Today's a new day.

[Colin_T]

Don't buy cabinets from a pet shop, they are a waste of money. They are usually made from particle board or MDF and both types of "wood" fall apart when they get wet. Find someone who can build you a metal stand and get them to make a double tier stand and it will be cheaper, stronger and last longer.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Don't buy cabinets from a pet shop, they are a waste of money. They are usually made from particle board or MDF and both types of "wood" fall apart when they get wet. Find someone who can build you a metal stand and get them to make a double tier stand and it will be cheaper, stronger and last longer.

Good idea.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Today's Tuesday, the final day of school holidays. Fed the tetras now. I am not a woodwork person, but I have built some stuff during school a few years ago. I was thinking of getting an Exo Terra stand for the 45cm cube tank, but I realised that they are either made of particle board or MDF. I can try and find somebody in my area that can build a double, tall cube aquarium stand that can accommodate both a 45cm cube 90L aquarium and a 40cm cube or smaller.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Waiting patiently for the tank project to begin. I can try owning North American native fish, but the flagfish is the only North American fish commonly available in LFS's in Australia.

 

[elephantnose3334]

I believe flagfish need at least 20 gallon long tank rectangular. A 29 gal would be even better. Bigger tank = more fish.

Yes. I agree with you. I sent you a PM message on how to setup your flagfish tank. 54 litres is the minimum according to Seriously Fish.

 

[elephantnose3334]

The forum has been helpful to me as always. The tetras are doing okay currently.

A question for @Colin_T:

How did your fish respond to you when you feed them, compared to other people? Fish intelligence must be understood more. And how many species of freshwater fish you kept?

 

[Colin_T]

I have kept most fresh and salt water aquarium fish that have been in Australia.

My fish knew me as the food guy and would take food from me without any issues. In my last house I had a couple of tanks in the loungeroom and the fish could see my bedroom door from where they were. When I opened my door they would all swim to the side of the tank closest to my door. As I walked past the tanks they would swim along next to me waiting for food. When other people walked past the fish ignored the people and kept doing whatever they were doing. Same deal when other people came out of my room, the fish just ignored them.

In 1997 I went to Geraldton to study aquaculture. Before I left I asked one of my sisters to feed my fish for me. I took her into the fish room and showed her how to feed them. I got her to feed them each day for a week before I left (I was with her when she was doing this). A few months later I came back from Geraldton and there were no plants or algae left in the tanks and the fish were right up at the front glass begging for food. I fed them and later on had a chat to my sister to see how things went. It turned out she tried feeding them for the first few days but the fish wouldn't eat anything she offered them, so she stopped feeding them. The fish went without food for 2 months. Fortunately I had a lot of aquatic plants in the tanks before I left and there was algae on the glass. The fish were also well fed before I left and they lived off their fat reserves and the plants and algae in the tank. But they were definitely hungry when I got back. I lost about 30 fish from that and they were either babies or specialised feeders (nightfish). All the other fishes were fine, just hungry and happy to see me.

I'm pretty sure there's a thread on here somewhere about fish intelligence.

 

[elephantnose3334]

I have kept most fresh and salt water aquarium fish that have been in Australia.

My fish knew me as the food guy and would take food from me without any issues. In my last house I had a couple of tanks in the loungeroom and the fish could see my bedroom door from where they were. When I opened my door they would all swim to the side of the tank closest to my door. As I walked past the tanks they would swim along next to me waiting for food. When other people walked past the fish ignored the people and kept doing whatever they were doing. Same deal when other people came out of my room, the fish just ignored them.

In 1997 I went to Geraldton to study aquaculture. Before I left I asked one of my sisters to feed my fish for me. I took her into the fish room and showed her how to feed them. I got her to feed them each day for a week before I left (I was with her when she was doing this). A few months later I came back from Geraldton and there were no plants or algae left in the tanks and the fish were right up at the front glass begging for food. I fed them and later on had a chat to my sister to see how things went. It turned out she tried feeding them for the first few days but the fish wouldn't eat anything she offered them, so she stopped feeding them. The fish went without food for 2 months. Fortunately I had a lot of aquatic plants in the tanks before I left and there was algae on the glass. The fish were also well fed before I left and they lived off their fat reserves and the plants and algae in the tank. But they were definitely hungry when I got back. I lost about 30 fish from that and they were either babies or specialised feeders (nightfish). All the other fishes were fine, just hungry and happy to see me.

I'm pretty sure there's a thread on here somewhere about fish intelligence.

That's incredible that your fish knew you. Another question: At the LFS I regularly go to, the gold barbs on one of the tanks mistakes me as the food guy and they follow me in the tank. I am not the food guy or don't work at the store but the fish really wanted me to feed them. Do fish mistake some customers as food people? Yeah, I know there's a thread about intelligence.

 

[Colin_T]

Most fish in pet shops see people all day every day and will generally take food from anyone. Once the fish have been at your house for a few months, and are only being fed by you, then you become the food guy/ girl and they look to you for food. Everyone else is usually ignored because they don't feed the fish.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Priced out the remaining stuff I need for the Orinoco 45cm cube project. Coontail cost $1 per 30cm and dwarf sagittaria $7.50. The project is ready to go once I calculated everything.

 

[Essjay]

54 litres is the minimum according to Seriously Fish.

Seriously Fish actually says
An aquarium with base dimensions of 60 ∗ 30 cm or equivalent is just about acceptable for a single pair but like most members of the family Cyprinodontidae this species does best when maintained as a group in a larger tank or container.

The 54 litres is in the orange-brown box, and those are ads by Amazon. Never look at the data in the orange-brown boxes, only look at the black text on a white background, which is Seriously Fish's text rather than Amazon's.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Seriously Fish actually says
An aquarium with base dimensions of 60 ∗ 30 cm or equivalent is just about acceptable for a single pair but like most members of the family Cyprinodontidae this species does best when maintained as a group in a larger tank or container.

The 54 litres is in the orange-brown box, and those are ads by Amazon. Never look at the data in the orange-brown boxes, only look at the black text on a white background, which is Seriously Fish's text rather than Amazon's.

Oh, I see. I was thinking of a 40cm (64L) cube but you're right about it... I thought Seriously Fish gives us the tank size in litres.

 

[Essjay]

Seriously Fish almost always gives tank sizes in terms of the footprint not the volume. Swimming length is more important than volume.
A tall narrow tank cannot be stocked with the same fish as a shallow long tank of the same volume. The tall narrow tank needs either tiny fish or fish that don't swim around much; the shallow long tank can be stocked with larger fish, and fish which swim fast. That's whyJuiceBox commented recently that cube tanks are more difficult to stock than rectangular tanks as for the same volume cube tanks have less swimming length.

Cube Is cool for looks, and great for shrimp and snail tanks but MUCH less ideal for fishkeeping, and drastically limits options for what kinds of fish you can (or, rather, should) keep

 

[elephantnose3334]

Seriously Fish almost always gives tank sizes in terms of the footprint not the volume. Swimming length is more important than volume.
A tall narrow tank cannot be stocked with the same fish as a shallow long tank of the same volume. The tall narrow tank needs either tiny fish or fish that don't swim around much; the shallow long tank can be stocked with larger fish, and fish which swim fast. That's whyJuiceBox commented recently that cube tanks are more difficult to stock than rectangular tanks as for the same volume cube tanks have less swimming length.

Ah! I get it now. Juice is right, however I like cube tanks because they usually are easier to carry when empty.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

What is more important, the comfort and wellbeing of the fish or your being able to lift a tank?