New to Rope Fish - help on set up

[thefredpit]

so sorry to "hear" that it is weird to say that, and if i did not know what i now know about these fish, i would think you lost your marbles saying that. but i totally get it. maybe i'll take that skull out now then and replace with a temporary clay pot or something in the mean time. she really likes that decor but ya, i don't want to find her stuck in the eye of it. WC is today so that works out. and yep, i have been researching the polly's already and thinking of the senegal so far but the more i see in these threads, the more i am realizing, i will still need a much larger tank.

potato chips people, these things are freaking potato chips!! lol

The decoration she got stuck in was actually the eye of a crocodile skull.

I have 2 mottos:
Polys are like pokemon gotta collect them all
Plecos are like pokemon gotta collect them all

Thank you for the info on the co2, that's a huge relief to me lol

I've never had snails before so I'll do research on the ones you mentioned.

With the sand substrate and plants, will I need or be able to siphon vacuum? I siphon vacuum once a week which aids in easy wc too. In my mind, the sand will be too light and get siphoned up. The piggies do a fantastic job on floor clean up, so I'm mostly cleaning out poop debris.

I actually use mystery snails the benefit is I breed and sell them to stores(about 500 a month)

ok, so i was able to return what neon tetra's i had left that Beamer (rope fish) didn't eat and i got a refund on the ones she ate too since the lady that sold me the fish told me she wouldn't eat them, she was there so it was verified what she said to me. i got the cichlid pellets (i hope the correct ones?) and the shrimp pellets. then i went to petco to return the beef hearts she refused to eat and exchange that for the frozen blood worms.

came home, took out the small skull log decor she liked being in and put a roundish coffee mug in there in place of it, temporary until i find something better. i hope she likes the cup, i faced it to the darker corner like the log was sitting, it's just not as tight of a space. currently she is hiding out in the log, she wasn't too thrilled with the vacuuming and wc. i scared the crud out of her and i had to throw myself over the top of the tank to keep her from jumping out lol

excuse the water look, i just dumped the new water in (30% change) and i still have plant bits floating around the tank from the little plant the cory's destroyed. there is also a cucumber bit in there that the bn pleco munches. but, like i said, it is kinda sad that after 30 years of fish keeping, i'm still very basic at it. i can't wait to get my first big girl tank! lol

question on lighting for the new rope and poly tank though.. i currently use a daylight/moonlight led, will this be sufficient for the planted tank or will i need something stronger?

thank you all for all the wonderful and friendly input and help i am so glad i found i this forum.


View attachment 1276565 View attachment 1276566

I'm taking you got the stump decoration from walmart I have 2 but I pulled off the fake plants

 

[thefredpit]

Those are one of the pellets I mentioned, yes. They also tend to like Hikari carnivore and NLS Thera A. I think it's he 3mm size?

I find the smaller polys have problems with how hard the cichlid gold pellets are but not the carnivore but because of price I alternate them

 

[magpie]

I just mix mine together. The only problems I've seen are with the massivore. I break them up but still, they seem really hard.

 

[bottomdweller72]

You'll need a new light when you get your 55 because it needs to be the length of the tank.

I use and have good luck with Finnex Planted Plus 24/7 but lots of LEDs would work. (I don't use the 24/7 mode though)

Look on Craigslist or Offer Up - you can get screaming deals on tanks if you're patient.

oh yes, i know i will need a whole lid and lighting system for the bigger tank. just wondered if what i am using now, in a bigger size, would work or if i need something different. i'll look up the finnex one and check that out thank you for the info. i have been scouring the marketplace on facebook and on craigslist for tanks (if i find a good one at a fraction of one from a store, life would be so much easier then lol) so i will keep an eye out for lighting too.

 

[bottomdweller72]

I find the smaller polys have problems with how hard the cichlid gold pellets are but not the carnivore but because of price I alternate them

i read on another thread in poly's here someone soaking the pellets in the blood worms as they are thawing out. it softens up the pellets and gets the blood worm juices into them to make them more enticing. the cory's ate up the pellets before anyone else could get to them. darn piggies. so i will put some more in once the rope is done pouting about the water change, she is still hiding out in the stump, moving around but refusing to come out.

 

[thefredpit]

oh yes, i know i will need a whole lid and lighting system for the bigger tank. just wondered if what i am using now, in a bigger size, would work or if i need something different. i'll look up the finnex one and check that out thank you for the info. i have been scouring the marketplace on facebook and on craigslist for tanks (if i find a good one at a fraction of one from a store, life would be so much easier then lol) so i will keep an eye out for lighting too.

try local forums, 5 mile, letgo and offer up

 

[bottomdweller72]

The decoration she got stuck in was actually the eye of a crocodile skull.

I have 2 mottos:
Polys are like pokemon gotta collect them all
Plecos are like pokemon gotta collect them all



I actually use mystery snails the benefit is I breed and sell them to stores(about 500 a month)



I'm taking you got the stump decoration from walmart I have 2 but I pulled off the fake plants

i almost picked up another skull that was bigger when i was at petco but then looked at the side and seen a smaller hole so put it back.

i have heard people talk about mystery snails, what are their benefits in a tank? i haven't researched much on snails at all, i was told 30 years ago that if i had snails in my tank, it was a bad thing so i am always confused about why people want them but i never actually asked either.

yes, i think i got the stump and skull log from wal-mart. i left the plants on but for the last 4 days, i am really wanting to take them off now. the new bristle nose is a prolific pooper and it looks like garland on a tree now. i have never had a pleco poop so much lol i named him Espy (as in SP for super pooper lol).

there is an aquatic store about an hour away from me. the only fish they sell are koi but they have everything else you need for aquariums and ponds like plants, rocks, filtration (i think mostly ponds though on that one). i was thinking of maybe venturing up there to check out their plants and rocks and price them out.

 

[bottomdweller72]

what kind of sand is best for the tank? i was looking that up and there are soooo many to pick from and no real information that i could find that would let me say oh yes, that is the kind i need. i have seen tanks with black and red'ish sand, i would love to know what those are.

 

[thefredpit]

i almost picked up another skull that was bigger when i was at petco but then looked at the side and seen a smaller hole so put it back.

i have heard people talk about mystery snails, what are their benefits in a tank? i haven't researched much on snails at all, i was told 30 years ago that if i had snails in my tank, it was a bad thing so i am always confused about why people want them but i never actually asked either.

yes, i think i got the stump and skull log from wal-mart. i left the plants on but for the last 4 days, i am really wanting to take them off now. the new bristle nose is a prolific pooper and it looks like garland on a tree now. i have never had a pleco poop so much lol i named him Espy (as in SP for super pooper lol).

there is an aquatic store about an hour away from me. the only fish they sell are koi but they have everything else you need for aquariums and ponds like plants, rocks, filtration (i think mostly ponds though on that one). i was thinking of maybe venturing up there to check out their plants and rocks and price them out.

Mystery snails are good at eating leftover food and cleaning algae and they come in lots of colors I have Gold, Blue, Ivory, magenta, black, brown, light purple and dark purple. The reason they aren't seen as pests is because they will only breed if you let them because they lay their egg clutches above water therefore are easy to remove

as far as sand I use black diamond sandblasting abrasive and pool filter sand they are a cheap alternative to aquarium sand

 

[thefredpit]

this is one of my light purple ones laying eggs


here is feeding time in my gold snail tank