# I want fish!



## missllama (Mar 17, 2009)

Hey everyone
my partner and i want some fishies
i can either put something in a small tank that i have or a 4 ft tank
i dont want anything that needs salt, heaters or anything too hard to look after

(i had oscars once and had no luck had filters heaters etc and they all carked it not long after i got them)

can anyone reccomend some fish that wont need a heater etc?
i have a heater i just find it to hard making sure temps are perfect etc gets all to fussy for me i just want some uncomplicated fish 

i know NOTHING about fish, so something thats good for starters 



oh and also, is there any way u can house fighting fish together? like two females but no males? i no that the females kill the males or something but i wasnt sure if theres some way u can house certain ones together

cheers


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## kupper (Mar 17, 2009)

how long after you set the tank up did you put the fish in to start with?


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## missllama (Mar 17, 2009)

kupper said:


> how long after you set the tank up did you put the fish in to start with?



a few days, i did heaps of research making sure the filter was running for a few days before and the water temps were right etc made sure the oscars were the same size so they didnt try to kill each other

was so upset  

thats why i want something really baisic now


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## missllama (Mar 17, 2009)

could axolotles and goldfish live in a 4ft tank together with no heater (i no axolotles sometimes need a water cooler)

and all be ok?


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## Mrs I (Mar 17, 2009)

Lana check out my for sale, with the scats.


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## missllama (Mar 17, 2009)

i just showed michael taryn lol! could axolotles live with those fishys u have?


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## Chrisreptile (Mar 17, 2009)

missllamathuen said:


> could axolotles and goldfish live in a 4ft tank together with no heater (i no axolotles sometimes need a water cooler)
> 
> and all be ok?



The goldfish will usually nip the gills of the axolotls.
So it isnt the best idea to mix them.


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## missllama (Mar 17, 2009)

oh by the way if this is any help to my questions my partner and i really like:
gold fish
axolotles
cat fish
and eels


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## missllama (Mar 17, 2009)

Chrisreptile said:


> The goldfish will usually nip the gills of the axolotls.
> So it isnt the best idea to mix them.



Oh ok cheers well id be happier to leave out the goldfish then the axolotles anyway, does anyone on here keep them and use a water cooler?


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## Rainbow-Serpent (Mar 17, 2009)

Get some Tiger Barbs or Silver Dollars, cheap and hardy fish and are pretty forgiving to mistakes. 

You do need a filter for them though, but they are worth it, they both look very pretty and are fun to watch, You just need a large group of the barbs (lets say about 7 minimum), and you don't need a huge tank, mine was just over 1ft and I kept them in it successfully, Tiger barbs often pick on alot of other fish, but if you get a group of about 7, they'll fight among themselves on occaison.

Silver dollars are so shiny and beautiful in the light!



Heres my tiger barbs and silver dollars happily living together: (WARNING EXTREAMELY HUGE PICCIES)


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## Mrs I (Mar 17, 2009)

Most fish will nip the tips of axolotyls.

I had to move my scats away from my ciclids as the ciclids even though 1/3 of the size were being mean to them.

I have a tank with catfish ciclids silver sharks featherfins pictus all living happily together.


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## kupper (Mar 17, 2009)

you need to have the water and filters runnign for a minimum of a week before adding anything inot the tank as the filter needs to build up the necessary bacteria to break down the ammonia / nitates that the fish waste producing failing this cyclign period leads to these products building up and killing your fish 

oscars are extremely messy adn place a great bio load on the tank , your oscars died becasue they where introduced too early , if you wait 2 weeks leave a few little barbs or goldfish in there to cycle the tank then buy your oscars again im sure you will have better suscess in the next attempt 

and to insure they live throughout water changes and filter maintenace always majke sure you clean the filter material out with a bucket of tank water as chlorine / tap water kills the beneficial bacteria needed to support life 

hope this helps 

i used to keep and breed fish for ages


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## Chrisreptile (Mar 17, 2009)

Go for a big tank of tetras (lots of colour) including neons, cardinals, rummy nose, phantoms, serpae etc along with some cats bristlenose, corydorous.


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## XKiller (Mar 17, 2009)

get some silver sharks


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## missllama (Mar 17, 2009)

oh wow thankyou kupper i was so upset when they died i got told by the petshop guy that they only needed 3 days, thanks for those tips atleast now i know for next time my partner said he would like some more oscars, i might consider giving it a go what u suggested 

and thanks taryn, i would have been worried about the axolotles killing the fish i never new it would be the other way around


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## kupper (Mar 17, 2009)

if ever you have nay questions or your local tool decides to give you suicide info again please just shoot me a pm i know way to much about fish


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## missllama (Mar 17, 2009)

LOL cheers for that! i deff wont rely on there info again!


