new tank...lost my first fish today

[Pandora]

Burnt:

1) There are very few plecos which stay under 3-5", most are specialty species like the Zebra which cost more than your avg pleco (which grows to 20" and is FAR more common). I would bet a lot on the fact that this is not one of them, given the fact that the original poster doesn't spell the name right or mention the species name.

2) Mine have grown faster than that in the past. And I've seen them attain sizes larger than 14" as well (depends on the source you looked up that stat... I have seen different ones quoted, and have seen larger specimens, too). Tangs don't grow much faster than that either... does that make it a good recommendation for a beginner to get a small 2" tang in a 10 gallon tank? We all know that the majority of these will never live long enough to see an upgrade, because of stress, etc. Especially from a beginner who's already proven some degree of irresponsibility and lack of initiative in research, by killing 4 fish in 3 days of getting a new tank, and still wants more.

 

[BurntOutReefer]

Choose You Pl*co

- panaque species are unusually thick and get quite large, >30cm,
- peckoltia species are small, never exceeding 15cm
- plecostomus species have been reported to reach 1 meter in length
- pterygoplichthys species are sailfins and get quite large, >25cm
- otocinclus species are extremely small, never exceeding 5cm
- scoloplax is perhaps the smallest with species never exceeding 15mm

And as far as losing 4 fish......can't defend that one.......

 

[Pandora]

And when was the last time you ever saw a scoloplax at the LFS? LOL Peckoltia is also very rare. And not a lot of people call otocinclus dwarf plecos, they're commonly known as otos. LFS such as mine do not label them as such and beginners would not be mislead to equate the two.

I guess you cut and paste that info from thekrib.com? No problem, but I think you will find a different reality when you look for all those species at your average pet store. 95% of the ones sold at the LFS are the common plecostomus, Hypostomus plecostomus. Zebra plecos can go for $80 and up (compared to $3-5 for a small common pleco), and most beginners avoid the non-common ones like the plague because of the price difference and the nonavailability. I only wish that the original poster would do as much research on his fish as you just did to try and prove a point.

 

[BurntOutReefer]

and how many scolopax would you like me to buy for you.....they are becoming quite popular these days with the FW people.......and the Peck......not as rare as you think......
however, agree on LFS and Hypo....

 

[oreo]

ok look, i came on here asking for help (thanks to a few of you). yes i am serious (do you think id be spending time with a bunch of fish geeks if i wasnt). i spent alot of time researching before i went ahead and put this together. i was told 4 days is a sufficient amount of time for the tank to run before adding fish (maybe i should have asked all of you first because your all professionals). ok im going to start over. first of all the placo (maybe thats the wrong name) is one of those little fish that are in every tank in the fish stores that stick to the side of the glass (algea eater). ive never seen one of them to be 2 feet long in fact my parents have had one for about 3 years now and its only 4 inches. now that the molly is out of the picture (R.I.P.) i only have that and the columbian shark. now when i came on here looking for help the reply i was looking for was what steps are involved in making an aquarium work. zimmy and scuba you can keep your fish convos somewhere else as for the rest of you please dont even bother unless your willing to give a little advice.
thanks everyone,

 

[Pandora]

Hi oreo:

Sorry if we misinterpreted some of your posts as being fake... but it was over concern that you were pulling our leg over the number of fish and how they were cared for. If you got that advice from an LFS (4 days and then add all those)... change stores! The one that you are going to is not looking out for your best interests, or to help you learn how to keep fish alive, they are just out to take your money.

1) "Algae eaters" come in many, many shapes and forms and that common name could be used as a description of hundreds of species. I would be willing to bet that you have a common pleco, despite all this, because I've seen these posts before. If it's been in your tank for 3 years, and is only 4", it's still a LOT more likely that you have a stunted common pleco. Does it look similar to this?
http://www.fishpalace.org/H_plecostomus.html

(there's some color variation with this species, too, but the shape is the same)
Please read up more on these fish. They are very hardy, but much like goldfish, are very commonly stunted in beginner setups. Full grown ones attain much greater lengths, and keeping it in such a tank can keep them alive for years, but they will be stressed and frequently have health problems without notice.

2) If you are looking for good advice, try a freshwater fish forum. This one is one that focuses on reef and marine tanks. Some people (like me) frequent both, and have had experience with both. But you will get a better wealth of information if you go to a site where everyone knows about FW fish and their care. Good places to start include the board at www.badmanstropicalfish.com (also IMO one of the best beginner FW sites) and www.aquahobby.com . Good luck!

