My new fish tank

Question
QUESTION: Hi there

I got three elephant nose fish yesterday (each 8-10cm)in my 70liter fish tank, I got some live and some plastic plants. Gravel is black river stones. I have a molly and a swordtail from before. Along with elephant nose fish I got two catfishes (sucker) as well. The tank temperature is between 26-28.
Do I have to add anything to my tank? What do I need to make sure they have happy life in there?
What kind of water conditioner can I use?
Please give me some guides? What should I feed them with?

I leave in Dubai and my only hobby is my fish tank

If I want to upgrade my fish tank what step should I take? and what size you recommend?

Thanks�K

Tammy

ANSWER: Hi Tammy;

All the way from Dubai, wow! Welcome to AllExperts. Hopefully you can get the supplies you need there. It can be a challenge in some countries from what I hear.

Elephant nose are so cute and so much fun to keep. Your tank is definitely too small for even one elephant nose to grow to adult size in though. I�m glad you are prepared to upgrade. Your three elephants will need at least a 200-liter very soon. Keep the lid COMPLETELY covered. Don't let even a tiny slot be open anywhere. They are well known jumpers and could get out only to die on the floor. They also usually only eat live food and eat mostly at night because they are nocturnal. Your water temperature is fine. Keep the water very clean with a 25% change and a gravel vacuum every week. Provide plenty of hiding places such as smooth rock caves and live plants. Any water conditioner that helps prevent stress, removes chlorine and chloramines and binds dissolved metals would be good to use. I don�t know what types of water treatments they use in Dubai so it�s better to just be safe and use a good brand name one such as Stress Coat�, NovAqua�, Prime�, etc.

Here are some web pages about elephants to help you know more;

http://www.wetpetz.com/elephantnose.html
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/elephnos.htm
http://fins.actwin.com/species/index.php?t=9&i=498
http://fish.mongabay.com/mormyridae.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephantnose_fish

Here's a fun one about them;

http://www.scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/biology/electric_fish/electric_fish.html

Have fun with your new friends and let me know how it's going!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hey Chris

Thanks very much for your nice reply, it really helped me out. I am going to buy 240liter fish tank in few days
well what type of fish I can add to new fish tank? to have a nice and peaceful tank!!
and how many days i have to run the new fish tank before i add the new fish and in what level i have to start adding fish?

One more quaestion, I have added a blue light to my fishtank as i read elephent nose fish like the blue light but my sowredtail and molly start fighting and bitting each other????????? and my molly got some cut in her fins which now is fine...

Thanks for your help, and I am happy i can approach you as in Dubai not many people or places know how to deal with fish.....

Thanksssssssssssssssssss
ANSWER: Hi Tammy;

I'm very glad to help! I'm also glad to know you will get another bigger tank! There are some important things to know about new tanks. The elephants can't tolerate the break-in period very well. If you can keep the older tank up and running while the new one gets established that's your best choice. Put some other types of hardier fish in there to get it ready, but take it very slow. Here is a link to my own page about new tanks to help you know more about it;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

Look at the site links I gave you about elephants to see what fish will live most peaceably with them. I've kept barbs, angels, tetras of all types, gouramis, cory cats, plecostomus, etc.

The swords and molly are probably just trying to breed or becoming territorial. If the molly doesn't have another fish of the opposite sex with it, they will interact with other livebearers like swords. Also, if you don't have enough females for the males to breed with, the females can get injured, very stressed and sometimes die. The best number of females is two per male. Three is better. Gives them a chance to rest.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Chris

Well, I have got my new fish tank month ago and with your very helpful structure of setting up new fish tank I did not lose any fish by now.
in my new fish tank which is 240liter I got 8 tiger fish, 2 Gurammies, 3 mollies, 2 puffers and 2 glass catfish.
I have fertilizer in bottom of my tank and I planted my tank. well i have following questions and i do appreciate if you can help me:

1- my glass cat fish are most of the time hiding (i added them four days ago), i ve never seen them eating or swimming; just hiding from one side to the other side. Is it normal????

2- when can I add my elephant nose fish to my new tank? Still they are doing well in the small one, but when is the right time to move them and how I should do it?

3- Can I add 2 black ghost fish as well? Is there any room for any more fish....?

You cant believe but I cant wait to get home every day and watch my fish tank....

Thanks and thanks

Tammy

ANSWER: Hi Tammy;

It's good to hear from you again! I'm so glad things are working out so well.

