New Kid on the Block

Hello! I'm a newly found aquarium hobbyist, and have lived in the greater Seattle area my entire, quarterish century long, life!

My parents had a tropical freshwater when I was younger, long enough ago for the only things that I remember from it were "a fish that liked to suck on veggies" and "a fish that had a nose that looked like an anteater".

Years later I have jumped in to the hobby myself with a 29 gallon freshwater tropical and am greatly enjoying it along with the community that comes with it (especially this site!). My tank has been established for about a month, and the community includes 5 Panda Cory's, one Super Red Pleco, about 10 Cherry Shrimp, and two Danio fry (leftover from the eggs my starter Danios dropped without me knowing before I gave them to a friend).

I'm hoping to expand the community a little more - starting this weekend. I'm very very torn and perplexed as to what to get next. I want to get another 3-4 Cory's of another species to join the Panda's in patrolling the bottom, and maybe a Siamese Algae Eater to join the Pleco in clean up. My toughest choice is going to be the mid to upper level of the tank and what to fill it with - suggestions would be awesome! I'd love to have a 6+ school of something, and maybe a duo of a bigger species for a centerpiece. Too many choices!

Thanks for providing a rad website to join, and I'm happy to ease my way in to a fun community!

welcome. I would stay away from the Chinese algae eater they can be really mean and do not play well with others.

Firstly, Welcome!  My first tank was a 29 gallon too, great size to start with.

Secondly, I agree with Madness, Chinese Algae Eaters are more trouble than they're worth, especially as they mature.  Not that great at cleanup, and pretty tempermental.  Plus I wouldn't be surprised if they eat your shrimp.  Instead, I would go with some Otocinclus, they make a good cleanup crew.

Thanks for all of the responses!

In my origianl post I had said Siamese Algae Eater. I am most likely wrong, but I was aware that there was a difference between the two. Most of all, it was just one idea I had!

The posts have also pushed me towards pulling the shrimp in to a tank of their own. Upon research and these responses, I'm finding that it may be beneficial to pull the shrimp from my 30 so that I can open the possibility of variety!

Sorry I misread... Siamese might be less aggressive than Chinese, but they will eventually move from eating algae to the food your feeding your other fish.

Good call on moving your shrimp to their own tank, they will prosper much more cause almost any fish would eat the shrimp fry.

Oh yes, I didnt catch that either. The fish is also known as the Flying Fox, very similar to the red tail and rainbow shark. The flying fox is a decent algae eater and is very peaceful. But when larger they can be more aggressive when it comes to eating, especially if there is no algae to graze on.

Sorry about the Oooops.

Welcome!  I started with a 29g too.  Hooray for shrimp, panda corys, and danios!

 

Madness wrote:The fish is also known as the Flying Fox

Nope, the Siamese Algae Eater (Crossocheilus siamensis) and Flying Fox (Epalzeorhynchos kalopteru) are similar to each other but are not the same.  Whoa, I just out knowledged Madness, didn't think that was possible

Lamental Jester wrote:

Madness wrote:The fish is also known as the Flying Fox

Nope, the Siamese Algae Eater (Crossocheilus siamensis) and Flying Fox (Epalzeorhynchos kalopteru) are similar to each other but are not the same.  Whoa, I just out knowledged Madness, didn't think that was possible

OOps my bad, tho they are different species Chinese algae eater is also known as the Chinese Flying fox.  Though they are similar they are different.   Its like a Green terror is actually a Andinoacara stalsbergi, not the Andinoacara rivulatus which is what everyone thinks is the green terror.  

So my bad, the Chinese algae eater is known as the Chinese Flying Fox while the other species Epalzeorhynchos kalopteru is known as the false Chinese algae eater.  

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/algae-control/siamese.php

Either way, it looks like they are fairly peaceful when smallish.

SIAMESE, not Chinese

Here's a link I found that describes the differences between the Siamese, Chinese, Fox, etc
http://www.petresources.net/fish/article/sae.html

Anyways, I don't wanna hijack the welcome thread, sorry dinnerwithwolves

....made a lot of hits. Chinese food makes me sick. ♫♪

lol, I couldn't resist... =P welcome!

welcome. hatchet fish are a great upper level fish in a community. they were one of my favorites before i got into cichlids. very peaceful. will not bother your shrimp.

 

Welcome to the forum!

Awesome! I appreciate all the warm welcomes and full responses!

I spent some time at my LFS last night and made a nice addition to my tank!
3x Juli Cory's
6x Pristella Tetra
1x Gold Gourami

After watching the Cory's for a little while, I noticed I have a Nemo, one missing his main left fin! It doesn't appear to be fresh, and he is able to swim fairly well and is active. At first I was worried, but now I'm confident he'll be able to adjust, and that I will be monitoring him very closely to make sure the spot doesn't get infected.

Excited to make a project post in another thread once my tank gets even more established and whatnot!

Welcome!
Gotta love gouramis. I bred both the blue and gold varieties with much success! As for your little Nemo, I have a similar story to that as well. There is actually a male bristlenose pleco in one of my 29gal tanks that is missing most of his tail. I call him "Stubs". Here's to injured fish that are able to thrive!  

I have a trilineatus that is missing a left fin too... not exactly sure how he lost it. When I spotted it, it was clean off and there wasn't any real wound. I've been monitoring him for a while now and he is the most active of my corys... so far so good with him. I'm not breeding them, so it's ok by me to watch him as long as he's healthy

after reading all the other posts I got lost.
Anyways WELCOME! XD

BillHN wrote:after reading all the other posts I got lost.
Anyways WELCOME! XD

Agreed, I got lost with the Asian fish lingo as well. I am now envisioning a conjoined fox faced fish that flies. Obviously you would need a lid on that tank!