Help me Select Cats

bottomdwellin · Post by **bottomdwellin** » 29 Oct 2003, 17:11

Hi all!
I am 14 days into cycling my 29G tank. I want to start planning the inhabitants so I can decide and reasearch them before I buy them. Here's my current steup:
Filters: 2 Aqua Clear 200's
Planted: (Dwarf & Giant Sagittaria, Crypt Lutea & Wendtii, Amazon Sword, Java Fern and a Anubias Barteri) Flourite and small natural colored gravel mix. One cave, one bridge and a one fake hollow log. I am going to add another cave under a filter outlet but can't find good bogwood around here.
Our tap water is soft with a Ph around 6.7. Current temp is 77 degress.

I would like to base my fish around a Queen Arabesque because of looks and size.
I also like the looks and activity of pimpictus as well as Cories.
I read a suggestion in a book that Synodontis nigriventris could be my top level fish. Is this true?
I don't know, too many options, too many awesome fish, I get stuck after the Arabesque. Help me please.

Post by **Barbie** » 29 Oct 2003, 18:29

Do you just want catfish? Or do you want to mix in some other suitable fish? The QA won't actually help much with the maintenance of the algae in the tank, so you might consider farowella, and/or otocinclus for the tank. Another fish that I've always really enjoyed in a planted tank, is these... http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sc ... /327_f.htm You'd want a good school of them, 5 or 6 at least. They have very interesting schooling behavior, and maintain the catfish theme

I personally like to put japonica shrimp in my planted tanks, to help prevent any problem with nuisance algae, and I'm not sure the pictus would play nicely with them. Maybe someone else will know

Barbie

bottomdwellin · Post by **bottomdwellin** » 29 Oct 2003, 18:42

Thanks for some input.
Those striped african glass cats, don't some plaes call them debauwi (spelling)?
Those were a cat scheme I read about. I wasn't overly impressed with the pics I have seen and haven't seen them at any lfs. Noted idea though.
I would like a full cat scheme, but would be willing to go out of that for my top level fish.

Keep 'em coming!!! LOL!

Post by **Silurus** » 29 Oct 2003, 18:51

Those striped african glass cats, don't some plaes call them debauwi (spelling)?

Yes, they are often called debauwi cats (from the days when they were misidentified as Eutropiellus debauwi). I can hook you up if you want some and don't mind paying for shipping.

Post by **Barbie** » 29 Oct 2003, 18:51

Yep, most places sell them as debauwi cats. It wasn't until I went and looked them up to make sure they'd fit in your set up that I read that its an incorrect usage. Oops! They don't look like much in pictures, or even in retail tanks, IME, but trust me on this one, they are very neat fish once they're home and acclimated. They tend to swim at an angle, and as they move across the tank, the group is heading one direction, while at any given moment, one or two of them will turn around and swim to the back of the bunch, then turn and head on the same direction again. It adds a large amount of movement, without frantic pacing and rushing about. A 29 gallon is a bit small for fish that are big movers, IME. A shoal of cories, and a few rare plecos could easily make the tank complete

Barbie

magnum4 · Post by **magnum4** » 29 Oct 2003, 20:06

I would like to base my fish around a Queen Arabesque because of looks and size.

With this in mind i recomend you leave out the pimpictus, as they are a schooling species best in a group and need lots of swimming space. also a little excitable at feeding time and Arabesques do not compete well for food, they will starve to death without even competing once in some cases.

as a replacement

Agamyxis pectinifrons

get two or three.

bottomdwellin · Post by **bottomdwellin** » 29 Oct 2003, 20:40

as a replacement

Agamyxis pectinifrons

get two or three.

Replacing the pimpictus I assume?

So let me summarize your thoughts if I can.

1 - Queen Arabesque
5-6 - Striped Afrian Glass
?# - Cories
2-3 - Spotted Talking Cats

What's a good shoal of Cories? between 4-6? 2 groups of 2 different kinds ok?

olway · Post by **olway** » 06 Nov 2003, 21:30

?# - Cories

Personally I LOVE peppered corys loads of typical cory behaviour and they don't get big 2/3 in so you can afford to add about 8.
Never thought of a catfish only tank

must try soon

magnum4 · Post by **magnum4** » 06 Nov 2003, 22:39

So far all the decided species are coloured black and white so to add a bit of colour I would have either corydoras panda or sterbai.

Post by **Barbie** » 06 Nov 2003, 22:58

I really enjoy my sterbai cories, and they would definitely add a touch of color, but ummm... aren't panda cories black and white also?

Barbie

magnum4 · Post by **magnum4** » 06 Nov 2003, 23:32

but who could refuse pandas

Sid Guppy · Post by **Sid Guppy** » 07 Nov 2003, 11:45

No, Panda's have the black spots, but their body is usually a very warm color, hovering between terracotta, pink and khaki.

