LittleLilian
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- Aug 12, 2012
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Hi there-
I inherited a 60 ltr stocked and planted tank about 3 weeks ago from a friend who didn't have enough time anymore to care for a tank, I have some fish experience but not very much with planted tanks, and I'm just not experienced enough to be sure whether this tank is too small for the current occupants. I have concerns about the amount/type/compatibility of the fish, I'm suspicious that the tank is overstocked and a bigger tank is required. The tank parameters seem to be stable and healthy at the moment, however. I'm feeding them a combination of algae wafers, catfish pellets and flake food. Do I need to add a cichlid specific flake or pellet?
Here are the current residents:
1 pleco (not sure what species, dark speckled brown)
2 yoyo loaches (juveniles, they are still quite small)
1 bronze cory
1 peppered cory
2 sterbai corys (who were spawning all day yesterday, but unfortunately the other fish have consumed the eggs almost immediately after they were laid! Nor do I have a second tank to raise little corys.....)
3 orange chromide cichlids (juveniles, about 4-4.5cm in length)
1 white tipped tetra
4 black phantom tetras (I believe 2 of these are female babies, they are about 2.5-3 cm in length, and have pink/red in their fins and body. The other two appear to be fully grown and have no red/pink)
Here are my main concerns:
As mentioned, the tank is currently planted with a gravel substrate, I plan to change this to sand for the cory's and loaches sake, as this is the natural environment for them and also one of the corys keeps getting a white spot on it's nose where its scraping it against the gravel. It is currently planted with Tetraplant Complete Substrate, my plan is to replace this when I replace the gravel with sand. How long will the substrate last, does it need to be replaced on a regular basis as well as fertilised regularly?
Is sand ok for the other residents?
There appears to be no aggression between the loaches and the other tank residents, but could this change as they continue to grow (I've had bad experiences with zebra loaches being very aggressive in the past)? I've read they can grow up to 6 inches, and also require quite a lot of floor space to stretch their fins, and potentially need more mates!
The orange chromide cichlids are still young, and I've read they can grow up to 3.5 inches, They also prefer brackish waters which have not been provided up until now. I've read that they will do well in a freshwater setting, as long as the water quality is maintained impeccably. Any advice on this?
So, in summary, what size tank would be suitable for these fish? Currently it is a very happy tank, the corys, loaches, and cichlids hang about together and really seem to follow eachother around the tank. The tetras seem to hang about in the plants and their own corners of the tank, which I believe is normal behaviour (they are a bit territorial, correct?)
Anyway, any help/assistance you can give would be very much appreciated!
Thanks so much!
I inherited a 60 ltr stocked and planted tank about 3 weeks ago from a friend who didn't have enough time anymore to care for a tank, I have some fish experience but not very much with planted tanks, and I'm just not experienced enough to be sure whether this tank is too small for the current occupants. I have concerns about the amount/type/compatibility of the fish, I'm suspicious that the tank is overstocked and a bigger tank is required. The tank parameters seem to be stable and healthy at the moment, however. I'm feeding them a combination of algae wafers, catfish pellets and flake food. Do I need to add a cichlid specific flake or pellet?
Here are the current residents:
1 pleco (not sure what species, dark speckled brown)
2 yoyo loaches (juveniles, they are still quite small)
1 bronze cory
1 peppered cory
2 sterbai corys (who were spawning all day yesterday, but unfortunately the other fish have consumed the eggs almost immediately after they were laid! Nor do I have a second tank to raise little corys.....)
3 orange chromide cichlids (juveniles, about 4-4.5cm in length)
1 white tipped tetra
4 black phantom tetras (I believe 2 of these are female babies, they are about 2.5-3 cm in length, and have pink/red in their fins and body. The other two appear to be fully grown and have no red/pink)
Here are my main concerns:
As mentioned, the tank is currently planted with a gravel substrate, I plan to change this to sand for the cory's and loaches sake, as this is the natural environment for them and also one of the corys keeps getting a white spot on it's nose where its scraping it against the gravel. It is currently planted with Tetraplant Complete Substrate, my plan is to replace this when I replace the gravel with sand. How long will the substrate last, does it need to be replaced on a regular basis as well as fertilised regularly?
Is sand ok for the other residents?
There appears to be no aggression between the loaches and the other tank residents, but could this change as they continue to grow (I've had bad experiences with zebra loaches being very aggressive in the past)? I've read they can grow up to 6 inches, and also require quite a lot of floor space to stretch their fins, and potentially need more mates!
The orange chromide cichlids are still young, and I've read they can grow up to 3.5 inches, They also prefer brackish waters which have not been provided up until now. I've read that they will do well in a freshwater setting, as long as the water quality is maintained impeccably. Any advice on this?
So, in summary, what size tank would be suitable for these fish? Currently it is a very happy tank, the corys, loaches, and cichlids hang about together and really seem to follow eachother around the tank. The tetras seem to hang about in the plants and their own corners of the tank, which I believe is normal behaviour (they are a bit territorial, correct?)
Anyway, any help/assistance you can give would be very much appreciated!
Thanks so much!
