Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)
Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
55L Tank
- Grantie86 (Ian Grant)
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I'm setting up my 55L tank this week and wanted to get some stocking advice, the tank dimensions are 40x40x40
I was thinking about getting:
3 x Platy
6 x Silver tip tetra
Would I be overstocking?
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- gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
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I would do 6 Platties as well as 6 Silvertips...Platties like to be kept in groups, 3 is probably not enough....
Also keep either all male or all female Platties or else 1 male to 2 females....The boys pester the girls (to the point of exhaustion) and they breed like crazy because they are livebearers!
You could aswell add a smaller showfish like a Dwarf Cichlid etc....Just nothing that grows too big! (Bolivian Ram, Any of the Apistogrammas....Maybe a Dwarf Gourami even)
Just remember to keep up with your weekly water changes..I recommend 30 to 50% once a week...Your fish will love you for it and it will help keep dreaded algae at bay!
By the way if your new to fish keeping and not familiar with it I would suggest you read up on the "AQUARIUM NITROGEN CYCLE" before adding any fish to a brand new tank...Otherwise you will wake up to a tank full of floating fish after a couple of days of setting up your beautiful new aquarium!!!!!
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- Grantie86 (Ian Grant)
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Happy to hear I can add a showfish, it's something I was hoping someone would say.
I might add a Dwarf Gourami like you suggested
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- Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
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Gavin
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- Grantie86 (Ian Grant)
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6 silver tip tetra
4 platy
6 Albino cory
1 rainbow gourami
The AqAdvisor calculator says i'd be stocking it at 138% (although I've seen people say this isn't always accurate)
If I dropped the gourami I'd be at 107%
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- gunnered72 (Eddy Gunnered)
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Your stocking plan is fine but i would still do 6 Platties...They need company and it spreads out any kind of aggression there may be...
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- Grantie86 (Ian Grant)
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- ThirstyOto (Dan Hodgkin)
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Online calculators arent a great source for stocking advice...
Your stocking plan is fine but i would still do 6 Platties...They need company and it spreads out any kind of aggression there may be...
+1 on the Platties - they really do well in groups, as Gunnered72 says. I would also make sure that what you are getting really are platties, too, I recently bought a group of platties from a local stockist, three of which then grew up into Swordtails! Beautiful fish, like the platties are, but they would soon grow way too big for your tank. When they are juveniles, they look very similar, and can get mixed up in a job lot of platties at the shop. I wouldn't say it's a common occurrance, but I know it can happen. Check with the staff when you buy them!
Gavin, above, also suggested a pair of Rams. He knows his stuff, and I would wholeheartedly echo that suggestion, if you're looking for a pair of "showfish". A nice male/female pair would be a stunning addition to your tank, once the cycling has settled. . I put a pair of rams into my new tank, and I have utterly fallen in love with them! Beautiful, colorful and characterful.
Whatever you decide - best of luck with your new tank!
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- Grantie86 (Ian Grant)
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Taking this all into account im now thinking:
6 Platy
6 Albino Cory
2 Rams
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- JustinK (Justin Kelly)
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Don't put all those fish in at once.
Your definitely overstocked with that list.
You need to have your final plan, what your aiming to have when complete and slowly add the fish over weeks or months until your there.
If you feel like doing something with your tank just use the T-rule. That is put on the kettle and make a cuppa ☺
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- CG (K Lynch)
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I started a few weeks ago with 3 female platy's and one male.
I returned the male today. -I already have 3 fry in a hatchery and the 3 females are pregnant!
If you don't want to be overrun with fry, get females or better yet males (females can hold sperm for up to 6 pregnancies).
Good luck.
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- Grantie86 (Ian Grant)
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Definitely going to ask for males as I won't have the setup for fry
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