Another Stocking Question.

[Ohdee]

i think your tank could hold plenty more. mine is only 2G larger, and you can see my stocking in my sig with my tank. i am slightly overstocked however, but a happy medium between what you plan and what i have would probably be a good indicator i think.

Wow, you have 40 fish in your tank! I'm concerned about 21 ...

 

[moochy13]

indeed, as i said i am overstocked, but i keep on top of keeping my tank clean. some of the fish i have were not from choice, i was rehoming them from a less suitable tank, and i wouldnt suggest filling your tank like i have, especially at the start. also, the footprint of my tank compared to the capacity is large due to the fact the tank is quite shallow, so my capacity is spread over a larger base. this enables me to stock a bit higher on bottom dwellers as there plenty of room for them.

with your plans, i would probably be thinking about maybe having 2 or 3 more corys and a plec as i mentioned. but these can be added over time, once youve established everythign else.

 

[Ohdee]

i would get your planned stocking in for now, and maybe a bit down the line think about a plec of some description. everybody will suggest a bristlenose plec, but i find these a bit dull, and if you're willing to spend a bit more you could get something a bit flash.

Moochy I really like the idea of a plac. I thought one was out of the question because of over stocking. Here's what I'd be looking for;

- The Flash you speak of, I'd want a beautiful one!
- One that eats Algae. I got the UV sterilizer because my tank had an algae bloom. My plants and rocks are covered. I was going to clean them this weekend but maybe I’ll hold off.
- One that won't eat my plants
- One that won’t get too big for the tank.

Any ideas or suggestions...

 

[moochy13]

haha when i said 'something flash', i generally meant something a bit special, though i do have an actual 'Flash plec'. getting a plec on the premise of it eating your algae is the wrong way to think. it might occasionally eat a bit, but only if youre not feeding it porperly. if youve got algae its something you need to sort out at its root cause, which is generally something to do with light levels. depending on if your tank is in direct sunlight etc, you should be looking for about 8ish hours of good light in the tank, be it daylight or your tank lights. you will find out more in the plant section of the forum, im not too good with plants.

as i said, head over to the plec section of the forum, and there a sticky thread at the top titles 'plecs under 8 inches'. this is a good place to start, with links to the planet catfish website that describe the plecs size, habitat and eating requirements. some wont be suitable, some will be too big, some require cooler water, some are just very expensive. its best to write down a list of ones you like, then find out if theyre suitable. ive got a rusty plec that came out of a shop tank where it had decimated the plants. i put it in my tank and after a week it stopped eating them.

edit - actualyl sorry, just had a look there are no links to planet catfish, but you can easily go to the site and search the names L numbers of plecs. heres the threasd im talkign about 8 inch plecs L numbers are a way that plecs have been named for ease of reference i guess.

 

[Ohdee]

And the readings are.....

Nitrite 0.0
Ph 7.0
Ammonia 0.0

Lfs dude said I don't need to test hardness. Our tap water is fine, every tank in the store is tap water.

He did sell me Blackwater Extract! Said the tetra and rams will flourish with this added to the water???

 

[moochy13]

fishkeeping rule number 1 - dont believe the guy whos livelihood depends on selling you stuff.

never heard of it, so cant comment, but be aware unless you find an exceptionally good shop, their main priority is getting you to buy stuff.

 

[Ohdee]

fishkeeping rule number 1 - dont believe the guy whos livelihood depends on selling you stuff.

never heard of it, so cant comment, but be aware unless you find an exceptionally good shop, their main priority is getting you to buy stuff.

I'll be honest with you and say I think I've found a good (can't say exceptional yet) lfs. This guy has been in the business a long time. As far as wanting to sell me stuff, he's the guy that told me not to buy a Ph kit. Said it's a waste of money! Today I insisted on it and he said your Ph is around 7. (how does he know that? ) He said the Ram's will want mid 6's. He still refused to sell me a water hardness test! It was more expensive than the blackwater extract! Lfs guy said the blackwater extract will tint the water but it's a conditioner that will drop the Ph into the mid 6's, perfect for the Ram's and Tetra's. He said the fish will thrive...

Having said that I still haven't added it the tank. I'm doing some google research. (so far I haven't found anything negative about it)

 

[twodoctors]

fishkeeping rule number 1 - dont believe the guy whos livelihood depends on selling you stuff.

never heard of it, so cant comment, but be aware unless you find an exceptionally good shop, their main priority is getting you to buy stuff.

I'll be honest with you and say I think I've found a good (can't say exceptional yet) lfs. This guy has been in the business a long time. As far as wanting to sell me stuff, he's the guy that told me not to buy a Ph kit. Said it's a waste of money! Today I insisted on it and he said your Ph is around 7. (how does he know that? ) He said the Ram's will want mid 6's. He still refused to sell me a water hardness test! It was more expensive than the blackwater extract! Lfs guy said the blackwater extract will tint the water but it's a conditioner that will drop the Ph into the mid 6's, perfect for the Ram's and Tetra's. He said the fish will thrive...

