[abdriver2000]

Sorry about not posting any updates from my side. Been in bed for most of the weekend due to bodyache. Will attempt to get my aquarium project started next weekend. Learnt a lot of new things on IAH and still reading. It's as addictive as TBHP

[_raVan_]

Originally Posted by nitin_80

Now we have 4 tin foils, 3 parrots, 2 kissing gouramis, 2 sharks, 2 cichlids, 3 suckers, 2 dolphin fishes, 2 angels (cant recollect the type but they are aggressive), 1 oscar, 2 pakku pirranhas. All of them are semi aggressive breeds and seem to be gelling along well.

Wow, thats quite a collection. Along with the turtle tank, do post THIS tank's pics too! And by Pakku Piranhas, you mean Pacu. It tends to reach humongous size and weights.

Few things that we have learnt in the last 3 years of maintaining this 700 litre tank -

• Fish waste tends to accumulate underneath the stones and gravel. Even if it is not noticeable remove it from the tank as they release nitrates and phosphates which can be harmful.

How do we clean the wastes from beneath the stones and gravel? Earlier I used to empty out the tank and clean it, but many experts discouraged it. Please do give tips on it.

[avimal]

Originally Posted by _raVan_

How do we clean the wastes from beneath the stones and gravel? Earlier I used to empty out the tank and clean it, but many experts discouraged it. Please do give tips on it.

I use plastic suction pipe ( you can get it easily from local shop). Keep the one end of it at the bottom , near stones/ gravel. Stir it to unsettle the wastes. This is much easier and less stressful for fishes.

[_raVan_]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

By "tiger shark" do you mean Iridescent shark or Bala shark? Both of them grow to quite huge sizes. In fact, all of the fish you have right now will grow to enormous proportions in a while. Which gouramis do you have by the way?

Its the Iridescent Shark. I had the three spotted Gourami and currently, I have a white one. The sharks are very playful and its fun to watch them swim. Koi remains at the back and swims along with the backdrop wallpaper. It never comes to the front. I know they will outgrow the tank soon. Will have to think on further course of action.

Originally Posted by avimal

I use plastic suction pipe ( you can get it easily from local shop). Keep the one end of it at the bottom , near stones/ gravel. Stir it to unsettle the wastes. This is much easier and less stressful for fishes.

I am doing that currently, but is that enough? I know that the wastes under the gravel accumulates to a higher level than what is sucked out. I am afraid of moving the gravel, as it will release the wastes back into water polluting that area badly. Have experienced it before.

[nitin_80]

Originally Posted by _raVan_

Wow, thats quite a collection. Along with the turtle tank, do post THIS tank's pics too! And by Pakku Piranhas, you mean Pacu. It tends to reach humongous size and weights.

Yes @raVan, pacu ..the aquarium guys have wierd spellings for the fish names.....
Anyway below are some pics of the tanks, bowls and the turtle tank...

[simpleman]

Your dog seems to want to move in with the fish

[Aroy]

That is quite a handful of fish tanks. Fantastic

[_raVan_]

Originally Posted by nitin_80

Yes @raVan, pacu ..the aquarium guys have wierd spellings for the fish names.....
Anyway below are some pics of the tanks, bowls and the turtle tank...

Wow, now thats really impressive! Loved your turtle tank setup, though would have preferred some gravel on the bottom of their swimming area. I know surface oxygen might be enough, but dont you need the air pump for the turtle tank water?

Whats the last pic with the covered potted plant?

[deathwalkr]

@ Nitin: good collection but please consider my advice to you.

1) Your gar looks like a Gator Gar which grows upwards of 6Ft and right now it looks as if it is in a 2x2 tank :( Gars are beautiful fishes to have and for me they are like the barracudas of the fresh water world. get a nice 6x2x2 and exchange your gator gar for a florida gar which will grow upto 2ft only.

2) Your community tank sure is rather assorted. You have African cichlids mixed with South American cichlids. You have brackish water Angels in a fresh water setup. Tin Foils and sharks get rather large and i would advice you to get a nice tank for them. IR Sharks should never be sold in the common hobby in my honest opinion.

3) Nice Chinese Paradise Fish but i would suggest you exchange the bowl for a small rectangular tank. Bowls are not good to keep any fishes.

4) Turtles are nice but i am not much of an expert so no comments. Are they legal?

