starting an aquarium

[John]

Here are a few of the fish in my tank. They are all quite large. The photos are not great as I had to use ISO 1250 to get any sort of speed to capture an image.

Clown Knife fish. Just over 15" long


Gold Severum. 9" long.


Green Severum. 10" long.


Parrot Cichlid Fish. 8" long.


Goldfoil Barb. 10" long.


Silver Dollar. 8" long.


Silver Shark. 8" long.


Unknown Plecostamous. 12" long.


John

[CroZ]

thanks for all the help. Unfortunately it seems I've to put it on hold seeing as I've found out we might be moving soon. We have three dogs and three cats as is, I don't think we could manage lugging off ten fish or so.
oh, and nice pics, John.

[DCQManiac]

im pretty sure that last fish is a leopard pleco. i also have one and got it a great price.

[John]

Thanks for that.

I think I paid around £20 for this one a few years ago. It is still going strong.

John

Originally Posted by DCQManiac

im pretty sure that last fish is a leopard pleco. i also have one and got it a great price.

[~T~]

Originally Posted by John

Thanks for that.

I think I paid around £20 for this one a few years ago. It is still going strong.

John

Common pleco - Pterygoplichthys pardalis

[Cowgirl]

Great pics John, I love plecs. I had a spotty black & white one, can't remember the name, I bought him as a tiddler (cheap!) & he grew to about 4" by the time I sold the tank. I used to have a five foot tank with all the gubbins, CO2 the lot, hugely expensive but we both loved it, unfortunately we had to get rid when the house we were moving to was too small. We moved that tank three times (no mean feat!) & surprisingly our fish always survived. Same couldn't be said for the plants tho, that was the hardest part when moving we found. I miss my tank so much.

[tom00_uk]

if just starting out read up about fishless cycling, this is a process where by you establish the tanks micro organisms over a period of time to be able to break down the waste products of the fish you intend to stock.

people used to just wait till the water was at the right temp and then bung in the fish but this is not advised as it will harm the livestock

rainbow shark, Epalzeorhynchos frenatum though a "community" fish can harass other stock, so its worth researching suitable tank mates. most tanks are over stocked, but as fish are not covered by animal cruelty little is made of it, which is a shame as putting similar stocking densities of other animals together would cause people to rush to the RSPCA

- Thats quite a mix John, can not say im a fan of the hybrid Parrot Cichlid,

[John]

They are real characters and I must admit I do like them. My favourites in the tank are the five Clown Loach I have. They crease me up when they lay on their sides on top of each other. The first time I saw one of them do that I thought it was dead. I had a real shock when I reached in to remove it as it just shot off.

John

Originally Posted by tom00_uk

- Thats quite a mix John, can not say im a fan of the hybrid Parrot Cichlid,

[Naiad]

Originally Posted by tom00_uk

as fish are not covered by animal cruelty little is made of it, which is a shame as putting similar stocking densities of other animals together would cause people to rush to the RSPCA

Legally they're actually covered as much as a cat or dog; the Animal Welfare Act covers all vertebrates to the same standards. Sadly people's ideas about fishes are quite different from those about cats or dogs.

Having said that, the RSPCA themselves do not seem particularly interested either. A few years ago, when the new Animal Welfare Act was in the process of being brought in, I was writing an article for a magazine about it and I contacted the RSPCA to ask how many prosecutions they had achieved/attempted for cruelty to fishes. The press officer I spoke to thought my question was a joke. When I explained it wasn't he still didn't seem interested, saying merely that he didn't think they'd ever brought any

[NYBraby]

I got into planted aquariums when living in the US, I moved all the stuff back (Not the plants) but have yet to rebuild the tank.

I have found with a planted tank you can create some really good looking landscapes and you don't need a really large tank (just good lighting and a good filter) and some small fish and it looks really effective.

Choosing the plants / rocks etc and watching it all grow is a real enjoyment, check this link out, if you look under journals its amazing seeing what people have done.

Welcome To The UK Aquatic Plant Society