Hey everyone! In my 29, I currently have:

1x Orange & Red Ryukin
1x Rubberlip Pleco
1x Ghost Shrimp

I'm thinking about new fish for this tank! Not totally new fish...I'm NOT parting with Fancy Goldfish, but never having any more into my ponds after those 2 in there are gone[they get sick when in an aquarium]...

Anyways, I want 2 Weather Loaches. Do you think they would bother the Goldfish and do you think they would be happy being in a 30gal tank?

I also would like to put in some danios, or white cloud mountain minnows or something...any smaller fish you could recommend?

Tank is HEAVILY planted with Crypt Balansae, Crypt 'Unknown'[as I call it], Crypt Pontederiifolia, Rotala Indica, Jungle Val, Green Hygro, Sunset Hygro, Red Tiger Lotus, Amazon Sword, Red Temple Plant, Anubias Barteri, Anubias Barteri 'Nana', Java Moss, Taiwan Moss, Java Fern, & soon will have a few new ones...even though in theory, I don't need any new ones as that unknown crypt loves throwing runners through the tank and baby Unknowns pop up...but all my plants are doing that!

Water temp. is consistent @ 79 degrees [just a little bit warmer in summer], it has 2 filters, the heater & thermometer...So it's a pretty good setup!

Thanks for your help!
kENNY

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EDIT: If any of this is kinda slurred or you need any extra info or whatever, just ask, I'm pretty sick today, so my words have a tendency to get slurred or I miss something. lol

kENNY

Hi Kenny
We are more than a little confused at the moment young dude. :unsure:
Why are you going to be buying fish in, when your getting rid of all your fish to move to St Augustus to live in your brothers apartment complex.? :blink:
http://z2.invisionfree.com/Fishpondinfo/in...wtopic=6893&hl=
Isn't it sort of defeating the object. :unsure:
Nut sure why your goldfish should be getteing sick in an aquarium either as goldfish are normally a very forgiving fish what are your water perameters in this tank at the moment ?
Weatherloaches like a range of between 10-19c in temperature so 79 degrees is a little too warm for them. :(
Minnows requier well aireated water with a bit of turbulance not sure either if they will like 79 degrees coming from cold mountain streams. :(
rgrds
broxandval Fishiedude

Not trying to be rude, but I never said I was getting rid of all my fish. I said I was consolidating...which was into this tank which was the one I was bringing with me. Sorry for the confusion.

Actually, I was wrong about the temp; the tank's current temp. is 76. My eyes, are sooo deceiving me tonight[it's 10:05PM right now...]. I need more sleep I guess.

As for the minnows, I have a powerhead, I would put in for them, but thinking about it, I should skip them.

As for the other fancies, I don't even want to go into them. they suck! Wherever they are, being in perfect conditions, just will get sick all of a sudden and be back to normal in a week with NO treatment! Parameters in this tank are the same as my others: Ammo: 0PPM, NitrI:0PPM NitrA: 0-20PPM...right now they are at 0 since I did a WC and I have so many plants! :)

OH!! The pH is: 8.2 which is normal for me. As I've been keeping fish, I've found out, the pH isn't important as long as the Ammo, Nitri, and Nitra's are normal. If the Ammonia were to spike,I'd have a crash as ammonia is very deadly @ 8.2 pH levels.

Hi Kenny
If your going to consolidate young dude you'll need a large tank for all your fish to go into.
76 degrees is still too warm for any weather loaches, as well as the minnow's
so that may be a bad idea :(
Consolidate (means to bring together as a whole). Perhaps you chose the wrong word there not being well and all. :(
rgrds
broxandval
PS minnows require small clumps of plants. :)

Consolidate was the word I meant...I brought all my little tanks[10, 5's, 1's, etc.] together in my 29gal.

So should I just stick with my Fancy Goldfish? I know the like it a little warmer but not as warm as tropicals. I have learned from experience, if they drop below 76, they get lethargic, sick, and die. Atleast mine do!

