Shai

When is it safe to introduce older fry to a mature tank? I have a young German Blue Ram who is quickly growing up, and until now she was too small to be in the big tank (55g). This fry wasn't bred in that tank; I bought her from another fishkeeper. Right now, from nose to tail the GBR is about 1.5". She's starting to get some adult color: her belly has definite pink and her blue speckles are starting to come out too. The biggest threat in my big tank are my two Golden Wonder killis. The biggest of these is 3" long and somewhere between 0.3" and 0.5" thick at the head. I have a few cories and some of them are about the same size as the GBR (maybe a tad bigger) and neither of my killis try to eat them. But, the cories were in the tank before the killis and of course the cories mostly stay on the bottom so the killis don't pay them much attention. The GBRs, on the other hand, while usually near the bottom, often like to swim all over too, and this fry is no exception. I'd really hate for either of the killis to try to make my fry into "lunch". Additionally, I have a mature female GBR in this tank. Is she likely to beat up or kill the fry since it isn't hers? Or do you suppose maternal instincts could take over and she'd mother it while it finishes growing up? Right now the fry is in a 5g tank by herself and I've started to become concerned that being alone is affecting her. But the tank is too small to add another fish to it and I don't trust any of the bettas in my 10gs to leave the fry alone either. I'm also noticing some electrical problems with the hood on this tank so I'd like to discontinue using it for the time being to be safe. Thanks!

Wow, that blue is bright! Are you going to put in a DIY background or was the color on purpose? (I dunno, does poly come in different colors?)

I work in insurance but not home insurance, so here's my understanding of how it ought to work: Contents insurance should cover the tank if it busted for a reason other than tank failure. For example, if someone broke into your house and smashed the tank during the course of robbing you blind, or your house burned down, you should be able to claim the cost of replacing the tank along with your other unrecoverable property. If the tank splits a seam, or your pumps back up and flood, your insurance should cover replacing the carpet and any belongings that were damaged by the water...but not the tank itself. This probably would be included under the liability portion of the policy due to potential for someone else's stuff to also get damaged. If you accidentally smashed the tank yourself, like that YouTube video where the kid sends a dumbbell into the tank, or that other video where someone knocks over a bicycle on Christmas and the handlebar goes right through the glass... I believe occurrences like that would fall under the "oops" clause and the claim adjuster would probably just laugh. If they're nice they might reimburse you for flood damage only. It's definitely best to check with the insurer though. I'm still thinking I might give my broker another call and ask him again. Getting something in writing is also a good idea. Insurers should have no problem providing a Letter of Intent stating the specific circumstance is covered if they are willing to cover it. If they do have a problem with it, I'd start shopping around.

That's interesting... When I got my 55g I called my insurance broker and asked him the same sorts of questions. Without hesitation he said my contents insurance would cover me if the tank busted and flooded, or broke through the floor... Makes me wonder if it was just a "yes" to make me go away or if he really knew what he was talking about.

My visit to Staples was fruitful! They did indeed have rolls of cork. The rolls looked pretty big and I was still concerned about the cork not being flat after unrolling, so since I'm only doing a 5g tank I opted for a pack of "cork tiles" instead. The pack has four tiles that are each 12"x12", so this is still way more than I need, but I figure if the 5g wall does well I will have enough to do at least another wall for one of the 10gs I have my bettas in. I realize I'll have to cut the tile and use two pieces to cover the back of the tank. The pack was $15 though, a bit ouch when I got to the register! Maybe an actual craft store would be cheaper. Having just opened the package I note the cork is a bit dusty so I'm going to soak it first so I don't end up with a mess in the tank. Before I drain the tank and dry it I'm going to take the fish out, cut the cork to the size I need, and just insert the cork without any moss attached to see how well it fits.

