More DP q's

[lilacamy931]

Hello all! Fourth day of having my 4 DP babies. I now have some more specific questions!

1. Water changes - doing daily water changes at the moment as did not have a completely cycled tank, I stir up the gravel with the siphon doing different areas, I only have plastic plants in the tank after each water change have to reapply practically all of them back into the gravel. Is this normal and when doing a weekly water change you just replant them? I have not got particularly deep gravel do I need to add more?

2. Gulp 2 males - I got 4 DPs and the man tried best to get a 3 f to 1 m ratio. I believe I have 2 m and 2 fs. The bigger male and female seem to hav paired off or at least like to follow each other more. The big male dashes at all the others but in particular the other male, he also has a dominant prescence over the worm feeder, this problem I am solving with a turkey baster as I am now onto frozen not live bloodworm. The store I got them from suggested taking the larger male out to try and feed, what do you think?

Big Male - feeds what he wants, doesn't overfeed, lunges at the others not to bite but to invade space.

Big female - Piggy! She is first in to feed and the big male allows her to, am afraid she will explode at one point.

Small female - eats a little but is intimidated by the male and cautious.

Small male - am worried about as he seems unsettled a lot of the time, seen him eat once, and has a pretty flat belly not concaved just flat. One point bloodworm floated past him he looked and saw but didnt eat.

As above the store suggested taking larger male out for others to feed - is this the best course of route? All the others had eaten well today so decided to catch mini man and try to feed, but he was not happy not one bit and wouldn't take any notice of the worms i inundated him with, after a while placed him back in the tank. Whenever I do water changes or go in the tank, the 3 float around (Piggy barely notices and blimps around) but mini man darts and skits everywhere.

So what should I do? I think a first suggestion I am going to get is put him in a separate tank? To be honest I haven't the spare money this month to set up a 5 gallon (that is the minimum right?) for him alone, I may be able to at some point, but he would have to do on a small table in the bedroom as all other plug sockets will be for the big tank. But any conclusions for the moment, am I being hyperactive? Mini man just does not seem as happy or settling in as the others.

P.S. I love them all but Piggy has definately taken a shine to me and this morning was circling the worm feeder when she saw me!

P.S.S. Sorry for the long post, wanna be a good mommy (want to have like 10 tanks already)

[mrgreen]

What size tank do you have?

That sounds really cool with pairs already. I had to take my 2nd DP back today- was a male, not female and Squirt, my big DP was not having a male live with him! (Fin nipping, chasing, etc.)

[lilacamy931]

I could be wrong about the pairing, but it does seem to be the case to me and my partner. The tank is a 14 gallon Have been adding more and more fake plants for them.

[lilacamy931]

Anyone's thoughts? (dont worry if not )

[Myaj]

Well, you have a few options.. put in a lot more plants and see if that helps the little guy feel more secure would be my first step. If not, maybe set something up for him separately.

or

Return the little guy.

or

Return the big, fiesty guy.

or

Since you said you have 10 other tanks, would you be able to move one of them to any of those tanks? A freshwater, relatively peaceful tank would be ideal.. no overly large fish, extremely aggressive fish or bettas (as the dwarf will likely nip the fins).

As far as the replanting the plants every time, you might be stirring a little too vigorously I generally just do an up and down motion with the gravel vac.. are you just using a plain hose to siphon or do you have a gravel vacuum? That sucks the gravel up, sucks out the gunk, and drops the gravel straight back down...

[lilacamy931]

No I dont have ten other tanks but want them! LOL!

Am abit happier today as all four have eaten!!! YAY!! Think not using the worm feeder was a good choice and feeding later in the day as all hungry! poor piggy she will have to wait to hear her hunger.

Thanks Myaj, the fish store is too far away for me to return, so will perhaps try some more plants and will try and scout for a cheap 5 gallon set up. Thank you very very very very much Myaj! sorry to be panicky x

[Myaj]

Haha, sorry I read that wrong.

You can try to feed the one little guy on a different side of the tank, they are smart and learn fast.

