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Haven't posted in a while, hope all is well with everyone.

Unfortunately, about a month ago, we suffered some casualties - we lost three Glowlight tetras. Every night, when I tuck my son into bed, I say goodnight to "the fishies" (as we affectionately call them). I noticed that the temperature in the tank was close to 100 degrees, and the heater was still on!!! I touched the glass and it felt HOT. One Glowlight was already swimming upside down, I knew he was a lost cause.

My husband drained half the tank and then we poured cold water in. The temperature dropped to 90. Still panicking, I put some ice cubes in the tank. In hindsight I realize I should not have done this, I'm sure I shocked the other two Glowlights and that's why they died. The already sick one was probably killed instantly.

The rest of the fish seem to be doing fine and we have since bought a new heater. We will be going on vacation in a couple of weeks and have decided to buy a new tank when we return. We don't want to chance anything going wrong with a new tank while we are away.

We're looking at a 26-gallon and adding new fish to that while keeping Herbie, the current algae eater, in the 7-gallon tank and adding African dwarf frogs to that tank someday. What would be a good algae eater and/or bottom feeder to add to the 26-gallon, and what kinds of fish would get along with tetras? We want to get a few more Glowlights to keep our lonely friend company, but we'd like to get a few more varieties as well.

My husband was interested in getting a freshwater lobster, but wasn't sure if it would be compatible with the smaller fish. Also, how big would one get and are they hard to take care of?


Thank you in advance for your suggestions/answers.

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

The only thing I could really comment on would be the bottom feeders. If you're looking for a peaceful species that would get along well with tetras, cory catfish would be great. They will help keep your tank clean, they are cute, fun to watch, just keep them in a shoal of 6 or more. I am told that bronze corys are fairly hardy, panda corys are beautiful, I prefer Julii leopard corys myself.

There's some really nice tetras out there that would go along with your glolites. Lemon tetras are really great looking, peaceful, as are black phantom tetras. Serpaes look great but they are a bit on the fiesty, nippy side.

I dont know a thing about freshwater lobster but I have a hunch that they might catch and eat the fish in your tank. I am without a clue on frogs as well. lol

Good luck!

Some times i see crayfish refered to as FW Lobsters. If you thats what you husband is looking for then i think you may be out of luck. As they need a lot space and lots of rock cave like places and they also eat fish. As for size it varies with the species so if you had one mind.

Is this Herbie Profile
if so try and return him as they can turn in jerks and replace with this [link=Profile]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/615.htm [/link] as for tetras if you have 6 Glowlights why not at add 4 Cherry Barbs [link=Profile]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/505.htm [/link]

Dont forget the plants and you can add 10 of these guys
Profile

Just a couple of ideas
good luck

Did you replace you heater with nice quality one?

"No whammy, No whammy, No whammy, STOP!!"

1984-Michael Larsen On Press Your Luck

Thanks guys. We would like to add some more tetras and will look into those suggestions, but we were wondering about adding other varieties of fish as well.

Since posting I have heard that lobsters/crayfish will eat fish, so that is no longer an option.

Yes that is exactly what Herbie is, so far he hasn't caused a problem in the tank. My son is quite attached to him (no pun intended) so we were thinking of keeping him separate in the 7-gallon while we move the tetras to the 26-gallon. I think he'd be okay with African Dwarf frogs, no??

We have bought a new heater, I can't remember the name of it right now but the guy at our LFS said it's a good one. The old one was a Top Fin, he shook his head and said "Don't ever buy those." We're going to try to buy as much as we can from the LFS, since we want to support the little guy and they have been very knowledgeable and friendly anytime we've asked them questions.

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

I had also suggested a few types of corys in my post above, and some tetras that are beautiful, get along well, and look very much different from your tetras. Check 'em out!

Yes I did see the cory suggestion and we will check them out. Thank you again for your ideas, I'm sure we'll find just the right fish for the new tank, hopefully the LFS will have the tetras you mentioned.

Funny how my husband is getting more and more into this stuff, when my son is the one who wanted the fish in the first place!!

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

Sorry i haven't posted in a while. I was reading your post and wanted to let you know that tetras are awesome schooling fish and they need to be in at least schools of 6 or more. That way they don't become timid and hide and they do alot better health wise.

Bottom feeders I agree with scott on cories. Or you could get a BN pleco or a Rubber Lip Plecc. Make sure you dont get a common pleco as these grow huge. A Rubber Lip and Bristlenose I believe grow to about 12" i have had mine over a year and he hasnt reached 4" yet and hes in my 35 gallon. Tetra wise, I would suggest Cardial tetras to go with your glowlights. A possible list of fish stocking might be

6 Glowlight Tetras
6 Cardinal Tetras
1 BN Pleco or 6 Cories
6 Cherry or Gold Barbs.

These are beautiful colors. You could try Black Skirt tetras instead of the barbs. And if you can get them you could try maybe some Male Platies instead of 1 or two sets of the tetras.

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

Yeah we got some bad advice when we bought the fish, the girl said 4 or less of each type was fine (that's Petsmart for ya!!). Since the tank is so small we never added any fish, we've only lost a few. Once we have the bigger tank we will definitely keep each type of tetra in bigger schools.

I have noticed the poor little Glowlight hides more, I feel bad for him but the LFS doesn't have any in stock at the moment.

Everyone's suggestions sound great, we will check them out when we return from vacation and visit the LFS. Actually, I'm thinking now that we should add to our current tetra collection, since they need to be in schools of 6 or more.

My husband wants to know if shrimp would get along with tetras and cories or plecos.

My son wants to know how many African Dwarf frogs would be good in the 7-gallon tank. We plan on keeping them with Herbie.

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

Mtb-

My son wanted to get something other than a Betta in a bowl, and now I am addicted... The same thing happened to me! I love this hobby, had never given it a thought in my life, lol!

I just wanted to say I am so sorry to hear that your heater freaked out and tried to cook your fishies! That sounds so scary!

The pottery that growls!

Thanks, Vicious.

Over the weekend we bought two more Glowlights from Petsmart, the LFS didn't have any. We didn't want the remaining one to get stressed out from being alone. We realize the shoals need to be bigger but we don't want to crowd the small tank. Once we come back from vacation we'll purchase the 26-gallon.

So far the new additions are doing well, they still seem a little shy but at least they are out and about.

My husband talks about getting a saltwater tank someday... talk about addiction...

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

That will be really cool to have a nice salt water tank! I've never tried it myself. Having a few of the same kind in the meantime is probably better than leaving your poor fishy all alone. When you have the time you can make them even happier. Sounds fair to me!

Btw- you're lucky that your husband shares your enthusiasm for fishes! My boyfriend lets out a huge sigh any time I try to bring more animals into the house! The only reason he agreed to my new tank was that he thought i meant that i was going to buy a fishy game, not a real tank!!! boy was he surprised...

The pottery that growls!

Well, we finally bought our new tank. We had planned on a 25-gallon and ended up with a 46!!

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k16/PanClan06/IMG_2938.jpg

It's a nice bow, all black. There's a little strip of light pine on the hood that we'll paint, it doesn't match with the decor of our room. We also need to put a backing on the stand, since we have two cats and don't want them trying to get back there. For some reason one of our cats is VERY interested in Herbie's algae wafers.

We bought the gravel and a few plants, along with a new Eheim Classic filter, I think the type is a canister. We couldn't get the overhanging kind because it would push the tank too far away from the wall. We also bought a new Jager 3605 (also Eheim) heater. For now we can borrow the thermometer from the old tank, when we go back for the fish we'll buy another thermometer.

The guy at the LFS told us to set everything up and then we could get a couple of test fish along with a biosphere and once the tank has cycled properly we can move our fish into their new home. We'll slowly add more plants and some driftwood as well.

When we brought the tank in we realized that we still need to paint the wall it's standing in front of. My husband also needs to change the outlet to a three-g outlet so we can plug everything in. So, we will have to take care of that before setting up the tank. It's always something, huh??

Now that we've gotten an even bigger tank than originally planned, can anyone make a few suggestions about stocking? We'll gladly stock the fish suggested in previous posts, but now we can add a few more kinds.

Thanks!

