Off to buy fish in an hour!!

[Lolita]

=D Yay!

So I'm doing my 90% water change now in the 10 gallon and adding another really nice amazon sword, plus a compacta and some wisteria (petco got a new shipment of plants in and I couldn't resist. They all looked so healthy...lmao...)

So I'm meeting dad at 2 to let him pick out his fish, and I'm really happy because Cody is working! Cody is the kid I mentioned before who actually keeps fish himself and actually knows what he's talking about!

He even remembered that I said I wanted pygmy cories and blue rams, and told me to day when I was there picking up plants and stuff that he'd put in an order for me! =O!

So I told him about AC and he might join lol

ANYHOW! I'm happy with what I saw for fish. They had a lot of REALLY active male guppies that were beautiful, some glo-fish and danios, and a lot of healty looking neons!

They also had albino cories. They're super active and I feel like my dad might like them, but I'm not sure how big they get. Are they dwarf cories or do they get big? Is my 10 gallon too small for them?

Also, how many fish is it safe to add today? like 5? or can I go up to 8 or so? (That's probably the max fish I'll get total for the entire tank!)

[Northernguy]

Adding 8 is a lot but if you monitor your perameters and do your water changes accordingly it should be fine.

[Lolita]

Okay! thank you. I originally told dad we could add four or five today and that I could add the rest after a few days or a week--would I be better off sticking to that original plan?

[Gramazing]

It doesn't hurt, plus you get to see Cody twice:1luvu:

[Lolita]

LOL!

xD Oh noes.... Cody's a cool kid, but he's jailbate. I'm pretty sure he's 16.

[robflanker]

albino corys are not dwarf corys.

[Cristoff]

LOL!

xD Oh noes.... Cody's a cool kid, but he's jailbate. I'm pretty sure he's 16.

Trust me, He'll never tell (except his friends) :hmm3grin2orange:

[Lolita]

Okay so we went to petco, and dad totally shocked me by picking fish he originally said he didn't like.

I guess he liked them after seeing them live instead of in just pictures.

He picked 1 black molly, one creamsicle molly, a neon blue dwarf gourami and a flame dwarf gourami... all males.

I was wary about the 2 gouramis.. I said that I thought they were aggressive toward each other and didn't think two would be a good idea. Cody said that he actually had two dwarf gouramis together in a small tank and that they swam together, and said that it varys depending on the fish's personality.

I'm still wary, but dad wanted them really bad, so I guess I'll just have to keep a really close eye on them and see what happens... I'll take one back if I have to. At least my tank is pretty well planted and has good hiding spots. I'm acclimating them now.

Opinions...?

[Lab_Rat]

albino corys are not dwarf corys.

Rob is right, they're a color variant of corydoras aeneus.



He picked 1 black molly, one creamsicle molly, a neon blue dwarf gourami and a flame dwarf gourami... all males.


And this is in a 10g??? The mollies will get too large for a 10g and two dwarf gourami males is asking for trouble. Not a good idea imo. Would be good to take the mollies and one of the gouramis back, and get platies instead. They stay much smaller than mollies.

[Lolita]

Rob is right, they're a color variant of corydoras aeneus.

Okay that's fine! He didn't care for them anyhow lol

[Lolita]

Rob is right, they're a color variant of corydoras aeneus.



And this is in a 10g??? The mollies will get too large for a 10g and two dwarf gourami males is asking for trouble. Not a good idea imo. Would be good to take the mollies and one of the gouramis back, and get platies instead. They stay much smaller than mollies.

x_x Oh great...

Okay, thanks. I'll talk to dad and take them back. I kept saying it when I was there but I was over-rulled...

[Lab_Rat]

x_x Oh great...

Okay, thanks. I'll talk to dad and take them back. I kept saying it when I was there but I was over-rulled...

Lol, you can let him keep one of the gouramis, and point out all the color variants available in the platies. They look a lot like mollies, just stay smaller.

[Lolita]

Yeah he saw the platies when we were there, but wasn't a fan. When he said he wanted the mollies I was scared immediately, because he hadn't shown interest in them before so I hadn't researched them.

I can't take them back today...do you think they'll be okay in there for a day or two before I can get back there? Dad paid with his credit card and they don't allow returns unless you have the card that was used originally...and he won't meet me there because he had to get back to the house to finish doing some construction before it rains.

[Lab_Rat]

They'll be fine for a couple days, it's the final size that is a problem. Do have a plan to separate the gouramis if you notice trouble though.

[Lolita]

If I have to separate them I can get a divider or even set up an emercency tank. Right now I'm not too worried because they were swimming side by side in the tank that dad picked them out in (that's why he picked them) and even now as they're acclimating in a bucket, they're staying very close.