1- It is quite normal for glass cats to hide all the time but you should have 6 or more for them to feel more confident. The more plants you have in there the more they will feel safe too. Here are some site links to more info on them;

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/621.htm

http://www.aquaworld.netfirms.com/Siluroidei/Kryptopterus_bicirrhis.htm

http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/k_bicirrhis.htm

2- Once the new tank is fully through the break-in you can add the elephants. You can tell this by measuring the levels of Ammonia (NH3) and Nitrite (NO2). If the ammonia and nitrite are "zero" after the tank has been set up with fish in it for at least 4 weeks, it means it is finished and ready for more fish. Just move the elephants to the new tank as if you were bringing them home from the fish store. Put them in a plastic bag with water from their old tank and float it in the new tank for a few minutes.

3- It is best not to keep different types of "electric" fish together. Elephant nose and ghosts both have electric impulses and they are very territorial. Sometimes it works out in bigger tanks like yours, sometimes not. Stock your new tank very slowly. Once you add the elephants, wait for at least a week before adding more. It gives the beneficial bacteria time to compensate for the extra waste.

I think your tank is really fully stocked with all these guys, including the elephants. Especially once you add extra glass cats.

I really must warn you about the puffers. Once they get a little bigger they can be pretty mean and are well-known to be fin-nippers. They have very sharp teeth that must be worn down by eating shellfish from time to time as well. Here is a good web page about puffers to help you find out which ones they are for sure and what to do for them;

http://puffernet.tripod.com/main.html

I hope all goes well!!!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Chris,

thanks for last time advise, I have separated my puffer and add one more glass cat fish plus one black up-side-down cat fish and a pictus catfish now in my tank which is 7 weeks old I have:

2 guramies (one blue and one gold)
4 swordtails (1 male, 3 females)
8 tiger fish
3 glass catfish
1 upside down catfish
1 pictus catfish

however yesterday i went to the fish shop and I got one hi-fin tiger loach (10cm), one eel (30cm) and one baby dragon, consider still i didn’t add my elephant nose fish. as i don’t trust my new fish tank yet....

i am going crazy as my tiger fish are like Hoover, and eat like crazy and very quickly... i love them all but my tank look stuck even without my elephant nose.... :-(

first of all i couldn’t get much information on my hi-fin in and eel on the internet, i don’t know much about eel and dragon fish as well, what do you suggest? i don’t mind to take any of them back to the shop or do some arrangement

However they look unusual and lovely... but i want them to have happy and healthy environment too, please help me i think i have to stop going to any pet shop for now?!!!!

i really need advise as i wont be happy to see them sick or injured....

very thank you for your help, you are the my best resource... cheers; Tammy

ANSWER: Hi Tammy;

It's great to hear from you again! I'm so glad all your fish have survived.

There are several kinds of eels and a couple of different kinds of "dragon fish". Some get pretty big too. The tiger loach may be difficult to pin down but I think I know what it is and it gets huge. Here are some possibilities for you to look through for all these so you know what you are getting into;

Tiger Loach (they get about a meter long);

http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=12304

http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Sharks,%20Banded%20Chinese.htm

Dragon Fish (two possibilities, both get very large);

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arowana

http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,%20Dragon%20Goby.htm

Different types of eels;

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/458.htm

http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,%20Spiny%20Eel.htm

http://fish.mongabay.com/mastacembelidae.htm

Let me know what you come up with and I can help you decide which ones to keep...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Chris. hope you are fine, it s Tammy again from Dubai.

I was doing good with my fish tank but my HI-FIN got fin rote, I used myxazin and it got better and its fin started healing then I bought two knife black gouts fish, I changed 10% of my fish tank water and for two days I added myxazin for introducing new fish.... but the fin rote came back, only my hi-fin is suffering. I started medication again (myxazin) and carried for 5 days but no improvement... what should I do :-(

I don’t want to loose my fish

cheers;


Answer
Hi "Tammy from Dubai"!

I'm so glad everything else has gone pretty well so far. Fin rot is a water quality related issue. I don't see anything about water changes other than the 10% so if you haven't been doing them weekly, change 25% of the water right away. Do a 25% water change every day for the next 3 days too. This will refresh the system and enable the hi fin to heal. He needs his immune system boosted and fresh new water will help do that. Every tank needs a 25% water change at least once a week.

It's also possible that one or more of the other fish are nipping at him. You might want to watch them from a distance at night with a dim light near the tank and see what's going on in there. Let me know what you find out...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins