A 40 Gallon Journey

[thereverendturtle]

Looking awesome. As for the quarantine, you would need a mature filter and a heater. Some hiding places that can be easily sterilized, clay pots or pvc pipe works well, would be the only decor needed. Really I only quarantine if the fish look questionable. I always have a 10 gallon with some red eye tetras running that I use, as they seem very resistant to everything. I've never heard of any problems with Wetspot, I'll be ordering some Betta's from him soon. If I'm not mistaken, magpie on here buys from them. You could always ask her...

 

[Crazybob]

Quick update for everyone. Just ordered the hoplos from wetspot this afternoon. They were very nice to work with and said they could get them out today. They should arrive tomo morning at work. If I am able to I may take them home during lunch, however they offered to pack them knowing they may be boxed until 530.

 

[thereverendturtle]

Awesome. Can't wait to see them all.

 

[Crazybob]

Thanks Reverend,

The cats all seem to be doing great, they are a lot of fun to watch. I'm very happy that I changed to the sand substrate, they love it. And its fun watching the rooster tails when they fly from one end to the other. I'll try to get some pictures up this weekend.

I did notice last night that one of the tetras fins (particularly tail and stomach (don't know proper names)) seems to be nipped quite a lot. I can't say for certain if it was the blue acara or from the rest of the tetras, or both. Should I remove him and get him to a hospital tank until he heals up? my concern is that he'll get bullied when he's back in, or the next lowest on the totem pole will start getting nipped. Another thought I had was to add more tetras? Not sure that that is a good long term solution.

Shouold I try to create more hiding places? As you can see the tank is open (no real caves as such). I have a 10 gallon with some crypts in it that I could transfer to the front of the tank (I need to do a massive rescape of that anyway).

 

[Crazybob]

Also, I have a powerhead that I used to use on my old 75g with an UGF. Would the fish enjoy the extra water movement? I would probably put it so it give side to side flow. My filter is an Aquaclear70 which claims to put out 300 gph (My philosophy with filters is to buy the model rated at the next highest tank size)

 

[thereverendturtle]

Adding more tetras, would probably help. If its just a nip here and there, I wouldn't worry too much.
As for the powerhead, I use them in all my tanks. The fish seem to enjoy the extra current. Try it out, if your fish look like they're straggling, you can always remove it.

 

[Crazybob]

As promised here are some images of my Hoplo Catfish. I am really enjoying them, they are very full of life.

In the bag after ~20 hours:

Bucket shot

Tank shot 1

Tank shot 2

And a close up of one

Thanks for looking

 

[minnnt]

Nice. I like Hoplo Cats. Never had them though.

 

[Crazybob]

Thought I would stop in for a quick update. I have ordered a Marineland C-220 canister filter for the tank (as it doesn't look like my aquaclear is going to last a lot longer ) which should arrive tomo! Everyone is doing well and getting bigger, however I put in a powerhead a few weeks back and over night one of the cats got stuck and was lost I have not put the powerhead back in and don't plan to until everyone is much larger.

Aside from that all the fish are healthy, eating well, and generally seem to be enjoying their tank. The plants appear to be done "molting" and are growing back pretty strong, the amazons look good and the Java has attached to the wood. The Java Moss I have looks just about the same as day 1.

thanks for stopping in!
Crazy

 

[Liam2368]

Love the hoplos. They are great, friendly giants. Eventually look like a fat cigar.

 

[Crazybob]

Hey all,

Just poking my head in for a second. Everyone is doing well and starting to get big. All the fish are getting along fairly well and the plants have almost completely shed their original leaves to make room for the young growth. I have however noticed, aside from the hoplos, everyone seems pretty content to just hang out on the right side of the tank and really only swim around a lot during feeding. Has anyone else experienced this? I would like to try to get them to be a little more active if possible.

Thanks for stopping in!