Sorry about the loss Ryan. It's the first I've heard about Prime being toxic too, but at that amount I guess just about anything could be harmful. : (

: ) Just another tip, now that the weather is warmer. If you can, when you are draining your tank, pump the water out onto your lawn. You can get tubing inexpensively from a hardware store that will fit over the output end of a powerhead (MaxiJets are great for this). The wastes in the water are a good source of fertilizer for your grass, and it helps "recycle" your tank waste water, instead of sending it down the drain. For smaller tanks, use the water for indoor plants or flower beds.

Too bad about the losses, Boom. Just a small aside, since you mentioned breeding--what about helping Patrick out with his efforts to get more Victorians available locally? They're such beautiful fish too, I'm sure your wife would love them as well. : ) But your choice, of course. Looking forward to more updates!

Thanks for the replies everyone! I'm worried about the cork being in a roll--how to keep it from remaining curved and pulling away from the back of the tank? There's a Staples nearby so I'll try there and see what I can find and post back. : )

I'm not concerned about that. The idea is to cut the cork to the exact dimensions of the back of the tank and attach it so it cannot float way. Thanks for the reply though.

Another idea is to feed the greedy fish on one side of the tank, and once they are all clustered over there, add food on the opposite side of the tank for the betta. Also, how long ago did you get this fish? I found that with my latest betta (who is alone on his side of the tank), he took nearly two weeks to figure out the pellets were food, so I think they were feeding flakes at the store. The pellets were just too different to what he was expecting.

I use Target play sand in my tanks. One thing I wish I had thought to do first is sift it. The bag I got actually had quite a lot of gravel in it (and even a stick!). When I was first putting the sand in my 55g the gravel honestly wasn't that noticeable. Over time the gravel has worked its way to the surface and it looks pretty crappy. I have cories too and I've noticed they don't dig as much as they used to. I'll have to suck the sand+gravel out of the tank, sift it while it's wet to separate the gravel, then put the sand back. What a pain... I imagine the gravel content is not consistent between bags so I probably just got a bad bag. But even so, if I had to do it over again I would still take the time to sift. Buy a cheap large sieve from WalMart. Make sure the mesh has holes small enough to trap the gravel. Or, get some window screen and wood posts to make a larger sieve and sift into a dry Rubbermaid bin. Once you've done that, then wash the sand before putting it in the tank. Sifting does take time, just like washing does (and boy was my bag of sand DIRTY too!), but if you really want that smooth beach sand look in your 90g, I highly recommend it!

I want to make a moss wall in my 5g tank. I've searched a lot and read just about every DIY tut out there about making moss walls with screen. I don't want to use screen because the tank has very young, small fish in it and I just don't want to be bothered with worrying about them getting trapped behind the screen. There's an old thread on this site where one member (jvision, I think?) mentions using cork board and just stapling the moss to the board. This sounds like an awesome idea and very simple, but I don't know where to get some. Neither Crowfoot Rona nor the Totem off Sarcee Trail have any. On a lark I asked at Sunnyside Garden Centre too (didn't really think they would, and they didn't). Is there an acceptable alternative to cork board that I could use and still staple the moss to it? Totem carries very thin (about 1cm thick) sheets of "plywood". It's three layers though, two smooth outer sheets and something in the middle that sort of looks like particle board (I can post a pic if needed) so it probably has some kind of glue in it to keep it together. Could it be safe or would it just leech chemicals and then rot over time? Or, where can I get a smallish piece of cork board in Calgary? Walmart? Michaels? Raid my parents' dart board (they might not care for that so much)? Thanks!

Everybody seems to be doing okay. Came home to new bubble nests. : )

Might be too late now but the Big Al's has several PK dragons and lots of HMs at the moment. Some of them are copper color morph too, and very gorgeous. I wish I had room for them myself...

