Upgrading to 112l

Hi all

I currently have a 20l tank which I'm going to upgrade to 112l as soon as the new tank arrives. At the moment I only have 3 corys, I didn't realise until I sought advice on here that I had overstocked my tank as I also had 3 ADF's and some snails, but have lost them all.

Plans are to stabilise the 3 corys in the new tank then hopefully find some more of the same species as my 3 stick together like glue so I think they'd benefit from having some friends. I'm going to add some easy to care for plants (java ferns/moss/elodea densa) once I have the new tank.

In an ideal world I'd like to add more (ADF's, snails, maybe a betta and some other shoaling fish) but have lost some confidence after making some basic mistakes, so I'm not in any rush to do anything. Priority is for these guys to be happy.

I've added some pics of the current set up as a baseline, you can't really see the corys as they're very shy! Also I'm now aware they shouldn't have gravel substrate, I have sand for the new tank but am not going to put them through the stress of removing the gravel now as they'll only be in this tank for a couple of weeks.

This sounds excellent! Everyones first tank is always a tough start and a bit of a shock to the system so take what you've learned so far and put it into the new tank - which choosing sand as the new substrate is an example of

Looking forward to seeing the new tank!

Thanks, ironically I thought I'd been doing well as my first aquatic pets were three ADF's that lived for 5-7 years! I added the corys when I lost 2 ADF's, then when I lost the remaining ADF I bought the snails and 3 more ADF's and that's where the problems started. Lesson definitely learned. Am excited to do a bit of aquascaping!

Are you keeping the 20l.
ADFs and fish are really best kept separately.

seangee said:

Are you keeping the 20l.
ADFs and fish are really best kept separately.

Click to expand...

I don't really have space for two tanks, and my house weirdly doesn't have many electrical sockets so I realistically can't have two on the go at once. I never had any issues with my ADF's and fish, I would always make sure the ADF's ate separately. I did check what tankmates could be compatible before purchasing the corys a few years ago. I'm not dead set on anything at this stage however so I'll bear this in mind if I do think of adding anything else as I don't want to cause problems for myself!

Lcc86 said:

Thanks, ironically I thought I'd been doing well as my first aquatic pets were three ADF's that lived for 5-7 years! I added the corys when I lost 2 ADF's, then when I lost the remaining ADF I bought the snails and 3 more ADF's and that's where the problems started. Lesson definitely learned. Am excited to do a bit of aquascaping!

Click to expand...

Ah sorry that probably sounded really condescending since you've been going so long! 5-7 years is a real achievement for any aquatic pet!

Bigger tanks are nice for scaping - I'm really enjoying MD Fishtanks on Youtube at the moment (though his substrate systems are a little complex for me).

Wills

No problem, I still count myself as very much a novice! Unfortunately haven't been able to replicate the same success as I did with my original ADF's but I think I know now that it was because of overstocking so hopefully whatever I do in the new tank that won't be an issue.

A 112l (29g) tank will allow you to have a decent sized group of cories, something they need. I would aim for 10-12, nothing less. You canhave the same species or a mix, but if the latter it is best to try and have a few of each species. This does seem to mak a difference occasionally.

Another crucial thing is a soft inert sand substrate. Cories must have this, and if you don't want the expense of some of the aquarium sands, Argos Play Sand (available in the UK) is good, other members use this.

I agree not to have ADF in with cories and other fish. I realize it may have seeemed to work for you, but it is a real risk. And if you enlarge the group of cories, they will be very adapt at preventing the frogs from eating. There is also a health concern over fish medications, should this ver become necessary (let's hope not). And cories do like upper level fish, it settles them, and the upper fish may well nip frogs.

Byron said:

A 112l (29g) tank will allow you to have a decent sized group of cories, something they need. I would aim for 10-12, nothing less. You canhave the same species or a mix, but if the latter it is best to try and have a few of each species. This does seem to mak a difference occasionally.

