# The Aquarium Thread
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 24, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600 "2008-03-24T21:57:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/21 "2008-03-25T17:43:00Z")
I have a 15 gal (I think) hex tank with one goldfish in it. He’s a fan tail, about 6 inches long and I believe he’s coming up on 10 years of age. I’d really like to start a freshwater tank when he goes to the Great Fish Tank In The Sky. I had 2 when I was in college that were gorgeous but my psychotic roomie killed all of the fish by pouring bleach into the water while I was in class. I miss my Neon Tetras!!
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### Author:  [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/22 "2008-03-25T17:46:37Z")
We have a 55 gal metaframe that I’ve had for at least 35 years. Currently using the Hot Magnum filtration system - it’s been working without problem now for at least 5 years.
Currently populated by Golden Labs (African Cichlids) and a single plecostomus. The labs have been breeding but only producing one little one at a time, which I find very unusual for a mouthbreeder species.
I’ve raised other species of cichlids over the years; Jewel Fish, Convicts, a South American mouthbreeder that I never exactly identified (early 70’s with limited research resources available). At one time along with the 55 mentioned above, I also had a 30, 29 high and multiple 20s & 10s all set up in the basement of my parent’s house.
The Jewel Fish were prolific breeders and I kept multiple local shops supplied for quite a while.
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### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/23 "2008-03-25T18:53:59Z")
[QUOTE=Dinsdale]
That tank is ultra low tech, so no, I don’t do anything special for them other than to drop in a piece of an algae wafer a couple of times a week. The shrimp will be all over the tank - including on the walls where I presume they are eating algae, but that tank gets very little algae other than a little green spot which I wipe off every couple of weeks. Sorry, but I really don’t know how prolifically they breed - the number in the tank seems to have ebbed and flowed a bit over the 2-3 years it has been up.
It is kinda frustrating, tho predicatable, that that tank is the one I pay the least attention to, yet it is probably consistently the best looking and healthiest appearing of my tanks! 😃
There is a shrimp forum over at [plantedtank.net](http://plantedtank.net).
[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the response. My 10 gallon tank is exposed to natural sunlight in the sunroom so predictably it’s got algae. Mostly green hair algae. I was hoping they’d eat that specifically and breed like crazy. Is it the males or the females which are larger and redder?
I know there are other forums for this, but the Dope is my home, and this _is_ an aquarium thread. 😉
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/24 "2008-03-25T19:13:56Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon]
Thanks for the response. My 10 gallon tank is exposed to natural sunlight in the sunroom so predictably it’s got algae. Mostly green hair algae. I was hoping they’d eat that specifically and breed like crazy. Is it the males or the females which are larger and redder?
I know there are other forums for this, but the Dope is my home, and this _is_ an aquarium thread. 😉
[/QUOTE]
Sorry, man - I really don’t know too much about them. I’ve read that the females tend to be larger and redder, but have no idea whether that is at all reliable. When mature, the females supposedly develop “saddles” where they carry their eggs - but I don’t know that I have ever seen those in my tank.
They supposedly like java moss and najas grass - some folk complain of both of those being invasive. They are supposedly sensitive to chemicals/metals - especially copper. But I use no ferts in my tank at work.
What fish do you have in your aquaria? I ask because I’d expect many fish to enjoy a nice shrimp snack!
I keep otos and bristlenose and cories as cleaner crews in both my aquaria at home, but am not sure there is any way to completely be rid of all algae. Haven’t had green hair for a while - don’t particularly recall how I got rid of it. There’s an algae forum over at - right, you don’t wanna know! 😉
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### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/25 "2008-03-25T19:23:53Z")
[QUOTE=Dinsdale]
Sorry, man - I really don’t know too much about them. I’ve read that the females tend to be larger and redder, but have no idea whether that is at all reliable. When mature, the females supposedly develop “saddles” where they carry their eggs - but I don’t know that I have ever seen those in my tank.
They supposedly like java moss and najas grass - some folk complain of both of those being invasive. They are supposedly sensitive to chemicals/metals - especially copper. But I use no ferts in my tank at work.
What fish do you have in your aquaria? I ask because I’d expect many fish to enjoy a nice shrimp snack!
I keep otos and bristlenose and cories as cleaner crews in both my aquaria at home, but am not sure there is any way to completely be rid of all algae. Haven’t had green hair for a while - don’t particularly recall how I got rid of it. There’s an algae forum over at - right, you don’t wanna know! 😉
[/QUOTE]
Well, I _do_ wanna know about other useful forums, but I like having one here too. I already belong to a couple aquarium forums and a mailing list.