Cheers

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by _raVan_

Its the Iridescent Shark. I had the three spotted Gourami and currently, I have a white one. The sharks are very playful and its fun to watch them swim. Koi remains at the back and swims along with the backdrop wallpaper. It never comes to the front. I know they will outgrow the tank soon. Will have to think on further course of action.


I am doing that currently, but is that enough? I know that the wastes under the gravel accumulates to a higher level than what is sucked out. I am afraid of moving the gravel, as it will release the wastes back into water polluting that area badly. Have experienced it before.

Ok regarding water change, never ever take your fish out of the tank, remove all the gravel, scrub the tank, wash the gravel, put it all back, refill water and put the fish back in. worst thing to do

You just have to siphon out 50% water on a regular basis depending on the bio-load of your tank and refill water. And of course ensure water is not chlorinated

And before anyone buys a fish, the first question you have to ask is "how big will this fish grow and will i be able to house such a big tank as required for that fish to live comfortably". Do not buy fishes thinking ok now they are small. i will buy a bigger tank when they get big. most of the time it never works.

seeing gars and arowanas in tiny tanks just breaks my heart :(

[nitin_80]

Originally Posted by _raVan_

Wow, now thats really impressive! Loved your turtle tank setup, though would have preferred some gravel on the bottom of their swimming area. I know surface oxygen might be enough, but dont you need the air pump for the turtle tank water?

Whats the last pic with the covered potted plant?

Thanks @raVan, actually I did initially think of putting some gravel but the problem is these turtles deposit a lot of bio waste in the water very very fast, since they are voracious eaters. So cleaning the gravel that often will be a problem. I was thinking of putting those artificial grass beds instead. What they like doing is climbing up that ramp and sunbathing in that basking area made for them.

About the oxygen, turtles dont breathe in water so I dont think an air pump is that necessary, but what is needed is a big filter which I plan on buying sometime this week.

That last pic is actually a guppy bowl. We had put few guppies which have multiplied to more than 40, and the plant is a lotus which has also grown. We have covered it with mesh to stop the crows coming and pecking at it. Its a mini ecosystem inside and really looks nice.

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

@ Nitin: good collection but please consider my advice to you.

1) Your gar looks like a Gator Gar which grows upwards of 6Ft and right now it looks as if it is in a 2x2 tank :( Gars are beautiful fishes to have and for me they are like the barracudas of the fresh water world. get a nice 6x2x2 and exchange your gator gar for a florida gar which will grow upto 2ft only.

2) Your community tank sure is rather assorted. You have African cichlids mixed with South American cichlids. You have brackish water Angels in a fresh water setup. Tin Foils and sharks get rather large and i would advice you to get a nice tank for them. IR Sharks should never be sold in the common hobby in my honest opinion.

3) Nice Chinese Paradise Fish but i would suggest you exchange the bowl for a small rectangular tank. Bowls are not good to keep any fishes.

4) Turtles are nice but i am not much of an expert so no comments. Are they legal?

Cheers

Thanks a lot @deathwalkr for your valuable inputs.

1. Yes, the tank is definitely small for him .We approached a couple of aquariums for taking the gar before this, but forget about exchanging they were not even willing to keep it for free. They have a couple gars the same size as mine, priced at Rs 12000, but no buyers yet. They are making a huge tank for them and have promised to keep mine too in that. Though we have grown fond of him, would keep him there for his own good.

2. About the cichlids, does keeping African and South American together cause any issues? Wouldn't this 700 litre tank be adequate for the tinfoils/ sharks. The size of the tank is 4.5 * 4 * 2 feet.

3. The bowl was more for aesthetic appeal in the living room, do you suggest the bowl is too small? I can get a bigger one if needed. How are fish bowls bad for fishes in comparison to tanks?

4. Well I bought them from a local fish shop, and know quite a few people who keep them. Not sure about the legality though. But conisdering the lack of regulations on buying and selling of such type of pets, they could very well be illegal.

There's a lot to study and learn about keeping such pets and am happy we have this community here.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Please use the "edit" button if posting within 30 minutes of the first post, instead of creating another back-to-back post.

Also use "Multi Quote" option for quoting Multiple posts.

[W.A.G.7]

Hi all,

Its a sad day for me today. Just now I had phone call from home. My favourite cat Lilo expired just now. She was 10.5 years old and was unfortunately suffering from mammary tumour which was malignant. This was expected one day. She was bedridden for the past one week and today she ultimately gave up. She was just too weak to make it.