Another crucial thing is a soft inert sand substrate. Cories must have this, and if you don't want the expense of some of the aquarium sands, Argos Play Sand (available in the UK) is good, other members use this.

I agree not to have ADF in with cories and other fish. I realize it may have seeemed to work for you, but it is a real risk. And if you enlarge the group of cories, they will be very adapt at preventing the frogs from eating. There is also a health concern over fish medications, should this ver become necessary (let's hope not). And cories do like upper level fish, it settles them, and the upper fish may well nip frogs.

Click to expand...

Thanks Byron, I wasn't aware I could potentially have such a large group of corys, I was thinking of 6 but I may aim for a few more as I know they prefer being in a larger group. My three are very skittish and I think that's partly due to being in a small group. I was in my local store the other day and they didn't have any corys so that may be a problem if it continues.

I've already got some aquarium sand ready and waiting to go in, it wasn't too pricey in my local shop.

I'll definitely reconsider the ADFs, I think I have a soft spot for them as my first aquatic pets but got to do what's best for the good of the entire tank if I do add more of anything.

Set up my new stand yesterday, it's from AquaOne and designed to take a 130l tank so should be more than sufficient for mine (when it arrives). Door hinges need tweaking but I was pretty over it after about 4 hours of work so I just left it last night!

Have been doing 20-30% daily water changes while I wait for the new tank, my cories seem happy but don't want to jinx it after killing everything else off.

Will be ordering some plants tomorrow (nothing exciting - java ferns and moss, elodea densa) to hopefully coincide with the arrival of the new tank. Got these little marimo moss balls in there atm which I plan on keeping too.

A question about substrate, I know gravel isn't suitable for my corys and I have sand ready for the new aquarium but I was reading earlier today that substrate contains beneficial bacteria, so I was unsure whether I should transfer some of it temporarily over to the new tank?

Lcc86 said:

A question about substrate, I know gravel isn't suitable for my corys and I have sand ready for the new aquarium but I was reading earlier today that substrate contains beneficial bacteria, so I was unsure whether I should transfer some of it temporarily over to the new tank?

Click to expand...

No. Mixing different substrates is never a good idea. The various bacteria that will live in the substrate will colonize it just as the nitrifying bacteria colonize the filter.

Byron said:

No. Mixing different substrates is never a good idea. The various bacteria that will live in the substrate will colonize it just as the nitrifying bacteria colonize the filter.

Click to expand...

Okay thank you for clarifying! Will be swapping filter and some decor so bacteria should transfer over with those.

New aquarium arrived yesterday, so this morning I washed all the sand before putting it in. I've planted my new plants in here along with some root tabs, we have java fern, java moss (just going to let that float), and aponogeton crispus bulbs in the back. Waiting for some elodea densa to arrive as well. It all looks quite bare at the moment compared to the old one!

Put a couple of new items of decor in - I foolishly let my nieces pick something from our local store so that's why I have the skull perhaps not my first choice but it should provide a lot of hiding places.

Plan is to add more water in tomorrow morning plus move the filter over from the current tank, and then add the fish a few days later along with more of the current decor and another plant that's in the current tank.

I've moved the cories in to the new tank (can't see them in this pic but they're definitely in there!). I can see some more of their natural behaviours and appreciate them a bit more in this tank, wish I'd upgraded sooner!

I transferred over most of the water from the old tank along with the filter and media, at the moment I'm doing daily water changes and adding a little more each day which is why we're only half full! Little way to go yet. Also checking parameters daily and all good so far.

Plan is to get some kind of background, maybe even just a large bit of laminated paper I can cut and stick to the back as the wires are ugly and they're also right by a window. When I get a bit more confident I'd like to add some more plants as it still looks very empty.

Once I'm happy with everything I'm hoping to add some more cories soon so that they can finally be a proper little shoal. Am probably being a bit more cautious than necessary but I don't want to rush anything and end up with any more accidents.