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## Hooglabah (Mar 17, 2009)

the problem you had with the oscars wasnt that they are hard to keep it was a mistake almost everybody makes you set up the tank then didnt give it the minimum of two weeks to cycle it doesnt matter what fish you have cold water, tropical or marien if you dont let a new tank cycle the fish will die. 

fish are easy to look after and almost no effort as long as you adhere to these three guid lines

1. cycle the tank after its first set up (leave it without fish or plants for minimum of 2 weeks perferably a month)
2. quarantien always quarantien its not just for herps
3. water changes every two weeks do one. 

stick to that and you can keep almost any basic freshwater fish


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## Hooglabah (Mar 17, 2009)

not at all luke 1 oscars are from the amazon and require very soft acidic water.

i also know way way way to much about fish.

(currently setting up my first reef tank)


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## JAS101 (Mar 17, 2009)

i have a catch fish with some tiger barbs - and my big male yabbie and they all seem to get along well .
i had a big googley eyes gold fish , but the male yabbie took care of him [ate him]
i also have 65 odd guppies [ for my turle food] and 15 odd sword tails [ again for turtle food]
and yabbies [ as above for turtle food]


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## missllama (Mar 17, 2009)

ok cheers everyone im setting up a tank tonight to cylce the water least then i have 2 wks to decide exactally what to get 

thankyou so much everyone feel free to post more tips, and what i can and cant house together too 

lana


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## domdom22 (Mar 17, 2009)

You can keep fighting fish with most fish, but just have 1 male...u can have as many females as u want i think


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## VickiR (Mar 17, 2009)

Setting you a fish tank is quite easy. and if placed in the right place. you dont need to do as many water changes.

If you want start with a smaller tank ( you can pick up some nice tanks that that the tank/ hood with inclosed filter and lighting from pet shops/ or even big w)

for instance i have one at work, its jist ove 60cm. and i have only done 2 water changes in bout 6mths. 

fish to think about if u wnat something cheap and colourful

Guppies, platties, sword tails.
tiger bards, ruby barbs. siver dollars
neons etc.

have a look around and see how you go.

dont forgot when setting up u will need water conditioner/ager


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## KatanaRamirez (Mar 17, 2009)

Hi, I've kept a fair few different types of fish and most freshwater fish really aren't too complicated.

If you only want cold water fish then that really limits your options especially if you live somewhere where it gets very cold at night. The only fish that you can really keep happy and healthy in cold water in my opinion are goldfish & neon tetras although I've heard you can also paradise fish in cold water too but when I had one I kept him in a tropical tank. Also having a cold water tank limits the amount of plants you can have too.

I'd recommend freshwater tropicals though, you get a bigger variety of fish and plants and they're relatively easy to care for.
As for heating if you have a heater already and you put the heater in the tank (once it has water in it) and set it to 24degrees then you should be fine with most freshwater fish. It's that simple really. Depending on the size of your tank and how many watts your heater is determines how hard the heater has to work to maintain the temp. 

How many watts is your heater?

You will need a filter. It's just better for the fishes health and easier than constant water changes for you. You don't need anything too complicated one of the hang on filters they sell in pet shops are fine so are sponge filters and lots of others I personally preffer these two to most other types of filters.

You can keep female fighting fish together they get along just as well as most easy going fish. You can keep a male fighting fish with your group of female fighters. You can't keep 2 males together they will fight to death in a tank where the loser can't swim away. Also a lot of the time even the victor will die from the battle. In case you didn't know all those pretty fighting fish you see in pet shops are boys. Female fighting fish don't have long fins and often don't have very nice colours either.

What sort of fish do you like? If you let me know even one particular type of fish you really like I can plan your tank around that type for you. ie if you like electric blue cichlids I can let you know what fish you ccan keep with them how many you can keep in the tank you have ect........ If you want the help.


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## toddy1964 (Mar 17, 2009)

I kept some tropical fish for years, the thing I found after a few floaters is that patience during set up is crucial, I often let my tanks run for 2 weeks to a month with some bio start to get the good bacteria going, while this is going on I would get the ph right and stabilised before adding the fish. The place you buy the fish from should know the ph level needed. If you do it this way you shouldn't have to many problems. I know you said no tropicals but they are not really that hard, I would recommend cichlids they are pretty tough and have good colour and a bit of personality, my frontozas would gently eat out of my hand, so would my boof headed oscars.


