Re: My Fishkeeping hobby Quote:
Originally Posted by racer_ash Here is the breakdown of all the parameters of my aquarium:
Tank Size: 24X12X20 (inches)
Water capacity (as calculated online) ~ 80Litres (filled with borewell water)
No of fish: 10
Breakdown: 2 Gold fish (about 2 inch size each), 2 Black Mollies (1.5 inch), 2 Tiger Barbs (~ 0.75 inch), 2 iridescent sharks (probably 2.5 inch long now) and 2 Gauramis (probably 3 spot ones).
Now I know the mix of fish is not the best, especially the Iridescent Shark and the fin nipper Tiger barb, but as of now things are going ok.
I have a filter cum bubbler, a heater set at 28C, LED lights (which are On during the evenings only) and also some ornaments (fake plants and the like). I also have around half an inch of gravel substrate. The aquarium is also not exposed to direct sunlight. I feed my fish twice a day (calculated at around 3 standard fish feed pellets per fish).
Some questions I have:
1) According to the description above, what is the water change/replacement cycle?
2) Is my aquarium overcrowded? And do the fish mentioned go well? I see the fin nipper Barb always go behind the Gold fish but I haven't yet come across a nipped fin?
3) If not over crowded, could you suggest some fish that I can add that go well with the mix mentioned?
4) I feel really bad for the Iridescent Sharks (Catfish really). I feel they don't suit the aquarium. They are too jumpy even with the slightest of disturbances. I read online that they are not really aquarium fish. Do I need to return them back to the pet shop (I am sure I treat them better than at the pet shop though).
5) Any other advise for me wrt temperature settings etc
I don't really trust the pet shop for advice now since I can see the fish he sold me are not really easy to maintain.
Also I am not a newbie at this, since I had an aquarium for around a year when I was around 15. But at that time, I didn't have much information and the fish eventually died. Now I want to make sure I do a good job.
Thanks in advance |
For the LFS people, it is a business and unless you really know the person, their advises are best taken with pounds of salt.
Your tank is a good beginner tank. And for that size, the sponge filter is good enough unless you want to invest in a good hang on back filter for your bio filtration needs.
You could also try a small internal filter to get some circulation inside the tank and for mechanical filtration.
When it comes to fishes, each species of fish has their own requirements in space, water conditions, compatibility etc. Either we decide on the fish first and then get a tank suited for it's maximum size, or if we have a tank, we find out which fishes are best suited for a tank that size and then select.
Mixing and matching does no one any good, and in a business without sales returns or guarantees, a beginner is often left at the mercy of the LFS.
Please give away the Goldfishes, The Sharks and the Barbs. Goldfishes need a big tank [breaks my heart when i see them in bowls] and the IR Sharks have absolutely no place in the common aquarium. They grow upto 4ft in the wild and are very very skittish as well. Please give them back.
I am just glad that they didn't try and sell a common pleco to you
Tiger barbs are notorious fin nippers but can be managed if in a large school of more than 11 so that their playful banter is within their school and usually will leave the other tank mates alone. So for such a large school your tank is small.
Instead of Mollies and Gouramis you could also look at Tetras. Try and keep the tank as natural looking for the species as you can. It really helps.
Do a 50% water change every week. With your current stock and lack of bio filtration you would have to do water changes twice a week at the least
Temp is ok.
Last edited by deathwalkr : 15th February 2018 at 16:48.
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