Things this forum has taught you

[PhantomCarp]

For awhile I actually believed the "betta are fine in jars because they live in small mud puddles thing" lol

I heard that to from my brother who had a big nice planted tank at the time, what the heck man.

 

[utahfish]

That my LFS is the worst

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

That my LFS is the worst

Can't be as bad as @AilyNC 's store, can it? They sold her two gold spot common plecos as bristlenose, for a 15 gallon tank... and told her not to do too many large water changes while cycling and getting high ammonia. And didn't want her to add an anubius to her tank because it might kill her fish... a complete loon! Would love to hear how crazy yours is!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

For awhile I actually believed the "betta are fine in jars because they live in small mud puddles thing" lol

That is a big one in the hobby...

They only live in small pockets of water/mud during the dry season. But in the rainy season (which is usual in the Great Basin Area) they have huge areas to patrol/swim in.

(You probably already knew that, I was just throwing that out. )

 

[utahfish]

Can't be as bad as @AilyNC 's store, can it? They sold her two gold spot common plecos as bristlenose, for a 15 gallon tank... and told her not to do too many large water changes while cycling and getting high ammonia. And didn't want her to add an anubius to her tank because it might kill her fish... a complete loon! Would love to hear how crazy yours is!

I dont talk to them, thats if theyre actually around the store, most the time i think theyre in the back cooking meth.
All the tanks are covered in algae and all the fish have ich. Its just a bad looking store run by a bunch of tweekers
The next closest fish store other than Big box pets stores is about a half n hour away. Its a lot cleaner and the guy seems to know a lot more but the selection is pretty limited as he only has about 25 tanks half id say which are african cichlids which is fine if one is into African Cichlids.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I dont talk to them, thats if theyre actually around the store, most the time i think theyre in the back cooking meth.
All the tanks are covered in algae and all the fish have ich. Its just a bad looking store run by a bunch of tweekers
The next closest fish store other than Big box pets stores is about a half n hour away. Its a lot cleaner and the guy seems to know a lot more but the selection is pretty limited as he only has about 25 tanks half id say which are african cichlids which is fine if one is into African Cichlids.

Oh man, that sucks to not have a good LFS nearby Or not to have much to choose from at the one that's decent. Do you wind up having to source most of your fish online? I like the look of a nicely done cichlid tank, but they're not for me, so I'd probably end up getting most online.

 

[utahfish]

Oh man, that sucks to not have a good LFS nearby Or not to have much to choose from at the one that's decent. Do you wind up having to source most of your fish online? I like the look of a nicely done cichlid tank, but they're not for me, so I'd probably end up getting most online.

I get my fish from Petsmart which is meh because their selection sucks. I have neons and glo lights and 1 bolivian RAM i got from meth fish store. He got ich a day later hes good now i feel like i got him out of a bad situation ive never bought fish on line i just cant justify the shipping costs. The other LFS said he could order some fish for me though. Im currently pretty well stocked so no rush. I buy all my plants on line shipping costs are usually free or pretty inexpensive. I just miss being able to go into a nice well maintained fish store that has more than neons mollies and gold fish

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I get my fish from Petsmart which is meh because their selection sucks. I have neons and glo lights and 1 bolivian RAM i got from meth fish store. He got ich a day later hes good now i feel like i got him out of a bad situation ive never bought fish on line i just cant justify the shipping costs. The other LFS said he could order some fish for me though. Im currently pretty well stocked so no rush. I buy all my plants on line shipping costs are usually free or pretty inexpensive. I just miss being able to go into a nice well maintained fish store that has more than neons mollies and gold fish

I'd miss it too, I spent an hour last time I went to LFS browsing and choosing what I wanted, just 'cos he had so many new things in, it was great. Not to rub your nose in or anything... I know that I'm fortunate to have a decent one nearby. I'd buy from petsmart too in your situation, shipping is a lot. I avoid big box stores where I can, but depending on where you live, that's not always possible. And it's always nice to be able to see and pick out your fish in person and check for obvious disease and things. At least ich is pretty easily treatable, your ram is lucky you got him

 

[Retired Viking]

@utahfish I know what you mean since C-19 my LFS and Petco both have not had a great selection of fish and the nearest petsmart is an hour away and they had more empty tanks than tanks with any fish in them the last time I drove there. My LFS had a small order of anacharis come in last week and it was gone in a few days, They hardly have any plants again. My LFS had a couple of empty tanks and plenty of guppies but not a lot of fish in each tank. I wanted to buy some ember tetras and maybe start a tank just for them but they are hard to find here and many of the fish are now getting expensive compared to last year.

 

[AilyNC]

Kind of related kind of tangent but I fear another new thread from me will trigger a automatic spam block

But is there somewhere on the forum that condenses all the info about stocking? As in one place I can go to learn how best to stock my tank (looking at upgrade to bigger size).

 

[Essjay]

No there isn't. Stocking depends on so many variables that it's impossible to cover every single eventuality - and impossible to build an accurate "stocking calculator" that you see on a couple of sites.
The best way to stock a tank is by research. Go to the shop (except that one) and look at what they sell and make a note of what you like. Then look them up on Seriously Fish. Look at the tank size they need, the type of water they need, the temperature they need, any comments about compatibility. Draw up a list and post it on here. Between all the members, we'll be able to spot if there's an issue with the list.


And don't worry, a new thread about a proposed stocking list won't get you banned for spam

 

[AilyNC]

No there isn't. Stocking depends on so many variables that it's impossible to cover every single eventuality - and impossible to build an accurate "stocking calculator" that you see on a couple of sites.
The best way to stock a tank is by research. Go to the shop (except that one) and look at what they sell and make a note of what you like. Then look them up on Seriously Fish. Look at the tank size they need, the type of water they need, the temperature they need, any comments about compatibility. Draw up a list and post it on here. Between all the members, we'll be able to spot if there's an issue with the list.


And don't worry, a new thread about a proposed stocking list won't get you banned for spam

Thank you.

I'll start with looking into what suited to my tap water PH, GH & KH and the size of tank I've space for. Then get my list together. It's a while off but I wanna plan it right. This time.

cheers