Planting A Tin Foil Barb Tank

[CageUK]

Hi

Following my recent dramas in Tropical fish emergencies (Fish Dying In Cycling Tank) I have bought another tank.

This tank is a Juwel Vision 180 and is 92cm x 40cm x 50cm. It is stocked with:

3 x 6" Tin Foil Barbs
2 x 3 1/2" Clown loachs
2 x Pimellodelus Pictus Catfish
1 x 4" Flying fox

I know that the tank is really a bit small for the Tin Foils and in all honesty it will not be too long before we will try to trade them in at one of our lfs' but realise we won't get much back on them due to their size. On the other hand I'm not sure if the barbs will continue to outgrow the tank or whether they grow to suit their surroundings.

I know I won't be able to hang on to the loaches for too long either.

I understand that Tin Foils are prolific plant eaters which may explain why there is no live plant in the tank.
Having tested the water I've found that the nitrates are a tad high at 40ppm and wanted to find a natural way of reducing it and to improve the look of the tank.

Anyway, to my questions.

Could anyone suggest a hardy plant(s) that would be capable of withstanding the onslaught of 3 large Tinfoils and may help me out with my nitrates?

Also, we want to add a few more fish to the tank and just wondered what sort of size I could get away with? The barbs are pretty docile but they would see smaller fish as food so I will avoid tetras but wondered if anything platy size would be ok?
With the Pictus in there should I avoid anything with long fins?

Cheers

 

[nmonks]

Greetings. The 180 litre tank is ridiculously small for tinfoils, so I wouldn't really plan it around them. They get to, way, 30 cm long? Yes, they grow no matter what. I've seen plenty of adults wedged into tanks barely big enough for them to turn around in!

The same holds true for clown loaches, albeit to a lesser extent. While they don't usually get to full size in home aquaria, around 20 cm being normal, that's still a lot of fish for a 180 litre tank. True, they often grow slowly, but that varies so you can't bank on it.

Your nitrates are fine. With fish that size and a tank this small, no plant growth is ever going to reduce the nitrate to a worthwhile degree. Plants robust enough to survive with herbivorous fish tend to be very slow growing (Anubias, Java fern, etc.). Your best bet is simply to perform regular water changes such that the nitrates don't exceed 50 mg/l.

Your tank is a great size for medium-sized fish. I'd be looking at swordtails, gouramis, Corydoras, Ancistrus, angelfish, and so on. Pim pictus usually don't nip fins; what they do is eat small fish outright. Among catfish, it's really only Synodontis (as far as I know) that have a reputation for being fin-nippers. Anyway, you can't possibly add any more fish until you devise a plan to rehome the fish you have. Within a year or two, the tinfoils especially are going to be huge.

Cheers, Neale

 

[CageUK]

Yes I knew I would have to trade the Tin Foils in at some stage. I inherited them along with the tank yesterday and they wouldn't be my choice of fish.

I'll keep my eye on the loaches and think about trading them in as they grow.

I'll equally be keeping a close watch on the nitrates.

Many thanks for your advice

 

[CFC]

I would advise getting rid of the of the tinfoils as soon as you possibly can, they were truely the worst fish i have ever kept. So great was their constant hunger for food that one ripped the gill cover from one of my large catfish in an attempt to get at the large mussel the catfish had in its mouth. That was the final straw with them but before that happened i found i was having to feed 3 times as much food as i wanted to just to try and get some food passed the tinfoils so the other fish could eat, and even had to use a tube to drop food down so that it got to the bottom before they could eat it all. They really are aquatic garbage disposals and will eat everything and anything.

 

[pauly]

Hi CageUK.

I'm sorry I can't offer you any advice, but I've just bought the same tank and am thinking about how to stock it (I thought it was huge, yet everyone referes to it as a small tank!!). Is there any chance you could post a photo of your tank to give me some ideas?

Cheers,

Paul.

 

[CageUK]

Hi Pauly, no problem

As you may have read my setup is far from ideal and and if it was my choice I wouldn't have chosen those fish. The Loaches will be ok for a while but I will need to rehome them as some stage. The Tin Foils will have to go el-pronto. The Pictus and the flying fox will be ok but not with anything too small (neon tetras etc).

The plants you see are all plastic/silk but I'd like to get some live plant preferably some tall ones as everything is down on the floor at the moment so the tank looks a little bare (the backdrop is deceiving in the photos).

Cheers

 

[The-Wolf]

I have nothing to add except I found my tinfoils getting too big for my 54 x 18 x 30
and had to rehome them.

I think a great alternative to them is Barbus filamentosa and a school of 4-6 would be perfectly fine in a
vision 180 such as yours.

 

[pauly]

The tank looks good mate. I really like the tin foils, and if they stayed that size, they would be superb.

How much sand did you use to get that level in there? I've bought one bag but I don't think it'll be enough. I think it was 8kg for about £11 from Pets at Home.

I've just remembered you inherited the tank so you probably don't know

 

[CageUK]

The tank looks good mate. I really like the tin foils, and if they stayed that size, they would be superb.

How much sand did you use to get that level in there? I've bought one bag but I don't think it'll be enough. I think it was 8kg for about £11 from Pets at Home.

I've just remembered you inherited the tank so you probably don't know

Well whilst dismantling the tank for me to take it away he commented that he had 25 pounds of sand in there. I was half listening and to be honest I don't know if he was talking about weight or cost...I strongly suspect cost as he was justifying the purchase price.
Either way it sounds like about twice what you already have. I really love the way I can bury potted plants and completely cover the pots!

We liked the tin foils too but they were absolute gannets and we were concerned the other occupants were not getting their fair share. This is aside from the size issue!

Everyone will be happy to know that they are now gone. My lfs has taken them in to 're-house' them but did not want to buy them from me. I'm just happy that they will go to a more suitable home for them.

Spent the day re-stocking and re-planting the tank.

I'll upload a photo if anyone is interested.

Got a wonderful pair of long finned bristle nosed albino plecs (not sure of the correct name but it begins with 'A'). My lfs has assured me they only grow to 4-5 inches and are worth some money if they breed. I'll be asking i.d. questions about these once I've got photos.

Cheers

Mark