Stocking Ideas?

[puffer duffer]

hello,im a newbie on here but have kept tropical fish for about 10 years....now my mum has got the fish bug and has gone out and got a 54ltr tank and fluval u2 filter,as i have the same tank and recommended a better filter than the one which comes with it (naming no names) shes nearly finished her fishless cycle (qualifiyng week she hopes!)and shes wants either a pet fish ie 1 intereting fish or a pair of fish,shes not into small schools.........any ideas thanks

 

[bricko]

hello,im a newbie on here but have kept tropical fish for about 10 years....now my mum has got the fish bug and has gone out and got a 54ltr tank and fluval u2 filter,as i have the same tank and recommended a better filter than the one which comes with it (naming no names) shes nearly finished her fishless cycle (qualifiyng week she hopes!)and shes wants either a pet fish ie 1 intereting fish or a pair of fish,shes not into small schools.........any ideas thanks

Have you thought about a pair or trio of Apistogramma cacatoides 1m 2 f ratio? Very pretty fish particularly the male.

 

[Assaye]

Puffers! What about 3 dwarf puffers?

What kind of fishless cycle are you doing?

 

[drobbyb]

The tank is roughly 14 gallons. How about a pair of dwarf gouramis?

 

[puffer duffer]

hi,to bricko i will look those up,i have no idea what they are ....assaye dwarf puffers is what i have in my tank and mums not impressed she says it looks like i have no fish in there lol,cycle done with ammonia added when it goes down....drobbyb i will suggest that to her but i think she wants more unuasual fish...bricko have just looked them up i think u could be on to a winner there.

 

[jennybugs]

Puffers! What about 3 dwarf puffers?

Seconded

 

[drobbyb]

That's a tough one. Apistogramma agassizii double red?

Pic.

 

[Assaye]

Hmmm. pH and KH/GH? If low enough, what about a pair of blue rams? Need well planted, acidic, soft water. Not for the faint hearted.

Newts? Odd one and not fish, but undeniably awesome. I have five fire bellied newts and they ROCK. You'd need to make some dry land for them though, and they are NOT tropical (need pretty cold water - 15 C is a good guide).

Sorority of female bettas? Could have 7 in that tank. Fun, FUN fish. My girls are just so great.

Erm.

OMG, duh! Shelldwelling cichlids! Neolamprologus Multifasciatus. Need sand, rocks and shed loads of large shells, but they are brilliant. Can't wait to get a tank set up for some.

 

[puffer duffer]

jennybugs..as im very new to puffers can i ask what should i do if they dont eat? i have 3 dwarf puffers in a 54ltr tank is that about right? 2 of them 1 male (got wrinkles)and 1 female seem to b doing fine eating the tiny little things jumping about in the gravel i have no idea what they are there white and very very small kinda look like the shape of a lamp bulb? but they wont eat any food i give them ive tried blood worms,brine shrimp with garlic and im now soaking some bloodworms in some water with a bit of garlic,is this safe?also the third puffer doesnt seem to be eating anything,she just stays on the bottom and doesnt move much compaired to the other 2 also her belly is concave instead of round like the others..any advice?should i get some wormer plus?im a bit reluctant as tank is cycled but still very young,does wormer plus harm filter bacteria? thanks
so back to the original topic,female fighters could be good but wheni had three girls together one was a complete mare and stressed the other two out,mare as shes named is also the only one left going on 3 years now and moved into community tank and shes still the boss! even the angel hides when shes about lol and shell dwellers i secound are amazing fish,it was between puffers and shellys for me but the puffers just had the edge (there just sooo cute!)but for my mum there not flashy enough apparently (parents hey,who'd have em)..newts to scary lol she doesnt like lizards and snakes so to similar for her blue rams out really we have hard water and ph 7.4 so its between the fighters and apistogramma?

nice pic by the way,they are pretty little fish

 

[puffer duffer]

jennybug how do you feed your puffers without it making a complete mess?

 

[jennybugs]

Wormer plus is apparently beneficial to filter bacteria. I do know it doesn't harm the filters at all from personal experience and I wouldn't use it if it did. The quiet puff with the sunken belly...does its belly seem to grow big when eating then sink in rapidly afterwards? If so then worm the tank as it won't harm the other two when using wormer plus. Just make sure you don't have snails in the tank (or shrimp) as it will most likely kill them.

How planted up is the tank? Are you testing daily for parameters seeing as the tank is nelwy cycled? The wormer plus won't harm a new or old tank. Puffers are very sensitive to anything but perfect water conditions.

