Another Stocking Question....and Sand?

[vantica]

I have a 20G tank that has been up and running for about 2.5 years now. Started off with a few mollies, then added two dojo loaches. Then a few platys. Somewhere in there I had a male betta, but he became a pretty big bully and was always picking on this one fish, so he is now on his own. Also lost my mollys, and have just had the dojo loaches and platys for the last year or so, and just added a few more platys in tonight. So I now have 6 platys and 2 dojo loaches in there. This brings up one of my questions......am I pretty much maxed out now? I would really like to add two more loaches (if i can find them) because I've read they enjoy company and are actually more of a schooling fish, but I've also read they prefer lots of room. Any thoughts?

Also, I finally cleaned out my tank pretty good last weekend and changed from gravel to the sand I bought almost a year ago. Lol. I kept putting it off because it was so new to me, but I finally did it. I bought the sand so the loaches would have something nice to bury themselves in, but so far it seems they haven't realized they can do this. I was relying on them to play in it to keep it stirred up so no gases form. If they decide sand is not for them (for whatever weird reason) how often will I have to stir up the sand myself? Any other sand tips?

Thanks for any help. I may have had a tank for a few years, but I think I'm definitely still a newb. Heh.

 

[GAB99]

hehe, finally someone else that has/had dojo loaches, id would only add one more as they can reach at least 6" and unless your up grading id leave it at that.

you might also want to check your water stats to make sure your not going into a mini cycle with the substrate change, it sometimes happens to people.

and yes about once a week just mix it up a little, and make sure that to the touch the sand isnt rough, this could cause the loaches scratching themselves which will cause infection.

and never never clean out the tank pretty good unless there is diesease and always used dechlorinated water when filling it back up, but for small water changes it is unessecary

 

[erk628]

I have a 20G tank that has been up and running for about 2.5 years now. Started off with a few mollies, then added two dojo loaches. Then a few platys. Somewhere in there I had a male betta, but he became a pretty big bully and was always picking on this one fish, so he is now on his own. Also lost my mollys, and have just had the dojo loaches and platys for the last year or so, and just added a few more platys in tonight. So I now have 6 platys and 2 dojo loaches in there. This brings up one of my questions......am I pretty much maxed out now? I would really like to add two more loaches (if i can find them) because I've read they enjoy company and are actually more of a schooling fish, but I've also read they prefer lots of room. Any thoughts?

Also, I finally cleaned out my tank pretty good last weekend and changed from gravel to the sand I bought almost a year ago. Lol. I kept putting it off because it was so new to me, but I finally did it. I bought the sand so the loaches would have something nice to bury themselves in, but so far it seems they haven't realized they can do this. I was relying on them to play in it to keep it stirred up so no gases form. If they decide sand is not for them (for whatever weird reason) how often will I have to stir up the sand myself? Any other sand tips?

Thanks for any help. I may have had a tank for a few years, but I think I'm definitely still a newb. Heh.

I have sand in all my tanks and what I do when I do my weekly water changes is this. I use a gravel vac but I take the tube off and just use the hose. I then hover over the sand and get all the poo and food up. Once I have this done I shift through the sand with my fingers stirring it up. Then not only keeps the gases out but it also brings up any food or poo that has been shifted down by the fish. I then use the tube one more time to pick up anything that surfaced when I stirred the sand up.

 

[vantica]

Mojo Dojo: Mine are only about 3.5", so they seem to be growing pretty slowly after two years. But then again, I don't really remember how big they were before then! They are definitely fun, but mine are not nearly as active as my boyfriend's......I think I keep the tank too warm for them. Still within acceptable range, but I think they would appreciate it cooler. My platys might not agree though.

If I don't add any more loaches, do you think adding some corys would be ok?? And if no more bottom dwellers, what else do you think I could add?

The sand feels like.....sand. I bought actual aquarium stuff because I was there and it was an impulse buy. I really hope it's not too rough since I was specifically thinking of them when I got it.

I hadn't heard of a mini cycle before.....now I'm a bit worried. I figured after a few days of everything being all right and the water clearing up that everything was ok. I guess I should go ahead and just test the water then. How will I know if it's in a mini cycle?

While I did clean the sides and such well enough so there was no crud on it, I did keep about 25% of the original water. I should have kept more I bet. I did fill the rest up with tap water, and then added the conditioner, BUT the fish had been removed at this point. Added a bit of aquarium salt, and then ran the filter for a few hours to let things settle. Then I added the fish back in. I also made the mistake of cleaning the filter a bit too well I think, so the possibility of a mini cycle is likely good. Man....my poor fish.....hopefully they will be ok. My boyfriend has the water test stuff hidden away somewhere, so I will have to have him look for it tomorrow.

erk628: Thanks for the tips. I think I need to train my loaches to play in it so I don't have to do the sifting myself. Lol. Silly fish. How will the fish react to sifted sand?

 

[erk628]

Regardless if you fish shift through the sand or not you will still have to do it yourself. The fish will only shift through the very top layer. When you shift through it you need to go all the way to the bottom and just shift it up. I just act like I'm grabbing a handful and squeeze it and kind of bring it up. Basically bring the bottom layer to the top. O n my 75 gallon I can do the whole thing in about 30 secs. My 150 gallon is a different story I can't reach the very bottom even on a ladder so I have to stir it with something. You don't have to do it once a week thats just what I do one a month would probably be good. I have white sand in most my tanks and the top layer will start to turn brown thats why I stir mine up every week. Make sure you have your filters turned off when you do it and don't get stir crazy or you'll cloud the tank up. The fish don't mind it at all.

 

[GAB99]

basically a mini cycle is just a shorter and less potent cycle.

you might face one considering that you cleaned the filter(should only be cleaned if performance is reduced)
and that you 100% completedley changed the susbstrate and the fact that you are heavily stocked for the future (mistake, dojo loaches can reach 10" not 6")

if i were id definatley test the water just for a week and then your clear

actually the water holds little to no bacteria, so you could have done a 100% change and have no effect.


the tan might seem empty for now, but you have to consider adult size, if you only had the platys we could add cories and maybe a school of hatchet fish, but you are kinda stuck with the loaches and i wouldnt,with the new info, get another. if you could give the 2 a seperate tank by themselves then heres what i would put in the 20.


6 platys
6 marble hatchets
6 cories
2 pearl gouramis
and then you have room for about 4 more fish of either the hatchets,cories,or platies

 

[vantica]

erk628: One last question (at least for now...heh), will I need to remove all the plants and ornaments in order to shift the sand, or is it possible to just work around them?

mojo dojo: *sighs* As much as I like the loaches, I wish I had another home for them. Maybe one day I will be able to have multiple tanks. Lol. Mainly I feel bad that I can't really get them more buddies.

 

[erk628]

If the plants are real you want to leave them in because you don't want to disturb the roots. If there fake you might as well take them out cause there gonna get shifted anyways. As for the ornaments you'll want to take then out because food and poo can get inside and under then and gas pockets will form under then. I don't have any real plants in my tanks right now so when I do water changes I take everything out but the fish and the sand of course.

 

[vantica]

Tested my water when I got home.

Ammonia: .25 or so.....was hard to tell between .25 and .5.
Nitrate: 5ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
PH - Tested the lower range and it looks like I need to test in the higher....which I didn't do.

Just did a 30% water change, so I'll do some more testing tomorrow.

And no, I have silk plants only. One day I may get brave and try out real plants.....but not yet.