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## Tsubakai (Mar 17, 2009)

Do some research on 'fishless cycling' Everyone who recommends setting up a tank and leaving it for a period of time to settle/cycle is not giving you the whole story. In a nutshell -

For the beneficial bacteria to grow they need a food source (a dead prawn works). A standard cycle takes 4 to 6 weeks to occur naturally (not just a couple of days). You need to wait for the ammonia spike to settle first then you'll get a nitrite spike which should then go down. Once you get measurable nitrates your tank will be cycled. Ammonia and nitrite are the bad toxins your filter is meant to get rid of whereas nitrate is the end breakdown product which you remove every time you do a partial water change. The process can be sped up with certain products but i've really only given you a very brief summary. Do some more research on some fish forums to help you set things up to give your fish the best possible start.

Or you could do what I've done which is to have so many tanks you never need to cycle again. I just take a handful of media from each filter and i've got a new tank ready to go. Just be warned, if you do your research properly and get a good result from your first tank you may just find that fish keeping is every bit as addictive as herps.


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## kakariki (Mar 17, 2009)

Lana, if you want an Oscar I am thinking of selling Ollie. He is our Albino Oscar & he is as tough as nails! But you will need the 4ft tank for him, a heater & a good filter! I can help you set up if you like. Or you could talk me into selling Fluffy instead.....he's the black & red Oscar. We just don't have the room for 2 big fish!
Fighting fish females can be kept together but need heating. Just don't put a male in there cos they will kill him!


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## missllama (Mar 19, 2009)

ok everyone today i went into a place and this is what she suggested to me

1 male fighting fish
4-6 females
and then some neons
catfish
and something starting with a p lol

would this be ok? and what size tank do u think is best

i cant pm anyone at the moment or recieve pms because im renewing my subscription and have a full inbox but if anyone can post up here what they think that would be great because i will be buying them soon as i already have one tank cycling right now ready for fish but i dont no if the size is ok!

cheers


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## bk201 (Mar 19, 2009)

tanks ideally should be cycled for atleast a month and oscars should never be the first fish in a tank to much for the filter at once

with freshwater fish low maintance fish and easy to keep would be some native rainbows plus a few other types of natives like pacific blue eyes etc

IMO axolotyls shouldnt be sold in australia what they forget to mention is there ideal temperature is 18c and temperatures over 30c are lethal so as can be seen axolotyls are not a good pet in australia and never keep them with fish.

nope figter fish the males will haras the females and figter fish are tropical fish who need a temp of about 26 to be happy

neons need heating of about 26 aswell

catfish means nothing as it doesnt narrow it down theres tons of different types coldwater tropical etc ranging from 2cm to over 1m

IMO go either with coldwater small natives /rainbows/small gudgeons/blue eyes
or if you go tropical nothing looks better than a tank of malawi cichlids
elec yellows are cheap about $5 ea only difference between coldwater and tropical really is a thermometer and $30 heater.


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## KatanaRamirez (Mar 19, 2009)

missllamathuen said:


> ok everyone today i went into a place and this is what she suggested to me
> 
> 1 male fighting fish
> 4-6 females
> ...


 
I wouldn't bother getting that many female fighters, they're not the nicest looking fish and you'd only need to or 3 to share around the males bullying. 

I don't cycle for fresh water fish, I just put in some Tri Start to take the chlorine/chloramine out of the water, heat the water and ad the fish (float the fish in their bags in the tank for 10-15mins then release). You can cycle if you want though. Try getting your tap water tested at the petshop to see if it has anything harmful in it.

I might have missed it but you are putting in your heater now not leaving it as a cold tank?
Fighting fish need to be in a tropical tank despite what the pet shop or people who own them in jars might say. In a cold tank they'll survive miserably for a while.....

I'd suggest for a 4ft tank:

1 male fighter
2-3 female fighters
10-20 neon tetras
3-5 clown loaches
1-2 bristlenoses
5+ black or zebra khuli loaches

or

for a cichlid tank:

1 male electric blue
1-2 female electric blues
1 male electric yellow
2-3 female electric yellows
1 pair of bristlenoses

or 

a combo thats working well for me at the moment:

1 pair pearl/lace gourami 
1 pair dwarf gourami
10-20 neons
1 pair blue rams
3-5 clown loaches
1 or 1 pair of bristlenoses.


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## bk201 (Mar 19, 2009)

yellows and breeding blues defantly not blues defend a territory yellows dont so bad combination aswell as with malawis its best to have strong filters and atleast 10-15fish mimimum to reduce agression.

and most importantly never put clown loaches in a uncycled tank that hasnt been cycled for atleast 2 months and make sure other fish have been there to start the biological cycle for atleast a few weeks...and clown loaches arent for people new to fish...to many poor clownies die due to stupid petshop advice.
also clownies grow to 30cm.....