Naturally, this would happen in the tank holding the fish that aren't mine, but actually belong to my friend who is currently in China teaching. x.x Came home from work today to find that not only had Bloo gotten over the divider and beat up Red pretty badly, but the heater on that side of the divider had cracked open. The tank was about 85 degrees or so. Bloo looks like a champ. Not a scratch, still swimming around smugly like "he's the fish". Poor Red is pretty torn up and jittery. I'm wondering if the heater busted first and Red got something of a shock (but not Bloo?) and then Bloo got over and pwned him. I bought a new heater, let the tank cool down, and changed the water. I added some Bettafix as well for the torn fins. I've never had a heater malfunction in a tank though. The innards of the heater were exposed to the tank for who knows how long so I'm really surprised both fish are still alive. I know others here have had their fish electrocuted before... Am I just seriously lucky or is the worst yet to come? Advice really appreciated. My friend might send the Chinese after me if Red goes to fishy heaven. >.>

I wouldn't recommend it either. Your wedding (reception) is likely to go late, and your guests will probably be in expensive clothing. Who wants to drive after partying for several hours with a fish in their lap? Are you going to provide baggies for each fish so they don't spill? Ideally (IMO), bettas should be kept in at least 5g of water with a heater and proper filtration (I'm in the camp that doesn't agree with "betta condos", bettas in jars, or anything less than a proper tank for long-term care). Are you going to supply each table with all of the necessary equipment? Food? Water conditioner? Perhaps consider it this way: would you use a hamster, a bird, a kitten, etc in a box as a centerpiece for select guests to take home? No? Why then is a fish acceptable? You are still presuming on people to accept the responsibility for a pet that can (should) live for years. The only people who should be making the decision to get any pet are those people. Giving any animal unsolicited is absolutely a bad idea, no matter the circumstances. Even if you only want the bettas as decoration rather than the take-home gift, it's still a bad idea. Animals are not for decoration.

Amazing job. Thanks for sharing it with us!

*faints*

Thanks for the offer! I once had another variety of Hydrocotyle but couldn't get it to grow. I think it was Hydrocotyle verticillata though, which needs strong lights and soft water, neither of which are available in my tank. : ) I'd be concerned about how much the roots grow along the stems of H. leucocephala though, like in this picture. Do you find yours get pretty bad? I don't mind some amount of roots (the bacopa sends out some) but too many is a turn off. Still could be worth trying though. I always did. I usually broke them off with my thumbnail or used a pair of scissors. It just got to be too much. What about Nymphaea micrantha? It's a lily that is supposed to be easy to care for and only needs medium light (though I also came across a few sources that said high light). The leaves are speckled with green and brown. Anubias barteri seems like it might be a good choice too.

Thanks for the suggestions! I've had Vals before too but they melt from the Excel. I'll keep the "balansae" crypt in mind. I already have a LOT of other crypts so if I can get something a bit different that would be great too.

For a long time I've been looking for a plant that I am able to grow well which will help fill up some of the empty vertical space of the tank (ie, background). Amazon swords are not my thing (no matter what, I just can't seem to grow them). At the moment I have some Bacopa monnieri which grows to a nice height but each stem is really skinny. I also have Limnophila sessiflora and Hygrophila polysperma but I don't like how they grow out of control. Stem plants also sprout all kinds of roots along the stem and I hate that--it looks ugly. I have medium-low light (around 2wpg), currently dose Excel and use EI to fert. I don't necessarily want a background plant that is going to obscure the back of the tank, I just want something that will help break up the vertical space. I've been thinking about something along the lines of, I dunno, some kind of giant anubias or a variety of lily or something--a plant that will grow well in my light and not take over the tank, that maybe has larger leaves reaching into the top half of the tank. I'm really good at growing crypts, anubias, java fern (Windelov's), and I have a Bolbitis heudelotii (African Water Fern) that is also doing pretty well, but all of these stay in the lower half. Suggestions? Thanks!

Awesome shot! I am very jealous--I would love to be able to get shots like this of my Kutubus! Where did you get your external flash? How much was it?

lol Well, Java moss is pretty indestructible. I'm wondering more about the "exotic" mosses. It would really bite to invest in some flame or Christmas moss and then have it melt away from dosing Excel.

How do those mosses respond to liquid CO2, do they melt or love it?