large quantitys of fry so you need to consider wether you mind having fry or want an all-male group- female livebearers can store sperm in them for many pregnancys so all female groups don't always protect you from fry although most fish will eat livebearer fry.
Stay away from CAE's(chinese algae eaters or golden sucking loachs) as while they may make peaceful algae eaters when little they have a reputation for becomming terotorial and aggressive when older and can kill other fish.
The same is true for RTBS(red tailed black sharks), they don't grow big but can become terotorial and agressive as they grow.
Black and glowlite tetras are good starter tetra fish .

 

[spanishguy111]

Reguarding Gouramis I've kept Paradise fish, dwarf gouramis, three spots (in pair) pearls and honeys. I've actually found three spots very peaceful unless they have their space challenged. I've never had a problem with this though. I just set up a tank with a high current end and a low current end. The low current end has a lot of top cover like hornwort and much tighter low cover like large mounds of java fern. So the Gouramis stay there. meanwhile I'd have like some Angelfish that didn't like the tangles of plants and hornwort and stuff and preffered to be more in the middle, and my plecos and fast moving danios or tetras would stay over in the left in the current. So it has to do as much with the fish as the tank setup IMO... And I might be biased by keeping cichlids for so long but I really have a hard time saying any gourami is aggressive. Paradise can be nippy but not so much. The first fish I would draw the aggressive line on would be things like Kribensis or Tiger Barbs- but I've never found Three spots to be malicious by habit. Thats just me.