Stock suggestions

[TofferMora]

Well so far i have a list of lemon/ black neon/ and rummynose tetra. Harlequin and blue line rasbora, and then some Oto's and cherry shrimp are what i am thinking about at the moment. But this is only a first thoughts list and will depend on what i can find from the lfs, i am going to look at another lfs next week that is close to my work and will see what they stock. I do like the look of pencilfish but my closest lfs didn't have any, maybe this other one will.
What are peoples experience of online fish purchasing? I am talking uk suppliers.
@Byron i am definitely getting a floating plant, will get some ordered tomorrow, thinking of going for frogbit, your thoughts?

 

[Naughts]

What are peoples experience of online fish purchasing? I am talking uk suppliers.

Because couriers have to be licenced (there are very few) to ship fish, the postage is around £30. Doing a planted cycle, you would be advised to add one group of fish at a time, maybe every 2 weeks, so this is going to become expensive.
That said, I like these:

SWEET KNOWLE AQUATICS ONLINE SHOP

Welcome to the Sweet Knowle Aquatics Online shop. ______________________________________________ We are a family owned and family run business situated just outside Stratford-upon-Avon in the beautiful Warwickshire countryside. We are dedicated to providing top class fish and plants which has...

shop.sweetknowleaquatics.co.uk

 

[TofferMora]

Ah right thats a no go then. Will stick to lfs. Thanks

 

[Essjay]

A lot of LFS will order fish in for you if they don't normally stock it. if you want something you can't find locally it is worth asking. The worst they can do is say no

 

[Byron]

Well so far i have a list of lemon/ black neon/ and rummynose tetra. Harlequin and blue line rasbora, and then some Oto's and cherry shrimp are what i am thinking about at the moment. But this is only a first thoughts list and will depend on what i can find from the lfs, i am going to look at another lfs next week that is close to my work and will see what they stock. I do like the look of pencilfish but my closest lfs didn't have any, maybe this other one will.
What are peoples experience of online fish purchasing? I am talking uk suppliers.
@Byron i am definitely getting a floating plant, will get some ordered tomorrow, thinking of going for frogbit, your thoughts?

Tropical Frogbit is a lovely surface plant (I said "tropical" because there are two temperate species that look identical in leaf form but don't hold-up as well in tropical temperature tanks). Water Sprite (Certopteris cornuta) is my favourite though, and another floater is Water Lettuce which did better for me in the outdoor pond in summer than the plants in my tanks, but I still have a few after a decade.

Pencilfish can be difficult to find, depending where you are. One species I would not recommend is the one most often seen (at least here, two or three stores have it continually), Nannostomus beckfordi (these fish go under various "common" names, always check the scientific name). The males are especially territorial, and they will fin nip any fish that gets in their way, including their own. Good peaceful pencilfish include Nannostomus eques, N. marginatus, N. mortenthaleri, N. rubrocaudatus, N. diagramus, and N. espei. Look these up in Seriously Fish for data and photos. Over the years I have had all of these and a couple others.

Knowledge Base — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

 

[TofferMora]

Ok thanks for the information

 

[TofferMora]

Ordered some Frogbit this morning and also ordered Hygrophila polysperma to boost my plants a bit more.

 

[TofferMora]

Coming along nicely

 

[Byron]

It is difficult to be certain from the photo in the above post, but I think there may be the start of problem algae (black brush algae, which has more than one form), on the leaves of the crypts. A close-up photo of these plants would help confirm/refute this; in new tanks, algae can be an issue as the biological system is not settled and algae is always able to take advantage. I know we've discussed floating plants, and I know they are intended, but here again, having the surface all but covered with floaters now would be one way to avoid problem algae. Another is the duration of the tank light, which I could not find in this thread. Reducing the tank light period each day might help. As the plants get more extensive, they will use more of the nutrients and light, but at this initial stage it can be tricky.

 

[TofferMora]

@Byron what do you think? Definitely some kind of algae.

I do have some surface plants but as I only got them a few days ago, they haven't had a chance to expand yet.

I will reduce the lights time and hope that helps it settle down.

 

[Byron]

Ys, that is black brush algae. You need to thwart that fast. The floating plants will help, but they will take a few weeks to settle and spread. For now...what is the duration of the tank light each day, and is it on a timer so it is consistent?

Are you using any plant additives/fertilizers?

 

[TofferMora]

It's on a timer, 8 hrs a day, just reduced it to 6, is that enough? No added fertilizers/ additives

 

[Byron]

It's on a timer, 8 hrs a day, just reduced it to 6, is that enough? No added fertilizers/ additives

Six hours with good cover from floaters would be OK, you might want to go down to five for now.

The floating plants are fast growing, and that means bright light to drive photosynthesis (no problem here, and usually not an issue with the plants right under any light source) and sufficient nutrients. Nutrients with no fish in the tank will be very low. I always use a comprehensive supplement in my tanks with no fish; I have a quarantine tank for new fish that permanently runs but without fish the plants barely hang on, so fert is necessary. Of course, this may feed the algae too, but I would suggest a liquid complete fertilizer. You are in the UK, so have a look for The Nutrient Company's TNC Lite. They also have TNC Complete, but this has nitrates and phosphates that should never be added when fish are present and being fed.

What fish are you planning on getting now? My thinking here is to add some fish for a supply of ammonia, this would likely get the Frogbit growing quickly.

 

[TofferMora]

I wanted some kind of Tetra, some Rasbora and eventually some Otos and shrimp when it has established more. Which would you go for first?

 

[Byron]

I wanted some kind of Tetra, some Rasbora and eventually some Otos and shrimp when it has established more. Which would you go for first?

Certainly not the otos, they may die quickly if introduced to an immature system as they have no food, which is common green algae or diatoms. They will not touch brush algae, or any "problem" algae, something applicable to almost every "algae eating" fish.

Tetrs might be best, but which species? And rasbora species?