Got fish?

[stoneage]

A pleco of that size should have at least a 55 gallon tank. You have a lot of botton feeders Pleco, Loach, Rainbow shark. That creates competition. Plecos sometimes kill other fish when the lights go out. That's when their most active. You really need to check the PH. ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites to make sure the water is okay. Don't overfeed. Check water tempature. Rainbow sharks sometime can be agressive especially with larger fish. Good Luck, I hope you figure it out. ;D

[bokisaurus]

Dec 7, 2008 8:03:18 GMT Meso-Cenozoic said:

Boki, he is beautiful! You must be taking really good care of him.

;D He is very nice and big! I originally got him as a baby almost 8 years ago. He is my longest pet fish ever ;D It always amaze me that his "salt" water is completely synthetic ( in a powdered form you have to dilute in fresh water). My dilemma now is that he is getting very big and so are the corals. I really can't get a bigger tank; my apartment is in the top floor of the building and the floor won't support a bigger tank! ;D
And now, moving for a fish, and I love him dearly, is not an option at this time ;D

[crazycrowman]

LOVELY fish Boki! Do you know what species your turtle is ?

I have fish....but unfortunately they are either a scavenging crew or food - or both should the animals they live with get hungry - Many of my ponds and tanks have guppies/mosquito fish in them so that they clean up after the turtles/crocodilians. A few of the turtle tanks have a comet or 2 to do the same

We also have 2 koi and some comets/shiners (turtle chow that escaped being eaten and grew up) in the 1,000 gallon pond in the yard with the Red Eared Sliders.

I like fish, and had all different sorts growing up. As a teen I used to have a large "local" tank with whatever I could catch in my net from the stream - so there were some blue spotted sunfish, various other small fish species like madtoms, sticklebacks and darters. I also had a smallish American eel for a while too, but he soon outgrew captivity and went back to the stream. It was alot of fun, but tending to water quality and such got time consuming, and I focused more of keeping amphibians, chelonians and other aquatic reptiles and never got back into fish.

So, now I pretty much do just do herps and birds. We were actually just given a very sick female iguana (Dubbed "Lupe") with the worst case of blister disease I have ever seen and horrible pneumonia - I don't know yet if she will pull through or not, things do not look well :/

[bokisaurus]

Dec 7, 2008 18:29:44 GMT Tyrannax said:

I have an eel topic up, but no one seems to like eels. ;D

Oh well.

I like eels ;D And I love that you have a snowflake moray ell! They are the "cutest" IMO ;D They are one of the most forgiving salthingyer fish, however do make sure that all of your hiding place (rocks in particular) are all secure. They have a bad habit of digging! Years ago, I had a snowflake and a lionfish. After 2 years, I lost the eel when his favorite rock collapsed on him after a mild earthquake we had That was the last time I got an ell.
CCM, I think my turtle is a map turtle species. I'm not so sure. I had him for seven years now, he is slow growing which I am thankful for ;D I got him when he was just about 2" long ;D he is now about 4". He is currently in his "hibernation" stage, he is not eating as much anymore and sleeps most of the time. He still comes out and says hi when I come home before going back to his corner. The first time I thought he was sick, but when it gets warmer he is back to his old tricks of begging for food! ;D

[crazycrowman]

Dec 10, 2008 6:21:31 GMT bokisaurus said:

CCM, I think my turtle is a map turtle species. I'm not so sure. I had him for seven years now, he is slow growing which I am thankful for ;D I got him when he was just about 2" long ;D he is now about 4". He is currently in his "hibernation" stage, he is not eating as much anymore and sleeps most of the time. He still comes out and says hi when I come home before going back to his corner. The first time I thought he was sick, but when it gets warmer he is back to his old tricks of begging for food! ;D

Neat! Male map turtles are know for staying smaller. If you post pictures I am sure I can ID it for you.


