Yanagi

Just as an FYI, Auburn Aquarium has Boesmani as well.

That's a fake anubias on a flat base. We sell them by the container full... :P

Very, very impressive.

Nope, go right ahead.

FINALLY, somebody took my suggestion of Brichardis! I've always wanted some but can't find it in myself to set up yet another tank. I shall live vicariously through you.

@Matt: No personal experience with dwarf comps, never even seen them so I couldn't say either way. Small species of Juli's (Ornatus or Dickfeldi varieties) would be okay but it would be hard (in this area anyway) to find a mature pair which means buying a tank full of youngsters and letting them pair off.

@Bussy: Matt's suggestions are good ones re; smaller Julidochromis Ornatus or Dickfeldi (there are many variations within these two groups) would be suited. They're an egg laying cave spawner.

Also consider the Neo. Brichardi varieties for great parental instincts and they are a shoaling fish too, happy in a group or start off with a pair and let them multiply. They're another egg laying 'cave spawner' however I've seen plenty spawn without any actual caves. Both are simple fish happy with some sand and rock structures.

I read somewhere that the worms are sensitive to chlorine and straight tap water could actually kill them. Unfortunately I can't find the source. I certainly found that using dechlorinated water I had hardly any worms die. When I use straight tap water a few worms die every day. You can see them turn white. Maybe we should run a little AusAqua experiment.

I think I've once used dechlorinator on my worms. Once. I also once had the same batch going for about 6 months just topping up the evap (there was only an inch of water left most times) with untreated tap water every few weeks. The only batch of worms I've ever lost was stressed or overheated in shipping and the entire batch was a dud. No amount of washing, cooling, treating would save them. Putrid blackworms STINK.

Matt?? Suggesting saving the yellows (5") for a bigger tank but it's okay for calvus(6") and compressiceps (10") and Julis (3-5")? Or did I read that wrong...

Love love love Apistogrammas but they are highly sensitive to water changes. Your new water MUST be aged and parameters matched. Similar but hardier species; Kribensis, there's a few different varieties so don't pass them over if you don't like the first one you see. Golden Dwarf Cichlids or anything really from the Nannacara family. Rams.

Others that haven't been suggested yet or I just skim read too fast: Checkerboard Cichlids, Sparkling Gouramis, Chocolate Gouramis, Licorice Gouramis (gorgeous but good luck sourcing any, someone might be able to help), Egyptian Mouthbrooders, Croaking Gouramis, nano marine tank (hint hint), you could maybe squeeze in some Neo. Brichardi. Pacific/Spotted/Delicate/Honey etc Blue Eyes. Werneri. I might think of more later.. lol

I keep my blackworm in a 1lt ice cream tub, never change the water and top up with tap water when the water has almost all evaporated. If anything ever dies from it, I'll let ya know.

Don't know if you can really use my input as I'm not the average hobbyist but here you go anyway lol.

Conditioners: Whatever is the most concentrated and on sale. Aqua One and API have even more concentrated conditioner than Prime so I've switched, but no one will try a new brand unless you point it out to them so Prime is still the big seller. IAL. Auburn Aquarium branded Start Right B / aquarium salt as we had it custom manufactured for us and I know it actually has good stuff in it as opposed to other brands.

Buffers: Seachem buffer/builder for my reef tank. Red Sea Flora Base (substrate) for the discus. IAL. Driftwood. Coral skeleton/rubble or coral sand for buffering up.

Biological Supplements: Nutrafin Cycle every time, used only for setting up new tanks. I don't continue usage.

Medicine cabinet of OTC stuff:

Waterlife Sterazin

Use: Added upon addition of new fish for gill flukes and other parasites and proactive maintenance control of intestinal worms

Waterlife Protozin

Use: Treatment of velvet and white spot on my more delicate fish ie fry, discus. Also used as a preventative treatment after adding fish who may have received a chill in the bag.

Triple Sulpha

Use: Very little actually. Won't be replacing it once it runs out. Used for treating bacterial infections from nipped fighter fins that IAL and salt weren't helping. (I use doxy now if i suspect a bacterial infection causing fin rot on my gouramis.)

Tetracycline

Use: No longer in use. Only used for treatment of fin melt.

Aquarium Science White Spot 3 day treatment

Use: Take a wild guess

Big L

Use: Quarterly proactive treatment for intestinal worms.

Aqua Master Fluke & Tapeworm

Use: Contains praziquantel so this is my 'step up' from Sterazin for treatment of gill/body flukes, also treats worms but I prefer Big L for that. I use this for obvious head shaking, scratching, etc. Sterazin is my preventative. I only ever use this if I forgot to add Sterazin upon addition of new fish.

Seachem Cupramine

Use: Copper treatment for serious velvet infestations. Used for white spot on marine fish in FOWLR tank.

A Betta will handle a cycling tank a lot better than many fish will, I however would remove the shrimp as they can be more sensitive to poor water quality IMO.

From memory at least 8 females. Male never had a mark on him, and very little to none on most of the fish. He was a plakat though. I wouldn't put a longfin boy in with any number of girls.

So.. when can I bring my resume down? ;P

I think everyone covered everything I would change where work/dream workplace. Fish clearly labeled with basic info/scanned into an app. A range of small displays and1-2 large displays, with a lounge or seating available in front of them. A good quarantine and breeding room out the back. Appropriate cooling/heating systems(!!!!!) for staff and customer comfort and health. Rules enforced in store that parents with unruly children get one warning then are asked to leave before their child decapitates it's self by pulling a tank over... excuse my spelling. On my phone.

