Wow, that is a whole lotta fish. I'm curious too...how do you keep them from stressing? Hopefully you just have a mirror for a background!
I've got a 37 gallon and I'll be at my limit around 16 fish (fairly "clean" fish) that will total around 32 inches at maturity. I'm staying with 32 inches to ensure a nice environment for them and after gravel and decor added to my tank, I probably only have about 32 gallons of water in it.
Just to add...I don't live by the "inches" rule, but it works ok as a guide with my types of fish. Then I consider any fish that seem to be exceptions or especially dirty. From there I use a simple visual inventory, as most people can kinda tell when their tank is full. (Unlike when I go to PetsMart and I see their 20 gallon tanks with 50 fish each :(
Ok.....why would you, (A) load up a 30 gal, with all that implies, with plans for a new larger tank rather than (B) waiting for the new tank to be ready and then acquire and introduce fish slowly to the bigger tank?
I'm quite new but A contradicts all I've been told and read, while B is supposedly the proper method. I'm so confused?
Hey spongebob, did you read my update on profile? It says size of aquarium, and I put 30 gallon, but just got a 125 gallon and will post update pic of it after it gets finished cycling. The tank started out with about 40 fish, but all those livebearers took over. I didn't have anywhere to put the babies so they grew up and now they have babies. I didn't want to flush any of them down the toilet so I left them alone to do their thing, and they did. I have to do water change and filter change about once a week, but there isn't much or any food to hit the bottom, someone is always there to eat it up so nothing decays. My plan is to herd up the platies except for about 5, and all of the mollies except for about 5 out of the 43 babies and trade the rest at the pet store on something different.
I put all the that I was keeping in the 125 gallon tank Friday and it really looked nice. The 3 silver dollars darted and raced across the tank, all the different tetras immediately joined their school and had class until I felt sorry for all that were left in the 30 gallon so I herded up about 4 buckets full of the others and put them in the tank so I could clean out the 30, and now everyone swims together and there are no schools. They were all juveniles when I got them and introduced them at the same time in the small tank so I guess they aren't really sure what fish they are, they just swim and get along with everybody, no fights, chases, claiming territory, etc. Main thing that I have had to do is keep the water filter from getting plugged and constantly feed, go through a 6.35 ounce can per month of fish crispy flakes, and the 2 big pinches I put in there, there are some that probably don't get that much to eat, but that doesn't stop the rest of the herd from being the first in line waiting for me to approach their tank with some food.
I'm going to update the pic with the 125 gallon tank hopefully next week after I have traded off the herd.
Even if they are upgrading to a larger tank... there is no way those fish all made it into a 30 gallon overnight... they had to be introduced over months into the 30 gallon or they would have died... which implies that the 30 gallon must have been setup for quite some time. So I don't really buy the "temporary" concept at this point... not to mention, just because they mention a 125 gallon doesn't mean I should assume the fish in the 30 gallon will be the new inhabitants... they might have plans for new fish for that one, since it doesnt mention anything in the profile. Zambize has a good point, you don't move a shark into a fishbowl, while you are setting up your reef.
Tmercier, I am not trying to discredit you, I just don't want people thinking I didn't read up before commenting on someone's tank.
When I got the 30 gallon, I didn't plan on the livebearers taking over, but they did. I didn't plan on getting the 125 gallon until about 6 months ago after I realized that I was overstocked, so I had to save up and find a good deal on the 125 gallon, but in the meantime, that is how the tank got that full so quick, with the females having babies every month. I did introduce the fish slowly to the 125 gallon tank, I only put in my silver dollars first and a few minutes later the tetras and the 2 plecomostomus and the gold nugget. Everyone was schooling until later on that night, when I felt sorry for the rest of the fish and put them all in there, now I want all or anything resembling a platy or mollie to get out, but a few of each.
I'm almost done cleaning out the 30 gallon, so the mollies, guppies, and platies can all go to the 30 gallon again until next weekend so they can be traded.
Sounds good, I guess it all just wasn't clear in the profile, from the pic it just looked very crowded and it didn't seem from the description that those were the fish you were moving. My post was more of an "for your information"... there are many people who see overcrowding like that at Petco and assume this is ok for the fish... but clearly you know what you're doing. Look forward to seeing the new tank, it must look great. oh and my last post was written while you posted yours, so i didnt read it before I made that reply... i guess you posted a few minutes before mine, while i was still writing :)
geez im reading the posts in order and my post wasnt meant to be sandwiched between yours... i was replying to tmercier's post... and it makes me sound like an ass to you... don't take it the wrong way, that post was in reply to tmercier, before you cleared things up. Sorry again
Oh I wasn't. I just didn't want you to think I personally introduced that many fish into that small tank. It all started with 2 male, yellow and an orange platy, and 1 female orange platy and a male and 2 female dalmation, and 2 male and 2 female guppies and BAM! Every month, some1 shooting something out, and like a dummy, I had to rescue the babies before they got eaten up because it just seemed mean to leave them to fend off the others.
The 30 gallon, that is almost clean now, is going to be like a holding tank to hold those livebearers until next weekend when I can take them back to trade for something. Hoping to get something like a couple of oscars or cichlids or something different that doesn't get along with the community in the 125 gallon.
Those livebearers are still going to multiply like rabbits in your 125 and the 30 so you will soon have 2 overcrowded tanks instead of the one unless you develop a solid plan/procedure for handling the fry as they appear. I'm assuming that you can't keep getting larger tanks to accommodate the offspring. My personal solution is that I don't put any combination of fish+environment in my tank that will produce offspring.
Thanks Vladdy, I researched the operculum/trap door of the apple/mystery snail, and it did fall off of a snail and somehow got buried under a rock. It said the operculum was a shell that grew in a circular motion for the lifespan of the snail so it can go inside and hide. That would explain not having the other half of the shell because it was only one piece. I found the other part of the snail after I stripped the tank down. His inside was gone, just his shell was left. The snails grow so fast, I thought one was him, but that was one of the babies that had gotten bigger.
Nice 125 gallon. One day I may get one. My biggest is a 37 gallon at the moment. I also had a 27 gallon but one of my dogs broke it....a million pieces on the floor. I was heart broken...it's like seeing your favorite car wrecked. I didn't see any picture of a cat....I have six of my own. They aren't interested in the fish, but couldn't get to them if they were. But then again, I didn't think a 10 pound dog could pull a 27 gallon glass tank to the floor...
