My Tank (soon To Be Changed Around)

[Ian H]

Started about 6 months ago, was a bit naughty/stupid and didnt let my tank cycle (left it about 3 days before adding fish ) lost a few but still have a good few of the originals left!!

anyways now im a bit smarter with them and try to look after them best i can (although it may be over stocked?)

not sure how many gallons it holds, its 36"(L) x 12"(D) x 18"(H) been told 22g but im not sure on this? Heres a pic of it from the other day:

its a bit of a mess at the moment with the plant (java fern?) growing stupidly fast and breaking off everywhere! i plan on changing to sand and changing it around a bit plus adding a few more plants.

in there currently is:

1 brissle nose plec (approx 4")
1 common plec (only a baby at about 1.5")
1 clown loach
5 neon tetras
4 glow light tetras
2 corys
2 platties

plus these two:

but im not sure of what they are? look amazing though. If its not overstocked then i want to get some khuli loaches when the sand goes in and maybe another cory or two?

 

[stang1]

Your tank works out at about 34 gallons.
The first fish is a Blue/German Ram and it looks like a male.
Your second fish looks like an Apistogramma Cacatuoides (Dwarf Cockatoo Cichlid) and is also a male.
Your tank looks nice although not keen on the skull I'm afraid.
The Common Pleco can reach up to 18" and needs to be in a 5ft+.
The Clown Loach can also reach 12", needs to be kept in groups of 3+ and needs a 75 Gallon tank+.
Both of these fish ideally need to be rehomed as they will get too big for the tank.
If you rehomed the fish then that means you can have room for a couple of more fish.
Cories prefer to be in groups of about 5-6 so it might be worth adding more of these.

 

[Ian H]

thanks for the reply

are the Dwarf Cockatoo Cichlids meat eaters by any chance? since it seems to spit out normal flakes?

yeah i know the common plec can grow to silly sizes, i'm planning on upgrading the tank next year so he should be fine, if not i know some one with a massive tank (7ft i think) so he could go there if needs be. There used to be 4 clown loaches but 3 died (he kept attacking two! the other died from getting trapped )

He's been on his own for a couple of months and seems fine? Is there a reason they need to be in groups of 3?

TBH i'm not too keen on the skull either, but my gf wanted it so thought i would be nice

As it is at the moment would it be ok to get say 3 more corys and some khuli loaches?

 

[stang1]

Clown Loaches are very shy when kept on their own but in a group they become more active and playful.
With your current stocking, I wouldn't add anything else as it will become overstocked.
The general guildline is 1" per gallon and this is based on their adult size, not current size.
As it stands, your stocking level is about 68", which is too much for that size tank. By rehoming the Pleco and Clown Loach, your stock will then be about 32". By adding 4 more Cories, that will take your stocking level up to about 40", which is pretty much the maximum.
I feed my pair of Dwarf Cockatoo Cichlids flake 4-5 times a week and bloodworm once a week. I then have one day a week where I don't feed them at all. Bloodworm is quite high in protein and can cause the fish to become bloated so only feed them it once or twice a week.

 

[Ian H]

Bloodworm is quite high in protein and can cause the fish to become bloated so only feed them it once or twice a week.

my LFS told me to feed them bloodworm daily! what about the clown loach? will he not starve?

 

[stang1]

Some lfs don't give the best advice unfortunately.
Next time your out, pick up some catfish pellets for the Clown Loaches as they do enjoy these. They do prefer a more meaty diet so feeding them bloodworm on a regular basis will do no harm but also try feeding them flake and pellets.

 

[Ian H]

I tried feeding them normal flakes and they just didnt care i'll get some pellets too though

 

[Ian H]

ok bit of an update

platties have gone to a friends tank, got 2 more corys (covered in dots and have lines on their tail? will get pics later) also got 5 more neon tetras and 5 black neon tetras. Had a general tidy up of the tank got about 6 new plants from the java fern so thats looking tidy, also got a few more plants so the one corner makes an excellent hiding spot for the fishies

no pictures yet due to loosing my camera but will hopfully have some soon

thinking of getting even more plants in there and maybe some riccia carpet going on

still got the plec and clown loach, can;t find anyone who can keep them in a decent place oh well they will be ok in there for the time being!

 

[Ian H]

ok got my camera so got some pics:

the tank as it stands now:

MUCH better i think

unkown cory:

one of 6 new shrimps:

the shrimps are awesome to watch swimming around and eating. Just got some riccia of ebay too so i plan on having a carpet in the right and corner and maybe do something in the left hand corner (in front of the filter not under it)

I've been looking at the nutrafin co2 kits, will i need one? i've already read the sticky on here about how you can use sugar and yeast but im not sure if my plants will need it?

 

[paul_219]

Nice fish tank.

 

[Ian H]

Thanks

got some more bogwood (maybe the other type?) in there too and moved it around a tiny bit, oh and added some more plants (amazon swords?)

quite happy with it at the moment

oh and ordered a nutrafin co2 kit and some riccia 8)

 

[Heather.]

Looks good.. Like the different colours of plants.. x

 

[starrynightxxi]

your cories look like trilineatus (three lined cory) to me, but you'll get a definate ID at the catfish forum

 

[Ian H]

Thanks guys

i made a very stupid mistake of buying some fish at pets at home the other day

now those fish have white spot and no doubt my other fish will get it too luckily i think i caught it quite early on! only reason i got them was because everywhere else was shut and im impatient

 

[1234-fishy-freind]

If you treat the whitespot with some sort of med it will most likely contain some sort of metal like copper and that will kill your shrimp....
Also one of your plants appears to be non aquatic even though it is sold as aquatic, the tall pale green one, second from the right....