Welcome To The Community, Little Guys!

[mislisa]

Well, after much debate, I broke down and bought myself some new fish... Earlier in the week I increased my harlequins from 6 to 15, I added 5 more kuhli loaches (I definitely see more of them now) and yesterday I brought home an albino bristle-nose pleco. I had considered the golden nugget that they had there, but 1) i believe they get too big for my tank, and 2) I'm not paying $89.00 for a single tiny fish, gorgeous as it may be.


I still can't get over how tiny the bristle-nose is... every time i see it, i go "OMG, you're so tiny!!!"




He (she?) eats like a maniac though, as he's only been in there ~24 hours and has already cleaned up most of the algae on the glass and fake skull.

The new harlequins are doing well, although they look tiny compared to the 6 adults that i already had.

there is one there though, that seems a bit different, with a pretty orange line on top of it's black patch... not sure what's going on with that one...

one of my kuhlis came out as i was taking pictures, and hung out with my rams.


I know the rams aren't 100% happy, and I have been trying to make things better for them, but i may have to re-home them... any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

I also got 3 free endler guppy fry with the kuhlis, but as one has been eaten (as far as i can tell, i can only see 2 now) I'm not sure if the others will survive, or if i even want them to... I just hop e they're both the same sex.


anyway, sorry for the long post, but I'm super excited about my new fish and needed to share. Any thoughts on my tank would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Tory]

Meh, dont apologise! Ive got a tank of about 12 6 month old Albino bristlenoses, and I love them - I keep wondering about rehoming them, I already have their beautiful parents in my community, but I always feel a twinge when I think about getting rid! Even though theyre so small, theyre big characters already and can already see ive got one massive male in the bunch! I had my two originally for a really bad algae problem, I couldnt see through the glass - even though they were small, they made light work of the mess, I was awestruck at how quickly they work! I need to up my numbers of Khuli, I love them - I was watching mine eating tonight, they like yours were just hanging about some other fish munching away...they seem more reptilian the bigger they get! I always get excited about my new fish

Your tank looks lovely by the way

 

[mislisa]

Thanks! I'd love to try breeding them... but that'll have to wait until i can get a tank especially for them. sadly, I only have room for the one tank right now... I can't wait until i can get more!!!


I'd also appreciate any and all suggestions/thoughts on the stock. I feel as though i'm reaching the stock limit, but would like to hear opinions on possibly adding some silver hatchets to the tank. I may try a few more cardinals as well, if i see any in the store... i feel bad for the 4 that are left, but i've had bad luck with them so far.

Please, let me know what you think!!

 

[creeker]

You already know my feelings about the hatchets. They would fill that bare area at the very top of your tank.

 

[mislisa]

You already know my feelings about the hatchets. They would fill that bare area at the very top of your tank.

I'd like to thank you for the idea... i'd never thought of having hatchets, but I believe they will fit in well. I'm just a little concerned that it may seem a bit full if i add them. I'm also trying to decide on how many.....

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The harlequin that has the bright orange line... does it look like this:

If so, then it is a Hengel rasbora and not a true harlequin. Also it will stay a bit smaller than the adult harlequins.


The harlequins are Trigonostigma heteromorpha, and the Hengel rasboras are T. hengeli. They are very similar but distinct species. The T. hengeli will probably shoal together with the T. heteromorpha if there are no others in the tank.

 

[mislisa]

The harlequin that has the bright orange line... does it look like this:

If so, then it is a "porkchop" rasbora and not a true harlequin. Also it will stay a bit smaller than the adult harlequins.

yes, that's it!

Will it be ok with the rest? my lfs has good stock, but the girls working there don't know much... she thought it was just older than the others i thought it might have been a color mutation or something.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

it should be fine... Probably just got mixed in with the harlequins by mistake - they do look very similar and with the youth the size difference isn't even noticeable. I don't think it would be a problem to have them together. The little guy would probably appreciate some of his own specie, but I think he'll shoal nicely with the harlequins. If you can find more of them, they are small, adding another 5 to your tank shouldn't be a huge deal. Although, I'm not sure how big your tank is, nor how many fish you already have in there. From the look in the picture, a few extra T. hengeli should be fine.

 

[mislisa]

great, i'll definitely keep my eye out for them. I only have the one decent lfs as far as i know (i'm new to this area, and the other one had most of their fish covered in ick last time i checked) so i'm not sure when/if they'll ever get more. it seems to like my harlequins though, so that's good.

 

[mislisa]

I'd also appreciate it if any one had any other ideas, besides the hatchets. is there something else that would be ok at the top? a couple of gouramis maybe? I just want to keep my options open. I won't be adding anything until february anyway, as i'm going to be moving again, and would like to be settled before i add any more. I really should have waited for the pleco and harlequins, but i just couldn't resist!

 

[gatorsean]

celebes halfbeaks might be ok. im not sure how they get along with fish the size of harlequin rasboras though. a couple floating plants could help too and make whatever surface dwellers you get more comfortable.

 

[trianglekitty]

The harlequin that has the bright orange line... does it look like this:

If so, then it is a "porkchop" rasbora and not a true harlequin. Also it will stay a bit smaller than the adult harlequins.

yes, that's it!

Will it be ok with the rest? my lfs has good stock, but the girls working there don't know much... she thought it was just older than the others i thought it might have been a color mutation or something.

I have five of these guys, and they're my favorite fish....just gorgeous. My LFS carries them under the name 'glowlite rasbora'

 

[mislisa]

wow... those are neat!!! I've never even heard of them before. I have found a couple of sites that say rasboras are ok tank mates. i'll keep them in mind when i'm deciding. The only draw back is that they're livebearers... I guess i could always sell any fry i get though.

Any other interesting ideas? I'm always interested in the opinions of others.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Another idea for top dwellers is MALE guppies. They will go all over the tank, even eating food directly off the substrate, but they stay mostly to the top 1/3. If you get all males, there is no concern about fry.