Hey, I've had fish around the house for a while, but about a year ago I put myself in charge of maintenance since my dad was doing water changes every few months or so instead of weekly and had a common pleco in both our 29 gallon (originally mbuna which never got too big along with a pleco and then switched over to community after mass tank death due to a faulty feeder) and 30 gallon (which at the time contained a red devil and an oscar and used to contain some type of bass). Since then, I started getting the tanks stocked properly. The red devil and oscar died before I took over the 30 gallon leaving just a lone pleco and all that was left in the 29 was a clown loach, pleco, and an emerald green cory. I stocked the 29 gallon with 2 male mollies (one looked fat and we thought it was a female), one more clown loach (didn't realize how big they get at the time, but I fixed that later), 2 congo tetra, 3 more corys, and 4 serpae tetra. Eventually, I did research and with the power of African Cichlids (probably my dad's favorite fish) convinced him to pick up a 125 gallon. I moved the clown loaches and pleco over to there and then moved the community fish to the 30 gallon and I'm in the process of planting it. I traded in the pleco in the 125 gallon and moved the one from the 30 gallon over to the 125 gallon and replaced him with 6 otos (also got a female molly in there who already had fry, but only 3 survived when my already iffy cover of plastic plants at the top was disturbed, 1 died in the breeder trap for unknown reasons, and a second just disappeared leaving no trace behind). Also got 3 more clown loaches in the 125 gallon. Keeping peacocks in the 125 gallon which I currently have 14 of since my dad likes the color and also 4 yellow labs so that we can have a breeding group without worrying about cross breeding. Came to the forums since I'm looking for a local breeder of peacocks in NJ so that I can get really picky on quality for any more peacocks I get (probably going to replace the common pleco with a bristlenose, but if anyone knows of any plecos or other algae eating fish that are even smaller than bristlenose then that would be appreciated. I don't think getting picked on would be an issue since the peacocks and yellow labs don't touch the clowns even though they're only 2-3 inches and one of my peacocks is 4-5 inches with the rest being mostly in the 3 inch range.).
TL;DR: Current tanks: 125 gallon Peacock tank
1 Ruby Red/Red Rubescens Peacock (probably my favorite peacock in there)
3 Firefish Peacocks (2 male: 1 female roughly 3 inches each, all fish are roughly 3 inches if size isn't mentioned) probably going to get rid of the second male since he's typically colored down and cowering by the overflow and may get rid of the female in case of cross-breeding. What do you guys think?
4 yellow labs (1.5-2 inches) 1 male:3 females.
2 baenschi peacocks (1.75-2 inches and not much color yet, but they seem to be males.)
4 red shoulder peacocks
1 red shoulder peacock with a pretty light blue in comparison to the others.
1 mystery peacock (dark metallic blue with a white stripe on it's dorsal fin and some faint blackish stripes)
2 OB peacocks.
5 clown loaches (3 younger ones 2-2.5 inches and 2 older ones in the range of 2.5-3 inches, older ones were kept in a 29 gallon for a while so that may have slowed down growth)
1 common pleco.
Wet/Dry Filter with two Rio 1500 pumps. Flow rate with head approximately 400 gph each.
Cascade 700 from my 29 gallon which I used for seeding and I'm keeping on there to keep the filter seeded in case we put anything in the 29 gallon.
Eheim Jager 300 watt heater set to 80 degrees.
Two Fluval 36-48" LEDs.
pH: 8.0
Substrate: Crushed coral (wasn't home when the tank was being installed and my dad said OK to them using crushed coral instead of sand as a substrate) looking to replace it with Estes marine sand.
Currently have an ich problem with the loaches so I'm adding aquarium salt.
30 gallon
4 mollies (2 male:1 female:1 fry)
2 congo tetras (both male)
4 serpae tetra (all male)
4 emerald green cory cats.
6 otos
lightly planted with some java moss, java fern, anubias and a floating plant which I forgot the name of.
Cascade 700 filtering
pH of 7.8 (I have hard tap water)
Some Phillips T12 bulb.
Temp kept at 78
29 gallon
pH: 8
Crushed coral substrate.
Temp kept 78-80
No stock right now and no filter.
Looking for peacock breeders in NJ with nice stock and possibly recommendations for small fish (smaller than a bristlenose/less waste) that will help control algae.
TL;DR: Current tanks: 125 gallon Peacock tank
1 Ruby Red/Red Rubescens Peacock (probably my favorite peacock in there)
3 Firefish Peacocks (2 male: 1 female roughly 3 inches each, all fish are roughly 3 inches if size isn't mentioned) probably going to get rid of the second male since he's typically colored down and cowering by the overflow and may get rid of the female in case of cross-breeding. What do you guys think?
4 yellow labs (1.5-2 inches) 1 male:3 females.
2 baenschi peacocks (1.75-2 inches and not much color yet, but they seem to be males.)
4 red shoulder peacocks
1 red shoulder peacock with a pretty light blue in comparison to the others.
1 mystery peacock (dark metallic blue with a white stripe on it's dorsal fin and some faint blackish stripes)
2 OB peacocks.
5 clown loaches (3 younger ones 2-2.5 inches and 2 older ones in the range of 2.5-3 inches, older ones were kept in a 29 gallon for a while so that may have slowed down growth)
1 common pleco.
Wet/Dry Filter with two Rio 1500 pumps. Flow rate with head approximately 400 gph each.
Cascade 700 from my 29 gallon which I used for seeding and I'm keeping on there to keep the filter seeded in case we put anything in the 29 gallon.
Eheim Jager 300 watt heater set to 80 degrees.
Two Fluval 36-48" LEDs.
pH: 8.0
Substrate: Crushed coral (wasn't home when the tank was being installed and my dad said OK to them using crushed coral instead of sand as a substrate) looking to replace it with Estes marine sand.
Currently have an ich problem with the loaches so I'm adding aquarium salt.
30 gallon
4 mollies (2 male:1 female:1 fry)
2 congo tetras (both male)
4 serpae tetra (all male)
4 emerald green cory cats.
6 otos
lightly planted with some java moss, java fern, anubias and a floating plant which I forgot the name of.
Cascade 700 filtering
pH of 7.8 (I have hard tap water)
Some Phillips T12 bulb.
Temp kept at 78
29 gallon
pH: 8
Crushed coral substrate.
Temp kept 78-80
No stock right now and no filter.
Looking for peacock breeders in NJ with nice stock and possibly recommendations for small fish (smaller than a bristlenose/less waste) that will help control algae.