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 08 Nov 2003, 18:57

SG_Eurystomus wrote:hovering between terracotta, pink and khaki.

Good grief, you should be an interior designer!

Why not have > 1 L260 and lose the Agamyxis?

Jools

bottomdwellin · Post by **bottomdwellin** » 09 Nov 2003, 20:53

This is cool! Awesome input Thanks.
Ok let me recap again if I can.
I put in 3 clown loaches as I had some less desirable snails to get rid of. I think they will go to another tank when I start putting my final pics in.
About the Corydoras sterbai....they still look kinda black dominate in pics and I didn't see any at my last trip to lfs. What they did have was what they called a julii, but was awesome orange. Not sure what it really is. What about metae??
Thank you Jools. More than one L260 is fine by me (Agamyxs is very hard for my lfs to get if at all) just may take an extra week of comp checks. Would I introduce together or 1-2 weeks later? Should I decrease the corydoras down to 5 or 6 with 2 L260's?
So with those 8 or so fish we have crammed the bottom strata, any other mid or uppers beside the african glass or syndontis nigriventris? I've even been leaning away from the neccesity to be a cat, maybe a c*****d (sorry, i.e. angel) or gourami?

Post by **Barbie** » 09 Nov 2003, 22:36

Do you want color? Cichlid behavior? What trips your fancy? I would highly recommend a school of praecox rainbows for coloring and the fact that they get along with just anyone, in a wide range of water parameters. You could raise out 3 or 4 angels in that tank, but keep in mind they WILL decide to spawn, and they WILL try to kill everyone in order to do so, or at least drive them out of the area, which just isn't going to happen unless you don't have a good tight lid on the top....

Microgeophagus altospinosa work great in tanks that size, but they tend to hover closer to the bottom, and you're already going to have quite a bit of activity there already.

I don't usually recommend gouramis. The dwarf types tend to be too inbred to keep easily, and the larger types can get pretty aggressive. Your tap water would be ideal for some small apistos and the like from south america though. Rummy nose tetras, cardinals, it just all really depends on what you like

Barbie

bottomdwellin · Post by **bottomdwellin** » 09 Nov 2003, 23:38

Barbie, most likely color. Activity would be a bonus as the corydoras will provide most of that I hope, but it wouldn't hurt.
By Apisto's I assume you mean apistogramma? They mostly seem to be bottom hoverers too from profile search.
Tetras are a dime a dozen if ya know what I mean. Nothing against them, I have some in another tank and will have more I'm sure. Looking for something a little different but not extremely expensive and will order if I find the right fish.
Angels seem to be the front runner. Will corydoras be fin-nippers if I get a veil tail?

I'm not helpin' am I??

olway · Post by **olway** » 10 Nov 2003, 01:15

PRAECOX it has to be PRAECOX

feed them flakes and they will perform their morning dance for you

. Make sure you get 2males(red fins) and 4/6 females, and quarantine them for at least 2 weeks treat them for ich! and bacterial and you should have no fatalities.

Post by **Barbie** » 10 Nov 2003, 02:23

Cories definitely won't nip fins. Of course you're helping! Its your tank after all

The idea is to get fish you'd be happy with. While I agree that praecox would be fish you'd be happy with, I disagree with the idea of treating them for anything they aren't showing signs of. That can cause problems, not to mention stress the fish terribly.

2 angels could live with 4 praecox in your tank, actually, for some movement, color, and cichlid behavior, all in one. They are both also commonly available. I'm sure the tank will be lovely

Barbie

bottomdwellin · Post by **bottomdwellin** » 10 Nov 2003, 17:14

Ok, I'm studying the Praecox, had never heard about them.
This seems to be flowing together. We got back to the first fish I every picked out, the angelfish, the beautiful and small L260 plus a stack of crazy cories.
I just want to check the number of cories. From the numbers I see, I should stay with a smaller shoal. I'd like to get 6 but will go with 4 if I have to and would like to mix 2 or 3 types of cory.
The rundown:
2 - L260 Queen Arabesque

2 - Angelfish veil tail

4 - Praecox

If it's 4 cories 2 peppered & 2 sterbai
If it's 6 cories 2 peppered, 2 sterbai & 2 bandits
Are those ok blends? The last question is with acclimation, do I introduce both L260 at once or not and the cories do I do 2 or all?

THANKS ALL!!!

Post by **Barbie** » 10 Nov 2003, 17:43

I'd say add both of the queen arabesques at once, and before you add the cories, to allow them to settle in. A group of 6 cories would be happier, but to be honest, I don't know which "types" shoal together. I've always just bought large groups of one type, so I'm not much help there. Sorry. If you get 6 cories, you'll definitely have the tank heavily stocked, but it should work ok

Make sure you add good hiding spots for the QA's. They'll make good use of them, hehe.