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

I was gonna suggest going ahead and doing a 29g if you want 2 tetra schools plus others but nevermind.

Before adding fish to the tank be sure you understand the nitrogen cycle. http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html An in depth article but I think it lacks mention of fishless cycling. Instead of using fish you can cycle a tank by adding fish food as if you were feeding the nonexistent fish or another ammonia source. That way you completely avoid harming the fish. Pure liquid ammonia is the preferred but rather hard to find. I've given up getting my hands on another bottle without special ordering it from somewhere. A 2nd option that I generally use it to stock very very slowly. Add the few glolights, test the tank for a week, and if you don't see ammonia or nitrites add 2 more and do it again. If you see testable ammonia or nitrites wait until they are gone and all you get are nitrates before adding more fish. It's a rather slow way to stock a tank but allows you to have fish sooner and still avoid doing them any harm.

To speed up the cycle the best thing would be to run one of the new filters with media on the old tank for a couple weeks before putting it back on the new tank and adding fish. If that's not possible take the media in the filter on the old tank(after not changing it for a week or 2), rinse it lightly with tank water(not chlorinated tap) to remove the junk, and then place it in the new filter before adding fish. This will speed up the cycle greatly and keep your fish from suffering. With a slow stocking method combined with seeding the bacteria I often don't see testable ammonia or nitrites before the nitrates start to rise.

Hi Just a couple of comments.

first Herbie will outgrow the 7 Gallon, that species can get up to 10 inches or more. Also when he gets older He won't be as interested in algae but go after the slime coating of the fish he is with. This could cause some problems. Although it wont be until he is much bigger.

Second Have you considered Rainbowfish? They are a beautiful fish and are very compatible with tetras.

mts.gif" border="0"> I vote do you?
My Tanks at Photobucket

Thank you for the info, Sham. Our fish guy did tell us how to cycle the tank. We might try the "tricks" you suggested with the filters, see how that works.

Jim, do you have any pics of Rainbow fish? I tried googling but all I can find is the children's book.

We do realize Herbie could become a problem, we're going to try to talk to our son about "donating" him to the LFS. Hopefully he realizes this will be a good thing.

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

Check out the Fish Profiles Database here there are a bunch of em there also this site is a load of Info. Home of the Rainbowfish

mts.gif" border="0"> I vote do you?
My Tanks at Photobucket

Thanks, those look cool, we'll have to see if our LFS stocks them.

We talked to our son, explained that Herbie could become a problem. He wanted to keep Herbie in the 7-gallon and then add a couple of African Dwarf frogs but we told him that probably wasn't a good idea. Herbie could hurt the frogs, plus he'll get too big for the tank itself.

He was a little disappointed but understood it was for the best. We told him we could donate Herbie to the LFS and we were sure they could find a good home for him.

Looks like we'll definitely be getting some cories, we like the cherry barbs too. Of course we'll have to increase our current tetra shoals.

Would it be a good idea to take some of the "old" water from the small tank and put it in the new tank? Would that help speed up the cycling process?

Our tank: 45 gallons
7x Cardinal Tetras 7x Black Neon Tetras
7x Glowlight Tetras 2x Ottos 2x Ghost Shrimp 3x Spotted Corys 3x Panda Corys

I don't think that adding water will do much, but as long as the tank your getting it from doesn't have any diseases it shouldn't hurt. Try taking some of the gravel from the old tank, this will help the cycle go a little faster.

As far as stocking goes you could do some rainbow fish or tetras. Cories are great, I'm getting some later this week for a 55. If you want a peaceful centerpiece fish you could get a pair of Blue or Bolivian Rams. They are a little more delicate than the average fish, but are extremely attractive. If you want a peaceful algae eater you could try a Bristlenose Pleco, a smaller pleco that grows to 4"-5", or maybe some ottos. Check the profiles and see if anything catches your eye, it's a good way to kill some time anyways.

I had a CAE for years and with careful stock selection he never hurtt he other fish. He got to about 12cm. I'd just choose fish that prefered to be up the top of the tank, or were small schoolers so he couldn't hold on if he did somehow catch them.

I know CAEs have a really bad reputation- but from my own experience the only problem is they don't actually eat algae.

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