My new setup


Dimensions: 36"x18"x15"

Volume: 40 gallons

Substrate: pebbles

Scenery: three pieces of driftwood

Plants: one plants growing on driftwood not sure on I.D. however if someone can I.D. it for me from the pictures it would be greatly appreciated

Fish: 2" red tiger oscar, 2" red oscar, 3" Pictus Catfish, 4" Common Pleco

Tank Shot 1


Tank Shot 2


Coal Grunter


Pictus Catfish


Plant

Nice setup and great looking plants and fish. I have never seen, let alone heard of a Coal Grunter. What do you know about them?

Very nice Bartier.

The tank looks very nice. I'm with FishyFry, as I've never heard of a Coal Grunter either. Are they fish that are reqularly kept in aquariums?

Coal Grunter's are native to Australia and are not a common fish however they are sold in a few shops around the country. However I was lucky enough to receive this one from a friend who wanted to sell his tank.

O darn it, I thought u bought it at a store. LOL. I was almost going to tell u to buy me one and ill send u money. :D But NVM

Is that a rhizome at the base of the plant? If so, I believe the plant is a type of Anubias. Barteri, perhaps.

Found a couple of profiles on the Coal Grunter...The wetpetz version has a lot of information.

http://www.nativefish.asn.au/coalgrunter.html
http://wetpetz.com/coalgrunter.htm

Yeah I have seen those sites however I can't believe that one will grow to 28cm in length.

Latest Changes

Background: New Rocky background
Tankmates: 1 Bristlenose catfish

Will have photos as soon as the catfish stops hiding behind the filter

I cant wait for the pics man :) I somehow is really attracted to that fish. Im going to find one too. Fish hunting!!!!!

My New Bristlenose


Tank Shot with new Background


Coal Grunter


Action Shot


And Another


Pictus out in the open

Very nice, the one that said action shot really looked like a crappie :)

They all look great Bartier! Goldilocks is adorable, as is the cat. :) Love that Coal Grunter! The background looks very good. Congrats on your new tank. :up:

Arn't friends great? Mazza get's more things from people looking to get rid of their tanks, or fish, etc. than anyone I've ever met. I swear he could open a store and just sell what people give him.


Nice tank by the way. For a second I thought that pictus cat looked like a leopard pleco (the pic of him behind the driftwood, not the one with him at the front of the tank).

Yeah I was pretty lucky to get him he is a great fish, however he is starting to become very territorial. I had to put my Bristlenose into the feeder tank as he was being chased by the coal grunter. As soon as a feeder hits the water it gets eaten.

I am planning on moving the Bristlenose back in when it gets some more size to it however if it is still bothered by the coal grunter I might have to find it a new home.

Have you tried making a cave where one the BN can enter? Try making one with some weights so the coal grunter cant flip it if the BN is in there.

You can take out the coal grunter put it into a new tank for a few days while putting the BN in the main tank. And then wait until the BN is used to the enviroment and knows where everything is, and you can add your coal grunter into the tank. It works with my 220 gallon. Theres nothing but gravel only and my 2 inch female convict is able to live with my 13 inch oscar. :)

I might try that out I guess. I don't know where I would keep it though. I actually moved the bristlenose back into the main tank because I was worried about disease in the feeder tank as a lot of fish have been dying. He has found a spot to hide inside one of the pieces of driftwood and has been hiding there for a couple of days now.

Thats good to hear. It will be able to coexist if the BN is able to hide when threaten.

Yeah it seems to be surviving happily in it's little cave. I am definitely looking forward to when the BN gains some size though.

Thats good to hear. I can help you with any other thing if you have questions with.

Nothing pops into mind now but then again I haven't had a good look at my tank in a while I have been to busy with school. I think there was something I still needed to know. I will post in here about it soon hopefully.

I thought of something, I am not to sure on what to feed my catfish. I feed the grunter flakes, pellets and feeders. All the pellets and feeders get eaten by the grunter however some of the flakes manage to reach the bottom. The Pictus seems to scavage the majority of this food while the Bristlenose stays sucking on its driftwood. Can the Bristlenose survive from just sucking on the driftwood and can the Pictus survive just on flakes? If not what can I do to feed them any help would be greatly appreciated

Hi Bartier. From what I have read, what you are feeding the Pictus is fine and frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp will be good occasionally, as well. If you are concerned about him getting enough to eat, you might try target feeding him after the tank lights are out.

As for the Bristlenose, I picked this up off the Aquatic-Hobbist site:

"In the wild bristlenoses subsist mainly on algae, and they will graze on algae in the aquarium. However, in the aquarium their diet should be supplemented with vegetables such as cucumber, courgette(zucchini), lettuce, spinach, squash, boiled potato and shelled peas, along with sinking vegetable-based pellets, algae wafers and vegetable-based flakes. Bristlenoses also need to be able to chew at a piece of bogwood. High protein foods such as bloodworm, daphnia, mosquito larvae, peeled prawns or high protein sinking pellets may also be fed as a weekly treat."

Yea, I second what FF said. You can try algae walfe. They worked for me.

I will get some next time I go to the pet shop thanks for your help. I just have to hope that the grunter doesn't like algae wafers.

It will also be good for your Grunter too if it ate it. My cichlid loved them when i suppose to feed it to my pleco. They always never get to it unless I Over feed them. Which they will still clear up in a matter of minutes :D

Yeah maybe if I feed guppies to the grunter while I put the other food in and see how that goes.

I think that should work. Keep the grunter distracted so you can sneak the wafers in.

Yeah I will have to get some and I will let you know how it goes.

My filter is creating a lot of current in my tank and when I turn the filter off the activity of my catfish increases by so much. Does anyone here know how I could slow or alter the flow of my filter.

You can use something to block the flow of the filter. So it only creates current on the surface.

What kind of filter do you have?

An aqua one power filter, I use it to oxygenate the tank as well as filter it and i used to turn down the power and it wouldn't be strong enough to pump the bubbles. However I fixed it and now theres a slower current in the tank and bubbles. My bristlenose has gone missing again it should hopefully turn up sooner or later.

Hey, good job. All is well. Bristlenose is doing his thing again.

How do you like the Bristlenose? I understand they are one of their species that stays relatively small, which is good for those of us that don't have a huge tank.

Yeah I am enjoying it however i never see it between places it usually just stays in one spot all the time. I had found that spot but last water changed I moved the driftwood around and now I can't find its new hiding spot. I might move the wood again to try find it again.

I bet you could catch him a bit after the lights are out. He's a nocturnal fishy.

I think he is dead :( I moved the driftwood around and the filter and there was no sign of him. I'm not quite 100% sure that he is dead but the chances he is still hiding in there somewhere are really low.

Sorry to hear that. Have you looked any where else then just the driftwood?

Under rocks, behind the filter and under the driftwood. Next time I do a water change I'm going to take all of that stuff out hopefully he will show up then.