[lilacamy931]

well today's feeding went well but if there are further problems I will give it a go

had a panic moment when partner was helping me do the water change, he passed me a fresh bucket of water and added to the tank then inkling of...OMG did you add dechlorinator!
No he didnt so added the amount to the tank and used a test strip 5 min later, chlorine levels seem fine.

though interesting the test strip says I have level 20 of nitrates yet my API liquid says just under 5. Panic over though,,,for now!

[Myaj]

Make sure you shake the heck out of the liquid test bottles before adding them to the tube.

But the liquid tests are usually more accurate than the dip strips.

I hear you on the dechlor panic, I've done it many times. Which is why I stick to brands that are okay for overdosing, just in case I did remember the first time and have now added it twice

[lilacamy931]

LOL glad not just me! I was running around the tank going adding some going oh no oh no hope they are ok! Whilst my partner says I didn't know dont make me feel bad! Me going I not trying to make you feel bad - hope my babies are ok!!! LOL

I really do think that I am either bad at submerging my fake plants or the gravel is too short. I am thinking over the weekend of rearranging the tank slightly (moving the bog wood right abit and pushing some of the gravel towards the more planted end) I was going to leave them in whilst doing this and try to do as delicately as possible and hopefully will make them happier in the long run without me cursing and diving in the tank all the time!

Thanks sooo much Myaj you always make me feel a little calmer! xxx

Definately will be sticking on the liquid tests, the strips were free and useful for chlorine levels

[kelsi.nikoel]

I hear you on the dechlor panic, I've done it many times. Which is why I stick to brands that are okay for overdosing, just in case I did remember the first time and have now added it twice

What dechlor is that? Can u OD on Prime?

[Myaj]

Prime is pretty safe for double dosing, it even says so right on the bottle (for using when treating high levels of ammonia or nitrites). You can even dose for the full tank volume instead of just for the amount you are replacing.

I believe Amquel is the same, or similar.

However, the best, safest and most simple dechlor out there is made by http://www.yamatogreen.com, you could dump an entire bottle of that stuff into your tank and not worry about it. I love their stuff but its mail order only so now that I don't have high light, fertilizer needing plants, I rarely order.

[LilGreenPuffer]

1. Water changes - doing daily water changes at the moment as did not have a completely cycled tank, I stir up the gravel with the siphon doing different areas, I only have plastic plants in the tank after each water change have to reapply practically all of them back into the gravel. Is this normal and when doing a weekly water change you just replant them? I have not got particularly deep gravel do I need to add more?

More gravel is nice, but not needed. I always replant. I often just take everything out while siphoning and then put it all back when I'm done.

2. Gulp 2 males - I got 4 DPs and the man tried best to get a 3 f to 1 m ratio. I believe I have 2 m and 2 fs. The bigger male and female seem to hav paired off or at least like to follow each other more. The big male dashes at all the others but in particular the other male, he also has a dominant prescence over the worm feeder, this problem I am solving with a turkey baster as I am now onto frozen not live bloodworm. The store I got them from suggested taking the larger male out to try and feed, what do you think?

I think that you should try to set up a small tank for one of the males, since you can't fit two more females, and adding more would be a risk, since you could wind up with more males... and so on... Opposite ends of the tank for now, like Myaj said, and then when you can, make a new small setup. I wouldn't remove him. That would be pretty stressful on everyone. (Have you ever tried to net a DP??? They can MOVE.)

[lilacamy931]

Yes I read that on Prime which is a mini relief for a beginner like me!

Not sure if for concern or not, but this morning Piggy was poking her head at the water line and later nipping at it. I thought it was incredibly cute but hope its not a bad sign of anything? They are all begging now when they see me and Alex, all 4 staring out at us from the tank and coming up to the top! We are very happy and proud parents!

Hoping that soon I won't have to do water changes every day Love my babies!

[LilGreenPuffer]

Nipping at the water's surface isn't a bad sign. I think she's begging. "Look at me! Look how cute I am! Don't you want to FEED ME FEED ME FEED MEEE??????"