I keep 2 species, the Mississippi and the Black knob Sawbacks (that is one of my males, Bigbee, named after one of the river systems they are native to, above). Male Black Knobs often do not exceed 3.5" as adults. The females usually get around 4.5" to 6". They are less commonly kept species, and like the pearl river map turtles have more specific water quality requirements then some of the other map species. The Mississippi and Ouachita Map turtles are pretty common in the trade though, and males get to about 5" to 6.5" full grown in those. Females can get up to 11" + though

I hear you about hibernation. The Diamondback Terrapins here are semi-hibernating like it sounds like your map is. They sleep alot, eat little, and bask even less. All of our outdoor pond turtles and box turtles are "off for the season" (the sliders in the pond sink to the bottom and winter there, and the box turtles bury under the earth) and some of the indoor turtles like our Common Snapper, Buddha is too. I have to cool him though down to about 34 -40 to keep him healthy during hibernation.

[Tyrannax]

Dec 10, 2008 6:21:31 GMT bokisaurus said:

Dec 7, 2008 18:29:44 GMT Tyrannax said:

I have an eel topic up, but no one seems to like eels. ;D

Oh well.

I like eels ;D And I love that you have a snowflake moray ell! They are the "cutest" IMO ;D They are one of the most forgiving salthingyer fish, however do make sure that all of your hiding place (rocks in particular) are all secure. They have a bad habit of digging! Years ago, I had a snowflake and a lionfish. After 2 years, I lost the eel when his favorite rock collapsed on him after a mild earthquake we had That was the last time I got an ell.
CCM, I think my turtle is a map turtle species. I'm not so sure. I had him for seven years now, he is slow growing which I am thankful for ;D I got him when he was just about 2" long ;D he is now about 4". He is currently in his "hibernation" stage, he is not eating as much anymore and sleeps most of the time. He still comes out and says hi when I come home before going back to his corner. The first time I thought he was sick, but when it gets warmer he is back to his old tricks of begging for food! ;D

I've tried. ;D They are so powerful, they just knock it over. Don't worry though, they are big guys, and their hides are light enough to not crush them even the slightest. ;D

[[][][]cordylus[][][]]

Well, all of my fish love the brine shrimp stuff! Although the store was out of avacado.

[bokisaurus]

Dec 10, 2008 18:10:50 GMT crazycrowman said:

Dec 10, 2008 6:21:31 GMT bokisaurus said:

CCM, I think my turtle is a map turtle species. I'm not so sure. I had him for seven years now, he is slow growing which I am thankful for ;D I got him when he was just about 2" long ;D he is now about 4". He is currently in his "hibernation" stage, he is not eating as much anymore and sleeps most of the time. He still comes out and says hi when I come home before going back to his corner. The first time I thought he was sick, but when it gets warmer he is back to his old tricks of begging for food! ;D

Neat! Male map turtles are know for staying smaller. If you post pictures I am sure I can ID it for you.


I keep 2 species, the Mississippi and the Black knob Sawbacks (that is one of my males, Bigbee, named after one of the river systems they are native to, above). Male Black Knobs often do not exceed 3.5" as adults. The females usually get around 4.5" to 6". They are less commonly kept species, and like the pearl river map turtles have more specific water quality requirements then some of the other map species. The Mississippi and Ouachita Map turtles are pretty common in the trade though, and males get to about 5" to 6.5" full grown in those. Females can get up to 11" + though

I hear you about hibernation. The Diamondback Terrapins here are semi-hibernating like it sounds like your map is. They sleep alot, eat little, and bask even less. All of our outdoor pond turtles and box turtles are "off for the season" (the sliders in the pond sink to the bottom and winter there, and the box turtles bury under the earth) and some of the indoor turtles like our Common Snapper, Buddha is too. I have to cool him though down to about 34 -40 to keep him healthy during hibernation.

;D Thats how my little guy looked like when I first got him! Now, his "ridge" are almost all gone neat little guy, he keeps me entertained ;D

[Tyrannax]

Dec 10, 2008 23:00:36 GMT [][][]cordylus[][][] said:

Well, all of my fish love the brine shrimp stuff! Although the store was out of avacado.

They did?? I am so glad CT! My fish love it too!

