# disappering fish



## dossy (Oct 4, 2010)

hey guy 
aswell as keeping reps i have//had alot of fish but lately i have been looking in to my main fish tank and seeing less and less fish. at first i thought it was just the fact that the smaller fish (tetras) were getting eaten but then saw 2 dead ones and just asummed the other 10 missing ones died and got eaten with out me seeing them. but they were small fish that could go unnoticed while dead. iv had a 11 cm clown loach, two 8 and 9 cm grouimmie, a 5cm tiger barb,four 8cm glass cat fish all dissaper and i can not see them in the tank even after moving evrything and family members said they pulled one dead fish out when i was away and that was a guppy (4yr old guppy) 

anyone have any clue were they went?
ps after lossing the clown loach iv found about 800 snails


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## persona (Oct 4, 2010)

Almost certainly the clown loach ate them after they died, (scavengers) but clown loaches love snails.
Worth the odd fish (guppies)to keep the snails down.
P.s barbs are aggressive and not really good for community tanks.


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## WomaPythons (Oct 4, 2010)

i had the same prob but then found fish rnd my tank that had jumpd out the little corner bit of the cover where all the cords go threw i startd to find them when the room startd to stink


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## dossy (Oct 4, 2010)

persona uv lost me 
i know the loach eats snails hence the reson for me getting it because the tank was getting over run at first then lochy ate them all 
what ate the clown loach tho...and my tiger barb got along with evrything in the tank...it was kept in cheak by the bigger fish haha

yes iv had 2 fish jump out 2 yrs ago but i now have a lid/hood on the tank and the hole is to small for the fish to get through now


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## suzpect (Oct 4, 2010)

ya they will jump out of any gap lol my mates pride and joy eletric blue went missing found the bones bout 3months later under the tv stand


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## dossy (Oct 4, 2010)

iv looked around the tank in the tank and in evry part of the room the tank is in (once found a fish 5M away from tank) and found nothing


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## slim6y (Oct 4, 2010)

I've lost my biggest bristlenose - not a clue where it's gone... The little one pops its head out and about - but the big one.... gone!!!

Not a trace....

And I doubt the angels could get it into their mouths.... 

So same situation as you mate...

Though I've only got angels and one bristlenose - so not a clue!


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## dossy (Oct 4, 2010)

iv just found him...it was in a little cave i made . i didnt look in there at firsr because the entrnce is only 5 mm across and 10mm high and the fish is twice the size of the cave ( it was made for small fish such as bumble bee goby and fry) so im happy i found him but i wish it was same story for all the others iv lost in the past


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## jinin (Oct 4, 2010)

I had a Half-Beak go missing, probably got eaten. One of my Tetra's Lodge it's self between the glass and the plastic rim of the tank luckily i found it in time.


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## BJC-787 (Oct 4, 2010)

what fish are left in the tank


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## dossy (Oct 4, 2010)

BJC-787 said:


> what fish are left in the tank


 
1 groummie
1 rose barb
4 cardinal tetras
1 clown loach (found this arvo)
1 rainbow shark
2 rummy nose tettras
1 mini molly
1 glass cat fish
1 bumble bee goby
5 harliquins
2 baby guppies
6 adult guppies in breeding tank atm but will be going back in soon 
1 bristle nose pleco 
i would like to have a few more cardinals,2-3 more glass cats 1 more bumble bee me tiger barb and a 2nd groummie but they will hvae to wait because i cant find any suppliers of the types and or colours i am looking for

its a 3foot tank 1.5 feet deep and 1.5 feet high


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## BJC-787 (Oct 5, 2010)

if the shark is of decent size he could be the cause of the problem, as when they get larger they can become very territorial and aggresive especialy other sharks or things that look like sharks, that is the only thing left in the tank that would kill the other fish


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## Tsubakai (Oct 5, 2010)

Depending on the size, the bristlenose could strip a fish carcass away to virtually nothing. Not sure why they are dieing though could be one of dozens of reasons.


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## dossy (Oct 5, 2010)

i found the reson some died a few months a go my heater stopped working and some of the fish needed good temps.

and to the person who moved this thanx i wouldnt like to have posted stuff in the wrong place and leave it there


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## Snakewise84 (Oct 5, 2010)

mostly theres guys would off kill them grouimmie, a 5cm tiger barb, but tetras do live for that long any ways neons live for about 2 years but can live longer if by them selfs


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## dossy (Oct 5, 2010)

i got some neons live 3.5 yrs in com tank


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## IgotFrogs (Oct 5, 2010)

meh get rid of the barbs nasty little buggas they are they will fin nip everything!


