Wanted : Tropical Fish

Neil.B · 08-07-2008, 9:19 PM

## mods please remove the word fish if not allowed, your rules say 'Animals and Wildlife Products' but do fish count? ##

Hi all
A couple of months ago i renewed the fishtank filter in an old peoples home, Most of their fish died after the filter failed (and over feeding for years)

after spending 3 days cleaning and looking after the fish i managed to save about 10 of them. I have given it a until now before intriducing new fish, just to make sure no problems.
I have used up most of their funds on the filter,new bulbs and air pump and only have £20 left for new fish, £20 buys not much in the shops.
Does anyone near Romford have any fish or plants they would like to get rid off for £20? (must be communial fish and from a health tank)

Thanks
Neil

Location: Romford/Essex

**Steven** · 08-07-2008, 10:55 PM

Sorry, can't allow live animals in the trading forum, but I have moved the thread to general chat where perhaps members could offer suggestions

Drunkeh · 09-07-2008, 9:29 AM

HI there, i have fish you can have for free, will need picking up (Harlow Essex). I have 10-15 female guppies, 8-10 males (all bright colours F1 stock), 2 ottos , 2 gouramis (1 red, 1 blue) and 3 corydora. Your welcome to them all as i am wanting to get rid...

WibXL · 09-07-2008, 9:49 AM

You could also try asking here as there tends to be cuttings up for grabs every so often.

Neil.B · 09-07-2008, 10:06 AM

WibXL, thanks i will have a look around on there.

Drunkeh
Thanks for the offer, they sound great. do the gouramis get along with the others?
do you know what ones they are as i have read mixed reports about them?
How many bags do you think i will need to transport them?

I have recently had an operation on my hand and leg, so will need to make arrangement to get a lift, do they need collecting straight away?

Thanks
Neil

Drunkeh · 09-07-2008, 10:35 AM

HI there, they are both dwarf gouramis, they are no problems with any of the other fish, not even a nip , now and again the gouramis will have a wrestle with each other (they try and pin each other on the ground, lasts about 20 seconds then thats it). There is no rush for collection, i am happy to keep them for you for a while before i put them up else where, they are in tanks in my living room. I just remembered, there are also two clown loach, some java moss, maybe some drift wood, shells, amazon sword plants you are welcome to as well.

As for bags, i would say 2-3 bags for the guppies, 1 bag for gouramis, 1 bag for Corys, and 1 for the clowns, best keeping species apart for transport.

Reason we are getting rid of the fish is that we have 4 tanks now, too many to be honest!

Drunkeh · 09-07-2008, 10:39 AM

Doh, i forget everything, also some moss balls you can have.

Neil.B · 09-07-2008, 10:42 AM

Thanks m8, anything is appreciated

Please pm me your details

Neil

WibXL · 09-07-2008, 10:48 AM

How big is the tank at the old peoples home as clown loaches can grow up to a foot long. I ended up selling mine to a pet shop as they got too big for my tank

EDIT: Also depending on the size of the tank it may be worth adding the fish in two or three groups to give the filter enough time to build up enough bacteria to support the new load especially as clown loaches are very sensitive to poor water conditions.

Water parameters should be checked in between each addition to make sure that the filter has completed its cycle each time.

Neil.B · 09-07-2008, 11:01 AM

Thanks for the info.

I think the tank is 36"lx18"wx24"h
I bought a large Eheim Professional external filter can't remember the model but it about 6" square and both pipes connect to the filter via a connector at the top (this controls the rate of flow also)

Neil

Just thought: the tank might be bigger than 36" as i bought 2 new 48" bulbs thinking the tanks was bigger, they we slightly to big (about 1") .

WibXL · 09-07-2008, 11:46 AM

Sounds like a good sized tank but too small for clown loaches unfortunately unless they could be moved to a larger tank later on. I'd recommend testing to make sure that there is no ammonia or nitrite and that nitrate levels are below 25ppm. Then roughly add around the same amount of fish as you have in there now and once the tank has cycled repeat by adding more fish until you're at fully stocked levels.

This might not be possible though if you need to add the fish all at once so if that's the case you'll need to keep a closer eye on water quality by testing everyday.

Will you or the staff be responsible for the weekly tank maintenance and if it's the staff will they know what to do? The reason I ask is that if it's you or the staff and they know what they are doing you could stock the tank to full levels but if it's a tank that may get neglected from time to time and be over fed then you may want lightly stock it to stop the nitrates building up too quickly.

Also if it may not be maintained as much as it should I wouldn't add any female guppies as they'll bread like rabbits and the tank will soon be over stocked. The ottos may become a problem as well as they don't handle bad water quality too well.