PS. I have a TON of little clumping plants and hoping to have a few more soon. :)

Hi Kenny
Something strange about those fancys as they should be able to take far lower temperatures , you are reporting normal Florida temperatures with no heater on the tank ? :unsure:
rgrds
broxandval Fishiedude

All about 20 of the fancies I've had during fishkeeping experience, NEVER did good below 76. From what I've heard they start getting fin rot when it gets colder and you NEED a heater for them! Robyn has her Fancy Tank @ 72 Degrees [I just checked and that was the lowest mine could go before they started dying]. No BTW, I have a heater on this tank. It's just a 50W, but I just need it to keep the temp. pretty consistent and not turn it into a tropical tank! lol Normal Teperatures fluctuate too much in a tank going from 70 to 90 in a day...so I keep heaters in all my tanks since temps. can be sooooo bad!

LOL - Just watching the tank, I saw a Rubber-Lip pleco come SWIMMING out and ramming into a plant then freaking out and then just chilling out at the Red Temple Plant. He's cute, but my mom's fish! I'm only "Borrowing him". ;)

Hi Kenny
In our book about goldfish/fancies, the only temperature refrence's we could find are to raising Fry where a constant temperature of 70f - 21c should be maintained, also to maintain a temperature of 60f - 15.5c for the adult fish if sick.
Good aeration with constant surface movement alowing an interchange of oxygen is also recomended.
The book states that they do well in ponds and will over winter in them even with ice on the surface providing there is a hole. So at a guess It may well be the fact that you have them in the 70'sf that is the problem. So perhaps you should slowly over time reduce the water temperature.
It goes on in the health section to say that symptoms to watch for are :-
Loss of appetite.
Sluggish and aimless swimming.
Folded dorsal or caudial fin.
Hanging from the surface or lying on the bottom.
Rubbing/flashing.
Loss of Luster.
Ragged fins lesions or bumps.
Bloated or emacaition.
Pale gills.(their gills should be a health red colour.
So dude with any of these symptoms you should carefully consider. :-
1) have you introduced any new fish or allowed water of doubtful purity to be introduced.
2) Is there adequate aeration ? are the fish overcrowded or has their enviroment deterriorated generally?
3)Have you handled your fish roughly or changed the water without proper cuation.
4)Have you been feeding inferior or improper foods or polluting the water by adding more food
5) Have the fish been receiving insufficient sunlight or have they been Left to "cook"in a window?(these are all question's asked by the book).
So dude you'll have to consider the above points carefully as they might give you a clue as to what is wrong with your fancies. :)
You'll often find troubles can be cured quite simply by remedying any of the flaw's in the environment that have been mentioned, thus saving yourself the use of any chemicals in rectifying the problem. :)
We hope this has been of some help with your fancies perhaps you should reconcider the consolidation of all your fish into the one tank or get them down to outside temperature making sure that all the points raised are covered and release them into the pond. :)
The Book if you wish to buy it is an American TFH book Called A Beginers Guide to Goldfish Published 1986 we started keeping 1987 Author Anmarie Barrie (Who also writes Koi Books) ISBN 0866223037. ;)
Dont let the title bother you non as it's as useful today as it was then and we still use it (for reference purposes), when people bring sick goldfish to us. :)
rgrds
broxandval Fishiedude

My 2 sickly goldfish are outside in the 250gal pond with areation and monthly 50-90% WC's. They get sun, but not enough to cook and they have floating plants to rest under. About 5 times a year, they just get listless, get Finrot, and then a week later[with nothing being done] are back to normal. No real patterns for this behaviour and it happens at different times of the year. WC's are done carefully and I don't pick up my fish or generally slam them around. LOL I wouldn't consider the pond as overstocked having 4-ish Koi[who are moving to the 5,000gal Pond that will be...soon] and 7-ish Common/Comet Goldfish...It has a good areator w/ airstone & a pretty good pump though underrated and needs to be replaced [700GPH pump will take it's place soon]. I'm not worried about those goldfish though...basically just waiting for them to finally die since they are more trouble then what they are worth.

Anyways, The only fish who's staying in the 29 is the current fish in there and whatever new fish I buy, the rest are staying in the big pond my parents will care for. I consolidated my tanks into 1 and my ponds into 1...the big pond will get upgraded but the tank is staying as is.

So, back to my original question, what will work in a 29gal with 1x Fancy Goldfish, 1x Rubber Lip Pleco, & 1x Shrimp[he's about a year and a half...so he might go at any time...]