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## The_Dreaded_Pets (Oct 5, 2010)

very odd mix of fish try ur question at ageofaqueriums.com best fish site ive found when i used to breed


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## dossy (Oct 5, 2010)

thanx 4 that loony

yer most aquariums tell me im an idiot 4 keeping tigers and that the things i have shouldnt be together but they all get along fine aslong as i feed them...if i miss more then 2 days of food they get a bit grumpy. i supose im just lucky to get the fish that dnt fight 

if anyone knows of any aquariums around the sutherland area please let me know  

i know of 5 but 1 shutdown/ starting up under new owners and 2 are overly priced
i also no of 1 in hurstvile but he is starting back up because he moved shops and he dosnt have the fish i want atm


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## Paulie (Oct 5, 2010)

kellyville pets has a good range of fish.


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## AnimalCollector6 (Oct 5, 2010)

I'd get some some class cats otherwise the one you got in there is gonna die


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## Darlyn (Oct 5, 2010)

IgotFrogs said:


> meh get rid of the barbs nasty little buggas they are they will fin nip everything!


2nd that


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## chrisso81 (Oct 5, 2010)

Have you done any tests on the water to check for ammonia, nitrates, nitrites? What filtration are you running on the tank? How often do you do water changes?

In reality that tank is quite small and water parameters can fluctuate quite quickly, if you don't have any test kits take a sample to an aquarium to have it checked out. But don't just do a water change before you go, totally defeats the purpose, take a sample of the water as it is.

It could be any number of reasons, something bacterial or fungal could be killing them, a disease from recently introduced fish, could be whitespot (any tiny white spots on the bodies and fins of the remaining fish?)

A great motto to keep fish by is is that we are primarily keepers of water rather than fish, get that right and the fish will thrive!


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## dossy (Oct 5, 2010)

chrisso i have had water tested and nothing was found and i quarnteen my fish before adding them because i do not want to have to start all over again . i have a sutible filter ( it actuly moves water a tad quicker then needed but it doesnt effect the fish). bactiria is good food is good. i no some have died due to temps in the house variy massivley ( in summer mum likes to have the ac on about 16c) and i expect that 2 out of 8 fish die due to stress of being moved. more then enough oxygyen is getting in aswell i have live plants in the tank and just under the amount required to keep the oxy levels stable because i got a filter/air input but if it packed it in there is enough plants to keep the levels stable for 5 weeks ( i had a marine bioligist look into it for me  ) and he has tested things and the only thing that was wrong that he found was raised copper levels but nowere near the amount to kill anything so he is just as puzzled as i am


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## herzy (Oct 5, 2010)

i'm thinking of setting up a 2 foot and a 4 foot tank. i want to breed, and have interesting things, and as many fish and species as possible. what's the best combination?

(sorry to hijack)


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## dossy (Oct 5, 2010)

as a rule of thumb u want 3sqr inches per inch of fish. good breeding fish would be the live bearers because they are easy to begin with some of these are guppies mollies sowrd tails platies ect... you can get some very nice colours in these but alot of aquaruims are kind of boring and stock standrd colours. lots of people love these fish because thay are hard to kill and im breeding atm but to stock my tanks back up. you can have a go at breeding egg layers but these are harder to do but if you choose to then angle fish, asorted tetras and gold fish are probly the way to go. but wot ever you do have atleast 2-3 females to evry male so that the females do not get stresed 

i am like you and like to display many types and colours. 
i normly put things into 3 main groups when buying fish
big, medium and small

big: these are the bigger fish in the tank and i would normly get 1-3 of each type i put in. some examples of big fish are the sharks ( silver,red tail,rainbow ect...) loches ( i have one clown loach to deal with the snails) and grommies
mediun: these are the midle range fish of the tank i would get 2-6 of each types of these some examples of med fish are the guppies mollies sord tail suckers ( pleco, chinees sucker) rose barbs and tiger barbs
small fish are the smaller fish of the tank and i would normly get about 6+ of each type of these. small fish includ asorted tetras ( neon, cardnal,rummy nose ect) harlyquins,bumble bee goby ect...

the fish fall into these catogories according to their ADULT size 

i have never had problems with fighting but make sure you provide enough space and hides for the fish. i have just stacked rocks up on one side of my tank and have plants on the other end. 

