Greetings and Options..What did we get??

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Believe me, I'd love to have a pond, but one thing is we don't own our home, so I'm not going to build something for someone else to enjoy one day, especially with my Homer and Marge in them!

As far as getting attached...man...1 whole year with them! I've had them for 2 days and if you can't tell, I'm trying my hardest NOT to believe that they will indeed grow big and kill the others...can't possibly happen...not my babies!! LOL...it only takes a look and I'm hooked. When Homer swam up and pouted at me and ran into the tank wall...I just heard "DOH!" then Marge swam over and just looked like she was annoyed with his dumbness...that was all I needed to see...LOL...wonder if they're even male and female...is there any way to tell?

So all of this is in my head huh? Who would have thought I'd get hooked by some fish!

The barbs always stay together...we call them Lois and Peter (Family Guy)...they are ALWAYS together...I'm seeing this is normal.

Jack- the Jack Dempsey of course is so cool..he stays in HIS spot and in the bubbles...we thought he was the meanest in the tank..guess not huh?

The Plecos, we call the Suckas...I've only seen one and they just pop out, stick to something for a minute then go back under the rocks...normal?

I'm reading on here as we speak, so I may find all these answers myself, but this is more exciting and fun than I thought it would be...

OH, the store we went to last night couldn't take them, couldn't get rid of them and didn't have the space...so they sent us to this site:)
 
pwmin;1627261; said:
welcome. good luck with the fish and building your new pond ;)


do the barbs and the bala school together?

make sure you feed the pleco and don't count on it to eat algae for a living
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Yes, the barbs and the bala school together...the Bala will go off by itself, but the barbs are never separate! We've tried feeding them all the last 2 days, but they are not eating...we were told they were over fed as it was so they might not eat for a week or so..but is this right?

Should we test them daily to see if they're hungry at all or what do you recommend? We have no idea the last time they were fed, but they ignore all food we put in the tank...
 
The "hunger strike", or whatever it is, should not last long since tinfoil barbs are very aggressive eaters. Just keep trying. If they don't eat for close to a week, then I would start worrying. It could be what you're feeding, too. What foods have you tried?
 
I am so not prepared...let's see...we have some flakes, some red stinky looking pellet type food, then some larger dark greenish hard pellets. We try all 3 because we don't know who eats what, but all ignore all 3 when we put it in. I'll have to end up taking the food into the Aquarium to figure out what it is because they are in unmarked containers.

I really don't know how people could just leave them like this, no information left behind so it's like starting from scratch and we have no idea what they've even been through all this time...
 
Bobears;1627324; said:
Mine don't eat if the nitrogen cycle spikes a little. How new is the water in the tank?
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When they moved the tank, they kept about 90% of the same water that they were in and we did not add any new water to it. Someone is coming by this weekend to add more water to the tank, well water. So that didn't change, they matched the settings and temperature to what they were in before, so I think it was about 70 degrees..is that OK or should we up that at all?
 
sounds like a spike to me since there's hardly any old tank water and that's probably why they're not eating, as was mentioned. the temp is way too low, too. they should be at least 78, a little higher if you want them to be more active, but i would get it to 78 and keep it there until the spike is under control, then bump the temp some.

they will eat flakes and provided the pellets aren't too large, they should eat them, too. the green pellets are probably hikari cichlid staple.
 
NandM;1627344; said:
When they moved the tank, they kept about 90% of the same water that they were in and we did not add any new water to it. Someone is coming by this weekend to add more water to the tank, well water. So that didn't change, they matched the settings and temperature to what they were in before, so I think it was about 70 degrees..is that OK or should we up that at all?
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So you kept 90% of the water? Still moving a tank dislodges a lot of crap under decor and some of the filter media may have died off. Get a liquid test kit. Also, someone correct me, well water should be absolutely tested.

Oh, by the way, great pick up. Hope it's everything you want it to be.
 
I would have only kept 50% as there is a probability that there weren't frequent water changes done. Just me though. Def. purchase a freshwater test kit whenever possible so you know what the specs of your water is and go from there.

Also some fish no matter what you feed will not eat right after a stressful situation like moving. So pending how long they've been with you might decifer whether them not eating is normal or not.
 
Ok, so freshwater test kit...up temp to at least 78 and wait out the hunger strike..got it!

Yes, we kept 90% of the water...the rest spilled out in transport and none was added back in. They've only been with us 3 days as of today, so we'll give them a little time to adjust. They're all pretty active, except the Plecos, they stay hidden behind the rocks and only come out for maybe a second then disappear again...

They look amazing...so we'll see as far as care how well we can handle them and the other animals in the house.
 
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