Tank setup

[umop3pisdn]

We are new to the hobby and of course bought substrate and tank ornaments without any thought of what the fish would be most comfortable with. We had a bad outbreak of ick and removed everything from the tank except the fish. We lost several fish in the ick outbreak, but we are almost in the clear. The remaining fish seem healthy and clear of the ick with a few exceptions. We are going to continue treatment for a few more days just to be sure.
I have a question or several questions actually.

1. We have a Green Severum and his body looks clear of the ick, but both his eyes look like they have scarring that is whitish. Any idea what it might be and if it will heal?

Once we have the ick cleared up we want to set the environment up to better suit the needs of the fish we have and not just what looks pretty or cute to us. So please school us on the proper substrate, rocks, etc. so we can create the proper environment for our finned freshwater friends.

Here is what we have. 46g bow front of unknown manufacturer, Emperor 400 hob filter, tank heater, air pump, air stones. For fish we have 1 Green Severum, 1 Electric Blue Hap, 1 Black Ruby Barb, 1 long fin Rosy Barb, 1 common Pleco, 1 Silver Dollar.


Thanks!

[PlanB]

Re: Tank setup

I believe the silver dollar and barbs are schooling fish so you may need to put in a few more of their kind to reduce their stress level. I heard that in addition to being pretty good algae eaters, barbs can can be a little mean to other fish as well. I'm one of the few people here that's never kept cichlids so I'm going to have to tag that topic off to another member.

After all of the schooling fish are in, it might get a little too cramped for a 46 gallon to heavily decorate it, though.

[CichlidFan]

Re: Tank setup

As far as the sevrum goes, I think he might be lucky enough to get past the scaring eventually, sevrums are pretty hardy fish and are prone to making full recoveries if the conditions improve in their favor. I would do some research into the nature and habits of your selection of fish and see if you wouldn't like to make some changes or add on to what you have now.

As mentioned a couple of your fish are indeed schooling fish, but having sufficent numbers to reduce stress is often expensive, and not always a sure fire remedy for their overall health. My idea of a school of fish is like a colony of tropheus, a good colony or school would entail at least 15 to 20.  It might be impractical to add a dozen or more silver dollars (which can get pretty good sized too)

My point, consider revamping your fish selection and mix and match according to what is acceptable in the wild.

I am by no means an expert, this is only my feelings on the matter since you asked.

Good Luck and Welcome to the HFB.

CF

[mrairportjunke]

Re: Tank setup

how big is the severum.  if hes older,  sometimes they have cateracts.  i have 2 full grown green severum, and one has some whiteish in his eyes.  everyone seeems to think its cateracts.  i dont konw.  hes had if for awhile and it dont affect him and it ddoesnt get worse.  as far as the ich,  ich wasnt causeed by the substrate, deco and such.  buying a fish and not QT'n it caused that.  ich is a parasite that is able to attach the body better if the fish is stressed but i dont see a problem with your fish type amount or setup.  i konw my comb wasnt perfect in a 55 i had with 2 severums, 2 balas, and a bunch africans, but noone minded in the tank and never had problesm. course they have all moved but i dont see a problem with what you have,  gravel is gravel, and deco is deco.  once you kick the ich,  shouldnt have a problem with it unless you introduce new fish and NO QT.  thats my opinion so no gettin mad at me guys.  lol

[fishlady]

Re: Tank setup

i had a green terror that his eyes were doing that....we put him in a tank and did a treatment round of melafix for him....he cleared up in a couple of days....

[mrairportjunke]

Re: Tank setup

i tried that to mine.  nothing.  but mine is old. hes like 7 or 8

[rrocket2002]

Re: Tank setup

What everyone else said.   :)

Welcome to the Box!

A 46g tank is a decent size tank for someone starting off in the hobby.  With that said, I would suggest that you determine what fish you like most and then find out if they are compatible together in a 46g and are they within your budget.  When my wife and I started, we had a mix of fish...anything we saw and liked ended up in the tank if the store would sell it to us.  Some stores will ask what you already have and might suggest not buying the fish you want.

Right now that is where you are at.  You have some SA/CA and Africans.  Maybe you might want to start by asking for suggestions on here.

See you around.

RT

[imagirlgeek]

Re: Tank setup

Welcome!!

