I want to see your fishies!

[Marlin]

I must comment on Malcolm there also, I love his coloration.

Thanks    He's a Bronze Fantail    He actually used to be a heck of a lot darker (quite black). I used to have a pond at my old house which was my pride and joy. We had to move though, and at the new place (which we rent) I couldn't have a permanent pond     So I put my fish in a bath tub set up. It sucked. Due to access issues (required fencing around it) I couldn't upkeep it properly and I lost a few of my beloved fishies. I was not about to lose Malcolm though - he was my favourite!!!

So with a heavy heart I re-homed the others and Mal came inside in a tank set up (and he's adapted very happily to lounge-room life  ). When he came inside though his colour went a lot lighter, a lot more goldy. I think it's mostly to do with more light entering the water and a change in diet.


Tiki - I all the plant stuff really interesting reading - thanks for posting  When I bought Mal inside into an aquarium, I had such a crash course in tank care, including that nitrogen cycle you mention!

[HavACrumpet452]

I had to laugh last night. My midas cichlid tried to eat my bloodhound mix as he walked past the tank. The darn invisible force field stopped him just like it used to stop him from eating my ferret.

[NoDivision]

Tank it set up, water is in, filter is going I'm pleasantly surprised by how minimal the current is with this filter. Some of the reviews I read said it was a bit strong for a betta, but it seems pretty mild to me. I might have to diffuse it a little bit, but it's definitely manageable. Woot!

eta: I just found this picture of my favorite fish I've ever owned. Bruiser.

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I had a small school of tiger barbs, and I had enough of them that they pretty much had their pecking order figured out and there weren't any problems - except for Bruiser. He nipped so many fins and eventually killed one of the others, so he had to go into solitary confinement in a small tank of his own. I ended up having to get rid of my large tank, but I kept Bruiser, and he stayed with me for a long time. He was just such an awesome little demon fish, and super handsome. Lovely boy <3

[tikibirds]

Tiki - I all the plant stuff really interesting reading - thanks for posting  When I bought Mal inside into an aquarium, I had such a crash course in tank care, including that nitrogen cycle you mention!

I dont think alot of people understand that filters do more then just remove debris from the water. A petco employee lied to me and my fish kept dying. I killed 5 before I did my own research and even then, alot of what people post online about betta care is not accurate.  My nitrogen cycles have always been done "fish in" style (using the fish as an ammonia source as opposed to a fishless cycle that uses pure ammonia). It wasn't as hard as people make it sound - all I did was keep up on the water changes to make sure ammonia level didnt get too high and eventually it will drop off to zero naturally (when another type of bacteria appears and uses up the ammonia). All the chemistry talk about it made my head hurt but really its quite simple.

Spoiler

Stage 1
Ammonia is introduced into the aquarium via tropical fish waste and uneaten food. The tropical fish waste and excess food will break down into either ionized ammonium (NH4) or un-ionized ammonia (NH3). Ammonium is not harmful to tropical fish but ammonia is. Whether the material turns into ammonium or ammonia depends on the ph level of the water. If the ph is under 7, you will have ammonium. If the ph is 7 or higher you will have ammonia.

Stage 2
Soon, bacteria called nitrosomonas will develop and they will oxidize the ammonia in the tank, essentially eliminating it. The byproduct of ammonia oxidation is Nitrites. So we no longer have ammonia in the tank, but we now have another toxin to deal with - Nitrites. Nitrites are just as toxic to tropical fish as ammonia. If you have a test kit, you should be able to see the nitrite levels rise around the end of the first or second week.

Stage 3
Bacteria called nitrobacter will develop and they will convert the nitrites into nitrates. Nitrates are not as harmful to tropical fish as ammonia or nitrites, but nitrate is still harmful in large amounts. The quickest way to rid your aquarium of nitrates is to perform partial water changes. Once your tank is established you will need to monitor your tank water for high nitrate levels and perform partial water changes as necessary.

There are other methods to control nitrates in aquariums besides water changes. For freshwater fish tanks, live aquarium plants will use up some of the nitrates. In saltwater fish tanks, live rock and deep sand beds can have anaerobic areas where denitrifying bacteria can breakdown nitrates into harmless nitrogen gas that escapes through the water surface of the aquarium.

The plant info is from a subforum at bettafish.com. The parent site for them is tropicalfishkeeping.com but since I only have bettas minus the 2 plecos, I dont visit TFK much.

I wish I could have a 100 gallon or larger for the goldfish. Even if I had room, the weight of it would be too much for the floor to handle.  Why couldnt he be a fancy goldfish instead?

[NoDivision]

I'm going to do a fishless cycle mainly because of the size of my tank. I know smaller tanks can require a lot of close attention because the levels can rise and fall pretty rapidly with the smaller amount of water, so I'd rather not take any risks. But First I have to find some darn ammonia that isn't bubbly!

[tikibirds]

I dont think I have ever seen pure ammonia sold but I never went looking for it either. Maybe in the pharmacy section?

[NoDivision]

I finally found some at Ace Hardware, so now we play the waiting game!

[tikibirds]

That would be the part i never had patience for 

[NoDivision]

Lol. Yeah, it's not easy, especially as every time I have stopped in the pet store to grab some more supplies I keep staring at the pretty fishies But it's all going according to plan so far, so hopefully it should be a pretty smooth cycle.