Hello from Palm Coast

[xmt]

I just recently got back into the hobby of spending all my money at the local aquarium store, and I'm really excited about it . I got myself a little 25g to ease back into owning a tank again. It amazes me how much I've forgotten about fish-keeping.

Ok, so my 25g is a moderately planted, dirted tank with a layer of gravel above the soil. For lack of money, and time to build a diy sump, I'm rocking a Fluval C3 hob filter with peat, a fluval ammonia remover sachet, and some ceramic c-nodes. My water quality isn't the greatest, but it is slowly getting better, and for the most part my fish have acclimated very well. I just ordered a new light today which will arrive sometime next week.

The tank is stocked with 1 hand fed African Dwarf Frog, 5 Harlequin Rasboras (used to be 7, but new tank syndrome took 2 of them in the beginning); 4 otocinclus; 1 dwarf rainbow gourami; and 1 large black mystery snail. Apparently there were a lot of snail eggs on the plants I bought, because in the last month, the population has grown to well over 130 dime sized apple, ramshorn, and nerites (I removed about 50 of them to a temporary container today). Today, I went by the nearest aquarium store (in Daytona 40 minutes away), and got 2 Peppered Cory cats; 4 yoyo loaches (to work on my exploding snail population); a Chocolate BN Pleco; and very foolishly, 2 German Blue Ram cichlids, because I listened to bad advice from the shop owner, and was told they would "get along great" with my dwarf gourami.

Normally, I do my research ahead of time, but I purchased the rams on a whim today, and I've been kicking myself since I put them in the tank. Immediately after introducing the rams into the tank, my gourami (normally very chill, and curious about everything) started raging and chasing the rams around the tank. I've got several rocks placed in the tank, forming a total of 3 caves to hide in, and with the plants I have in there, I figured that would be enough shelter that everyone would get along, but apparently I was mistaken. When I got them, they had amazing coloration, but they're completely pale from the stress of nonstop DG aggro. Unfortunately I don't have a quarantine tank set up yet. I hope they survive until morning so I can return them, and inform the owner that DG's don't get along with rams at all.

Photos to come soon.

-xmt

[Borikuan]

Welcome back. How long has this tank been up and running? Resistance the urge to get any more fish until you have cycled the tank properly and try do some research before stocking with non community fish. Cichlids should be on a tank of their own. Some sellers are in it for the money, take all advice with a grain of salt.

[xmt]

Thanks. It's been up and running for about 45 days now. I was told that the German Blue Rams were ok to put in community tanks, and that they were generally peaceful. I had a 55g cichlid tank nearly a decade ago, but I don't remember ever having a GBR, so I wasn't sure about them, and had a gullible moment there in the lfs. I'll remember to do more research prior to buying next time.

On a side note, my Gourami seems to have calmed down considerably in the last 8 hours, and my rams are coloring up again. I hope it lasts.

[AquaCentral]

it's always good to see a newbie from Florida pop up. I would definitely hold of on any and all stocking any further (if anything, try to slim the population just a bit, it seems like a lot of fish for 25g) an "understocked" tank is a happy tank
Another thing you'll notice is for the most part the Florida chapter of the planted tank is a little slow, but we do have a Facebook group that is a little more current
https://www.facebook.com/groups/336542656427597/

definitely get some pictures up, we love seeing new tanks!

[esab]

Originally Posted by xmt

Thanks. It's been up and running for about 45 days now. I was told that the German Blue Rams were ok to put in community tanks, and that they were generally peaceful. I had a 55g cichlid tank nearly a decade ago, but I don't remember ever having a GBR, so I wasn't sure about them, and had a gullible moment there in the lfs. I'll remember to do more research prior to buying next time.

On a side note, my Gourami seems to have calmed down considerably in the last 8 hours, and my rams are coloring up again. I hope it lasts.

I should be cycling my tank soon, I'd be interested in taking those Blue Rams off your hands if you are thinking about keeping the Gourami. If not what's the name of the LFS that has them? I was going to order mine online, but Daytona isn't that far (i'm in Orlando).

Thanks,

Erik

[xmt]

Thanks for the welcome . It definitely doesn't look understocked, but then again it doesn't appear to be overstocked either. Everyone seems to have found their place in the tank, and look like they're doing well. My adf also looks happy with his new tank mates. That said, I plan on buying a 20L soon, and I'll probably be moving a few of the inhabitants of this tank over to that one.

[xmt]

Originally Posted by esab

I should be cycling my tank soon, I'd be interested in taking those Blue Rams off your hands if you are thinking about keeping the Gourami. If not what's the name of the LFS that has them? I was going to order mine online, but Daytona isn't that far (i'm in Orlando).

Thanks,

Erik

I bought them at Poseidon Aquarium on Nova Rd. in Daytona, but I'd love to re-home these guys. Shoot me a PM.

Rob

[xmt]

To update the status of my gbr/gourami aggro, it's now under control. I rearranged a few rocks/caves/plants in my tank, and my gourami is back to his normal chilled out self again. My gbr's have colored up nicely, and they like to explore. I think they're going to be keepers after all.

[Idrankwhat]

Originally Posted by xmt

Thanks for the welcome . It definitely doesn't look understocked, but then again it doesn't appear to be overstocked either. Everyone seems to have found their place in the tank, and look like they're doing well. My adf also looks happy with his new tank mates. That said, I plan on buying a 20L soon, and I'll probably be moving a few of the inhabitants of this tank over to that one.

Maximum stocking levels should be reached over time. A new system, no matter what is done cannot immediately handle maximum stocking levels.

Also there are many cichlids (Rams, angels) that make good community residents but unlike most cichlids (tough!) Rams should only be added to established and stable systems.

[xmt]

Originally Posted by Idrankwhat

Maximum stocking levels should be reached over time. A new system, no matter what is done cannot immediately handle maximum stocking levels.

Also there are many cichlids (Rams, angels) that make good community residents but unlike most cichlids (tough!) Rams should only be added to established and stable systems.

I found out quickly that my tank wasn't yet stable, however it is doing very well now. I lost one of my Rams, and one of my rasboras, but now everything is flourishing. It surprises me how quickly I forgot the do's and don'ts from the last time I kept fish. I'm also in the process of re-homing the loaches to a friend's 125 gallon.

Anyway, here are some pictures, taken with an Olympus OM-D, with a 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3, and an old vintage OM 50mm f/1.4 from the 70's.

[Idrankwhat]

sweet looking nice. That's an excellent camera.

[xmt]

Originally Posted by Idrankwhat

sweet looking nice. That's an excellent camera.

Thank you much, and I agree. I got it about a week ago, and I'm still learning about it.

[hambone870]

love those yoyo's, for being out of the hobby for a decade, thats quite a nice scape

[xmt]

Originally Posted by hambone870

love those yoyo's, for being out of the hobby for a decade, thats quite a nice scape

Thanks!

[Idrankwhat]

Keep an eye on your African frog. I hear a lot of horror stories about those guys taking fish and they do get quite large.