First tank..

[Comacchio]

And for my first set of pics..


Stocked Tank by Allan.Jones, on Flickr


Harlequin Rasbora by Allan.Jones, on Flickr


Bristlenose Plec by Allan.Jones, on Flickr


Albino Bristlenose Pleco by Allan.Jones, on Flickr


Keyhole Cichlid by Allan.Jones, on Flickr


Keyhole Cichlid-2 by Allan.Jones, on Flickr

One of my Keyholes is hiding (as you can see!) other is colouring up nicely

[tenohfive]

Looking good, very nicely scaped. Can't be sure from the pic's but it looks like some of the plants might not be aquatic plants (most fish shops sell plants that are actually meant to be in the margins, not fully submerged - as such they rot away when left in a tank.) Keep half an eye on them and if they turn brown and start to rot away, bin them.

Personally on the odd occasion I buy live plants I get them from plantsalive.co.uk - although there are other reputable online aquatic plant sellers. I know that what I'm getting is meant to be in an aquarium that way.

[Comacchio]

tenohfive said:

Looking good, very nicely scaped. Can't be sure from the pic's but it looks like some of the plants might not be aquatic plants (most fish shops sell plants that are actually meant to be in the margins, not fully submerged - as such they rot away when left in a tank.) Keep half an eye on them and if they turn brown and start to rot away, bin them.

Personally on the odd occasion I buy live plants I get them from plantsalive.co.uk - although there are other reputable online aquatic plant sellers. I know that what I'm getting is meant to be in an aquarium that way.

Thanks! What ones do you suggest are non aquatic? I googled all of the names and they seemed to be aquatic.

[Comacchio]

Keyholes by Allan.Jones, on Flickr

My other keyhole finally moved!

[Hysteria1983]

Comacchio said:

tenohfive said:

Looking good, very nicely scaped. Can't be sure from the pic's but it looks like some of the plants might not be aquatic plants (most fish shops sell plants that are actually meant to be in the margins, not fully submerged - as such they rot away when left in a tank.) Keep half an eye on them and if they turn brown and start to rot away, bin them.

Personally on the odd occasion I buy live plants I get them from plantsalive.co.uk - although there are other reputable online aquatic plant sellers. I know that what I'm getting is meant to be in an aquarium that way.

Thanks! What ones do you suggest are non aquatic? I googled all of the names and they seemed to be aquatic.

I wouldn't worry too much, some plants adapt themselves to their environment. Amazon swords will grow out of water or in. If they are grown out if water, and then I put them in the tank, they will simply shed their leaves and grow new ones adapted to their environment.

A good place for plants on line is plants alive. I often order an end of week special. It's basically what's left in stock at the end of the week, they sell them odd cheap in a mystery bundle.
Always something new and different

Edited by Hysteria1983 on Tuesday 18th October 12:52

[Comacchio]

Cool thanks

Been studying my Keyholes tonight - they're getting more confident! Judging by the extensions on the dorsal and anal fins of one, I think I do infact have a male and female Now to see if they pair!

[tenohfive]

Comacchio said:

Thanks! What ones do you suggest are non aquatic? I googled all of the names and they seemed to be aquatic.

I'm rubbish with plants so I couldn't say the names, there is one that looks vaguely familiar to something I bought from an LFS and which wasn't actually supposed to be submerged. Keep half an eye, if anything starts rotting away you know to bin it.

[Comacchio]

tenohfive said:

I'm rubbish with plants so I couldn't say the names, there is one that looks vaguely familiar to something I bought from an LFS and which wasn't actually supposed to be submerged. Keep half an eye, if anything starts rotting away you know to bin it.

Will do! My female Keyhole has started swimming up and down at her reflection and sort of herding my harlequins away when they come up for a look. Strange!

[Comacchio]

Day 3 brings my first casualty. One of my harlequins decided to pop his metaphorical clogs. Levels are ok apart from 80ppm nitrates. Will bring those down with water changes when i get a chance!

[Hysteria1983]

Comacchio said:

Day 3 brings my first casualty. One of my harlequins decided to pop his metaphorical clogs. Levels are ok apart from 80ppm nitrates. Will bring those down with water changes when i get a chance!

