RTC UPDATE FROM PHILIPPINES

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Fish_Admirer17

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 22, 2010
196
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Philippines
hey guys..ok so far everything is going well, or at least I think it is...my "progress" is as follows btw my tank is 15 gal. but will be upgrading soon to 120 gal for rtc so please don't flame coz i know in the long run i will end up w/ 1500-3000gal or more..thanks:

rtc shows signed of monster appetite and is very active specially at feeding time
food he eats include meal worms, superworms, freeze dried shrimp and sinking pellets..fed twice a day until stomach gets a little plump..has grown slightly to about 4-5"
I do 20% or more water changes twice a week
and finally got a test kit but only the ammonia test kit because it only cost half the price of complete set
gill curl did not get worse

now the other stuff i did
got a baby giant gourami bout 2" and a common pleco about 3"
all fish aren't fighting and the gourami is active and eating meal worms and flowerhorn pellets..
got driftwood and cucumber for pleco
got freeze dried tubifex worm cubes for the gourami
got air stone to increase oxygenation

now my questions:
what do you think guys?
is it ok to have just ammonia test kit coz it is the most toxic of the three(nitrate, nitrite, ammonia) and stresses the fish?
is the airstone a good idea?
what type if filter is ideal for the huge bioload of RTC?
is my water changing schedule ok??


Also please give tips and advice on gourami care, pleco care, rtc care obviously, or any other matter you think needs improving or criticizing..Thanks again everyone!!!!!!:):D:)
 
c mon guys...also today i've tested the ammonia of my water and it was 0-0.25ppg...i was not so sure at first because at first glance i thought it was pure yellow but then it turned out light yellow greenish whatever..but im sure that its only bet. 0 and 0.25ppg..
 
btw i will be doing a water change tommorow and i will post the water test results after water change
 
The gourami will turn into a snack for the red tail and so will the pleco.
 
The RTC will eat what ever it fits in it's mouth but the GG and Pleco will get big as well so it depends on their growth rate as to wheather or not they will get eaten. The gourami and pleco will grow a lot slower than the RTC so they very well might get eaten. You should make sure that everyone is well fed and that might help things but you will likely have to seperate them. I have a giant gourami and a TSN together and they get along ok but the GG was already about 12in when I got him so my TSN couldn't eat him if he wanted to.
Giant Gourami's are great fish! They have a ton of personality. They are also piggies though and will eat pretty much what ever you through in the tank. Mine eats lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, cooked carrots, blood worms, krill, cichlid pellets, bottom feeder wafers, brine shrip. Like I said pretty much anything you throw in there he'll eat. They also have a massive bio load so you may need to step up your water changes a bit with both him and the RTC in there.
Another thing to look out for with your GG is that they can be very aggressive toward other fish.
 
ok how much more will i need to perform water changes??i do 20% water change twice a week. i never skip a beat on water changing..just did one this morning but my ammonia was still 0.25...i don't think he will eat the fish i got coz I picked those big enough to not fit his mouth..my gg won't eat freeze dried shrimp..he only eats flowerhorn pellets, mealworms and tubifex worms..he isn't aggressive at all..will be posting pics maybe on saturday when i can borrow a camera..still treating driftwood, maybe it will be ready after a week..and also please someone answer my other questions if its ok..THANKS!!!!:)
 
Maybe start doing 50% instead of 20 and see what your water parameters are then. The ammonia reading should be at 0. What kind of filter do you have on there now? I can't really say what type filter you should get (it's a personal preferance thing) but I would get one that is rated for at least twice the amount of water in your tank. I think you may need more BB (benifical bacteria) if your still getting an ammonia reading (which would come with a larger filter) or if your using carbon in your filter you may need to change that out. Once you have carbon in for so long it becomes saturated and starts releasing the toxins back into your water. I'm not sure since I don't know what you are using now though....I personally like canister filters but you should do some reading in the general aquaria/filter sections and you'll learn all about the different kinds of filters and their pros and cons
You could probably get by with out the other test kits if you keep up with everything but it couldn't hurt to have it until you get on a system that works for you and your water params are consistantly in a normal range.
An air stone couldn't hurt. The best way to increase the oxygen in your water is surface aggitation so spray bars are better than air stones but in your case I'm not sure that either would be necessary.
As for the Gourami, I have mine in with two cat fish and they get along good cause the catfish don't do much. There is still the occasional fight but nothing too serious. Yours will likly be fine with your RTC and pleco since that is basically the same situation but beware in putting in any other fish. I tried to add a flagtail to my tank so that I would have another active swimming fish and my GG tried to kill it and I had to seperate them and return the flagtail to the LFS. I heard some stories of the GGs being ok with other fish but I have also heard many stories of them being very aggressive. So you'll have to see how yours does, just be preparded that he might be aggressive is all.
 
hmmmm, perhaps you should start process of buying and cycling the 120galon tank. You will need it soon enough. as for tank mates, it is hit and miss thing. RTC may or may not eat them only time will tell

good luck mate
 
Good luck! I am in the process of trying to find a larger tank right now for my baby RTCs and a TSNxRTC hybrid. I want a 6 or 8 ft by 2ft- with plans to get an 8x3ft eventually. Post pics if you can!
 
THANKS GUYS!! I have something like a hanging filter not from above not sure what its really called..
 
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