Steves Start Out Tank

[Steve GT]

Just started getting into this iv always wanted fish but never got round to it.

Heres my tank at the min

Current inhabitants at the min are

1x Orange Marble plectrum

2x Koi Angel fish

1x chinese algae eater (sucking roach)

2x peppered corydora's

2x Swordtails

and 2x White Mollies

Loving it at the min really worthwhile hobby.

Anyone reccomend how many fish i can keep in this. i dont want to overfill it and put the fish at risk but would like a good number in there.

My tanks a 125 litre tank 77cm x 40cm x 35cm. I know the plec will get pretty big and the angels will grow quite a bit too. with that in mind how many we thinking safely numbers wise with medium sized with to be added?

Thanks

steve

 

[minnnt]

Tank looks nice mate.

A bit of advice though...

Your Cories will need to be upped to around 5 or 6 and will prefer a sand substrate as they like to sift the top layer of sand for food.
Your Angels will out grow your tank pretty quickly and need a fair bit bigger tank. The second one isn't a Koi i don't believe as it appears to be showing more natural colouration. (It is very pretty!!)
The Sucking Loach will become fairly aggressive when older and may attack your other fish and will probably target the Angels as they have large flat sides which they lunge for.
And your Plecostomus looks to be a Gibbiceps and has the potential to reach 2ft... So will need a tank that is around 6ft!

Also... is there any reason your tank isn't full of water?!

 

[Steve GT]

Brill advice mate thanks a lot for it

we all have to learn sometime so the more advice the better.

So the best thing to do is get a few more cories first then have another tank with sand in it for them? Probably a much bigger tank that i can house the Plec and angels in them as there going to get a lot bigger

With the roach keep him in this tank away from the angels. will he be ok with the mollies and swordtails? maybe fill the gaps with a good number of tetra maybe?

Should the tank be completely full of water then? and wheres best to sit the filter on just under the surface of the water or a few inches underneath?

thanks for the great info too mate appreciated

 

[Malawi MaD]

If you do get a larger tank for your fish you could then use the 125L as a planted setup add sand more wood and plant the tank well etc.. and have a beautiful planted aquarium with some shoaling fish, tetra species etc.. would look nice.

 

[minnnt]

Full of water and then have the filters outlet about an inch below the surface to ripple the surface of the water so that it can transfer oxygen from the air to the water. This will keep it oxygenated for your fish so is a vital process.

As for the loach, i would rehome it. They look nice enough, but really are a nasty piece of work. Mine would easily push my old firemouth about and my old red finned shark wanted nothing to do with him as he was scared to death of it. The angels would ideally need a tank of around 48" long by 18" tall as they are a pretty tall fish when fully grown. Pea gravel substrate is better than some of the sharper gravel available, but they do prefer sand as this is natural to them.

I would also rehome the Plec ASAP as it just isn't suitable in a tank under 5-6ft imo.

 

[Tizer]

nice start mate, you are right, everyone starts somewhere, lots of tips and advice on here to help out.

can i suggest you sink the heater right down into the water, the thermostat for it is quite high up and it could overheat unless fully submersed.

I presume the filter is fully cycled?

 

[NewbeeSteve]

Good start mate

My koi Angel grew to 7 inches high 5 inches wide and was a squeeze in my 125l. My pleco also grew to 12" within a few years and although now re-homed to a 7ft tank is still on the rise! Also very destructive little sods, stripped my plants fairly quick.

May be worth adding real plants in the future but its up to you. If you need any help just ask we will be glad to help you out

 

[Steve GT]

If you do get a larger tank for your fish you could then use the 125L as a planted setup add sand more wood and plant the tank well etc.. and have a beautiful planted aquarium with some shoaling fish, tetra species etc.. would look nice.