Though this was expected; and we all knew it; it still feels so sad, no matter how mentally you are prepared for it. She has left a big void which can never be filled by anyone. She was a just like a family member. I guess it will take some time to get over this.

R-I-P Lilo, we will all miss you forever.

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by nitin_80

Thanks a lot @deathwalkr for your valuable inputs.

1. Yes, the tank is definitely small for him .We approached a couple of aquariums for taking the gar before this, but forget about exchanging they were not even willing to keep it for free. They have a couple gars the same size as mine, priced at Rs 12000, but no buyers yet. They are making a huge tank for them and have promised to keep mine too in that. Though we have grown fond of him, would keep him there for his own good.

I know they are awesome! Had a hard time when my Florida gar died after being harassed by my banjar red arowana lessons learnt. Even the LFS out here in Trivandrum have a couple of Gator Gars and have been pestering me to take it off from them. Tempted but my practical side [my wife] makes me see reason

2. About the cichlids, does keeping African and South American together cause any issues? Wouldn't this 700 litre tank be adequate for the tinfoils/ sharks. The size of the tank is 4.5 * 4 * 2 feet.

Well they don't create any major issues but they are generally not wise to mix since they have different temperaments and require different water conditions. And as for your tank dimensions i wish it was 4.5x2x4. That would have been awesome. Would be a cool tank for Rays And always remember in a tank the height of the tank is the least important as compared to length and depth. Tin foils are nice schooling fishes and i love them in my pond. Always in motion in constant exploration. And the mono angels are the odd ones out in your tank. And hey any particular reason why you have so many plecos in your tank?
3. The bowl was more for aesthetic appeal in the living room, do you suggest the bowl is too small? I can get a bigger one if needed. How are fish bowls bad for fishes in comparison to tanks?

4. Well I bought them from a local fish shop, and know quite a few people who keep them. Not sure about the legality though. But conisdering the lack of regulations on buying and selling of such type of pets, they could very well be illegal.

Of course. Just don't want to see an hobbyist getting into trouble that's all.

There's a lot to study and learn about keeping such pets and am happy we have this community here.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Please use the "edit" button if posting within 30 minutes of the first post, instead of creating another back-to-back post.

Also use "Multi Quote" option for quoting Multiple posts.

So there you go. My humble opinions to your points. Being a gar fan like me you should definitely check out the River Monster's episode on Gator Gars. Awesome!

[nitin_80]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

So there you go. My humble opinions to your points. Being a gar fan like me you should definitely check out the River Monster's episode on Gator Gars. Awesome!

Hi @deathwalkr,

Thanks again for your reply.

I always thought more height in the tank would be good as it gives a lot of vertical room for the fishes to swim, and also my gar used to prefer just floating about near the surface while the other fish would be much deeper. Heighted tanks are a pain to clean though.

About the plecos, they have been in the tank for more than a year. There are 3 of them. Are they too many? and any particular reason I should avoid keeping them in the tank?

Also one question regarding the feeding habits of the gar. We feed the gar floating pellets - pink colored ones, not sure what its called but the local chap sells it in loose packets. Cost around Rs 400 for 200 gms. The problem was that the gar being a very slow eater and relying more on ambush to even eat those pellets, the oscars and the parrots used to finish off most of the pellets even before the gar had his fill. We also used to put sinking food which the other fishes would eat but the gar would never go down. I think this was one of the reasons he began attacking and feeding on other big fishes.
What do you feed your gar? - my wife is against giving him feeder fish.
Can you please post some pics of your aquarium set up and the fishes also if possible?

Yes I did watch one episode where this chap was investigating on how an alligator gar had slipped out of the private aquariums into the natural waters of thailand. A hazardous situation to the native fish population there.

The gar is indeed a majestic fish and one of my favourites.

Any advice on what type of catfish I can keep in my tank, the typical one, big whiskers and all. They look beautiful.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Hi all,

Its a sad day for me today. Just now I had phone call from home. My favourite cat Lilo expired just now. She was 10.5 years old and was unfortunately suffering from mammary tumour which was malignant. This was expected one day. She was bedridden for the past one week and today she ultimately gave up. She was just too weak to make it.

Though this was expected; and we all knew it; it still feels so sad, no matter how mentally you are prepared for it. She has left a big void which can never be filled by anyone. She was a just like a family member. I guess it will take some time to get over this.

R-I-P Lilo, we will all miss you forever.

My god. Sorry about your loss man. Could you post some fun pictures with her? It will help if we all remember her for the fun times she had with you :-)