If he truly wants to keep them (he did get REALLY attached to the black molly) would it be acceptable for me to keep them in the 10 gallon until my 29 gallon finishes cycling (it's pretty close from what I gather...nitrates have dropped as low as .25 before I added more ammonia) then to transfer the mollies and 1 gourami there so he can still technically have them?

This is all assuming he doesn't want to take them back. I'm going to talk to him tonight when I get home.

[Lab_Rat]

Yes, they'd be fine in a 29g, as long as they're not sailfin mollies (which get larger).

[Lolita]

Ooh crap... I think the black molly is a sailfin. I'm not sure about the other one... it's hard to tell right now because it's in an orange bucket...and it's orange.

I'll be able to tell better when i put them in the tank. It has a weird tale though.. like this one: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2754018090_b2aa019fec.jpg?v=0

Oooh...this'll teach me for letting dad pick out his own fish...

[Lab_Rat]

That's a lyretail, just a different fin morph than the normal. A sailfin isn't disastrous in a 29g, but it's not ideal either. My LFS had some that were about 5" long, just so you know how big they can get.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fish/sailfinmolly.php

[Lolita]

Ooooh god. Okay. I'm going to have to take both mollies back, then--aren't I? Oh man dad! I showed him all these beautiful fish to pick from and he HAD to choose the ones I didn't recommend!!

[Lolita]

Okay I just talked to my dad. He was a little bummed, but I promised him I'd get a normal black molly for my tank at home since he liked it.

I'm going to the two mollies and flame gourami for some neons... the tank is young, but hopefully if I keep an eye on them they'll be okay. I'm going to go now and if he has to meet me to use his card he will.

D: Poor dad... I feel so bad.

[Lab_Rat]

If the lyretail is not a sailfin then it can go fine in the 29g. I personally wouldn't keep sailfins in less than a 40g breeder tank, but that's me.

[Northernguy]

I think since your Dad picked out fish that need a bigger tank then he should be buying a 55 with a nice cabinet for you to maintain.Just tell him its for his office.His clients will love it!:hmm3grin2orange:

[Lolita]

I think since your Dad picked out fish that need a bigger tank then he should be buying a 55 with a nice cabinet for you to maintain.Just tell him its for his office.His clients will love it!:hmm3grin2orange:

LOL!! Someday... someday!

[Lolita]

Ooooookay!

Just got back from the store.

I returned the two mollies and the dward flame gourami.

The neon blue gourami is in the tank and exploring happily!

I picked up three neon tetra, and will buy three more on monday probably... does that sound good or should I wait longer?

I didn't want to buy too many fish at once.

The manager at petco was also very nice about it, since Dad had the reciept. He put the remaining balance on a gift card =D so now I have 18 dollars on a petco gift card that I can use to pick up the rest of the fish for the tank.

I got a couple different foods and will try them each out. I'm not going to feed them till monday though--that's best, right?

[Deleted User]

Sounds like you made some good choices with the returns.

Hopefully your neons will do well but if they don't (I hope they do!) try and not be discouraged or blame yourself. They are one fish I have a lot of trouble keeping alive when the others do very well. I've heard others here say the same thing, that basically a lot of the strains now are weak. They sure are neat looking though, and because of that, no doubt I will try them yet again one of these days!

Congrats on finally being able to stock your tank -- good job!!

[Lolita]

Thank you Jill!!

Yeah I'm going to keep an eye on them. They looked really good in the store--their coloring is good and they're very active! Hopefully that's a good sign.

=D I never was a fan of gouramis before...but I kind of really love the neon blue dwarf my dad picked out. He's so fun! He's exploring the tank with such curiosity!

[Deleted User]

I didn't realize how cool gouramis are either until we got one (a neon) and liked him so much, we got another (a flame). They are really neat fish with a lot of character when you watch them :1luvu:

[Lolita]

Lol you got the sames ones I did!!

I sent back the flame though. He was starting to show some aggression, so I kept the neon. =D He looks really happy in the tank so far! I'm excited.

[Lab_Rat]

Good for you! Neons are a low bioload fish, I would probably get a couple more in a week or so if you're not noticing any ammonia.

[Lolita]

=D Thank you Labby!!

And thanks for the gift <3<3

[domjd05]

Any chance of getting pictures of this tank??

[Lolita]

;__; I wish!! I charged my battery last night so I could get pictures, and then FORGOT IT like an idiot!

But I'll definately have pictures up the second I get into the office on monday! =D And hopefully by then the fish will be more comfortable in the tank and not hiding as much.