Introduced 5 new Rasbora Het's to the 20gall.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:26 pm

I'm in love with them already and have only had them a few hours.lolThey are very active, very peaceful shoaling fish that only grow to be 2" max.They do well with corydoras which is a plus and absolutely need live plants in the aquarium to thrive. They are getting along nicely with my three female bettas and have a life expectancy of five to seven years.

crabber101 · Post by **crabber101** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 3:28 pm

I'm not exactly sure that they need live plants, because all my rasbora hets have lived at least 6 years, and I had one that lived for 8. I didn't know they needed live plants I haven't ever had a live plant in my aquarium, but mine seem to be doing fine, lol. They are active and happy and they eat a ton.But congrats on the new additions! Rasboras are fun little fish!

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sat Jun 29, 2013 4:32 am

@Crabber101, yeah rasboras need planted(live)tanks to do their best because they come from a swampy area in Asia that has a lot of hummic acid in the water from the peat that is present so they need a bit of live plant matter to give them the right water chemistry primarily for captive breeding.They are highly adaptable fish so it's no wonder yours have done so well for so long. Out of curiosity yours have never spawned have they?

crabber101 · Post by **crabber101** » Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:24 am

No they haven't spawned, but they have done their little flirting dance/swim before. I don't think our water is acidic enough; the local tap is very alkaline.I feel bad now though, I want to buy some plants, but I'm afraid the plecostomus would uproot them, just like he does with the plastic plants in the tank. It only takes him one night and all the hard work of securing the plastic plants is undone.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:28 am

A pleco will ruin live plants and if your tank is large enough it will quickly out grow your other fish and then look at them as food.Plecos can be aggressive to smaller fish attaching to them in an attempt to suck off their slime coat which results in the smaller fish getting eaten.I've known people who have attempted to keep Plecos with groups of smaller shoaling fish like tetras and eventually had to get rid of the pleco due to it predating upon the smaller fish.I've got three corydoras catfish because they are much more docile and do not grow very big maxing out two inches and have very sweet dispositions unlike the Pleco which can grow to be over a foot long and can in certain circumstances be very aggressive.Have you had any issues with your Pleco?

crabber101 · Post by **crabber101** » Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:57 am

well, in addition to the pleco, I have 3 full grown corys. The pleco used to be very aggressive towards the corys during feeding time but seems to have quit this behavior. He has never even attempted to attack any of my shoaling fish. Even so, he is getting big for the tank and I would like to rehome him so that he can keep growing and thrive, not just live. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find anyone who will take a 14 inch pleco, and I want to make sure he goes to a good, 60+ gallon tank, so that narrows down my options quite a bit.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sat Jun 29, 2013 12:31 pm

What gets me is I've seen Plecos get near the three foot mark in 90gal and up display aquariums so I know that they are much like Gold fish in that respect and when they get over eight inches typically owners begin *******g out and either flush the poor fish or dump it in a nearby water feature.I don't think that Plecos should be sold on the pet market because they grow way to big for most people to take care of and end up facing an uncertain future.I applaud you for not doing the wrong thing with your Pleco.