As far as the tank inhabitants, I’ve got two ottos, four guppies, two tetras of some kind - not sure - the wife bought 'em. They’re white, sorta look like silver dollars but not, and two dwarf African frogs. That’s it, except for the shrimp I bought. I only wanted two, but the guy at the store gave me four. I guess he liked me. The frogs might eat baby shrimp, I don’t know. I do know they’re carnivorous and will eat what fits in their mouth, but there’s lots of plants and algae for babies to hide in.
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/26 "2008-03-25T19:37:16Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon]
As far as the tank inhabitants, I’ve got … four guppies … The frogs might eat baby shrimp, I don’t know. I do know they’re carnivorous and will eat what fits in their mouth, but there’s lots of plants and algae for babies to hide in.
[/QUOTE]
I assume you got 4 male guppies, or else it is unlikely you will have only 4 for very long! 😃
At times I’ve brought shrimp and endlers home just to see if they could establish themselves in my heavily planted tanks - but no go. Yeah - there’s plenty of places to hide, but its not as tho those hungry frogs have anything else to do all day! 😉
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### Author:  [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/27 "2008-03-25T19:53:32Z")
We used to run 2 marine tanks. One 55 gallon and a 35 gallon hex.
Currently the 55 gallon is empty and the the hex is home to a chinese algae eater, 2 coolie loaches, 6 neon tetras and a growing population of guppies. Until we move, I need to keep it cheap, easy and colorful. I’d forgotten how hard it is to get a correct count on baby guppies.
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### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/28 "2008-03-25T20:02:48Z")
[QUOTE=Dinsdale]
I assume you got 4 male guppies, or else it is unlikely you will have only 4 for very long! 😃
At times I’ve brought shrimp and endlers home just to see if they could establish themselves in my heavily planted tanks - but no go. Yeah - there’s plenty of places to hide, but its not as tho those hungry frogs have anything else to do all day! 😉
[/QUOTE]
My wife got a bright blue male and and a bright orange male. No babies. I went out and got a couple females because hey, what’s the fun of guppies with no babies? Plus, she got those frogs without consideration of what they’d eat. She buys whatever the people at the pet store tell her to buy. I’m hoping the frogs will eat some guppy babies, once we get some.
I’m concerned the frogs might eat baby shrimp too though.
I hadn’t heard of endlers, it was interesting googling them up.
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/29 "2008-03-25T21:15:19Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon]
I hadn’t heard of endlers, it was interesting googling them up.
[/QUOTE]
Endlers interbreed with guppies, so most people are pretty anal about not mixing them.
I had some that I did not think were pure, so I fed them to my angels and restarted.
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### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/30 "2008-03-25T21:47:20Z")
[QUOTE=Dinsdale]
Endlers interbreed with guppies, so most people are pretty anal about not mixing them.
I had some that I did not think were pure, so I fed them to my angels and restarted.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I’ll be content to see what I get out of my guppies. Like I said, 1 blue male, 1 orange male and now the two females I added are probably already pregnant with who knows what, but they themselves are a gold & black tuxedo type. Who knows what I’ll have a few generations from now.
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### Author:  [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/31 "2008-03-26T05:41:52Z")
I’m pretty green here–my husband and I just started a 10 gallon tank a month or so ago–it’s our first! We currently have three bloodfin tetras who have been breaking in our new tank. We’re ready for more but haven’t had the time to go to the fish store for a couple of weeks. Someday we want to put some plants in but we’re going pretty slowly, one step at a time. Good to know I have some knowledgeable brains to pick here on the Dope!
BTW–your tanks all sound amazing! Thanks for the pictures, those of you who posted them; it’s great to see all the cool stuff one can do.
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### Author:  [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/32 "2008-03-26T09:26:48Z")
10 gallons, three platys, one swordtail, two corycats, one dojo loach, one ghost shrimp, and two bettas (red crowntail and blue veiltail) in breeding nets until I go back to college, where the blue fish goes in a 1.5 gallon tank on my desk and the red fish goes back to my friend Dan, for whom I am fishsitting.
The blue fish is named Piano, because he has blue fins, which makes him a bluefin tuna, and you can tune a piano but you can’t tuna fish.
The red fish is named Brunch. I don’t know why.
[Bettas](http://flickr.com/photos/egamirorrim/2339008860/)
Brunch and my last fish, Opalfish, who looks just like Piano, in vases until I could get breeding nets for my big tank.
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/33 "2008-03-26T13:50:25Z")
[QUOTE=Millit the Frail]
Someday we want to put some plants in but we’re going pretty slowly, one step at a time.
