hello to all...i am getting 3 new ponds sometime in my lifetime (LOL!!!) they will be 35,28 and 45 gallons....i need to have some ideas for them except for turtles as im getting two of those for the community tank(33gal)...i need plant, fish, any and all ideas basically.... i also need to know that when i set up the 33 gallon i need to know if i HAVE to take the plants out of their black pots and rock wool...because im letting the tank be tooken over by java moss and i dont really want to kill the roots or anything so yea...the JM hides the pots,etc...the final thing is...that i decided when i get paradise fish...i am putting them in their own 5 gallon aquarium similar to Robyn's.....with essentially the same equipment only red gravel and LOTS of plastic plants....if i can i would like to add about 3-4 glass cats when the tank cycles....because they would be an EXCELLENT cleanup crew...well thanks for the help....etc...also....i want to fill my 10 gallon tank with neons and glowlight tetras because i LOVE their colors etc....well THANKS AGAIN...talk 2 u soon!!!

Also, Robyn what do you think about the stingray 5 filter?

You mean three new aquariums not ponds, right?

Aquarium plants are not meant to be kept in the rock wool and black pots. They should be removed and potted either into the gravel or a pot with gravel. The rock wool has fertilizer added to it that may increase algae in the tank as well.

I've never had any glass catfish but know they are very delicate and not all that small. I wouldn't put them in a 5 gallon tank especially with a paradise fish in there. I would worry about them in there.

My 5 gallon has the Stingray 5 in it. I'm using it but don't really like it. It provides very little actual filtration which is fine for the one paradise fish I have in there. I think the old fashioned air driven corner filter I used to have in there filtered a lot more. The carbon cartridges in my Stingray are hard to remove and expensive to change out as well. I've had to tear them apart with plyers a few times to get them out when they stick.

As for suggestions for your new tanks, the ideas are limitless but my time is not. I'm sure you can come up with plenty of ideas.

well i just need ideas for all of them...but heres the basic layout...i think for my 33 gallon...im sticking to clay pots and LOADS of REAL plants in there.....the 5 gallon will have plastic plants, hornwort, a neon cave and RED gravel...while the 33 has brown gravel...ideas; ideas!! thank you for all of the help...im sorry i havent been on recently...its just my mom and dads computer crashed so i had to lend them mine while theirs get fixed!!

also my innocent little ball of java moss has taken over the tank!!! its kool though :)

Would a corner filter be good in there with the stingray??

You could certainly put in both filters but I think if you have the corner filter, you don't need the Stingray.

ok!! thats very cool because I can just use one(REALLY powerful) airpump on all of my aquariums to run filters!! im keeping my 10 gallon for fish but maybe not for neons.....what kind of fish did you have in yours and filtration,etc....(other than plecy!)

I have four fish aquariums right now.

65 gallon - 13 year old, 15" Plecy + 3 male fantails
50 gallon - ~37 rosy barbs, 1 real Siamese algae eater, 1 queen pleco
20 gallon - 5 adult glowlight danios, 2 baby glowlight danios, 1 female albino longfin bristlenose pleco, 2 panda cories, 3 African dwarf frogs, 2 tangerine shrimp
5 gallon - 1 paradise fish

The oto in the 50 gallon DIED?? also...is it hard keeping all of those aquariums and ponds?? because that sounds like a lot of work!!!

Nope, oops, I forgot about the old otto. He's still alive but barely has any fins. If you knew where to find my aquarium descriptions and inventories, why did you ask? I just knew I'd forget somebody!

i didnt know....i just remembered your groups of otos and remembered him...so are all of his fins gone or just some?? and he is still alive?? he must be a surviver huh??

GUESS WHAT!!! after i get my new 33 gallon fish and turtles outta QT, i am using the 10 gallon for the paradise fish YEA!! MORE room!! IDK what im getting for the 5 gallon though!!

He has a little bit of tail fin and some stubs but that's about it. He's been that way for years. I don't know if bacteria or the rosy barbs ate off his fins. I saw him yesterday.

EEK!! poor little guy!! i had otos but gave them to my GF becuase i was sick of them (or were those CAES...THEY LOOKED ALOT LIKE OTOS TO ME!!) are rosey barbs really agressie?

My rosy barbs aren't that aggressive because there are so many of them chasing each other around. But, when you're one little otto among a lot of fast rosy barbs, all it takes is one curious barb to eat off some of your fin. I think though that his fins rotted off from bacteria years ago.

Well atleast you can be happy that he isnt dead!!( i HATE when fish die!!) can you treat it or is it better just leaving im like that because meds hurt them? also im another step closer to being done with my 33 gallon!!

The fin loss the otto has is permanent because the support structures are gone.

how did your otos get so sick; so fast... out of every batch of otos ( about 5 at a time) combined....i only had 2 oto losses....i didnt do any thing special...do you think i just got good batches?

