"Cephalopod Intelligence Test" & Other Aquaria

[eredien]

greygirlbeast has taken my poem "Cephalopod Intelligence Test" for the very newest issue of Sirenia Digest! Go subscribe now!

R. and I were supposed to go see Up last night, but when we got to the theatre, the projector had broken, so we went to the petstore instead. Looked at kittens, got a laser pointer for our cats, looked at fish and fishtank stands for the new 20-gal. aquarium that Thrud gave me before she moved, which I am going to start running through the nitrogen cycle this weekend. Met J. and W., who are thinking about getting a parakeet, and learned a lot about parakeet sexing.

I am thinking of making a tank full of tetras and other Amazonian fish. What do you think of this stocking scheme? (It's a 20 gal. long tank).

- Black Neon Tetras (6) - for cycling

- Neon Tetras (7)

- What kind of fish, snail, or shrimp should I get for an algae eater? I am thinking about 2 Oto catfish.

Comments

[sovay]

greygirlbeast has taken my poem "Cephalopod Intelligence Test" for the very newest issue of Sirenia Digest!

Yay!

I have no input on the kinds of fish whatsoever, but I approve very much of a twenty-gallon tank.

(That said, the Malaysian Trumpet Snail is beautiful.)

[baphnedia.livejournal.com]

I'd go with the catfish, though what type is whichever looks best to you. The Oto are quite cute though.

[eredien]

Which catfish, Baphednia? The Otos are catfish too so I am not sure which of the ones on that article you are referring to.

[baphnedia.livejournal.com]

I'm referring just to the Oto catfish, as opposed to other types of catfish. I used to have one. :)

[eredien]

Was it aggressive or unhappy by itself? I'm concerned that 2 otos will stress the bioload of the tank or that they will pick on the other fish, but I am also concerned that 1 oto by itself will not be happy.

[baphnedia.livejournal.com]

The one that I had seemed to be happy; the problem was that I had a divided tank at the time (I was taking care of someone's male betta), and the catfish found a way around/over/under/whatever the barrier at some point, and was killed by the betta.

If two is a problem, be ready to return one to the pet store and get something like a mystery snail. :)

[faerieboots.livejournal.com]

That is funny--we were going to see Up last night, too!

Also, I did not know you wrote a poem about cephalopods! That is awesome! ;^)

[eredien]

Yay! Now that you are done with the bar, you should come visit us.

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the sale! That is way awesome cool! (And if it's the poem I'm thinking of, I rather like that one...)

[eredien]

Yes, it likely is. Thanks!

[copperwolf.livejournal.com]

When you say "black neon tetras for cycling" -- you are planning to do fishless cycling, aren't you? There's an article on that aquahobby.com site you link to. In my 20 gallon tank, I used a dead shrimp for my ammonia source, and the process took about two and a half weeks.

Your stocking scheme sounds fine to me, even a tad conservative. If you do regular water changes, say 25% every week or 30% every two weeks, you can probably sustain two dozen of that size of fish. I'd work up to 8 each of the two kinds of tetras for starters, one species at a time so they won't be lonely. I had (still have, I guess) a forum account on aquahobby.com, and I found the advice I got there to be helpful and reassuring.

I think black neon tetras are quite attractive. I had those, cardinal tetras, and glow-light tetras, and my clean-up crew was about four Otocinclus catfish, if I recall correctly, and some Caridina japonica shrimp. I liked cardinals because they have more red on their bellies than neons. The Otos were a nice size, comparable to the tetras, as opposed to some other algae-eating fish that seemed to dwarf the tetras. They weren't very interesting to watch, though. The japonica shrimp were more entertaining, plus they ate leftover fish food crumbs that the fish didn't want.

My first fish were actually four panda corydoras, but they died one by one over the first month or two. Then I started buffering my water with NaH2PO4, which gradually brought the pH down from the tap water's 8 to 7.2, and I didn't have a problem with multiple deaths for the next two years that I kept the tank running. Occasional single deaths, but not multiples. So I blame the pH. Panda corys are really cute, cuter than Otos, but probably more delicate.

Sometimes I miss having a fish tank, but starting it up again seems like a bad idea until I expect to be in one house for at least two years. In my current location, I'm planning to just set some potted plants in the empty tank. At least they'll benefit from the hood light.

[eredien]

Yes, I think I am going to do fishless cycling with just plants establishing themselves first.

I was thinking about getting a shrimp instead of or in addition to the Otos, but I've never dealt with invertebrates before and am afraid I'm going to screw it up somehow.

[copperwolf.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, basic care and feeding of shrimp is the same as for fish. I don't know if you'd be able to tell if they get sick, though. But somehow I felt worse over the death of a fish than the death of a shrimp. Not that I remember losing a shrimp. They were hardy little things, moulted every month it seemed like.