Which substrate and how much!

sharkweek178 said:

That's one of those jobs that I figure the more work you put in upfront, then the less you have to do later on. I put a lot of time into washing the sand in my tank. But it pays off when the sand in my tank gets disturbed for some reason. It settles immediately with no lingering cloudiness.

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Not scared of putting the work in, just wanted to make sure I was going to be doing it right as I’m guessing you clean each bucket until the water is clear?

Laurabhspt said:

I currently have chunks of wood in there, they were very dark when I first put them in and gave off a lot of tannins but that’s now settled with the water changes, and they love to sleep on it, in it, under it, also a couple of ornaments that double up as caves with lots of holes and spaces to hide. They are yo-yo loaches, and I built the wood up in such a way that the plecos would have a cave, but the loaches do love it just as much.

So yeah, any plants which look nice and also are less likely to be eaten by my yo-yo loaches that would also grow well in sand would be ideal. Thankyou so much!

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Wood sounds fine. And the Yo Yo loach is the species Botia almorhae, and the following excerpts from my online profile are relevant to our discussion.

All substrate-rooted plants will grow well in sand, so no problem there.

Laurabhspt said:

I’m guessing you clean each bucket until the water is clear?

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A slight cloudiness is OK, it's difficult to get it 100% clear.

Laurabhspt said:

Not scared of putting the work in, just wanted to make sure I was going to be doing it right as I’m guessing you clean each bucket until the water is clear?

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Essjay is right. It doesn't have to be completely clear.

I would defiantly get sand because loaches like to be at the bottom and get there whiskers in the substrate so the sand will help to prevent damaged whiskers. Just make sure to wash the sand really well it can be really dusty and cloud up your tank pretty quick. There are also many types and colors of sand so get one you like!

Essjay said:

A slight cloudiness is OK, it's difficult to get it 100% clear.

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So glad I’ve come back to re read this - as today is the day I’ve finally had the weather and time to wash this sand… my goodness it’s a tedious job but hopefully it means I can get my tank started tonight! I’m thinking a few days to come to temp?

You could always fill the tank with water near the target temperature, though if you have a hot water cylinder with a header tank in the attic that means using buckets to fill the tank and adding boiling water to each bucketful to adjust the temperature. However, if you have a combi boiler you can mix hot and cold tap water to get the temp right.
Then monitor the tank water temp with a thermometer which goes in the water (ie not a stick on the outside one) to make sure the heater is keeping the temp at the level you set the heater at. Many heaters are poorly calibrated and don't heat to the set temp, it could be colder or hotter. if it doesn't, turn the setting up or down till the water is what you want.

Essjay said:

You could always fill the tank with water near the target temperature, though if you have a hot water cylinder with a header tank in the attic that means using buckets to fill the tank and adding boiling water to each bucketful to adjust the temperature. However, if you have a combi boiler you can mix hot and cold tap water to get the temp right.
Then monitor the tank water temp with a thermometer which goes in the water (ie not a stick on the outside one) to make sure the heater is keeping the temp at the level you set the heater at. Many heaters are poorly calibrated and don't heat to the set temp, it could be colder or hotter. if it doesn't, turn the setting up or down till the water is what you want.

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I was planning on using multiple heaters as I have quite a few - is there a logic behind placement of multiple heaters? Near outflow/inlet pipes, air bubbles in front for example to circulate the heated water?

With large tanks, two heaters are usually recommended. There is a current thread discussing this

Colin_T said:

If you have an established aquarium with an established biological filter, you don't need to cycle the new tank. Just move the filter from the old tank and put it on/ in the new tank. Then add fish.

If you want to keep both tanks running, take half the filter media from the old filter and put it in the new filter on the new tank. Add fish and monitor ammonia ad nitrite levels for a couple of weeks. No need to cycle tanks if you already have an established one.

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I have a question about transferring over. I have been running my Ehiem external on the small tank for a couple months to get the bacteria going ready for transfer. I also have an internal uv small filter. If I move the external ok to the large tank and give it however long it needs for coming up to temp (I can’t use my tap water as it’s artificially softened and don’t want to kill the loaches) will the smaller tank be ok with just the uv filter for a day or so. Or would you just move everything (fish and filters) together once the water temp matches?

Are you closing the small tank? If you are, I would put the media from the small filter in the external, or move the whole filter, and move everything over - filters and fish - at the same time. Keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite until you are sure they stay at zero as you will lose some bacteria on the tank walls and any decor/substrate you are not moving over.
If you also add some live plants, that would help. I know you said your loaches ate your previous plants - did that include floating plants? If the loaches leave those alone, they are the best plants for removing ammonia as they can also get CO2 from the air so they grow fast.

Essjay said:

Are you closing the small tank? If you are, I would put the media from the small filter in the external, or move the whole filter, and move everything over - filters and fish - at the same time. Keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite until you are sure they stay at zero as you will lose some bacteria on the tank walls and any decor/substrate you are not moving over.
If you also add some live plants, that would help. I know you said your loaches ate your previous plants - did that include floating plants? If the loaches leave those alone, they are the best plants for removing ammonia as they can also get CO2 from the air so they grow fast.

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Dwarf Hygro (Hygrophila Polysperma) was the plant I had - and it was super fast growing it was almost a tank full of the stuff and then in a matter of weeks the loaches (4of them) ate the lot. I would love plants again, and I know someone recommended some that the loaches should leave alone, one of my concerns is quarantining them. Last time I bought anything plant based was some moss balls, I didn’t realise I needed to quarantine the plants or clean them and my tank ended up with white spot. So I’m scared to do things wrong again the other issue I can potentially see with plants is giving the swordtail fry places to hide - I am over ran with swordtails, and since not having plants the population seems a little slower growing as I’m guessing the fry get eaten quite quickly. I know this sounds awful but all my local fish shops refuse to take live bearers and I can’t shift them. I already have a major overstock issue so anything that helps keep that under control is a bonus.

As for closing the other tank down I currently have a makeshift tank running where I split the swordtails out to try and reduce the overstock, so my plan was to keep the smaller tank running to get the other sword group out of the makeshift tank. Honestly my fish/tank situation is crazy right now. Esp given that I only inherited this tank in august last year and now I have two tanks running and a huge aquarium I’m trying to set up… this forum has been so helpful!

If you ever want to try plants again, look at vitro plants. These do not have any algae, snails/snail eggs or any fish diseases as they are grown by tissue culture in sterile environments. There are a few on-line shops selling in vitro plants.

Essjay said:

If you ever want to try plants again, look at vitro plants. These do not have any algae, snails/snail eggs or any fish diseases as they are grown by tissue culture in sterile environments. There are a few on-line shops selling in vitro plants.

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Thankyou! I didn’t know this

Essjay said:

A slight cloudiness is OK, it's difficult to get it 100% clear.

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In my buckets I got the water really quite clear on the sand…. Now I’m filling the tank up it’s not clear at all and it’s not settling either…!? Will the filters help once they are on or should I stop filling and remove the water? Thanks in advance!