Tank Life
The ol’ fish tank is still doing great. The latest two species — Clown Loach, and Black Skirt Tetra — are both doing awesome. The tetra are a very nice community fish, almost large enough to be mistaken for an Angel Fish, for people who might not be all that familiar with different species. The benefit of course to the Black Skirt over the Angel is the fact that they are completely non-aggressive, and they don’t disturb (eat) the plant life.
The Clown is also doing great. He has his own little hide-away bedroom set up, and gets along really well, especially with the catfish. I really should have more than one Clown in the tank, since they love being in groups, but I know how big he is going to get (9-11 inches) and I didn’t want to overcrowd the tank. His coloring, as you can see above, is a really noticable light-orange and black stripe combination. That photo is from last year, but they grow so slowly that he looks pretty much the same still. He is finally getting to the size where he likes to pick on the snails in the tank, which is why I had bought him in the first place.
Things I’ve learned in the past couple years:
- Bleeding-Heart Tetra’s are mean little suckers, don’t mix them in a community tank unless you wan’t all your other fish nipped.
- Be prepared to use multiple types of food if you have multiple types of fish: floating, sinking, pellets, flakes, etc.
- Powder Blue Dwarf Gourami are a mean fish as well, and they love eating aquarium plants, so be warned. First night they (2 of them) were in my tank, they killed one of my catfish. So they were taken back to the store.
- If you have problem with Algae, don’t leave you tank light on so long. 7-8 hours a day, max. Do a 10% water change once a month, and make sure to vacuum the gravel.
- My night time feeders — Catfish, etc — really love the LED “Moonlight” I installed. Fish enjoy the day & night cycle, think of it as the sun and the moon, rarely is it ever pitch-black out in nature, so why would you do that to your fish in the tank?
- Trial and Error: I’ve had 3 species of fish that just didn’t work out, had to take them back. Even though they were listed as peaceful community fish, they didn’t fit my needs. If they are going to harass and scare the fish I’ve already had for years, that is just unfair to the long-time tank dwellers. You may have to mix and match over quite a long period to find just the right balance for your tank.
