Alien Anna
Fish Gatherer
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2002
- Messages
- 2,087
- Reaction score
- 2
Hi Everyone,
I successfully transplated my SAE from my heavily planted tetra tank, which was a little over-crowded for him, to my molly tank. I had to raise the pH from 6.8 to 8.5, and acclimatise him to hard, slightly saline water, but I did it by putting the SAE in his own water, in a bag in the new aquarium. Then every ten minutes I took out a cup of water from the bag, and replaced it with a cup of water from his new aquarium. That's what our good LFS does with new fish and I must admit it was very easy and successful.
My main reason for moving him was because I'm getting him some friends next week (still debating with myself whether to get another 2 or another 3), and also because I found out that SAEs are strong swimmers and like plenty of space to move around in.
Well, he's still on his own but he has more space than he ever dreamed of and he's stretching his fins like a canary released from a cage. He is chasing the guppies, but I suspect that's part territorial behaviour and partly because he can. My male sailfin is steadfastly ignoring him. From the SAEs POV it's a great tank because its full of algae!
It still amazes me just how much there is to learn about this hobby - you can read all you like about particular fish, you can be careful as you like, but you can still miss obvious facts like SAE's are schooling fish and need wide-open swimming spaces. I was thinking more about ideal water conditions (pH 6.5 and slightly soft water - not pH 8.5 and liquid granite) but perfection doesn't exist and you have to prioritise. Somewhat annoying that Baesch and other books don't tell you this stuff!
I successfully transplated my SAE from my heavily planted tetra tank, which was a little over-crowded for him, to my molly tank. I had to raise the pH from 6.8 to 8.5, and acclimatise him to hard, slightly saline water, but I did it by putting the SAE in his own water, in a bag in the new aquarium. Then every ten minutes I took out a cup of water from the bag, and replaced it with a cup of water from his new aquarium. That's what our good LFS does with new fish and I must admit it was very easy and successful.
My main reason for moving him was because I'm getting him some friends next week (still debating with myself whether to get another 2 or another 3), and also because I found out that SAEs are strong swimmers and like plenty of space to move around in.
Well, he's still on his own but he has more space than he ever dreamed of and he's stretching his fins like a canary released from a cage. He is chasing the guppies, but I suspect that's part territorial behaviour and partly because he can. My male sailfin is steadfastly ignoring him. From the SAEs POV it's a great tank because its full of algae!
It still amazes me just how much there is to learn about this hobby - you can read all you like about particular fish, you can be careful as you like, but you can still miss obvious facts like SAE's are schooling fish and need wide-open swimming spaces. I was thinking more about ideal water conditions (pH 6.5 and slightly soft water - not pH 8.5 and liquid granite) but perfection doesn't exist and you have to prioritise. Somewhat annoying that Baesch and other books don't tell you this stuff!