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## kakariki (Mar 19, 2009)

You can't put male & female fighters together! The females will kill him. 
I would add guppies to the tank also. IMO, forget gourami unless that is the only fish you have. They can be aggressive, as can Angels, barbs etc.. I have a 4 foot colony tank consisting of 2 Pakistani loaches, 2 albino cats, 2 pepper cats, 2 kuhlu loaches, 2 algae eaters, a dozen or so neons, a couple of rummynose, 3 glowlight tetras & a dozen guppies ( that are dropping babies atm). It is a tank with colour & harmony. Oh, & my 2 female fighters are also in there. (My male has his own 18 inch tank which I introduce the chosen female into when the time comes.) I did have Glass catfish too but they died.


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## scorps (Mar 19, 2009)

Just set the four foot up, put in some gold fish, koi (if you like them) and some eel tail catfish all will live fine together (dont worry with an eel youll end up losing it  best exscape artists.


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## bk201 (Mar 19, 2009)

four foot is to small for koi 
IMO koi are giant pond fish minimum and even at that dont keep em outside if you live near any natural watercourse

with eeltails try and track down some yellow eeltails a bit more expensive but stay about half the size as the normal ones which tend to get to about 60cm and weigh a few kgs to big also for a four foot tank

also when buying goldfish remember each tiny baby has the potential to reach 30cm


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## missllama (Mar 19, 2009)

Ohh k kak, i keep forgetting what can and cant go together the girl at this place said i needed 1 male and 4-6 females and they wont kill ecah other, BUT i dont wana take any chances

she also said that a tank i pointed out that i liked in the store would be too big for fighting fish and neons n catfish etc? whats the deal is there honestly such thing as to big for fish?

and yes i have a heater i realised that i have to use one with the fighting fish and thats all good i was just worried at first about getting fish that need a heater because of the oscars i had dying so easy but clearly that wasnt the problem and i no that now 

thanks everyone for ur advice im writting down all the fish ur suggesting to get so i can go see what they are like tommorw ( i have no clue what any of them look like that u have named lol)

cheers


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## bk201 (Mar 19, 2009)

fighter fish breathe air from the surface so tanks ideally should be shallow not over 25cm tall to make it easier on them and also slow waterflow and only keep male fighters in with females when breeding not permanantly the male wont kill the female outright if kept with 6 females but stress will slowly pick of the females.

also dont go to the shop and just pick nice looking fish and get them there and then wait a while do some online research and find out there requirements and compatability

some fish sites
http://thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/fishindx.htm

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profile.html


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## kakariki (Mar 19, 2009)

I was told that there is a bacterial disease that kills off Oscars. Does anyone have any info on this? As for too big? Honestly no idea! I haven't heard that before but I am no fish expert either, lol. I can only give you my experiences & female fighters do kill males! They gang up & hammer him. As far as depth goes, my guppies stay near the top, the female fighters go mid to top & the neons, cats & loaches are on the bottom. I would suggest not going to a pet store. Try a specialist aquarium shop instead as they have way more knowledge!


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## imalizard (Mar 19, 2009)

Think the disease is hole in the head? I dont have any info on it. Get some black skirt tetras or white clouds mountain minnows. Good luck on trying to kill them lol!

Daniel


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## imalizard (Mar 19, 2009)

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2160&aid=2586

More info on Hole in the head


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## bk201 (Mar 19, 2009)

oscars are known to suffer from a disease often refered to as hole in the head syndrome which can eat at the front of its head and most deaths caused in oscars are from poor quality water and filters small tank size and them breaking the heaters and electricuting themself they are big inteligent fish but dont understand that breaking a heater will kill them

hole in the head is uncurable but they can live with it aslong as the water and filters are kept clean and have plenty of beneficial bacteria

also oscars grow big eat lots and make alota mess so tanks should be cleaned a few times a week

i kept oscars for 5 years a pair in a 4x2x2 tank with 2 filters each big enough for a tank bigger than it was kept it clean and not just clean get a test kit and check the water perameters. a few simple things need to be met and also i cannot emphasise this enough the main thing you need to know about keeping fish is picking the right place to get them from...if you see a dead fish in a tank dont buy any from the tank or the shop,...if you see sick looking fish in the tank dont buy them...dont even buy fish from dirty tanks good quality fish is the most important thing .


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## missllama (Mar 19, 2009)

i might go to the aquarium place on anzac highway coz supposedly aggies etc are being renovated atm so i dont no what they would be like rite now

im only going to get 1 fighter now i dont wana take a chance, only thing i dont get is why they keep saying oh no the tank will be to big, i dont see how a tank can be too big for fish? do they stress or something? lol


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## chrisso81 (Mar 19, 2009)

No offence to anyone here but there seems to be a lot of conflicting info from a lot of people who don't really seem to know what they're talking about. There has been some really good advice mixed in here, but sometimes sorting the wheat from the chaff is hard.