Good luck with it all though and the forum that I linked to is a good source of advice if you're new to fish keeping and cycling a tank. Also I apologise if I'm going other stuff that you already know but you didn't say if you've kept fish before etc.

Drunkeh · 09-07-2008, 12:30 PM

aye clowns grow huge over time, the two i have are in a 2.5ft tank at the moment, they are about 2.5-3 inches at the moment, they should be fine for a good few years in a 3ft + tank, then as the OP rightly says , they will be too big and will need giving away to a pet shop or rehousing.

On the guppy front , again OP is spot on, females breed faster than rabbits.....hence the two gouramis , sounds nasty , but the fry are good food for them......

PMing details now.

WibXL · 09-07-2008, 12:41 PM

I started my tank off with one male and two female guppies and quickly found out why they are also know as millions fish

Neil.B · 09-07-2008, 12:58 PM

My friend is a cleaner there everyday, she is the one who feeds the fish now and locks the food away to stop all the oldies from overfeeding the fish. Before i stepped in they used to keep the food in the draw and no-one knew if the fish had been fed, about 3 of them just kept feeding the fish.

I used to have a 6'x2'x2.5' marine setup for a couple of years, that's why the cleaner called me when the fish died, when i arrived i could smell the stale water before i entered the lounge. The water was brown, with fish floating at the top or dead on the bottom, i lifted the lid and there was loads of food all over the place. I put all the fish that were still breathing into a bin(rinsed out first) with a 3rd of the tank water and topped up with tap water(not ideal but had no other options or all the fish would of died and its all they had on site). I then put in as much air as they had,even one of the old boys gave me his small spare breathing oxigen tank that i attached a air stone to and turned it on very low.
I had an old filter at home so went straight away to collect it, filled it with filter wool and set that up in the tank, i then took out all the decor and dead fish and made a gravel hoover out of a orange squash bottle and a bit of hose. I hoovered the gravel while emptying the tank and kept cleaning the filter out every 20mins or so. I have never seen so much food laying on the bottom.
Only 1 fish that were floating on the top died in the temp bin and none have died since

I also know the warden who lives on site, so if any problems happen she can call me.
Thanks for any advice and it is always welcome.

Neil

WibXL · 09-07-2008, 1:27 PM

Sounds like it was in a right mess, congratulations on managing to save as many as you did.

Sonic67 · 09-07-2008, 2:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WibXL

I started my tank off with one male and two female guppies and quickly found out why they are also know as millions fish

Is that right?

I've just bought a couple. Well Mrs Sonic choose them as she wanted some fish that were 'her' fish.

WibXL · 09-07-2008, 2:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonic67

Is that right?

I've just bought a couple. Well Mrs Sonic choose them as she wanted some fish that were 'her' fish.

If it wasn't impossible I'd say that they were born pregnant. It was pretty interesting at first but the novelty wore off pretty quickly.

Neil.B · 09-07-2008, 2:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WibXL

Sounds like it was in a right mess, congratulations on managing to save as many as you did.

Thanks, i have just joined the other forum, thanks for the link.

Sonic67
Best tell the missus not to name them as you might run out of names soon

Neil

Sonic67 · 09-07-2008, 2:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil.B

Thanks, i have just joined the other forum, thanks for the link.

Sonic67
Best tell the missus not to name them as you might run out of names soon

Neil

Too late. They are Sooty and Sweep. I guess that's Sue and Butch to come then.

WibXL · 09-07-2008, 2:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonic67

Too late. They are Sooty and Sweep. I guess that's Sue and Butch to come then.

Butch?

Sonic67 · 09-07-2008, 2:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WibXL

Butch?

A bulldog type puppet. He had visible fangs. Not seen for years though. I'm showing my age here.

http://www.classickidstv.co.uk/wiki/The_Sooty_Show

Characters

The Puppets
Sooty - A lovable naughty yellow teddy bear with black ears.
Sweep - Is a grey Spaniel dog with long black ears. He can act a bit stupid at times!
Soo - Is a black and white panda, who's original character in the show was Sooty's Girlfriend.
Scampi - Sooty's cousin.
Butch - A fierce looking black dog. He was introduced because of an boxing episode and Harry did not want Sooty to fight his best friend Sweep.
Ramsbottom - A snake with a Yorkshire accent.

The Puppeteers
Harry Corbett - Starring as himself - First owner of Sooty.
Matthew Corbett - Starring as himself - Second owner of Sooty.
Richard Cadell - Starring as himself - Third owner of Sooty.