I would advise waiting until you settle in to your new home and routine before getting more animals. Regardless of that, weather loaches are a more delicate fish that I've never had before. They like cooler temperatures and may do okay in your setup assuming no water quality or disease issues. If you've had a lot of die offs for unknown reasons, it would be better to at least understand their cause. Weather loaches tend to jump. Goldfish like to have friends. Perhaps you could move one of the pond fantails to the tank if they're small. Zebra danios and white cloud mountain minnows also like the cooler water. I assume your ryunkin is small and won't eat those fish. So, they may get along. It can be hard to predict.

Hi Robyn
I must agree with you weather loaches are very delicate fish we used to have three in with the koi but in the end had to find then new homes after an Ogon tried it's very best to eat one. :o
They had a little party peice were if I cupped my hand under the water with some food in they would come up and rest in my hand whilst eating they grew qiute large about seven inches and quite round but where put to shame by one that we saw at a show which dwarfed them. :o
Minnows require much the same when it comes to temperature. :)
rgrds
broxandval
Fishiedude Flowersmile

Well you guys, I've delayed the move for about a year...maybe even two. I've gotten inspired and am finishing up things here before the move.

As for the unknown die-offs, I did some serious reading and thinking about it today, most of the fish that die are only supposed to live for about 1.5 years and the schoolers die off 1 at a time, I guess it wasn't a big deal....I guess I just hate losing fish!

I've also decided, The pond "Fantails" [Really a Calico Oranda and Wakin?], are going to stay in the pond for however long they live. They're about 5 years old...and near the end of their lifespans [yes, fancies CAN live to be 20 years old, but not many even make it to 1!].

Now, Since the 55gal is also mine [or will be once my mom gets her 20gL], I'm needing ideas for that one, but I've got a pretty good idea of what I want for it. That one is going to get tore down/cleaned/reset up when I've the new supplies for it.

As for stocking the 29gal, I'm going to do a 25% WC before going to Petco or where-ever and getting 1-2 *NEW* Goldfish. I'm doubting Weather Loaches, even though i'd love to have a few! I had one in the 55gal and he did great up until the MASSIVE die off right before switching the water and then only losing a fish here and there rather then a fish every day.

Hi Kenny
That's such a shame your not moving, everyone thought that you were flying the nest, a big and important step in a young mans life. :(
The life span of a goldfish both fancy and normal can be up to 40 years+ if looked after giving regular water changes, pond maintenance etc :)
With Koi the sky's the limit there wasa report on a fish called Hannaku who was born 25 years before the signing of your bill of independence and died in 1978.
So it was some 200 + years , though expert's are now poo pooing the idea but if true wow that is a hell of a long time. :)
As to your die off's they still seem to plague you dont they so buy the Interpet Manual of Fish Health book I mentioned to you. :)
Do some serious serious reading of it and I will garrentee your die off's which are upsetting to you and us alike will beome a thing of the past "promise". :)
rgrds
broxandval Fishiedude

Thanks for not yelling at me for expecting thse ones to finally give up the ghost one day. I'll admit, what happened to them was totally my fault. I messed up BAD, We got a letter from the Arcadia Water...thingy...lol, saying they were starting to add Chloramines, Well, they did, I thought my water conditioner would help fight them, but no, not in the least! It killed almost all of my fish from that time.

Trust me, I'd be thrilled if they stopped getting sick and lived for as long as I do...but how everything went, I'm really suprised they are still alive.

As for moving, I still am, BTW, I just really want to finish up this chapter of my life, then have it haunt me! When I move, I'm *hoping* to work @ Petco and share what I know, trying to inform animal keepers on the actual needs for their animals. I bet it'll be a month before I'm either Fired or Manager. LOL

BTW: I just sent the link to th book to my mom! It has a thing where I can get both versions[1999 & 2002 :P], so I'm hoping to get that book. + I want a nice fancy goldfish book since I have a fancy goldfish tank. :D

