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New Member
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Last Login: 12/20/2008 10:09:14 AM
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| I haven't been on in a while, so i thought i'd tell you all that the water is stable and we plan on getting new fish. I'm afraid all the angels died, but now we can do something else. We have a pet store that can take the algae eater and the tetras back and if we do that we'll set up an African Cichilid tank (with a tough catfish like a Raphael or one of the Syndontis). I found a deal on some small Mbuna Cichilids that i think is good. You can get them for 4 dollars each. If we stick with the fish we got though, then we'll probably going to get some Cories and a dwarf pleco. Either way, i need to know how to set up the tank to prepare for new fish.
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Junior Member
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| I'm glad to hear that your tank is stable and all the inhabitants are happy. What happened to the tank originally that you think you need to do something special for any new fish? Is your tap water hard/soft, pH acid or alkaline? That should help you decide on the type of fish you house. For example, why try to house tetras when your water has a high pH, you'll constantly be conditioning the water. See my point?
--Fisher
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| our water trouble was acutally ammonia and nitrates. But the angels were the only ones that had problems.
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Senior Member
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| Actually, most fish in the hobby these days are very good at acclimating to different water values. For instance, tetras "back in the day" had to be kept in acid water with low hardness, but nowadays, they're mostly bred in captivity. They can adjust to many pH values because the specialization for certain water types has, in effect, been bred out of them. Same with a lot of cichlids from harder waters; they can adapt to a tank with less mineral content. This is a real boon for hobbyists, because we don't have to do as much hassling with our water quality, using dangerous chemicals in an attempt to adjust the chemistry. There are always going to be some fish that as yet can't handle the adjustment, like discus and most cardinal tetras, but we can be thankful that the majority are very "adjustable" fish. Hopefully the next go at fish will be better. Remember to keep the tank cycled and add new fish slowly to avoid ammonia spikes, and you'll do fine! Good luck! 
In the Mountains Of the Mountains For the Mountains
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| If you're going to make the african cichlid aquarium (by the way, the synodontis would probably go better with african cichlids than the raphael would), use lots of larger rocks in the aquarium. Make some caves that are big enough for the fish to swim in and take shelter in. Pile rocks on top of each other, and make sure that there are enough caves for each pair or two of fish. Fish without caves will probably use crevices in the rocks to hide or to spawn in if they pair up. If you're going to make the aquarium with the dwarf pleco and cories, make sure you have at least 4 cories (you're supposed to have 6, but in one of my old aquariums, I had 2 and they seemed fine). I believe you can have various species of cories and they will still school with one another. As for the dwarf pleco, I would recommend keeping one of the following species: tiger pleco (4"), king tiger pleco (4"), gold nugget pleco (not really a dwarf because it reaches 6"-8"), snowball pleco (6"), clown pleco (3"), or rubbernose/bulldog pleco (various species ranging from 3"-5"). Also, you could keep a pair of bristlenose/bushynose plecos (4" each), because the sexes are easy to distinguish and a male and female will sometimes form a pair and spawn.
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38 gallon freshwater: 4 red & blue columbian tetras, 1 otocinclus, 1 clown loach, 1 BN plec, 1 clown plec, 1 whiptail cat, 1 silver zebra angel, 1 spanish swordtail
30 gallon saltwater: 1 coral beauty angel, 1 clarkii clown, 1 banded coral shrimp, 1 gray serpent star, about 20 dragon eye zoas, 2 green rhodactis mushrooms, 3 red rhodactis mushrooms, 3 purple and green ricordea mushrooms, 2 peppermint shrimp, 1 sailfin blenny, 1 south seas devil damselfish
10 gallon Long Island Sound native biotope: 1 purple grapsid shore crab, 20 vosnesky's isopods, 8 grass shrimp, 4 long wrist hermit crabs, 3 spider crabs, 1 baby northern pipefish, about 5 different kinds of macroalgae that i found and replanted in the tank
Check out my pleco guide here: http://board.fishchannel.com/Topic165549-5-1.aspx
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'bout the cories, their schooling behavior depends on the species and the individual. If you get cories that are different species but look similar to each other, they will often school together. But at the same time, I have three julii cories in my tank and two (bought together) tend to exclude the third (bought a couple weeks later). I guess they just don't want him in their club.  From what I gather, the current consensus on cories is that they aren't a "tight-schooling" fish the way some fish, like neons, tend to be, so having fewer of them is an option. They should still have groups, but a little collection of 3+ is regarded as enough to keep 'em happy. And sometimes they get by just fine alone, but it's always better to cater to their need and get more for them just in case.
In the Mountains Of the Mountains For the Mountains
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New Member
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| we may have a probelm, my mom bought 6 serpae tetras and 2 cories (one striped, the other a leopard, but the same colors) today. We now have 6 Serpae Tetras, 4 Black Skirt Tetras, 2 Cories and a CAE (which may become aggressive) Did we just add too many fish at once?
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| Well, they aren't gigantic fish, so I think it would be okay. Just check the water for ammonia for the next couple of days to make sure that your filter copes with it, but I think it should handle it just fine. Make sure that the cories school with each other, too. Different cory species refuse to school, putting you in the same situation you'd be in if you only had one. They may look similar to us, but the cories can tell the difference between species very well, and may exclude others not like them (depends on the cory). So keep an eye on the two of them to ensure they're schooling, and if they're not, look into replacing one with a couple of same-species fish.
In the Mountains Of the Mountains For the Mountains
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New Member
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| i'll try and get you a picture of them, not only do they hang with each other, they hang with Al the CAE to for some reason.
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