Some Newbie Questions

Hi Folks,

Just a few things I would really appreciate some advice on;

1) My tanks are in quite a dark room and I have the lights on a timer, what should your timer be set on? at the moment I am setting it form 9 - 6... trying not to introduce bright light too early. What is best? The tanks have live plants in them so thinking I might need more light than this.

2) I need some bottom feeders for one of the tanks. At the moment I am leaning towards either shrimp or panda cories. Size is sufficient. I want to get something that will breed because I, like probably most of you, get too tempted to buy new fish every time I step foot in an aquarium. Most of the bottom feeders except for shrimp take forever to reach sexual maturity. Any suggestions?

3) I REALLY want to get Endlers Livebarers for another tank but havent been able to find then anywhere in cape town. I am in near century city and none of the shops near me seem to stock any. How do you get a hold of a fish that you can't find in a store?

Sorry if the questions are lame - any help would be appreciated.

 

Hi!

Thanks for the great advice,

I went for shrimp at the end of the day, I think I am going to be a bit patient with the cory's.

Tanks are looking horrendous at the moment so will post when they look a bit better hahaha! In terms of plants though - I have 1 amazon sword (or could be an anubis - not really sure how to tell the difference), some bacopa, and what I think is Limnophila based on pics from google. Also have a small patch of something that literally just looks like grass.

I checked out aquatic warehouse - great stock but unfortunately no endlers .... again I must learn some patience. Which does not come easy.

 

What do you mean you can't tell the difference between and amazon sword and an anubias. They don't look that similar..

 

I got some endlers from pet adventure (Claremont) about 3 weeks ago, I got the last few. I never saw them in the store before that day and I'm yet to see them again. I also haven't seen them anywhere else. I'd suggest just visiting different stores regularly and hope for a lucky day

 

most stores in CPT get the fish stock in on a Wednesday or Thursday
Easiest would be to call them and ask if they have any in stock, then drive out

also will prevent you from buying more/other fish instead

 

Hi,

I would have the lights on when you are home so you can enjoy the fish. The plants will be fine as long as they get sufficient light, it doesnt matter what the time of day is.

 

Boss little guys those. They really do help quite a bit with the algae

 

Haha, yeah I suck at identifying plants. comments was from a quick google search, I still have a lot to learn

 

No worries, we all started out with no knowledge. Google the Anubias and the swords they are quite different. Swords grow longer as well while the anubias are generally smaller.