Advice Welcome

[Elaine2]

I am considering setting up a 6 X 2 ft or 7 X 2 ft tank later this year for plecs and corydoas and would welcome any thought or advice for doing this from those who have.

The tank will be sited on a solid, concrete floor, so the weight is not an issue. My thoughts are to build the support/base for he tank using breeze block pillars and a thick piece of MDF as this will easily take the weight and be cheap to do; this structure can then be boxed in to look like a cupboard.

I have one plec ready to move in (my male Common, currently housed in a 4.5 ft tank) and would like to have a large shoal of broze corydoras (I have a small shoal that can move and be added to).

If anyone has any comments on my ideas so far or advice on filters (my thoughts are an external one with a UV filter), other suitable plecs (except Bristlenoses as I already have a couple), and anything related to making water changes easier they would be welcome. Getting water out is not an issue, it's trundling down the stairs from the kitchen with the fresh buckets that takes time. Theoretically some kind of 'plumbed in' tank would be possible as the water comes into the house nearby, but that leaves the problem of heating it to the right temperature.

Thanks in advance

 

[smithrc]

I think this should be moved into the Hardware section for the time being

Filtration will depend on a number of things - mainly water capacity and stocking.

If you going to be stocking heavily then I'd go for twice the recommended filtration - eg if the tank is 500l - get the filters for 1000l (2x Tetratec ex1200 )

As for the buckets - put them in the shed and get the hose pipe out...
syphon out as normal (we use a hose into the garden)
Then turn the filters off and add the dechlorinator to the tank then fill from the hose
The temp in the tank will not drop too much (depends on the amount your changing)

If the tank is normally at 26 degrees and the mains is at 12deg
and you do a 15% change 85% will be at 27 and 15% will be at 15... at the end of the change teh tank will have falen to about 25 deg - not a lot really and the heater will soon bring it back up.

If you have mains water and somewhere for the waste nearby - then an automatic system is really easy.


As for plecs - with a tank that size - there are loads you can have

 

[Elaine2]

Many thanks - will see if I can shift the post to a different location.

One question on the plec front though. It would be nice to use the big tank for something more than just a nice thing to look at. I know there are folk out there involved in fish breeding projects (and I especially like plecs) which it is something I would be interested in getting involved with. Would this be an appropriate use for a large tank? I do have space in the room for a couple of smaller tanks, if needed, for raising fish.

All very much in the enquiring and learning stages at the moment.

 

[smithrc]

The thing with breeding plecs is that the more difficult ones tend to do better in a species tank... Less disturbance etc from other fish.
So the tank would be great for trying some of the larger plecs L114's spring to mind as they are something I would live to try and breed!

BUT if they don't "get it on" with other fish about - it'll be a big empty looking tank (you'll have to try to know if they will or not).

oh oh - LDA33 - there is another I'd love to try

 

[Elaine2]

Thanks for that. I have a lot more reading and asking questions to do before I make any final decisions. I can't get the work on the tank sorted for another couple of months yet so plenty of time. It could be set up as a species tank, or it could be mixed, but it would be nice to use it for something 'useful', so to speak.

Do plecs just seem to prefer only the company of their own species when breeding or is this more related to conditions that they need?