I would suggest you head to a specialised fish forum, such as addicted2fish.com or aceforums.com or even boroniaaquarium.com, may need to add au's to the end, they're all in my favourites so can't remember exact addresses. You will get good advice from these places, particularly addicted, I have been a menber there since 04. Avoid fish from pet shops, they are usually mass produced, genetically weak crap from Asia and are usually full of hormones and antibiotics. Go to a proper aquarium, and try and get locally bred stuff. Much hardier, and used to the local water conditions.

Keeping fish is a relatively simple affair, you just need to know what your doing, same as snakes, geckoes, any animal really. I have fish in my collection that are over 5 years old and still breeding. Thats a very long life for some of these little guys!

My advice is research, research, research, you don't want to have another disastrous start to fish keeping. If you head over to addicted I have the same username there, if you have questions about cycling, tank size, species etc just pm me and I can answer them for you.


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## missllama (Mar 19, 2009)

oh cool! then i might be able to see some pics of peoples setups and stuff aswel ill check those out thankyou chris!

only reason i asked for advice on here is because i find that even doing research there is conflicting info too, ill go check that forum out now thankyou!!


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## bump73 (Mar 19, 2009)

missllamathuen said:


> ok everyone today i went into a place and this is what she suggested to me
> 
> 1 male fighting fish
> 4-6 females
> ...


 

The one starting with a "P" is probably a Plecostomus..They are pretty much the same as a bristle nose and will clean up a lot of the algae on the glass etc. I hav 3 of them and they are great fish ( attached a pic) 

You mentioned eels earlier in the thread, i highly recommend fire eels, if you can get hold of one, and spiny eels. However they are pretty fussy as to what they will eat, Australian eels are great but they will eat all the fish you have and love to escape. I had one missing for over a day and found it around back of the aquarium...It lived after being put back in the tank..

Ben


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## Australis (Mar 19, 2009)

You definately should keep native fish, anyone who says otherwise is simply
trying to mislead you!


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## missllama (Mar 19, 2009)

that looks like them! they were really cute and fat looking and one was stuck on the glass eating away at the stuff on it when i saw it today they were about 15 each? i dont no if thats good or not

aust what fishies are native fish that i can get? i wouldnt have a clue...


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## Australis (Mar 19, 2009)

missllamathuen said:


> aust what fishies are native fish that i can get? i wouldnt have a clue...



http://www.sanfa.org.au/
http://www.nativefish.asn.au/fish.html


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## missllama (Mar 19, 2009)

thanks aust


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## bk201 (Mar 19, 2009)

common pleco's can reach 60cm

best to go with bristlnoses or one of the many species of small pleco's if you dont have a nice big tank


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## jay76 (Mar 19, 2009)

Australis said:


> You definately should keep native fish, anyone who says otherwise is simply
> trying to mislead you!



I agree 100%. Large australian fish like Jacks, Saratogas, Cods ect...


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## mcloughlin2 (Mar 19, 2009)

I agree, way to much conflicting information from people who don't seem to have had much experiance. I havn't bothered to read all of the posts so sorry if i repeat information that has already been said.

Male and female fighter shouldn't be kept together unless you have a heavily planted tank for the females to escape the male. By heavily planted i mean heavily planted. Male fighter fish are usually picked up by most tetras/danios so I'd suggest you avoid getting one. If you like female fighters they are fine with most small tropical fish.

If your new to fish african cichlids are the way to go. They are hardy, easy and fascinating to breed and not all that expensive. They are also what I'd call the bridge connectiong freshwater to saltwater, meaning that they are the step below keeping and maintaining a saltwater tank. 

All you need to setup a freshwater tropical tank is;

- water ager
- heater
- pH test kit or alternatively some 5 in 1 test strips (tests for almost all the important things in an aquarium
- if your setting up an african cichlid tank you need some buffer and lake salts

Thats pretty much the basics. If you choose to go for african cichlids I'd suggest you use argonite (also called marble chips) as the gravel. It helps maintain ph and the like so less maintainance for you. Have several strategically placed rocks and ornaments in the tank so the males can each have a territory and will fight less. Don't place all the rocks in one pile cause you will get one male who will take over the entire thing. 

I'm sure i read someone saying electric blues and electric yellows can't be kept together because electric yellows will not defend a territory. This is absolutely wrong and I have personally seen male electric yellows nearly kill electric blues the same size and bigger over territories. In a 4ft tank the following combination will work perfect. 

1 male & 3 female electric yellows
1 male & 3 female cobolt blue zebras
1 male & 3 female aceii
Some bristlenose.

Buy them small and grow them up, they will go through a rough stage as do most teenage boys but once they are matured you will find you will get a dominant fish who wants peace and will get peace.  

Most fish shop employees make up alot of things so it is best to check out what ever they tell you if they look like they're uncomfortable. For instance anyone at a fishshop who knows what they are talking about will advise you not to mix african and american cichlids. I find this question usually helps decide whether they know what they are on about as the ones who don't say yes without an explanation while the ones who know what they are talking about will advise not to but explain it can be done. 

When cycling a tank you need to have something in it. A tank doesn't cycle unless there is waste in it. I advise you to go out and buy some bristlenose and put them in the tank first. Wait a week and then gradually start to add fish. Add them species by species and once all the fish are in the tank re-arrange it so that all the fish have an equal opportunity to establish a territory.

Oscars grow to large for a standard 4ft tank and so do most natives, with the exception of rainbows and gudgeons. Tetras and the like may seem like the cheapest way into the world of fish but they often are more suceptable to diseases because they are usually bred by the millions in asia and thus are dosed with medication as a precation all the time. By the time they get to you the diseases have became immune to medications. Stick with african cichlids trust me. They are nearly all locally bred and will be far more entertaining then some tetras. 

LOL, i just read your original post and saw you want something coldwater and no salts. That rules out basically everything except goldfish, even then they do best if you add rock salt to the tank. 

Just quickly so i feel like i didn't waste my time, a heater should have a themostat built into it. If it doesn't buy another for $25 that does and the temperature will be easier to control then that of a reptile cage. Fighting fish cannot be kept without some form of heating.


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## bk201 (Mar 19, 2009)

in a 120x60x60 i had a 
male electric blue go psyco during breeding season and it went crazy on anything else besides the females.

electric yellows currently got 20 adults never had a problem between males and teritorys of the same species.

electric blues can be really agressive not saying every single one is but quite a few male electric blues haras other fish alot.


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## Tsubakai (Mar 19, 2009)

I get sick of repeating this every time fish get talked about on forums. *FISHLESS CYCLING* Look it up. You do need waste to cycle a tank but it can come from a bit of dead prawn or even pure ammonia (quite often sold as a cleaning product) Cycling a tank with fish in, even slowly, is a form of torture. Yes many of the tougher types can survive but a beardie can survive in a shoe box or a turtle in a bucket - doesn't make it right. 

Lana this is not really aimed at you, more at some of the advice being given so sorry to go a bit off topic.

On another note, I totally agree with Australis - natives are awesome. Not taking anything away from cichlids etc (there are certainly some 'exotic' fish I would kill to own) but I am slowly offloading some of my tropicals in exchange for more natives.


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## merdelhuck (Mar 21, 2009)

rosy barbs are nice aswell
they dont need heaters


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## merdelhuck (Mar 21, 2009)

*plecos for sale*



bk201 said:


> common pleco's can reach 60cm
> 
> best to go with bristlnoses or one of the many species of small pleco's if you dont have a nice big tank


 
yes..i have 2 plecos for sale
1 is 40cm+ and the other is 25cm long


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## SnapKitten (Mar 21, 2009)

Hey, if you like catfish have a look at the pictus catfish _(Pimelodus pictus)._ Beautiful fish.

I had some for a while, but don't have fish anymore.


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## SnapKitten (Mar 21, 2009)

This is what they look like. 







They are classed as tropical fish. They like tank temps of 23 -26 degrees with a ph of 6.5 - 7.5

Not as easy to keep as goldfish but not too hard. I had no dramas with mine.


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## ambah (Mar 21, 2009)

I used my fish tank for frogs after my goldfish died..


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## missllama (Mar 22, 2009)

thanks everyone for ur replys, lol ambah poor fishies!

i have decided to get the snails, brittlenose catfish, i forget there names but something like clown loaches? they looked cool and were in the same set up as the brittle noses, a heap of neons, male fighter, and there was these really wierd see through fish that im going to get some off i dont remember there names either lol
and all the other fish i forgot what there called  but there was a whole heap we have chosen out that we will get over a few wks (the guy at the shop told me to get some put them in then go back a wk later get them put them in) is that neccisarry?
my partner is buying a 140L jebo tank for me from mrs i (cheers hun!) and ill cycle it etc all before i get the fish, we just went down yesturday to have a look at everything and work out what we want so we no what to get when we are finished cylcing


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## imalizard (Mar 22, 2009)

Good choice of fish! Dont get the clown loaches!! They get really big and need to be kept in a school!