this is all community fish stuff but it can be applyed to bigger fish

interesting fish i like and would sugest are :
bumble bee goby
glass cat fish
harliquins
rummy noes tetras
and groummies ( not sure of spleeing but i will cheack it for you)

one more bit of advice it listen to other people but dnt become limited my them. i was told tiger barbs would not go with any thing and it worked for me i was also told that having 2 silver sharks is a bad idea because they live in schools of 12 in the wild 
it all comes down to your judgment. 
if you have any questions about fish stuff just inbox me and ill do what i can to help you out.

ps dw about hijaking


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## chrisso81 (Oct 5, 2010)

dossy said:


> chrisso i have had water tested and nothing was found and i quarnteen my fish before adding them because i do not want to have to start all over again . i have a sutible filter ( it actuly moves water a tad quicker then needed but it doesnt effect the fish). bactiria is good food is good. i no some have died due to temps in the house variy massivley ( in summer mum likes to have the ac on about 16c) and i expect that 2 out of 8 fish die due to stress of being moved. more then enough oxygyen is getting in aswell i have live plants in the tank and just under the amount required to keep the oxy levels stable because i got a filter/air input but if it packed it in there is enough plants to keep the levels stable for 5 weeks ( i had a marine bioligist look into it for me  ) and he has tested things and the only thing that was wrong that he found was raised copper levels but nowere near the amount to kill anything so he is just as puzzled as i am


 
Well, there you go. Good luck!


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## dossy (Oct 5, 2010)

thanx


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## herzy (Oct 6, 2010)

thanks so much dossy for a great response!

to set that up, will i need to do all the water conditioning, filtering etc? is it possible to get away with a lower maintenance (and less expensive) set up?

also you mentioned big, medium and small fish. i was told that if i had bigs with smalls, they would eat them. if i provide enough food and hiding places, is it possible to avoid this?

also if i want more interesting fish, where can i buy them if the aquariums only stock boring ones? that said, where should i go to get my supplies? i'm in melbourne...


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## Ricksta (Oct 6, 2010)

Hi there I do not mean to hijack this thread but not everything you get told by your LFS is correct.

I have been keeping fish for many years now and also own my own forum so the advice I give has been tried and tested many many time's 

*water conditioning*: depending on where you water is coming from you may not have to condition it eg: rain water, bore water.

I personally use bore water as I don't have scheme water where I live.

*low maintenance*: tanks can be low maintenance but this usually does come at a price, always try and aim for large filter capacity and a minimum 4x turn over (100L tanks should have a minimum pump flow of 400lph)

I personally use external canister filters as they provide a large filtering area and are easy to maintain and clean. 



> also you mentioned big, medium and small fish. i was told that if i had bigs with smalls, they would eat them. if i provide enough food and hiding places, is it possible to avoid this?



you need to Think about what type of tank your after in the long run, do you want a mixed community tank, a dwarf tank, a cichlid tank, a planted tank?

then research and find out what species interest you and what is compatible

try to go with all adult or all juvenile fish this reduce's the chance of smaller fish becoming prey. 

HTH


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## Ricksta (Oct 6, 2010)

herzy said:


> i'm thinking of setting up a 2 foot and a 4 foot tank. i want to breed, and have interesting things, and as many fish and species as possible. what's the best combination?
> 
> (sorry to hijack)



Combination and interesting to breed in a 2ft tank"? nothing unless your gonna waste your time breeding guppys. lol


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## Snakewise84 (Oct 6, 2010)

yep brabs are hell i hated working with them at pet city i was working in the aquarium area


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## dossy (Oct 6, 2010)

low maintinence is normly not to hard to get. i have not done a water change in 4 months and the fish have thrived. just makesure that you have a well balnced tank conditions ie bactiria,oxygen,nitrate and nitride levels ( not to much of the nitrate or nitride) 

i have a mate who has not changed the water in the tank for nearly two years because he has plants in the tank

plants take out toxins from the water in my tank i have 2 15-20 cm sword leave plants and this could sustaint all the fish i have mention + about 10 others i have lots. at first it takes a little bit of setting up and matnence but once its set up it will work its self. basicly try to mimic nature in ur tank because this will balance things out.
i live in sydney so im unsure about local fish stores sorry but i do highly recomend u find multipl fish stores because difrent stores will tell u dif things and sell u difrent things. also if you are going to breed fish 4 eg guppies get all the fish from diffrent places or maybe 2 fish from each place because you to not whant tasmanian fish ( inbred fish)


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## dossy (Oct 6, 2010)

btw the offer of the inboxing me is still up there if you need help.


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