I looked on my otto page. I got the ottos eight years ago. I wrote that they had fin damage when I got them. I started with eight ottos on 6/4/01. By 3/12/02, I was down to that last one, and he's still around! It's been years since he's had fins but I couldn't tell you exactly when.

Ottos do well in some tanks and not in others. There seems to be no clear reason. At the time, the tank had good inhabitants, and the water has always been soft and to their liking. They must like your setup better.

its kinda weird how one fish takes a liking to something thats not as good when someone else has an even better set up in witch they die!! isnt it??do you have any ides for a 45 gallon pop up pond(plants, fish,etc)?? thank you for all of your help!!

Since a pop up pond is small and most likely going to be either outdoors in the summer only or indoors, I would suggest small tropical fish for something different. For example, those rosy barbs or a few paradise fish, or a betta, or a few danios, barbs, tetras, etc. Most any fish that would do fine in a 45 gallon aquarium together can be in the pond. You can put in submerged aquarium plants. If you want emergent vegetation (marginals), they will take up some volume in the pond. My 20 gallon indoor tub pond has three pots in it with two taro and bluebells. They are elevated on bricks. There are too many possibilities of what you could do for me to list them all. Most people go for the simple such as a few goldfish and a few plants.

Thank you...what kind of goldfish should i get?? I LOVE GFs!! I have a VERY big water lily that I'll put in there with them. i live in FL so i can overwinter the pond outside....i think im getting tiger barbs sometime soon.....so yea....they'll be my barbs!! LOL...they are awesme looking!! Have you ever had any Tiger barbs? the barbies will be in my aquarium....NOT MY COMMUNITY BECAUSE OF UMB MY BETTA!! VEERRYY BAD COMBO!! maybe in my 20 G....possibly.... would you like a picture of my betta to add to your betta page?

While most people get goldfish for tub ponds, they're not an ideal choice since goldfish can grow over a foot long. They will probably do okay for a year or two while the goldfish are small. If you can provide a larger home when they're older, you can put commons, comets, or shubunkins in tub ponds outside. If the pond were indoors, you might also try fantails, orandas, etc. since they stay smaller. You could put those fish outside but fish in tub ponds are easy for predators to get too. The fancy goldfish, being slower, are easy pickings for predators outdoors in a small pond.

If you put a large waterlily in the tub pond, that will use up some swimming space.

I've never had tiger barbs.

If you want to send a photo of your betta, you can. It may take a while for me to do anything with it though.

ok....how do I send the picture to you? Im thinking about getting fantails for that pond....and my permanent pond....i think.......rosey barbs because im willin to have a heater....its only 35 gallons..... (AND I LIVE IN FL...but we do still have winters :( ) I have 2 shubunkins...so i might add them...so....Sparky my fantail, and my 2 bunkys!! im still getting (tiger) barbs for the 20 g LONG!! YAAY!!

You can e-mail photos to help at fishpondinfo dot com

ok thank you!! hes my baby!!well all of my pets are!!(just dont tell him that!!) hows herman doing? i lost 2 of my crabs(they died) so i have to get about 3 more for shredder and the other crab i have.....ll send you pictures of them to if you want them...as randomness my pleco refuses to have his picture taken!! (LOL) Your pleco seems to pose!!

Herman is fine. He's not too active but more active than he was for the few weeks after he molted. I worry about him but hermit crabs really don't do too much.

Mine are!! suprisingly!!....my biggest one shredder was playing on my anemone? ornament (I had got for my GoldFish but then took out)and he really ticked me off because he fell off of it and cracked the tank.....but just spider crack( cant use it for a fish tank or holding water at all...(but it is for them!! :angry: )...i might have to buy another because i think the crack is growing!! :blink: :angry:....i might get 2 outside (brown) anoles(they are as common as dirt here.....and they are real small)....do you think a 10 gallon is good or bigger??...i have money and space but dont want to spend a million bucks!! BTW:!! I got 2 yellow mystery snails and 5 zebra danios(long finned,2 albino and longfinned)

Your hermit crabs must be big! Herman is small. There are two green anoles in with Herman in a 20 gallon tank. You could keep one or two green anoles in a 10 gallon tank. Bigger is always better of course.

i know bigger is ALWAYS better because not only do they have more space...if you want you can have more animals with them...yes shredder is quite big because hes about the size of a softball!! so I think he is a jumbo hermit crab!! the crack now has gone from the back to the bottom to the front (IN 2 HOURS!!)...so its not me....im putting them in my 2.5 gallon aquarium (that is empty)...(a different one than the goldfish too!! (it did contain a betta but he kinda exploded :( ) and i am picking up a 20 L gallon? if i dont get that then im keeping a 10 gallon!! but yea :angry: SHREDDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG on your betta page....i saw that you got a betta!! OMG you sound like me....i dont want any more fish....2 hours later: "I want this fish and that fish", LOL!! animals are addicting arent they!!??