 

[Pandora]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6764067#post6764067 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BurntOutReefer
and how many scolopax would you like me to buy for you.....they are becoming quite popular these days with the FW people.......and the Peck......not as rare as you think......

I am one of those FW people So, not at the store I worked for, and not in the greater DC area or many of the ones I've visited in NJ. I'd actually like to talk to you if you can find Scoloplax sold commercially--these are rare Peruvian fish, and I have a friend trying to start up a South American specialty tank. Please PM me if you are serious and know a source.

 

[Cutiewitbooty]

Hey pandora, sorry to get off topic, but i saw you have a planted tank. Do thoes $30 Co2 set ups work for small tanks or are they a waste of money?

 

[mdisalvo55]

This is such a fake post by some dude with no time. My 2 cents.

 

[Scuba Oz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6761826#post6761826 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Scuba Oz
Gotta love these post.

If you are for real, you need to take whatever lived back to the store. Keep the tank running, buy a book on how to keep an aquarium. After you read the book and know what you are doing, you will see why everything you did was wrong and everything died. Oh, and Aquarium rock salt is for freshwater not sea salt.

Okay, I will say it again. This is real advise, so since you are asking for help, this is real help. You should not have fish in the tank right now, you should read books on the care of them and when you are done you will see what went wrong and why, thus you will have learned something and will be on you way to healthy fish and the happyness they bring. If you find my post insulting, they were not meant that way, these are facts

 

[Pandora]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6764364#post6764364 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Cutiewitbooty
Hey pandora, sorry to get off topic, but i saw you have a planted tank. Do thoes $30 Co2 set ups work for small tanks or are they a waste of money?

Cutie: Do you have a link? You could send me a PM about it so we don't go too far off topic here And how small is the small you're thinking of? Because for a really small tank, I wouldn't recommend injecting CO2; low surface area to volume means a lot of it will be retained anyway; I've found the bigger limiting factor becomes light instead... and if you inject more of it, you can get algae overgrowth. We can talk more over PM or email if you'd like...

 

[jastormont]

I think some of you here should give them a break. I remember being told by LFS that I could setup a tank wait a day or 2 then add some fish and I think this person has been told the same thing. The pleco I think is a Bristle noise and they can stay small compared to other pleco's as well. I think the best thing to do if you have not yet got one is a test kit to test for PH, Ammonia, Nitrite. If you do not under stand what I mean by these test kits do some reading and ask another LFS (local Fish Shop) for some advice. Also try and read as much info as you can and I would try another website that is more setup for Fresh water fish compared to this site that is more setup towards saltwater fish.

 

[Seadogs]

So somebody may have gotten a little lost as to what forum to ask questions on. Or maybe they were directed here by some yahoo that thinks they know everything about fish (you know, the ones in the big chain stores that really know jack about which end is up.) Or maybe, he figured that many people that progress from FW to SW would have the knowledge he's looking for. No matter the reasoning, maybe some people should try to help the poor guy out before you jump all over him! Yeah, bad choices aside, he must care enough to ask.

Venting over now.

P.S. I would like to say thanks to those that do try to help. We all need some sometimes.

 

[Scuba Oz]

Here is a http://www.fishforums.com/forum/ forum a friend uses for freshwater. It is a good place to ask questions and get good answers. I have not used it, but from what I hear its a good place for freshwater. If its anything like here they should be able to get you started with your setup and help you along the way to a beautiful tank reguardless of size. Hope this helps (HTH) and happy fish keeping and enjoy them

 

[Isda]

hi oreo. admittedly reading through some of the replies here, there was alot of bashing and no helping.

I see your in Philly (cold weather) and the aquarium is in the basement. Do you have a heater?

Aquarium salt is added to a FW tank depending on the hardness of the water. You can get a 5 in 1 test strips. This will test your nitrates, nitrites, ph level, water hardness, and one other thing..forgot. Amonia test is usually sold separately. Once you test this will help determine what you need to do.

There is a cycle period with FW.

BTW, I have a pleco in a 55 gallon tank (Rescued from Wal-mart).

I also have a 155 gallon SW tank.

You may want to check out The Reef Tank. There's a forum there for Fresh Water hobbist.

Good Luck.