Good idea i was thinking of getting a bigger tank for tropical then maybe getting a marine set up for this tank. but im liking tropical at the min dont really want to rush into marine till ive got a lot better with my knowledge of things

Full of water and then have the filters outlet about an inch below the surface to ripple the surface of the water so that it can transfer oxygen from the air to the water. This will keep it oxygenated for your fish so is a vital process.

As for the loach, i would rehome it. They look nice enough, but really are a nasty piece of work. Mine would easily push my old firemouth about and my old red finned shark wanted nothing to do with him as he was scared to death of it. The angels would ideally need a tank of around 48" long by 18" tall as they are a pretty tall fish when fully grown. Pea gravel substrate is better than some of the sharper gravel available, but they do prefer sand as this is natural to them.

I would also rehome the Plec ASAP as it just isn't suitable in a tank under 5-6ft imo.

Ok iv filled her up a bit. leaving it to settle etc then il add a bit more till its full. thanks for that mate weve also moved the filter up with the water so its rippling more now.
Iv got another smaller tank about 13" wide i could keep the loach in here. i know he's going to be a little git so il take him out my main tank and put him in a side tank. Is there anythink tropical i can put in there with him. just dont want him to be on his own. can someone think of anything wether fish shrimp etc that he wont go for?

nice start mate, you are right, everyone starts somewhere, lots of tips and advice on here to help out.

can i suggest you sink the heater right down into the water, the thermostat for it is quite high up and it could overheat unless fully submersed.

I presume the filter is fully cycled?

yes it is. and thanks for that weve moved the heater down a lot more now the bottom of its sat near the gravel and the tops a good 6 inches underwater now

Good start mate

My koi Angel grew to 7 inches high 5 inches wide and was a squeeze in my 125l. My pleco also grew to 12" within a few years and although now re-homed to a 7ft tank is still on the rise! Also very destructive little sods, stripped my plants fairly quick.

May be worth adding real plants in the future but its up to you. If you need any help just ask we will be glad to help you out

Thanks mate all help is appreciated. Were going to get a few plants today just little ones like reedy things to start with. Any pics of the angels never seen any at big size just fancied seeing what mine might turn into. Regarding the plec the guy who i bought it off said when it gets to about 7 inches long i can take it back for a smaller one and just keep doing it like that. As long as i take it back before it gets too big or he wont be able to sell it on

Cheers everyone your all massive help

 

[Greg_DS]

Pretty sure that's a colour variant of a Bulldog Pleco rather than the Gibbiceps, Bulldogs are far smaller and reach around 8 inches as far as I've read/heard.

 

[Steve GT]

Pretty sure that's a colour variant of a Bulldog Pleco rather than the Gibbiceps, Bulldogs are far smaller and reach around 8 inches as far as I've read/heard.

i hope its a bulldog then as i dont really want to get rid of him but really dont fancy him getting to 2ft long. anyone else know what type he is? i know this might be a sit it out and see how big he gets type of thing but id rather be safe than sorry lol

 

[Greg_DS]

Might be wrong, new to this myself

 

[Steve GT]

Might be wrong, new to this myself

yeh its a learning thing but you never know you could be right we'll see if any of the proper experienced guys know

 

[azzaknight]

if i was you seen as your new to all this, id take the plec, algae eater and angels back to the shop and ask them for a swap for some other fish. these fish will all outgrow your tank fairly quickly and the algae eater will get agressive. putting him in a smaler tank next to your current one wont help either as these fish get fairly large and will easily out grow your smaller tank. take your fish back and ask them for a swap for some easy to care for fish such as neon tetra, cardinal tetra, guppies, more corys, more mollies or platies etc. as these fish are all easy to care for.

just some tips to help you out, most of the staff at fish shops talk aload of c*** and miss sell you fish telling you they dont grow big, when actually they do as i have learnt from experience. just some (hopefully) helpful advice



Aaron.

 

[Steve GT]

very helpful mate thanks

im going to have to have a rethink about this then start a plan for a better future with this tank

appreciated matey