Hi Kenny
Chloromines nasty stuff how do you add the de- chlorinater/chloromnes.
We do it prior to adding the water treat for the ebtire tank not just the water replaced we have floride in our water ( at least the koi have clean teeth lol) yes they have teeth. :blink:
The book takes you through every aspect of fishkeeping and it covers nearly all problems :o
It looks at symptom's treatments water chemistry, chemicals you name it dide it's got it our old has all those little bits of paper marking points of interest throughout the book (which we always say is the mark of a good book). :)
Let us know when you get it then I can go through pages together as there's no difference between them :)
rgrds
broxandval
PS why should we shout at you ? :unsure:

When I would replace the water with the city water, I'd fill up a container, put about 3-5 drops in, salt, stress-zyme, & stress-coat....from there add it in the tank and when I was done filling the tank, I'd put in a little more dechlorinizer.[not much]...but it NEVER worked to control that crap. Drinking city water makes me sick...meaning I'm sick for about a week....though, I don't add decholirzer to my drinks. LOL...

I'm really excited about getting some fish books though, I think the new version is just up-to-date info. I might've missed if you said that you did or didn't but do you have the 2002 version?

HiKenny
Both Robyn and I have the original Salamander Version I'm unsure is Robyn has the Interpet Version too but I have it i:e the modern version. :)
Cant remember if Stress coat+ has a declorinator in it or not ut there are other declorinators on the market that do both the Chlorine and the Decloramines. :)
Add to the the tank when you add the water remember treat the tank not amount of water your putting back in then wait a about a day and your Stress coat+ and stress zyme if you feel it necessary. :) (why do you feel it necessary by the way ?). :huh:
rgrds
broxandval Fishiedude

Here's the current px of the tank BTW:

Dechlorinator (sodium thiosulfate) will render chlorine less harmful. In the case of chloramine, dechlorinator breaks in to chlorine and ammonia. The dechlorinator takes care of the chlorine. Then, the problem is high ammonia which can be checked with a test kit. So, you have to add something like Ammo-Lock or a tap water conditioner that says it deals with chloramines specifically by binding both chlorine and ammonia.

I am so glad I have well water!

Hi Kenny
Great tank but we noticed that the fancy in the tank has rather stringy poo.
What do you normally feed them ?,as stringy poo indicates that there is probably a nutritonal problem. :(
It may also be the reason your fancies have problem' :) s.
Check the use by date on the food how you are storeing it, i:e is the lid airtight, etc. :unsure:
Then we have to work on getting the requirements of the fish right, what your looking for is a short solid poo. :)
You can also help it by feeding fresh food i:e worm peas bloodworm etc . :)
It shouldnt take too long to turn things around, remember in the future that stringy poo is a marker. :)
If your feeding Flake what is it?, as some aren't worth buying, try pelleted food, Tetra has a very good range of pond foods, that your fish will love. :)
rgrds
broxandval
Fishiedude

Haha, not so fast, there was NO poop when taking the pictures...that's Shadows fur that stuck to the tank & the Camera Lense. My Camera's batteries suck...so I didn't have time to clean the fur off the camera lens or front glass.

Edit: My Goldfish eats Tetra Colorbits [or something similar] and also eats Lettuce & Cucumber.

Hi Kenny
Whoops our mistake :lol: never the less you got a lesson for when and if you see that sort of thing. :)
Nice fish by the way. :)
Who was the person that once said the camera never lies :lol: :lol: :lol:
rgrds
broxndval Fishiedude

LOL - I actually thought the same thing when I saw the picture....I was like "Oh no, I got a picture of him pooping!" "Wait, that is stringy, his are usually...ummm...full [lol]" "Wait! That's cat fur!! :D"

OMG, your fantail is excreting cat hair! Did he eat the cat, or maybe you fed him some catfish? Laughy Sorrydude

LOL Robyn!

It really won't surprise me if he did poop cat hair since it's an open topped tank [for now] but that's not all he eats. Laughy

PS. My cat does fall in this tank on occasions! So, she'd better be careful....there's a cat craving Ryukin!

Hi Robyn
Though it may be rather funny there is also a lesson in it !!!... and as I said who said the camera never lies. :lol: :lol:
Because it does look remarkably like the stringy fish poo of a fish that has nutritional problems plus the top one look's to be in the right place of just being passed out of the anal vent :D
rgds
broxandval Fishiedude Flowersmile