[crazycrowman]

Dec 11, 2008 2:36:11 GMT bokisaurus said:

;D Thats how my little guy looked like when I first got him! Now, his "ridge" are almost all gone neat little guy, he keeps me entertained ;D

You probably don't have a Black Knob or you would likely know it. They are a rare species, and even a hatchling will often cost well over 100.00 American. They are also notoriously fragile as captives. Adults like my male there can run 220.00 or more per turtle, and mature females quite a bit more. There are 15 (more depending on who you talk to regarding subspecies) map turtle species. Many of them are threatened or seriously at risk. Here is a decent page about them.
www.graptemys.com/


The "False map turtles" like the "True" False map, the Mississippi map and the Ouachita Map turtles *like my Mississippi maps pictured above (male) and below (female) here* have points as babies but they tend to get duller and smooth out as adults. I would bet you have one of those 2 species. They are commonly sold as pets, and many petshops that carry turtles carry these.



(males, like the one above are overall smaller animals and have smaller heads and long bulky tails like Bigbee, compared to the large heads and slim tails of females, if you were wondering how to sex these)

[wheezy]

cool another reefer. I had a queen angel that i had too sell in october. i also had a majestic angel, mated pair of flame angels, bi-color, coral beauty, clowns fish , tangs, really colorful wrasse's and my favorite was my baby regal angel named tut. Now all i have is a small 20 gal with a clown and royal gramma. By the way i hope he is in a good sized tank and watch him around your coral. Queen angels love to eat them. What other fish do you have? By the way a salthingyer angelfish can live up to 20 years in captivity if taken care of properly. And considering the coral he is probably eating he should live that long. How much did you pay for him eight years ago? One that size now probably goes for well over $200.00.

[wheezy]

Dec 8, 2008 2:54:31 GMT [][][]cordylus[][][] said:

^ yep, that all helps. I am going to get some unplateable plants for christmas, that will lower nitrate and ammonia and that kind of thing to lower levels.

I would not recommend putting the plants with the pleco. He will most likely eat them. Also the plants take specialized lighting, special gravel, fertilizer, and sometimes co2 to keep them alive. When they die off they will spike the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Causing further complication with the fish. Since your pleco is so large i would not recommend doing small peaceful fish like the guppies. Do larger fish like sharks, big mollies, large tetras, rams, good sized angelfish, loaches, or elephant nose. since you don't have the room for a bigger tank i would recommend tradding him in for a smaller one. Most local pets store usually take trade-ins. I have worked for 2 in the past five years and both take them in. Your fish probably died because sharks and loaches are very territorial and pick on other fish in small tanks.Also Live bearers such as mollys and guppies, and tetras are disease prone and catch ick very easily so make sure you find a good lfs and check for abnormalities before purchasing. Ask for some aquarium salt (not marine salt for marine fish they are different)at the fish store. Keeping it in the tank helps fight off most fish parasites like ick.

[bokisaurus]

Dec 18, 2008 5:49:57 GMT wheezy said:

cool another reefer. I had a queen angel that i had too sell in october. i also had a majestic angel, mated pair of flame angels, bi-color, coral beauty, clowns fish , tangs, really colorful wrasse's and my favorite was my baby regal angel named tut. Now all i have is a small 20 gal with a clown and royal gramma. By the way i hope he is in a good sized tank and watch him around your coral. Queen angels love to eat them. What other fish do you have? By the way a salthingyer angelfish can live up to 20 years in captivity if taken care of properly. And considering the coral he is probably eating he should live that long. How much did you pay for him eight years ago? One that size now probably goes for well over $200.00.

;D Yay, another reefer! Wow, your list of fish looks pretty impressive! So why did did you sell you fish? The fish you mentioned are all species I like and would someday want to keep. I love my queen anfelfish, he has been with me for almost 8 years now. i got him as a baby and had watched him grow... and grow... and grow! Yah, I had some soft corals with him for a while, once he got bigger he ate them! The coral was some type of leather coral, too bad since I had that coral for years and actually had clones of it. All my corals now are fine, mostly mushrooms and one type of leather coral that the fish finds unappetizing ;D
I am really torn about my fish right now, he is quickly outgrowing his tank, a 75 gallon. I know small for a Queen angel. Unfortunately I can't get a bigger tank since my apartment floor ( I'm in the top floor BTW) won't support all of the weight. And the thought of selling trading him or donating him to the aquarium is just depressing I hope that I can soon find a way to fix the problem. I really don't want to part with him. I am very much attach to him and he to me, he is like a dog and would "play" with my hand when I clean the tank ;D
No other fish with him, only some hermit crabs and a cleaner shrimp who loves to ride his back ;D I paid $30 for him back then ;D
I would love to see a picture of your tank. I actually submitted a photo of him online and is now voted # 34 our of 300+ photos,not bad, eh? ;D