[/QUOTE]
I see you are from Chicago. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions. There is a pretty good planted aquaria club in the area, and some other groups which are a great source for cheap, high quality flora, fauna, and supplies. For example, the Chicago killifish club is having a show/auction this weekend in the western burbs. And next weekend a guy is stopping by my house to take my weekly trimmings for his tank…
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### Author:  [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/34 "2008-03-26T16:58:18Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon]
I recently picked up what are probably Cherry shrimp. At the store they were labeled “Algae Eating Shrimp” but they look like Cherry shrimp and the guy at the store called them “cherry something.” How prolifically do they breed? Anything special you do? Do they seem to have any effect on algae?
[/QUOTE]
From my experience, breeding cherries is easy, if they’re in a tank with no predators (read; fish, shrimp ain’t the smartest critters out there, any fish are seen as potential predators, even Otos and Plecos), they should just breed, as long as the water is clean and nitrogenous-waste free, they should breed, quite prolifically, if i understand correctly
they do eat algae, but you need to have a decent size crew of them to see any appreciable results, and they’re opportunistic scavengers as well, given a choice between eating algae (work) or eating the food the fish have missed (easy), they’ll go for the easy route
my Amanos and Cherries seem to be a little…stupid to boot, they can be “cleaning” a leaf on one of my plants, picking away at _something_ that I can’t see, clearly not algae, while the leaf right next to them, with a patch of black beard algae on it, a leaf with _actual_ algae goes completely ignored
I’m having a small issue with BBA right now, as I’m trying to get my CO2 levels optimal, so I’ve been pruning out infested leaves as I find them, the shrimp do pick at the algae, but they’re not making a substantial dent in it, I think I may not have enough of them in the tank to make a difference yet, about 14 Cherries and 6 Amanos in a tank that’s 30" long , 12" wide, and 12" tall, that’s a lot of floor space for 20 shrimp to cover, I need to add some more Cherries, as they seem to be the better algae consumers, the Amanos are okay, but they tend to scavenge more for leftover fish food
strangely enough, both shrimp’s favorite food above all else are…
Shrimp Pellets (pellets made _from_ shrimp, not _for_ shrimp)
crazy little Cannibals…
“Soylent Orange Is SHRIMP!”
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### Author:  [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/35 "2008-03-26T17:30:29Z")
I have a 55 gallon tank with 4 Angelfish: two marbles, one common silver, and a Panda koi (the youngest. the silver and one of the marbles have been breeding for months, but I don’t have the time to manage multiple growout tanks full of fry.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/36 "2008-03-26T18:25:43Z")
Sigh. I just broke down my tank in anticipation of a move/cleanup, and gave my fish away.
Oh well. Get back to you all in a few months!
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/37 "2008-03-26T19:00:57Z")
[QUOTE=MacTech]
I’m having a small issue with BBA right now, as I’m trying to get my CO2 levels optimal, so I’ve been pruning out infested leaves as I find them, the shrimp do pick at the algae, but they’re not making a substantial dent in it, …
[/QUOTE]
I’ve heard folk recommend flag fish, but I don’t think anything really does the job on “pirate” algae.
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### Author:  [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/38 "2008-03-26T20:38:46Z")
I hate my aquarium. Hate. It’s 10 gallons and home to two old fart goldfish that plan on living forever. We moved the l’il fuckers from Washington state to Wyoming, _twice_ and once more to the Desert Southwest – in a plastic kitty litter container in the back of the car.
They’re at _least_ twelve years old and retired now. They golf, play canasta, crap in their tank day in and day out, mock me with their freakish longevity and then expect me to feed and clean up after them.
I really love my fishies.
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### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/39 "2008-03-27T00:10:47Z")
[QUOTE=Dinsdale]
I’ve heard folk recommend flag fish, but I don’t think anything really does the job on “pirate” algae.
[/QUOTE]
I’ve heard about flag fish too. Those and SAEs are supposed to work on it. Honestly, I’m not sure about algae-eating critters in general. It seems like you really have to control your algae problem yourself, then having a small platoon of algae eaters just makes you feel better.
Has anyone here ever heard of, or dealt with [Arizona Aquatic Gardens?](http://www.azgardens.com/index.php) I ran across them recently and they look like a good source for some things you might not be able to get locally.
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### Author:  [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2008, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-aquarium-thread/442600/40 "2008-03-27T13:15:17Z")
I’m a newbie at this too. The Other Half set me up a 10 gallon and I have one Betta (Maurice), four Tiger Barbs (the Dadas) and two snails (Spider and Creep). I really enjoy them but wish I understood the ecosystem better and was able to have real plants.
Unfortunately, I have a hard time keeping plastic ones alive. ☹
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