When you get a chance...? Why have you not done it already? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be horrible, I just don't understand why you haven't done it yet.

[Comacchio]

Hysteria1983 said:

When you get a chance...? Why have you not done it already? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be horrible, I just don't understand why you haven't done it yet.

Just in from work still need to sort out dinner and i have a girlfriend who doesnt quite understand and will get quite annoyed. But im not putting it off, a 20% WC will be performed tomorrow after work. Then another on friday. (ph of my tap water is too low to do all at once without stressing fish)

[Comacchio]

By the looks of it I could bedown another harlequin soon. One keeps swimming off from the shoal and also has a slight lesion on one of its sides that looks like its fin could have been nipped off by getting too close to my keyholes perhaps!

[Comacchio]

Well performed a 20% water change after work tonight and also added 3 Platys (Girlfriend complained there wasnt enough colour in the tank!) Nitrates are around just 40ppm or so, another WC tomorrow or Sunday depending on how fast it rises and how fast my pH falls (My tap water has a pH of 5!)

One of my Keyholes (The smaller, suspected female but could just be a younger male) has a white mark/nip mark possibly on one of its sides. Trying to get a macro picture to see closer for myself. What does white spot look like?

Also, since I done my water change, one harlequin (The largest, looks a bit misformed in all honesty) has been hardly swimming all by hisself, I don't think hes long for this world!

Other than that all the fish seem to be doing fine!

[Comacchio]

I've named my Keyholes 'Casper' and 'Kat'. Here's Casper


Casper by Allan.Jones, on Flickr

Also named my Albino BN 'Albert'


Albert by Allan.Jones, on Flickr

My smallest neon:


Neon by Allan.Jones, on Flickr

One of my new Platys:


Platy by Allan.Jones, on Flickr

And unfortunately Cat has a mark on her (him? don't even know! Hope it's a her!). Anybody know what it is?


mark by Allan.Jones, on Flickr

[Hysteria1983]

Comacchio said:

Well performed a 20% water change after work tonight and also added 3 Platys (Girlfriend complained there wasnt enough colour in the tank!) Nitrates are around just 40ppm or so, another WC tomorrow or Sunday depending on how fast it rises and how fast my pH falls (My tap water has a pH of 5!)

One of my Keyholes (The smaller, suspected female but could just be a younger male) has a white mark/nip mark possibly on one of its sides. Trying to get a macro picture to see closer for myself. What does white spot look like?

Also, since I done my water change, one harlequin (The largest, looks a bit misformed in all honesty) has been hardly swimming all by hisself, I don't think hes long for this world!

Other than that all the fish seem to be doing fine!

This is what white spot looks like - http://www.fishkeepinguk.co.uk/Images/whitespot.JP...

Pretty much like... white spots

I would keep a close eye on it. Also keep an eye on the neons as they like a mature tank, and your water quality is changing a lot you could stress them out, and they could get white spot too. They may catch it from the Keyhole, but they can also develop it from stressful conditions.

[tenohfive]

From here that just looks like a scrape - could have caught on a piece of slate/bogwood, or anything else with a sharp edge. You could treat with Melafix to speed up healing but it should heal up of it's own accord anyway.

[Comacchio]

One week after putting in fish I've lost 3 Harlequins, 3 neons, 1 panda cory and 1 platy. I've been checking the levels twice a day and always getting back pH 6.5-7, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and recently the nitrates have been climbing. Can nitrates less than 100ppm kill fish outright?

I've ordered 40 aquatic plants on ebay to try and use up the nitrates, and performed 30% water changes 3 days in a row yet still fish are dying! Becoming very frustrating.

[Comacchio]

Another neon bites the dust. Checked levels again, no ammonia or nitrite..

[tenohfive]

Any symptoms prior to them going? What sort of behaviour (if any) do you see from them?

What readings are you getting for nitrate? And (just to be sure) are you using a liquid drop based testing kit or strips?

[Comacchio]

Lots of hiding and general skittish behaviour. Yep liquid API kit. Woke up to a harlequin and a panda dead at the bottom