Fish to avoid as a newbie

Clown Loach - Chows anything green and gets huge fast...

 

i have to disagee with you there - i had a school of 20 for 2 years and they only got upto 16cm... thats half of its fully grown size. Clown loaches are known in the trade for slow growth rates hence you pay +- R109 ex vat Whole sale price from the importers for a 10cm fish

 

cool man... that was just my experience with them in my 1.2m many years ago...

 

Waht about Oscars? They're cute a first but can become a nightmare... not to mention they have an appretite - they'll eat you out of house and home!

Asian Upside-down catfish also come around evey now and then. They look very similar to regular upside-down cats, although they grow pretty big and have aggression of note.

 

yea - i'll bite on oscars - one of the better known shops here in CPT sells 2 oscars and 20 neons with a 2 ft tank with a corner airdriven fitler - all on the same day...

regarding the loaches - from Loaches.com

 

Now that is hilarious!

 

I was caught like that when I bought my first fish tank. I mean what did I know I was 12 at the time. The bugger sold me a 2ft complete setup, 10 neons, 2 guppies and one giant angry pregnant female Kribensis..."Look at the pretty red belly ma" 36 hours later and she had killed everything... I have been in love with Kribensis ever since...:bigsmile:

 

And what is your wife's name?? Daisy De Melker???

 

Not Married....although my gf is just as tough as that kribensis....
*runs and hides*

 

i might be getting an oscar and a pleco this weekend, roughly between 20cm-25cm this weekend. Will probably trade it for something else, although i was told that petshops dont take fish in a hurry because they have to feed them


@salmon would you be interested in these fish IF i get them and thats a big IF

 

What about Discus?
you need the right water (R.O) and the right food all that other stuff that beginners don't know about till it is to late.... I had that problem!

 

Gareth you don't really need R.O. water for discus - it depends on how your water is when it comes out the tap. We Capetonians are lucky enough to have great water for discus.

 

I say Rams are not for the faint hearted. It is a stunning fish but it needs quality water, ph and temp. Especially the Malaysian variety

 

Hi Gareth - some of the greatest myths in the aquarium industry are those surrounding Discus and their care - If I may I would like to explode the greatest myth of them all...

Keeping discus is not as difficult as it is made out to be
( assuming you are starting with tank bred fish. )
If your water parameters are good, and kept within a fairly broad range, the fish will be happy. These parameters are : soft water ( So Jhb is not the best place to be for using tap water )
Temp between 25 and 29 ( the higher range is better )
pH between 6 and 7 ( closer to 6 is better )
No ammonia, No nitrites, low nitrates.
In other words water that is normal for most South American cichlids...
Good variety of foods - live, frozen, freeze dried and vegetable
Good filtration is a must - and keep up your water changes and you will have happy discus..

Keep a lookout for them going dark or clamping their fins - they will tell you when they are unhappy.

Breeding them requires a lot more care.

Raising and breeding Wild Caught Discus is what you call " Not for the Fainthearted "

"Personal Rant begins"
Far too many discus people try to make out that the discus is hard to keep, in order to elevate themselves.. The first thing must be - the discus must have BRIGHT colours, so they mix different types to get the best colour. Personally I think this is wrong.
The wild caught discus look GREAT and should be kept that way. No cross breeding for colour etc. Line breed the wilds and use those as the tank bred's, that is my personal opinion.
.........And then there are those who are helpful and want to get more people into the discus keeping hobby.......
"Personal Rant ends"

 

I agree with all those points except 1...

I keep my 6 discus in tap water, dechlorinated, but with peat in the filter. But top up with tap water, left to stand and with added dechlorinater. They are not only happy, but showing clear signs of breeding.

I also breed a variety of SAmerican Dwarfs in my tap water.

 

Hey Slagter - That is great - I should have said Discus PREFER soft water - that does not mean they will not thrive in hard water..

It was just a dig at the poor okes who haveto face witkoppen rd. in the mornings

 

LOL!! I'm glad I don't have to deal with that damned road every day. I drive against the flow of traffic.

But my water isn't that hard... I don't understand it really. Everyone complains, but the test strips, which are fairly accurate, not 100%, but close enough, say that my water is fine for my use. But I do use the peat in the filters. Alot of it.

@ Slojo - No problem. I have 4 in my fish room and 2 in a tank inside. I'll snap some pics one of these days.

 

+1 on the peat with dechlorinated tap water, I've had about 8 spawns from my Discus. I don't even let mine stand for a day or so, add dechlorinator, mix for 15 mins and add to tank. Usually they buggers get busy shortly after laying eggs :blink1:

 

to be honest this is the first site were I see people talk about the Discus and water conditions with out using R.O water and so on so if I were to do my homework on discus and check the water quality here in Potch I might be able to keep discus with out any expensive equipment to treat water... Cool