You are going to have so much fun!  :)

I started with a 55G and outgrew it in about 6 months...now my husband and I are starting to put furniture in storage to accommodate more and more tanks.  

I was in the same boat as RT (when did you become 'RT', Raul?)  I knew I wanted cichlids, but it took a while to really focus in on exactly which cichlids I wanted.  And I made the mistake of getting fish that just didn't play well together.  :)  Once you get it down though, it is so much fun!

Glad to have you here, there are so many knowledgeable people on the Box, and as far as I can tell, everyone loves a good fish challenge.  :)  Questions are most welcome!

[aquashelle]

Re: Tank setup

Welcome to the box!

I'm sure you've already noticed but Severums are great fish! I love their personalities, and they really get to know their owner. As long as your cichlids are getting along you've done a great job so far but you may want to get some more barbs, since they are schooling fish, they would love some buddies to pow around with. Also if you consider getting more severums(you'd need a bigger tank) it's best to buy over 2 because if you only have 2 they will bicker alot (trust me I know) You might want to try to get some other cichlids instead of schooling fish though, such as maybe a firemouth (a joy to watch) but your tank would become quickly crowded. It just depends on which fish you want or which you get rid of.

Also fish don't mind decor, :wink: My first cichlid was kept in a 5gal with a pink castle (I was little lol) but now he's in a much larger tank and soon to be in a 50 =] anyways best of luck to you and your fish!

[umop3pisdn]

Re: Tank setup

Thanks for all the input and we love the fish we have so far and have no behavioral issues in our tank. They all get along great, but the hap can be a little aggressive toward the smaller fish and everyone seems to nip on the silver dollars fins, other than that they don't seem to hurt it.

We did have 2 silver dollars and 3 tiger barbs, a bala shark but we lost all but 1 silver dollar to ick.

The green severum is full grown I would guess at about 8" or so and yes has tons of personality. The hap is my favorite, because his mouth is slightly deformed and he looks like a gangster holding a cigar in one side of his mouth and talking out of the other. I'll try and get a pic.

I don't think we had the correct substrate for the chiclids, we had large pebble that they could even have moved had they tried, and we didn't really have sufficient hiding places for the fish. We are thinking of getting some holey rock and building some of our own structures out of flat rock.

[fishlady]

Re: Tank setup

welcome to the box and i think you've just about solved your own problem there with the substrate......having hiding places for the little guys is excellent..they feel secure and are alot happier when they feel secure....

[Philbert]

Re: Tank setup

Read the various posts on the site about Ick...it is treatable and once you kick it, it's no longer a problem.
Tempreture is a factor in treaing Ick, warmer kicks the Ick cycle into high gear and exposes the parasite to the meds; I got a few new fish and had Ick twice, no longer have the problem in any of my 7 tanks (my fish move around from one to the other as they grow, or get bred).
A little reading can last a long time; the site is full of folks with MTS  (Multi Tank Syndrome) so you can find pretty much anything you need to know here. :)

[Brownsnoutuk]

Re: Tank setup

Salt in all your tanks = No Ick.

[umop3pisdn]

Re: Tank setup

Yeah, we've had ick before a couple of times and have always kicked it without losing any fish, but this time it was really bad for some reason so I removed everything bit of substrate and every ornament from the tank. to eliminate any places for the ick to hide in its trophozoite stage. Made for cleaning the tank easier. We tried something different that we have in the past this time and I think that's what lead to the loss of fish. We treated the tank with about a half dose of salt and full dose of malachite green. The silver dollar is a scaleless fish and doesn't really like the salt in the tank.

Where is the best place to get Holey rock or flat rock for the best prices? also what glue can be used to glue the rocks together?

[Zulaab]

Re: Tank setup

Mike's Tropical Fish and Pets has some pieces of Holey Rock you can go look at.
Glue.. one way to go only...  Silicone glue.. You can pick up a small tube at Mike's too or somewhere else.
Make sure that its made for aquariums, because a lot of the sealers out there will have additives in the glue that prevents molding...  this additive is not good for the fishies...  GE makes big tube silicone glue that you can get at walmart..  They have a GE Silicone I and II... make sure that you pick GE Silicone I (one).
You can glue rocks together, but make sure that you only use a small amount because once you have to break down the tank.. you dont want have to bring out 2 tons of rock all at once :)