Smallest, less than 5lt. This was supposed to be a spawn attempt. They've been living together in there for, oh I have no clue. Months and months. Less than 6, probably more than 4. Heaps of plants but they're usually sitting side by side begging for food anyway. Female gets so excited she bounces out of the water, irritating the boy until I drop the food in.

Largest is 4 x 2 x 18, single pair. Did far more damage to each other (no it wasn't the other fish) than the ones living in the 5lt.

My best success was a single male in a 2ft sorority/community. He picked the alpha female and they would breed multiple times a week. I still have no idea how I pulled that off.

I've done it successfully multiple times. Usually after lengthy exposure ie; desensitization. I've also done it unsuccessfully multiple times. Absolutely possible with the right fish/personalities... But be prepared to accept they may wake up on the wrong side of the tank, flip a switch and decide they don't like this chick anymore and rip her up. Don't expect perfect fins, either. Works best with two plakats.

Personal opinion: Silver Sharks are the worst fish I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with (my father owned several) and I work in a fish shop dealing with hundreds of fish every day. You couldn't pay me enough to have one in my community tank. Extremely easily spooked, notorious for jumping out (through lids or without), grow extremely large, prey on small fish such as tetras, rasboras, etc. I never, ever have recommended them to anyone and consistently talk people out of buying them.

Dwarf gouramis can be prone to issues with bacterial infections/iridovirus so try to get ones sourced from Australia only, not imported. If the shop can't tell you where they came from, don't buy them. If you see any with a bacterial infection (google for pics), sitting in one spot looking sad, hanging on the bottom or the surface then don't buy ANY from that batch. They will all turn out exactly the same. This does not apply to Honey Gouramis and 'Red Honey' Gouramis or whatever they're called. They're a fairly new hybrid between honey and one of the other dwarves so the naming varies a bit. They seem to be very hardy too. And of course doesn't apply to ones sourced from Australia as I've never had an issue with any of those.

Either go for 1 (better choice for your tank) or 3+ when it comes to Gouramis due to territorial issues.

Cories need a group to be happy, 4+ is ok, 6+ is heaps better. There are plenty of much nicer ones out there than the Bronze that will be more suited to your tank size. Panda, Pygmaeus, Habrosus, Hastatus are all good choices. Julii is probably the biggest I would go with and then only in a smaller group of 4.

Rasbora are fairly hardy and do well in groups of 6+. I wouldn't have a problem putting smaller Rasbora in your size tank. Harlequins are probably the absolute largest I would go for. Similar, better suited size wise options would be Ember Tetra (Hyphessobrycon amandae), Rasbora Maculata (Boraras maculatus), Rasbora Espei (Trigonostigma espei - IME stay smaller than Harlequins despite what many books/websites say) and Glowlight Rasbora (Trigonostigma Hengeli, same thing as the Espei).

Always do trios+ of Gouramis if you aren't getting a breeding pair or aren't sure of gender. A heavily planted tank with heaps of floating plants will always help disperse aggression too.

Hi Basejump,

I work in Auburn Aquarium and we've got quite a few plain plakats who came mixed in with the assorted girls and definitely have no room for them. So far I've pulled 5 out, everything from blue with red to turquoises, a blue with yellow wash, and I'm sure there will be more that haven't made themselves known yet. Some are a bit torn up but will regrow those fins quick smart. Welcome to the forum. :)

I put a 15ml serving or two into a small ice cream container and totally forget about them for weeks on end. When I find them in an inconvenient spot and with almost no water left, I top up with chlorinated tap water and repeat the process.... Oh that isn't what you meant, was it? :giggle:

My experience and from what people who have used Aqua Soil is that it clouds water very easily when it is disturbed and breaks down very easily. I've heard more bad than good (some people were very happy with it), but don't make the mistake of washing/rinsing it before putting it in the tank. One persons tank didn't clear up (6+ months later) until they removed the aquasoil, as it was just too broken down, and yes he tried everything under the sun to clear the tank before getting rid of it.

I much prefer Red Sea Flora Base, I've been using it for over two years, it's in several of our display tanks at work and has been for years, it doesn't seem to break down much, it looks more natural in comparison, it doesn't leach ammonia at all, very soft and easy to work with but we blend it with river gravel for a 'natural' appearance.

Hook us up Paul, hahahaaa

Iwantedtoknowthistoobutdidn'twanttoask :blush:

The chance of plants carrying any disease is absolutely minimal, I have never, ever done anything to my plants, they go straight into the tank. Even if I'm moving them from a tank with velvet to a tank that's healthy. You know what happened? Absolutely nothing.

The white film over the driftwood occurs naturally, doesn't appear to have any side effects and most catfish will eat it or you could just scrub it off under the tap. I had several new pieces do that to me, it stopped when I increased the circulation near the bottom of the tank.

Welcome to the forum.

If you start a new thread with all the info such as tank size, maybe a budget, fish you like but aren't sure if they're compatible, etc, then you will get heaps of advice. :)

You too? Ours will be out from 8 until 5:30! Bubble wrap and blanket over the tank if you're that worried about a temperature drop but you should be fine. We're picking up a generator anyway so I have nothing to worry about.. :)