When do you add the PVC?

[Kathy55g]

My clowns are 13 days old, and swiming great! I was just wondering if they need the pVC bits now or are they too little. I can envision them getting trapped between the fittings and the aquarium floor. So I worry about that. I lost an older clown once because I left a mason jar in their tank to play with and the fish got stuck in the crevice at the floor.

Thanks,
Kathy

 

[Dman]

Well, when I was 13 all I had to play with was a stick and if it was a special holiday or something like that I might get a rock. I dunno, perhaps this has made me bitter in my old age and am projecting that despondency onto my fish, so no they get nothing, nothing, you hear me?
And look what happens, you give them a jar, a jar. Oh the joy it would have been to have had a jar and how did they thank you? By dying, nice.

 

[Kathy55g]

exactly my feelings.

 

[Dman]

I had originally used a bunch of PVC parts glued together for them to play in, but I found that they trapped detrious and fecal matter. Also that it promoted aggressive behavour a little earlier than I was comfortable with, especially in the maroons as they vied for the prime hangout spots.

 

[Lance one]

Kathy,
I just added some PVC elbows to my 10G grow out tank. I have about (90) 15 day old and (70) 30 day old percs in the tank and everything seems to be working out fine, even with size difference between the two groups. I was surprised.
I have seen a couple fish with some aggressive behavior but nothing to serious. In most cases there seems to be 2 or 3 fish at a time playing in the PVC with out a problem. I do see some occasional matter caught in the PVC, but with about 20 little blue legged hermits in there, nothing sticks around very long.

Lance

 

[NicoleC]

In my case (ocellaris), I added PVC quite early; they were under 2 weeks. It immediately reduced aggression. About a week later, aggression increased as they fought over primo spots, but that went away fairly quickly.

Now they are of an age where there is no aggression that I have witnessed. At night, they tend to hang out in the lee of the PVC more than inside. During the day, they aren't usually inside or next to the PVC, but they do tend to stay in the bottom 1/3rd of the tank. Unless they think I'm going to feed them!

And hey, it's unrelated, but my babies are finally finishing up their stripes at the same time, with the exception of the two fish that got their's really early. Funny, but the runts started this case of stripe-mania and the big ones aren't all there yet.

 

[Kathy55g]

Good news on the striping front. I have some 3.5 week olds that are fully striped, and 6 week olds that are still filling in. It's an individual thing, I think, kinda like puberty.

Just talked to a friend who is opening a store, and they are thinking they would like all my misbars and lordosis as novelty clowns! That is so cool.

I have some 2.5 week olds that I think I will add some pvc tonight. I am giving them lots of airstones, so they swim a lot and don't stick to the sides as my other batches did. Maybe they would like a little hidaway toys.

 

[Luis A M]

I donÃ"šÃ‚´t use it,I think they create territorial aggressive behaviour

 

[jwreffner]

Dman,
I fell of my chair reading your first post. Thanks for the amusement!

 

[Dman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6868093#post6868093 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jwreffner
Dman,
I fell of my chair reading your first post. Thanks for the amusement!

You are more than welcome.