Help...stocking Advice Wanted...

[lisa2701]

Ok, done some reading. Assuming I can find them somewhere I *think* I am going to go with the Dwarf Corys and Endlers. I will call MA tomorrow and see if they stock them.

 

[gregswimm]

Just nit-picking here, I would raise the water level and assuming you have adequate lighting I would add some fast growing stems to the tank as well as some anubias. Fast growing stem plants like bacopa, cardamine, Brazilian pennywort, hornwort and or water sprite will all help to ward off algae assuming of course you don't have incandescent lighting (they produce more heat than light); most fluorescent lighting is adequate for growing plants. Duckweed makes an excellent nutrient sponge but it can block a lot of light from reaching smaller plants (useful if you find you only have a few fast growing plants but are accumulating algae on slower growing plants like anubias/java fern. Endlers and guppys enjoy rather thick surface cover and it also provides refuge for fry.

Protip: watts per gallon is a lie; always go off of wattage and tank depth (water diffuses light rapidly 20W over a 20g long is a LOT more light than 20w over a 20g tall) and flow(current) is the key to preventing BGA. Heavy planting can keep your nitrates on the low side; almost completely removing the need to change water; which is crucial for maintaining CO2 stability and slowing of algae growth.

 

[lisa2701]

Just nit-picking here, I would raise the water level and assuming you have adequate lighting I would add some fast growing stems to the tank as well as some anubias. Fast growing stem plants like bacopa, cardamine, Brazilian pennywort, hornwort and or water sprite will all help to ward off algae assuming of course you don't have incandescent lighting (they produce more heat than light); most fluorescent lighting is adequate for growing plants. Duckweed makes an excellent nutrient sponge but it can block a lot of light from reaching smaller plants (useful if you find you only have a few fast growing plants but are accumulating algae on slower growing plants like anubias/java fern. Endlers and guppys enjoy rather thick surface cover and it also provides refuge for fry.

Protip: watts per gallon is a lie; always go off of wattage and tank depth (water diffuses light rapidly 20W over a 20g long is a LOT more light than 20w over a 20g tall) and flow(current) is the key to preventing BGA. Heavy planting can keep your nitrates on the low side; almost completely removing the need to change water; which is crucial for maintaining CO2 stability and slowing of algae growth.

Ok I will try and take this slowly seeing as it is all new to me and I am trying not to make a fool of myself .

Water level is raised, thank you for letting me know. should it be raised right up so I can't see any gap between the water level and the white trimming around the top of the tank?

The lighting in my tank is a 15w white light and a 15w blue light. My tank is reasonably square. The lights do produce a fair bit of heat does this matter? They look a bit like energy saving bulbs.

Plants, ok this is the bit that worries me if I am honest. I only have sand in the tank so i'd need to look for plants that can survive in sand. i wasn't wanting to heavily plant my tank but I could add a few more bits in I suppose if its important for the endlers. As for duck weed, could I have just a small patch of it in a corner somewhere, covering maybe 1/4 of the top of the tank or is this pointless/would it grow to cover full tank quickly anyway? What about Cabomba and Elodea, are these any good for the reasons your referring to? I have these already in another tank. They are in beside triops so they are looking a little worse for wear but perhaps they'd recover in a tank where they weren't getting destroyed by triops? I also have 2 moss balls, have been toying with the idea of putting one in the tank or not, but i'm leaning towards not unless it would be of benefit (I do like them though)?

I have a small gut feeling that by next year I am going to have a larger tank, I am shocked at just *how* restricted I am with a 12g tank . Mind you, my original plan was to wait on the triops dying off (they only live a couple of months) and to use the 5g they are in....glad I was able to convince the other half i needed at least double that. It wasn't until after we got this tank that he decided he quite liked BIG tanks .

 

[lisa2701]

Just called MA to ask about their stock. Apparenlty they have no Endlers in, but they get them in regularly. The guy said its likely to be either Wednesday or (more than likely) the following Wednesday they get them, same with the Pgymy corys.

 

[panda_cory]

If I were you I would wait and get the endlers and dwarf corys cos thats what you really want.

As for the water level you should leave a gap cos when you get the fish and put them in with there water it will make the water level rise.

The plants should be fine, I have a tank with sand substrate and plants are fine. I have bought potted plants and just took them out of the pot and buried them in the sand.

 

[lisa2701]

My LFS has Endler guppies are these a cross between the two? The other pet store had never heard of them

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

now, that's a question!

