New tank

[ghostknife]

For Christmas (yeah a bit early to be talking about it but) i am getting a new tank to house my polypterus senegalus when he gets older coz he is only little at the moment.

I have set up tanks before but had to go out and by the fish i have never actually owned all the fish before i get the tank. They are living in a 3ft tank at the moment.

The fish i alredy own are :
1 albino ruby shark
1 polypterus senegalus
1 black ghost knifefish
1 gudgeon ( purple spotted i think)
1 Firemouth
1 featherfin synodontis

The fish i plan to get are:
1 pleco (not sure what sort though)
And another fish not decided yet.

I am getting a 4ft tank to house them in. what order should i add them? and how long after i set up the tank should i put them in?

Can you recommend a good pleco aqnd if space another fish

Thanks

Ghost

 

[Eelzor]

for a 4ft tank, a plec is great, but plecs are usually really big or moderately small. A clown plec is nice, bristlenoses are nice too. Or a rubber lip is always there too. I suppose you could put a bigger one but im not sure how big.

 

[CFC]

Sharks (RTBS and similar), synodontis catfish and plecos do not make good tank mates for bichirs as they like to rasp the slime coating from the bichirs scales leaving them open to infection. I have recently had to get rid of a syno a black shark and a a large common pleco for this reason.

I would add a couple more of the morgunda gobies (Purple stripe gudgeon) and maybe a fire mouth of the opposit sex to the one you already have, a fish to take up the surface area would also make a good addition.


BTW if you want to add more morgunda's and have difficulty obtaining them i will have some young fish available in about 6 weeks

 

[ghostknife]

I haven't had any problems yet. thanks for the info on plecs i may get either a clown plec or a small l number plec (if i have enuf money)

Ghost

 

[ghostknife]

CFC,
you mentioned about a surface dwellar what would you recommend?

thanks

ghost

 

[FishHeads]

CFC,
you mentioned about a surface dwellar what would you recommend?

thanks

ghost

Upside-down Catfish scare me.

 

[rsz]

my lfs has just got some upside down catfish in. they're kinda weird , but very cool B) . actually, now i think about it, they were just swimming upside down under a leaf and my cories do that anyway!!

 

[CFC]

CFC,
you mentioned about a surface dwellar what would you recommend?

How screamish are you?

Since most of your fish seem to be of a predatory nature i would suggest needlefish (needlenose gars, Xenentodon cancila), they come with a problem though, most will only eat small live fish I have kept them before and the last one i had i managed to get it to take frozen lanse fish after about a year. They have amaximum size of around 10" and are peaceful to any fish over 3", smaller fish will be eaten.
Other choices would be one of the pike characins (Boulengerella and Ctenolucius species, sometimes sold as rocket gars). These grow slightly larger than the needlefish with usual tank grown sizes of around 12", in the wild they can gt to 24" but its not likely in a aquarium. They have the bonus of being more receptive to non fish foods and mine will take crickets and shrimp from the surface, but they can be a little more aggressive, but no more than a RTBS on a bad day.

These are not fish i would expect to find in the usual lfs and will require a bit of looking for (though the pike characins i can obtain now) but IMO are worth the extra bit of work because of the interest factor.

 

[ghostknife]

I have never seen needlefish before what are they like? How much do pike characins and needlefish cost? Is a pikehead a pike characin coz i have seen them before?


In one of your posts you said that you will have some morgurnda morgurnda in 6 weeks does that mean you have a shop? if so i am interested but where is it? so i can come and get some

thanks

Ghost

 

[CFC]

No shop, i have a breeding pair of morgundas Got about 60 fry in at the moment which should be about 1 1/2 " in 6 weeks.

The pike characins are not the same as pike heads, the latter is Luciocephalus pulcher which is a very sensative species that is best kept in a species tank.

I think the pike characins are usually about £10, maybe cheaper. A lfs near me has some in stock at around 4" at the moment.

Needle fish are gar like in appearance with a long thin snout bristling with short needle sharp teeth, can pack quite a bite too if your not careful