just had a few questions if anyone can help. last summer we were fortunate enough for a guy i knew that had a new batch of several red bellies and we picked up 3 of them from him. only had a 30 gallon tank then so i didn't want to get more than the 3. being in texas, they are awfully hard to come by. they were about 1/2 inch in size back then in july i think. they are now about 3.5 inches in a 55 gallon tank.
2 1/2 months ago though, one of them stopped eating and got sick. he didn't make it. so now we only have the 2 with a red belly pacu in there as well. the remaining 2 never got sick and are as healthy as can be.
i'd like to get a couple more now. my 1st question is this. can i successfully add a few more without worrying about the size or age difference (providing i can even find any more here)? if so, do i need to do anything special to ensure the new ones survive in the existing tank?
2nd question: we will be making a trip to memphis this weekend where i think they are legal (if anyone knows for sure whether they are or not for the memphis are, i'd appreciate it).
anyhow, we thought about trying to pick some up from a local fish store there in the area. but we will have about a 7-8 hour trip back home to dallas. what would be the best way to transport them? i was thinking of just bringing along a 10-15 gallon tank with some cycled water from our rbp tank in the car and setting up a filter to run from the cig lighter. will this work? or should i do something different? is there anything special i will have to do to get them all the way back home? maybe add some stress coat in the tank or something to keep em from flipping out on the trip? i've never transported fish for more than a 30 minute trip before so any advice is greatly appreciated.
2 1/2 months ago though, one of them stopped eating and got sick. he didn't make it. so now we only have the 2 with a red belly pacu in there as well. the remaining 2 never got sick and are as healthy as can be.
i'd like to get a couple more now. my 1st question is this. can i successfully add a few more without worrying about the size or age difference (providing i can even find any more here)? if so, do i need to do anything special to ensure the new ones survive in the existing tank?
2nd question: we will be making a trip to memphis this weekend where i think they are legal (if anyone knows for sure whether they are or not for the memphis are, i'd appreciate it).
anyhow, we thought about trying to pick some up from a local fish store there in the area. but we will have about a 7-8 hour trip back home to dallas. what would be the best way to transport them? i was thinking of just bringing along a 10-15 gallon tank with some cycled water from our rbp tank in the car and setting up a filter to run from the cig lighter. will this work? or should i do something different? is there anything special i will have to do to get them all the way back home? maybe add some stress coat in the tank or something to keep em from flipping out on the trip? i've never transported fish for more than a 30 minute trip before so any advice is greatly appreciated.