Endlers are endler guppies (just a longer name), however, often you do see crosses between the two in the LFS that actually look like a mix between the two. They are usually bigger and the colours aren't quite endler-y. You'll just need to look at them to know how sure. They should only be about an inch long and look something like this:

You get ones with like "snakeskin" tails etc. they are deffo crosses. And as a side note, it's generally beleived that there are no "pure" endlers left, particularly in most LFS however you do get some that have been more carefully bred for generations from specialist breeders. I know one of my endlers def looks like he's got a little guppy not too far back in his history!

Edit: to change pictures to my own, probably better than poaching someone elses' You see the paler looking one in the middle of the last picture is def looking a little guppy-like!

 

[lisa2701]

now, that's a question!

Endlers are endler guppies (just a longer name), however, often you do see crosses between the two in the LFS that actually look like a mix between the two. They are usually bigger and the colours aren't quite endler-y. You'll just need to look at them to know how sure. They should only be about an inch long and look something like this:

You get ones with like "snakeskin" tails etc. they are deffo crosses. And as a side note, it's generally beleived that there are no "pure" endlers left, particularly in most LFS however you do get some that have been more carefully bred for generations from specialist breeders. I know one of my endlers def looks like he's got a little guppy not too far back in his history!

Thanks AA. The Endlers in your picture was the ones I seen and fell in love with at the LFS, BUT I have been in several times over the last month to see if they had them and they didn't (they had your usual guppies). They did have one endler male but even that was gone the last time I looked. So I called them today and he said they had half a dozen Endler guppies in but won't be getting them in again for ages so once these go they go My local Dobbies had a really lovely guy who said he had one Endler in stock but could order them in for next week if I wanted them, have to let him know before Monday lunch time... jeeze, I wish my filter would start behaving itself It was looking so good for the first couple of days but yesterday and today it hasn't been playing ball.

I like the ones with the snake skin tails

Oooh your endlers are nice, they look SO tiny in your huge tank. I forgot you had them. I was having a nosey at your tank log the other day, gorgeous tank by the way .

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Aw don't worry, it's just had a little blip after being moved to a new tank, it'll recover in no time. Besides, just remember when you were going to have to do a 6-8 week cycle!

As a word of warning I bought mine from my local Dobbies and paid a fortune for them..something around £3.20 each so you may be able to get them for a better price elsewhere. I got 12 so I was getting close to £40 for mine lol I think my MA sells them for about a pound less each.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

lol I nearly forget I have them too, they do get lost in there - but my hubby likes them so they stay! One thing I do like about them is that they stick to the top of the tank most of the time which is nice for my stock set up, it means I've got a little bit going on in all areas of the tank. Oh, and they are like goats too, constantly grazing on the stuff that none of the other fish want haha.

Thanks a lot! I need to post a new picture of it the plants have grown really well recently

 

[lisa2701]

This is *very* true...need to keep it in perspective don't I .

£3.20 each?? WOW... Even P@H were doing them 3 for £5. I will definitely ask before I place an order *assuming I go down that root*. I suspect I will wait until MA get them in, but I won't lie, once my filter is up and running I will be keen to get some fish in the tank so just trying to find out where round about me stocks them. There is a fish store in Glasgow that is selling them on Ebay, I was thinking I could pay them a visit if it comes to it, although its Glasgow city centre, so not the easiest place to get to/park and I am disabled so the easier accessibility the better.

 

[panda_cory]

MA is better than dobbies.

 

[lisa2701]

lol I nearly forget I have them too, they do get lost in there - but my hubby likes them so they stay! One thing I do like about them is that they stick to the top of the tank most of the time which is nice for my stock set up, it means I've got a little bit going on in all areas of the tank. Oh, and they are like goats too, constantly grazing on the stuff that none of the other fish want haha.

Thanks a lot! I need to post a new picture of it the plants have grown really well recently

bet they love the space they have, doubt they care if they get lost. Am I right in saying the Dwarf corys spend a fair amount of time mid-lower in the tank?

I was wondering, could I have some shrimp as well as the Endlers and Dwarf Corys?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Hey - I totally get that! That's why I paid £3.20 for these! I'm so stinking impatient lol. My MA had them in but I was going to have to wait 5 days to get them because they had just arrived in store and were settling in lol - so I trotted on over to Dobbies and paid a fortune for them because I wanted them NOW! *sigh* now I'm not THAT wild on them, though they are very pretty I think they are kind of weird in my tank My husband absolutely loves them though, hey ho!

I've never kept dwarf corys but yes, I understand that they swim around a lot more than "regular" corys do

Re: Shrimp - Yeah I would think so, let your tank mature for a while first though. Shrimp don't produce much waste at all so unless you get like a huge population of them they don't really "count" so to speak. Be sure and get some moss or something for them, they like that

 

[panda_cory]

Shrimp will be fine with corys and endlers they also like java fern and java moss