gregt@tektronix.UUCP (Greg Thomas) (08/23/84)
[looks safe- no mbunas in this tank]
Hey- anybody out there into freshwater tropical fish? Anybody
want to share info? Is there a special newsgroup or something
that I should know about? What's the difference between a
Geophagus Jurapari and a Geophagus Surnamensis, anyway?
I just (re)set-up my 77-gallon show tank. Looks great, but the
second batch of fish that I got turned out to be infected with
a disease ("ick," no doubt). I lost two fish before I got the
epidemic under control (I hope) with a 7-day treatment of MarOxy (TM).
My question- how long should I wait before I introduce another
batch of fish? My 5-foot long tank looks pretty silly with
six three-inch fish in it...
I'm keeping South American cichlids, mostly. Tried Africans (mbunas)
a few years ago but all that death and destruction began to wear me out.
Looking forward to seeing your postings- please respond
to my "quarantine" question by e-mail.
Regards,
Greg Thomas Tektronix, Inc. Beaverton, Oregon
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CSnet: gregt@tek
ARPAnet: gregt.tek@csnet-relaygm@trsvax.UUCP (08/31/84)
#R:tektronix:-342700:trsvax:58100004:000:2882
trsvax!gm Aug 31 13:11:00 1984
I, for one, have a big interest in tropical fish. My bedroom looks
like the city zoo's aquarium. I have:
- a 25 gallon (used to keep feeder goldfish in)
- a 30 gallon. This is where I keep my Africans. This collection
also includes one of the largest Veniscus (sp?) I have seen
outside of the zoo.
- a 55 gallon. I have a few angels, a 6-inch tiretrack eel, and
a few other small fish whose proper 20 character name escapes
me at the moment.
- another 55 gallon. This is my "mean" tank. I have a rather large
Oscar (used to keep the goldfish in too :-), an even larger
Black Shark, a Jack Dempsey, and a Shovelnose Catfish.
- and a 85 gallon hex tank. This is my favorite tank.
3 ft. deep x 3 ft. wide. Here I have a mated pair of Blue
Sevrums who seem to spawn every two weeks, 2 Tin Foil Barbs,
2 Red Hooks (aka Silver Dollars), a large Plex. (10 inches),
and my prize posession, a 18 inch fresh water Moray eel. The
Moray, or "Monty" as I call him, is interesting. He comes from
the high rivers region of China. There are a few species of
Morays who live in the lower rivers and then go to the ocean
to spawn. This one comes from so far upstream that they never
make it to the ocean, so he is a "true" fresh-water eel. He eats
goldfish too (and anything else he can get in his mouth). No,
I have never been bitten (yet), mainly because I can't even reach
to the bottom of the tank without going swimming.
Anyway, as you can see, I really like fish. I tried salt water for a while,
but the high cost of the fish, plus the constant watching of the
PH, ammonia, salt levels, etc. got to be a real pain. I want to get a
larger tank to move Oscar, et al. to because they are getting somewhat
cramped in the 55 gallon. Oceanics recently started making a 200 gallon
tank, which is what I am shooting for. But the size of it is the real
problem. It is 8 ft. x 2 ft. x 2 ft. No room to put it! The price is
somewhat prohibitive also. $520 for the tank, with about $850 total after
the stand, gravel, undergravel filter, etc. are taken into account.
About the "Ick". I use this stuff called "Copper-Safe"(TM). It doesn't
turn the water funny shades of blue or green and works very well.
I keep it in all of my tanks constantly. Once you make the initial
doseage, you need only to add a tablespoon full once every week or
so to keep it working. Whenever I have to sent up a tank, I use this
nifty stuff called "Start-Right"(TM). It properly "ages" the water
in just a day or two. Fill up the tank, add the Start-Right, and
dump the fish in the next day. None of this adding 10 goldfish
to get the biological filter set up, and then adding the real fish
one or two weeks later.
I hope this answers your questions.
George Moore Tandy System Software
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