[wheezy]

I had to sell my fish when my dad died in june. Since his death was unexpected (he was only 49) my mom was unable to keep up the payments on the house and i moved into my aunts were there was no room for a 150 gal. tank. Jobs are hard to come by and i am laid off right now which is why i am always on the website. If i can find any pictures i will post them if i can figure it out. my queen was smaller though about 5 in when i sold him. My majestic grew very slow in comparison and would be a more ideal for a 75 gal. I actually had all the angels living together in the 150 with only one dispute between the male flame and male coral beauty. For some odd reason the coral beauty was always the trouble maker when i mixed angels. Oh by the way the wrasses i had were a male lunare who was turqouise, pink face five stripe who was lime green with pink stripes, and an ornate who was an irredisent green and red checkerboard. I also had a 40 gal with a mated pair of maroon clowns, fridmani psuedochromis, and flame back angel. After my dad passed the filter over flowed catching the lightstick on fire and killed the fish. By the way i know how you feel the larger angels are very social and will even eat out of your hand. Not to mention about the bright colors. Ohhh ahh. Their prices however have skyrocket. A juv. Queen is about 70 dollars, Majestic 100, red sea regal 150, evan blue regal tangs are 50. for a 2 in fish. And this is mid range prices some species can even go for thousands of dollars.

[bokisaurus]

Dec 18, 2008 7:21:31 GMT wheezy said:

I had to sell my fish when my dad died in june. Since his death was unexpected (he was only 49) my mom was unable to keep up the payments on the house and i moved into my aunts were there was no room for a 150 gal. tank. Jobs are hard to come by and i am laid off right now which is why i am always on the website. If i can find any pictures i will post them if i can figure it out. my queen was smaller though about 5 in when i sold him. My majestic grew very slow in comparison and would be a more ideal for a 75 gal. I actually had all the angels living together in the 150 with only one dispute between the male flame and male coral beauty. For some odd reason the coral beauty was always the trouble maker when i mixed angels. Oh by the way the wrasses i had were a male lunare who was turqouise, pink face five stripe who was lime green with pink stripes, and an ornate who was an irredisent green and red checkerboard. I also had a 40 gal with a mated pair of maroon clowns, fridmani psuedochromis, and flame back angel. After my dad passed the filter over flowed catching the lightstick on fire and killed the fish. By the way i know how you feel the larger angels are very social and will even eat out of your hand. Not to mention about the bright colors. Ohhh ahh. Their prices however have skyrocket. A juv. Queen is about 70 dollars, Majestic 100, red sea regal 150, evan blue regal tangs are 50. for a 2 in fish. And this is mid range prices some species can even go for thousands of dollars.

Sorry to hear about your father. I hope things improve for you soon.
Your collection is wonderful ;D 150 gal. is a dream for me! And yes, angelfish are my favorite of all marine fish ;D Years ago I had a emperor angelfish, had him for a few years. I got him as a little one, just a small 2' blue and white stripped cutie ;D He grew to about 6" and was in full adult coloration. Unfortunately a mechanical failure while I was away for a few days killed him. I had similar problems with coral beauties, they seem to be really aggressive fish! ;D Before I move to Seattle, I had a blue tang, piccaso trigger, yellow tank, coris wrasse, flame angel, and fire goby. I had to give them all up when I moved unfortunately. I love my queen angel, he really is a "pet" ;D
i would love to see photos of you tank if you find them.

[wheezy]

the 150 was fun until water changes had to be done. I had to mix 40 gallons of salt water every month plus i was working at the fish store at the time and took care of all the tanks there which kind of wore me out. I am happy to only be taking care of my aunts 20 gallon. It only takes about 15 to 20 min. to clean. We have tried some coral in it but only the mush. survived not enough watts per gallon. So instead bought some plastic coral pieces to ad some color and they were only $4 as supposed to the 50 -60 dollars we spent on each piece of coral. You can tell they are fake but it don't look so bad and hey i saved a reef.