Barbie

olway · Post by **olway** » 10 Nov 2003, 20:11

hi Barbie just to clarify the comments I made about the Praecox.
I was told to treat 'just in case' even though it would cause additional stress to the fish and didn't treat and as a consequence lost two fish one to ich the other to dropsy.

I now think that a precautionary treatment is preferable to getting ich which might be a even more stressful

. So even though you would be treating "just incase" (and stressing the fish

) I recommend doing it rather than losing even one fish.

olway · Post by **olway** » 10 Nov 2003, 20:17

Tetras are a dime a dozen if ya know what I mean

Just a thought. what about Buenes aires tetras good colour, movement and would go nicely with the south american theme.

Post by **Silurus** » 10 Nov 2003, 20:33

what about Buenes aires tetras

They actually do best at a lower temperature than for the rest of the proposed inhabitants.

Sid Guppy · Post by **Sid Guppy** » 10 Nov 2003, 23:00

Moenkhausia Colomba, M pitteri, Astyanax sp "redfin", Astyanax sp "greenstripe", Aphyocharax rubripinnis etc
no need to pollute a nice South American setup with rainbowfish....

Moenkhausia pitteri

Another great group of Characins are the pencilfishes and their relatives. Although true pencilfishes might end up as food for the Angels; Pyrrhulina, Copella and Copeina are too big for that. More; they're upper water dwellers, unlike most Characins, wich makes them very useful in catfishtanks. Their peaceful, lively nature renders them excellent ditherfish. And they're much more moving than those true Kamikaze's, the Hatchetfish. Those often end their lives as crunchy fish'n'chips on the floor.

Copeina guttata

the Bloodfin Tetra Aphyocharax rubripinnis is another lively mid/upper water dweller.

Try to avoid Neons, Kardinals and Red Neons at all costs! These are the natural foodsource of the Angelfish, I'm sure you get the picture.

Post by **Barbie** » 11 Nov 2003, 01:10

LOL Sid, not everyone must have biotopes, its amazing, some people actually like fish just for the fact that they're compatible

On the praecox needing treatment statement, I still disagree. I've kept 40 or 50 praecox over the years and have yet to have one get ich during their quarantine period, or even in my tanks. Stressing the fish unduly for a problem that is rarely fatal if treated appropriately is just never going to be a good idea, IMO.

Barbie

bottomdwellin · Post by **bottomdwellin** » 17 Nov 2003, 18:33

It's all screwed up for now.
I bought two angels at CFS ***** and they were both dead within 12 hours.......

The 3 clown loaches are acting as usual. Water tests show no change from the normal with ammonia less than .25, 0 nitrite and 10-20 nitrate. Anyway, my wife brought home 7 neons last night and none of my other tanks are ready

. As soon as I can get a home for the neons or the clowns I'l get back on schedule.

Elle · Post by **Elle** » 02 Dec 2003, 21:27

*heh* I love catfish! hmm.... I have a lot, but my favorites are the little dwarf cory and my Iradescent (sp?) Shark, Gessive. Lee named him Gessive. It is short for "aggressive". But don't worry- Gessive is only aggressive when it's time to eat. He eats like crazy, but will not eat too much. He is a beautiful silver color, and about 3 inches long. They get bigger, but slowly. My dwarf cory is so cute! He swims kinda in the middle of the tank, but will rest on the bottom. He almost looks like a spotted cory, but the spots and lines on his head are different than those on a spotted cory. He is only about an inch or so long, but he is so energetic! (not to mention adorable)

^what the heck is this this thing?^->:beardy:

Sid Guppy · Post by **Sid Guppy** » 03 Dec 2003, 17:35

Elle said:

They get bigger, but slowly

just kiddin??

do you know HOW big they get?

watch and learn....

You might think about this, one time

Elle · Post by **Elle** » 13 Dec 2003, 21:46

GAA!!! They get that big? And fat? JEEZ!!!!!!!! The tag on the tank at the pet store said that they only get six inches long! Thats not six inches! Wait.... is that really an Iredescant Shark? How old is it? Mine is only 1 or 2 years old. And 3 or 4 inches long! My gosh! Why would they sell them in a pet store?

Hey- is that you in the picture? How'd ya get the fish?
-Elle

magnum4 · Post by **magnum4** » 13 Dec 2003, 22:09

GAA!!! They get that big? And fat? JEEZ!!!!!!!! The tag on the tank at the pet store said that they only get six inches

Elle don't believe everthing you read in a pet shop, how obout you go back and complain?

The fish pictured is about 4 years old, as a guess.

Why would they sell them in a pet store?

money

Help me Select Cats

Help me Select Cats

Pick-a-fish!

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