Alright, the local pet shop is having a sale on it's large tanks. They have a 60 gal tank with a stand for around 290$ CAN (Which is reasonable, considering I bought a 20 gal with stand for 100$ (CAN) a year ago from them.)
Anyways, I'm pretty excited about getting it (Though not so much about telling my dad he'll have to help me get it into the house - remind me I should find the time to make some perogies as a bribe lol).
So my current tank (Just taken down due to persistent parasites)was 30 gal. I didn't enjoy having to do a 45-60 L water change weekly (Which is around 30 %) So I was sort hoping that between over filtering this tank and keeping it rather under stocked that I could get away with dong a water change every two weeks (Or go longer if possible, but I won't get my hopes up for no reason.) I don't mind doing a weekly cleaning the glass and topping up the water, I just don't want to have to spend every Friday night doing a 90 L water change (Or 6 trips with my 15 L bucket)...
So if anyone with a larger tank can tell me about their water change schedule and relative tank stock I would appreciate it.
Furthermore; the stock! I Have vague ideas on what I could want in this tank. I'm into the 2 or 3 larger centre piece fish, then an assortment of smaller background fish.
I was thinking some species of Gourami, or possibly Angels would make a nice centre piece fish. But I've heard that both species can be aggressive? The largest fish I ever had in my tank was a Pearl Gourami whom I loved.
As far as schooling fish I'm pretty well open to suggestions. I've thought about Cardinals or Neons, but if I were to get Angels I've heard they will eat smaller fish... I've also thought of Cherry barbs, but I hear they could get nippy if their stressed.
Then I was hoping to get some live bearers (They were the first fish I kept in the hobby and I'm still very partial to Platys and Guppies) I'm not worried about over population, My philosophy is let nature take it's course. And if my fish don't do a good enough crowd control there is a shop within driving distance that will take the fry.
As for bottom feeders I absolutely love Panda Corys, I've had a group almost as long as my 30 gal was running. I was thinking a group of 6-8 would be a good base for a tank this size. (I know more is always better, and this is one species I would love to try and breed.)
And 1 or 2 BNP, again a fish I'm partial to because I've had them in the past. I'd probably go for Albino and either Calico or Super-Red variant as their called in my area.
SOOO
Really what I'm trying to say is I need help choosing centre piece fish and schooling fish, booth species, gender ratio and total number.
And that I don't want to have to do weekly water changes, bi-weekly would work better with a weekly cleaning and water top up if required.
Just a quick background,
- The tank I'm looking has dimensions 48L x 12W x 24H.
- Unfortunately my pH is 7.8 from the tap and after settling for 24 hours it goes to 8.0 - 8.2. I know this is a high pH for most fish, but with a long enough acclimation I find that most fish get used to it. (It's tough because my local pet shops are on city water what is 7.4, in the past I have set up my 15 lt bucket and let them drip acclimate from the tank for a full 12 hours.) I may try adding peat granules to one of the compartments in my filter, but I'm worried this will just turn the water brown and not affect the pH, as my water is also very alkaline (it has an amazing buffering capacity which makes me want to pull my hair out in frustration.) - I hope I used all those terms correctly lol, it's been a while since I used any of them.
- I have a Fluval 306 filter which is rated for 70 gal, I also have an internal filter that can handle 30 gal so over filtering is not a problem (Though I absolutely hate the internal, it is such a hassle to clean and in the process of trying I usually end up getting the whole tank filthy)
Anyways, I'm pretty excited about getting it (Though not so much about telling my dad he'll have to help me get it into the house - remind me I should find the time to make some perogies as a bribe lol).
So my current tank (Just taken down due to persistent parasites)was 30 gal. I didn't enjoy having to do a 45-60 L water change weekly (Which is around 30 %) So I was sort hoping that between over filtering this tank and keeping it rather under stocked that I could get away with dong a water change every two weeks (Or go longer if possible, but I won't get my hopes up for no reason.) I don't mind doing a weekly cleaning the glass and topping up the water, I just don't want to have to spend every Friday night doing a 90 L water change (Or 6 trips with my 15 L bucket)...
So if anyone with a larger tank can tell me about their water change schedule and relative tank stock I would appreciate it.
Furthermore; the stock! I Have vague ideas on what I could want in this tank. I'm into the 2 or 3 larger centre piece fish, then an assortment of smaller background fish.
I was thinking some species of Gourami, or possibly Angels would make a nice centre piece fish. But I've heard that both species can be aggressive? The largest fish I ever had in my tank was a Pearl Gourami whom I loved.
As far as schooling fish I'm pretty well open to suggestions. I've thought about Cardinals or Neons, but if I were to get Angels I've heard they will eat smaller fish... I've also thought of Cherry barbs, but I hear they could get nippy if their stressed.
Then I was hoping to get some live bearers (They were the first fish I kept in the hobby and I'm still very partial to Platys and Guppies) I'm not worried about over population, My philosophy is let nature take it's course. And if my fish don't do a good enough crowd control there is a shop within driving distance that will take the fry.
As for bottom feeders I absolutely love Panda Corys, I've had a group almost as long as my 30 gal was running. I was thinking a group of 6-8 would be a good base for a tank this size. (I know more is always better, and this is one species I would love to try and breed.)
And 1 or 2 BNP, again a fish I'm partial to because I've had them in the past. I'd probably go for Albino and either Calico or Super-Red variant as their called in my area.
SOOO
Really what I'm trying to say is I need help choosing centre piece fish and schooling fish, booth species, gender ratio and total number.
And that I don't want to have to do weekly water changes, bi-weekly would work better with a weekly cleaning and water top up if required.
Just a quick background,
- The tank I'm looking has dimensions 48L x 12W x 24H.
- Unfortunately my pH is 7.8 from the tap and after settling for 24 hours it goes to 8.0 - 8.2. I know this is a high pH for most fish, but with a long enough acclimation I find that most fish get used to it. (It's tough because my local pet shops are on city water what is 7.4, in the past I have set up my 15 lt bucket and let them drip acclimate from the tank for a full 12 hours.) I may try adding peat granules to one of the compartments in my filter, but I'm worried this will just turn the water brown and not affect the pH, as my water is also very alkaline (it has an amazing buffering capacity which makes me want to pull my hair out in frustration.) - I hope I used all those terms correctly lol, it's been a while since I used any of them.
- I have a Fluval 306 filter which is rated for 70 gal, I also have an internal filter that can handle 30 gal so over filtering is not a problem (Though I absolutely hate the internal, it is such a hassle to clean and in the process of trying I usually end up getting the whole tank filthy)
I really suggest you look into that. Also, you probably know this, but make sure to cycle your tank before adding fish or you're looking at a loooot of water changes during this time.
/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147172&lmdn=Brand&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInCA%2FNo