I feed my puffs on live (and frozen) bloodworms. They also get vitamin enriched brine shrimp and mysis shrimps and snails the same size as their eyes. Snails like ramshorn and pond (bladder) snails are suitable and to be about the same size as their eyes if they are going to have any chance of eating them whole. If ou have slightly bigger snails just crush them lightly between your fingers.

Your tank size is fine for 3, but no more. An oversized filter is necessary for puffs as is a large weekly water change

The key to feeding without making a mess is not to overfeed. Rinse out the frozen food before feeding and use a pipette to feed so you don't put in too much. I don't know what the things are in the substrate are that your puffs are eating.
A worm cone feeder is good for feeding live bloodworm as it keeps them in one place.

 

[puffer duffer]

Wormer plus is apparently beneficial to filter bacteria. I do know it doesn't harm the filters at all from personal experience and I wouldn't use it if it did. The quiet puff with the sunken belly...does its belly seem to grow big when eating then sink in rapidly afterwards? If so then worm the tank as it won't harm the other two when using wormer plus. Just make sure you don't have snails in the tank (or shrimp) as it will most likely kill them.

How planted up is the tank? Are you testing daily for parameters seeing as the tank is nelwy cycled? The wormer plus won't harm a new or old tank. Puffers are very sensitive to anything but perfect water conditions.

I feed my puffs on live (and frozen) bloodworms. They also get vitamin enriched brine shrimp and mysis shrimps and snails the same size as their eyes. Snails like ramshorn and pond (bladder) snails are suitable and to be about the same size as their eyes if they are going to have any chance of eating them whole. If ou have slightly bigger snails just crush them lightly between your fingers.

Your tank size is fine for 3, but no more. An oversized filter is necessary for puffs as is a large weekly water change

The key to feeding without making a mess is not to overfeed. Rinse out the frozen food before feeding and use a pipette to feed so you don't put in too much. I don't know what the things are in the substrate are that your puffs are eating.
A worm cone feeder is good for feeding live bloodworm as it keeps them in one place.

ok i will try to answer everything,yes testing everyday to make sure waters good (all good so far)only had them 3days and havent seen sunken belly one eat at all so dont know if it gets big or not,i have put some small snails in but i have feeling they may be wrong ones?they look like little ice cream cones?planted with cabomba (not sure proper name)fluval u2 filter is this big enough?the next size up just fits in tank,but i mean just there big filters ,i have a cone feeder but cant get any live food until the weekend all my local shops only sell frozen...i will try the pipette idea thanks...any more pearls of wisdom?ive just looked at your tanks and i must say they are all stunning oh edit lol one more question when i get live blood worm how do you keep the rest alive?im guessing there will be alot left.....thanks

 

[sparkycufc]

Sounds like trumpet snails, you will certainly find out if you are over-feeding if they are as the little beggars breed like flies if there's enough for them to eat.

 

[jennybugs]

ok i will try to answer everything,yes testing everyday to make sure waters good (all good so far)only had them 3days and havent seen sunken belly one eat at all so dont know if it gets big or not,i have put some small snails in but i have feeling they may be wrong ones?they look like little ice cream cones?planted with cabomba (not sure proper name)fluval u2 filter is this big enough?the next size up just fits in tank,but i mean just there big filters ,i have a cone feeder but cant get any live food until the weekend all my local shops only sell frozen...i will try the pipette idea thanks...any more pearls of wisdom?ive just looked at your tanks and i must say they are all stunning oh edit lol one more question when i get live blood worm how do you keep the rest alive?im guessing there will be alot left.....thanks

Get the trumpet snails out of the tank as soon as you can as they are not suitable for small puffers to crunch up...even my figure 8 puffers can't crush those shells. They breed like crazy and you'll find them easier to spot at night as they are nocturnal.

See if you can get a second smaller filter in the tank too rather than one larger one. You really do need to filter well with these fish.

I buy my bags of bloodworms and keep them in a sealed jar in the fridge. They'll last up to a week like that before going bad.

If your quiet puffer isn't eating and has a sunken belly it could be IPs or it could be that it just needs food in it's tummy to make it full. I would be inclined to try the wormer plus personally, though.

Any full tank shots for us?

 

[puffer duffer]

ok will try to get the trumpets out and i will try to get some full tank pics soon,no room for another filter really as it has lots of fake coral in there (4 year olds sons tank really so let him choose ornaments)but its in my room so i can keep an eye on it and so theres no mishaps when his friends come over is it a must to get another filter?if so i will have to remove some ornaments i will get wormer plus and treat the tank,what filters do you use i went through a few before i found one that was quiet enough for the other half as its in the bedroom..thanks for help