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## missllama (Mar 22, 2009)

imalizard said:


> Good choice of fish! Dont get the clown loaches!! They get really big and need to be kept in a school!



maby im thinking of the wrong thing? because the person told me these dont get big, they had like orange and black stripes sort of? i got so many names of fish yesturday that im probably confusing myself now lol i made sure they were all small fish that dont grow up to be huge and that they will all live together peacefully 
i dont no how many snails i should get do they do alot of cleaning etc? they were pretty big snails bigger then garden snails thats for sure


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## Hooglabah (Mar 22, 2009)

missllamathuen said:


> thanks everyone for ur replys, lol ambah poor fishies!
> 
> i have decided to get the snails, brittlenose catfish, i forget there names but something like clown loaches? they looked cool and were in the same set up as the brittle noses, a heap of neons, male fighter, and there was these really wierd see through fish that im going to get some off i dont remember there names either lol
> and all the other fish i forgot what there called  but there was a whole heap we have chosen out that we will get over a few wks (the guy at the shop told me to get some put them in then go back a wk later get them put them in) is that neccisarry?
> my partner is buying a 140L jebo tank for me from mrs i (cheers hun!) and ill cycle it etc all before i get the fish, we just went down yesturday to have a look at everything and work out what we want so we no what to get when we are finished cylcing



sorry to say but your going to have a few clashes there

snails will be eaten by about everything
the bristlenose will eat away at the loaches while they sleep (the sleep on thier sides and look like they are dead. the tetras will eat the fighter and the glass cat fisher (the wierd see through ones) will die of stress from haveing the neons and bristlnoses constant movement.

also you have fish from south east asia in with amazon fish. this isnt neccasarily a bad thing however it the loaches survie they get to be about 20cm long and will definantly eat your tetras and glass cat fish.


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## Mrs I (Mar 22, 2009)

Lana just get 3 snails, i had 5 snails, and they layed eggs, when i turn my light off in my tank, if i turn it back on half hour later i have hundreds (slight exaggeration) of baby snails all over my tank, mind you i think the fish like to supliment their diet on baby snails too. Lol.

I have one lone cloan loach who lives fine with my other fish.


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## missllama (Mar 22, 2009)

ok so if i didnt get the loaches, and didnt get the neons and tried maby just 1 or 2 snails would that be a better idea?

i also just saw someone selling these: Peppermint Bristlenose's 2.8-3cm for $20 each

is there much difference between that type and the plain sort i would have seen at the aquarium shop?

what would u suggest to put in the tank with the bristlenoses and the fighter? the place were im going has quite a bit of variety so i should be able to pick up most things 

are the loaches the thick striped ones? because the loaches were in the same tank as the bristlenoses i thought maby im thinking of something els?

woops i googled it and worked it out this was what i was talking about






so its best not to house them with the bristlenoses?
if i can work out 2 good combos ill just set up both of my tanks then so i can still get a variety


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## Hooglabah (Mar 22, 2009)

imo the most stunning tank is a congo/amazon basin mix tank.

2x apistiograma ramrezi (females have pink on thier belly)

20x neon tetras

20 x glowlight tetras 

4x bristnoses 

4x bronze corydoras

4x peppered corydoras\

2 x albino corydoras

4x kuhli loaches (these are an south east asian fish but will flourish in this tank and add yellows and blacks to the colour specturm of your tank)

that amount of fish will fit in a 140 liter tank perfectly and cohabitate without any trouble

also the colours compliment each other perfectly. 

this is also a very low maintainance tank with hardy fish that will mostly tolerate most of your newbie mistakes and is made up of fish that all cost less than $10 you can buy all these fish for under $250 from any reputable dealer as they are always avilable. 

none have special feeding requirements except the bristlenose wich only needs you to put a bit of aquairum wood in there. 

just a word of warning the colours displayed in this kind of tank can lead to eye damage due to extream brightness and should only be veiwed through gold plated visors  

seriously tho it does hurt your eyes first thing in the morning.

this is just my opinion tho its really up to you


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## Hooglabah (Mar 22, 2009)

fighters need to be housed really only with other female fighters or kept alone sure they are tough as far as two males goes but most other fish will tear them apart they are really big pussycats


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## Hooglabah (Mar 22, 2009)

if youd like a suggestion on substrate to best compliment the colours or plants and types of rock and stuff like that pm me and i'll send you info and piccies. setting up a tank is like interior desgining everything should compliment everything else. unlike interior designing however certain things can never go together or in the tank for example never put and white rock in an amazon or south east asian tank and it will raise your ph and gh and kill your fish same with shell grit substrate


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## Wild_Storm (Mar 22, 2009)

In my tank (about 6 foot long) I have Neons, Cardinals, Kolhi Loaches (like eels, stripy and SO much fun, but eat snails- I don't have many Gold Spot snails left), 2 Female fighters(old age got them a month ago), Glass Catfish, Bristle nose catfish- black and albino, snails.