Having said that I still haven't added it the tank. I'm doing some google research. (so far I haven't found anything negative about it)

Most LFS would test the water for you if you bring a sample. If you live local to the LFS then maybe the water supply is the same. If you have hard water, then it would be resistant to pH change and the blackwater extract may be useless. Also you will need to keep adding the extract everytime you do a water change and keep the pH same (ie exact dosing). This is why I said match your fish to the pH rather than other way round. It won't be cheap adding chemicals to the tank. In general, higher pH means higher hardness. It's your choice what you do, but you will have to keep doing it otherwise the fish may die from sudden change in water parameters.

Adrian

 

[Ohdee]

I'm freaking out now! I changed the charcoal media in the filter (was told to do it once a month) but I didn't touch anything else! I tested my Ph again and it's gone up to 7.5! Is that normal after a 20% water change and replacing charcoal medi?

Our water is hard for sure. So hard we have water softener's in our homes (use salt to soften the water). Maybe this is why he recommends the Blackwater. I mean I know I can do it because they have a huge beautiful tank set up stocked with not for sale fish. Discus, Electric Blue Rams, GBR, all kinds or tetra's and Corey's. So I know it can be done with our water!

 

[Gvilleguy]

Your pH can fluctuate after a water change. Let it settle in and see how it looks tomorrow. Regarding the charcoal media - don't replace it. Buy any type of sponge (soap free!) that you can cut to fit the space where the charcoal was. This is much better for long term bacteria colonization. Please have a look at the link in my signature for the "do and do not" fishless cycle list. Scan it for the media portion (one under "start the cycle" and another under DO NOT, I think).

 

[Mikaila31]

fishkeeping rule number 1 - dont believe the guy whos livelihood depends on selling you stuff.

never heard of it, so cant comment, but be aware unless you find an exceptionally good shop, their main priority is getting you to buy stuff.

Don't ignore the good shops either. I drive like 40 minuets to the shops I use only 3-4 times a year. Last time I was there for 1.5 hours and the entire time this one employee was trying to explain to this one customer why a flower horn can't go in a 10 gallon. That said no store should ever refuse to sell a test kit, you do NEED a test kit.

Just because a LFS keeps these fish does not mean they keep them in the same as your tap water. Most shops have an RO filter allowing them to meet the requirements of most fish. Water softeners do really nothing for the aquarium, it doesn't really make the water any softer. Shops I use have discus too, but I would be kidding myself if I assumed that meant they would do fine in my tap water(which would likely be the death of them).

 

[Ohdee]

Your pH can fluctuate after a water change. Let it settle in and see how it looks tomorrow. Regarding the charcoal media - don't replace it. Buy any type of sponge (soap free!) that you can cut to fit the space where the charcoal was. This is much better for long term bacteria colonization. Please have a look at the link in my signature for the "do and do not" fishless cycle list. Scan it for the media portion (one under "start the cycle" and another under DO NOT, I think).

Any type of sponge as in, ANY type??? The charcoal I used this time is API Bio-Chem Zorb. Not the replacement media that's made for the 205. Now that it's in should I wait and replace it in a few months as per its instructions or should I find a sponge (any type...really???, now i'm even more freaked out!) right away?

Where do I find any type of sponge?

 

[Ohdee]

fishkeeping rule number 1 - dont believe the guy whos livelihood depends on selling you stuff.

never heard of it, so cant comment, but be aware unless you find an exceptionally good shop, their main priority is getting you to buy stuff.

Don't ignore the good shops either. I drive like 40 minuets to the shops I use only 3-4 times a year. Last time I was there for 1.5 hours and the entire time this one employee was trying to explain to this one customer why a flower horn can't go in a 10 gallon. That said no store should ever refuse to sell a test kit, you do NEED a test kit.

Just because a LFS keeps these fish does not mean they keep them in the same as your tap water. Most shops have an RO filter allowing them to meet the requirements of most fish. Water softeners do really nothing for the aquarium, it doesn't really make the water any softer. Shops I use have discus too, but I would be kidding myself if I assumed that meant they would do fine in my tap water(which would likely be the death of them).

I'm not suggesting a water softener would make my aquarium water soft. I'm saying where I live our water is so hard, we use water softeners in our home. I use cold, un-softened water in my tank. (I let it sit out overnight to get room temp)

The lfs guy told me they use tap water in all their tanks, including their discus tank.

 

[Ohdee]

i would get your planned stocking in for now, and maybe a bit down the line think about a plec of some description. everybody will suggest a bristlenose plec, but i find these a bit dull, and if you're willing to spend a bit more you could get something a bit flash.

Well it didn't long for me to add the plec!

I would have liked some more flash but the plec was a necessity. The Algae is out of control in my tank. I need some help and I hope my little albino friend can lend a hand.

So far all my fish are doing great. I really like the Ram's but the cory's have surprised me. They're the coolest little fish. Really happy I got some. Want some more...

 

[Gvilleguy]

Regarding the sponges - if you are worried about grocery store sponges, just go to the LFS filter aisle and get a sponge made for filters - you can cut to fit the space. In one of my two filters I used plastic scrubbing pads - they seem to do a great job growing good bacteria. They look like this: (a shot from above the filter)