I have been told that Goldfish will try and eat any other fish in their enclosure... So they might be out of the question. My Tetras are VERY forgiving, and at the moment I am not running a heater OR a Fitler as I thought I got zapped the other day when I was fishing pond snails out of my water, so EVERYTHING got turned off. That was 2 weeks ago, and yes it is getting fixed this week. Isolation will tell me the answer, but I need a small body to climb under the tank to play 'one at a time' games with the different plugs!!


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## missllama (Mar 22, 2009)

thanks hooglabah, i am going to give the aquarium a call now and find out about the list of fish u just gave me, i would LOVE a list of plants etc and info on them i was going to ask about that because i dont no much about plants


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## Hooglabah (Mar 22, 2009)

peppermint bristlnoses are very hard to keep and imo dont look all that differant to normal bn's exept the spots and smaller and brighter and they dont have bristles

zebras are stunning but really only avilible if you have a spare 200 - 300 bucks lying around.


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## missllama (Mar 22, 2009)

are the zebras hard to look after tho? ill google a pic of them now anything i can get that will get along ok and arnt too hard to keep i will be looking at buying, i dont want to over populate my tank but i dont want it to be under populated, so i will keep everyone updated and keep asking questions and ill give those peppermints a miss then if there hard to keep i dont want anything thats going to be too hard


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## RELLIK81 (Mar 22, 2009)

ive always like tropical tanks...currently all i have is a 4 inch flowerhorn in a 6 foot tank......awesome fish.....


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## seumas12345 (Mar 22, 2009)

I had goldfish in a small tank with no heater when I lived in Canberra... I came back after a weekend trip during winter to find a 5mm thick layer of ice on the top of the water and a pair of goldfish going thru their small scale ice age


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## missllama (Mar 22, 2009)

RELLIK81 said:


> ive always like tropical tanks...currently all i have is a 4 inch flowerhorn in a 6 foot tank......awesome fish.....



flowerhorn? lol that sounds cool! got any photos?


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## Hooglabah (Mar 22, 2009)

trust me miss l you dont want a flower horn super agressive african cichlid stunning fish but a solo inhabitant.


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## missllama (Mar 22, 2009)

yea i dont want something that gets that big but i would love to see what they look like lol for some reason i pictured that big scary fish from finding nemo with that thing sticking out of his head LMAO

i only want small fish for the tank were getting

do u have any pics of ur setups u can post hooglabah? and thanks heaps for all ur help mate!


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## missllama (Mar 22, 2009)

im just looking at ph kits online aswel right now, is there anything to avoid or cant i go wrong with them?


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## imalizard (Mar 22, 2009)

The clown loaches can grow up to 30cm


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## Hooglabah (Mar 22, 2009)

i'll post some pics of the tanks my step dad has setup using stuff i got rid of lol they are in serious need of some maintance and 1 has two fish in it and one has nothing as my pindani died last week :,( he was my favorite


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## missllama (Mar 22, 2009)

oh what the hell ima THERE HUGE lol there uglier then they are as babies aswel LOL


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## imalizard (Mar 22, 2009)

I know lol, i think they look great when there young but when they grow up they are soo ugly!


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## Mrs I (Mar 22, 2009)

Lana - A picture of one of my electric blue males.

They are still quite small.

Also a picture of my electric yellows and a pictus catfish in the background.

One of the whole tank, it needs a clean and new plants today, i have two male electric blues and seperate the tank in the middle with plants, one has its territory at one side of the tank the other has its territory on the other side of the tank, they dont care too much about sharing their territory with any of the other fish, except for their immediate rival, which if one male enters the other males territory they get chased out pretty quickly.


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## missllama (Mar 22, 2009)

cheers taryn i dont think i had seen them before! they are gorgeous, ur tank setup looks great too, which aquarium shops do u use in adelaide? have u ever been to the seaview aquarium on anzac highway?


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## Mrs I (Mar 22, 2009)

Arent they pictus catfish, i have two.


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## andyscott (Mar 22, 2009)

imalizard said:


> The clown loaches can grow up to 30cm
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## andyscott (Mar 22, 2009)

Mrs I said:


> Arent they pictus catfish, i have two.


 

Yes they are pictus cats.
One of my favs, but be careful housing them with cichlids or Aussie natives.
After a while their feelers will be eaten off and they will die.


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