Finally, a good new tank!!

[Eelzor]

Yes!!! Finally. I have my 25 Gallon up and going. The cycling period starts now and to be 100% safe im not going to add fish until early december. I am thinking of putting some nice big fish (Please don't lecture me on sizes, I have gained alot of wisdom from being on this site- ) and I was thinking along the line of, Silver Sharks, Clown Loaches, Rainbow Shark and Salmontail Catfish. Obviously I will not be throwing the grown up lot in the tank. They are some of the bigger fish. I Still have to decide on what combination to put in. I'll keep updates going and I'll post a few photos some other time.

 

[steve-0]

way to go new tank.......pretty soon youl wat a bigger one...i couldnt stop at a 20 gallon

 

[Kossy]

Absolutely you will want to go bigger and bigger...lol also congrats on the tank hope the cycling goes well and your fish live happily when you finally get them

 

[Eelzor]

Tahnks kossy, and yes the day will come when one day i will want a bigger tank, but for now im satisfied. And speaking of cycling, I have 2 simple questions,

1. Is 2 months sufficient for cycling my 25 gallon with 2 convicts?

2. I just wanted to get this straight, All I have to practically do, is for 2 months just feed some ammonia in everyday (Fish Food) for 2 months and the cycle will happen itself? I don't have to do a big part by doing this in this many weeks or doing that every day, right?

Thankyou

 

[CFC]

Why would you want to cycle the tank for two months? With the fishless method the tank will be cycled and ready for its first few fish in a month at the most, prolonging the cycle once the nitrites have dropped to zero and the nitrates have started to rise will not be of any benifit at all.

A word of warning on the salmon cats, they are highly predatory and will eat the other fish in your tank, its not a matter of "will they" its a matter of "when will they".

I dont want to preach to you but i really feel you should reconsider the fish you want to add to your tank, not one of the fish you have mentioned is suitable and they will only be able to live comfortably in a 25 g for a few months at most.

 

[Alien Anna]

I agree with CFC. Small can be beautiful, but you have to have the right fish. If there is a larger fish you like, see if you can get a dwarf variety or similar fish that is smaller. I have a 25 gallon tank myself and its quite heavily stocked but I've had no problems because I've been very careful about the type of fish I have, sticking mainly to small fish, except a pair of pearl gouramis and a dwarf plec.

I like to think of my tank as being a public aquarium in miniture Most of the fish in it are small tetras, cherry barbs and pygmy loaches. A school of tetras swimming through the undergrowth can look quite spectacular - much nicer (IMHO) than couple of larger fish in a tank that is obviously not big enough for them.

Incidently, I moved my SAE from the 25 gallon because being a tall tank, it didn't have the length he needed to swim in, plus he needed some friends and he will grow to about 5", all being well. Since moving him into my 30 gallon long tank he's put on weight and length and is a different fish! He can stretch his fins and take long swims the whole length of the tank (which he frequently does) or even do a circuit. I suspect a shark, if you got one, would have the same problem in your 25 gallon. A red-tailed shark might be theoretically OK, but consider the length of your tank and the actual swimming room since all species of FW shark like to swim, much like my SAE.

Tetras, OTOH, are fairly sedate fish and tend to "hover" in the water a lot, with the occasional dart. They are far better suited to a smaller swimming space, perhaps with plenty of plants, bogwood and rocks (in the wild they live in pools and streams with loads of undergrowth, tree-roots and rocks rather than open waters).

 

[Eelzor]

A word of warning on the salmon cats, they are highly predatory and will eat the other fish in your tank, its not a matter of "will they" its a matter of "when will they".

yes, I am extremely aware of their monsterous size, i have been researching on the salmontails alot(and I mean alot) and yes I was thinking of growing them, then trading them in for small other fish.

btw, what do you guys think of 1 spiny eel and 1 rainbow shark alone in a 25 gallon? I have researched they both grow to a maximum of 6" each. Is this safe? Can I add more fish?

 

[CFC]

Can you tell me which species of spiney eel only grows to 6", i have not heard of one that maxes out smaller than 12".

Keeping fish that you know you cannot house with the intent on trading them once they get to big is not a good idea, often you will be very disapointed as fish shops rarely give any credit for large fish which they are going to have trouble selling, after all they are going to have to feed it until someone buys it and a large predatory catfish ties up a lot of space that could house smaller more sellable fish. Another downside that often large fish are put down after 6 months if they havent been bought for the reasons above

What is the length of the tank? The length will dictate which species of fish you can add without problems, sharks need reasonably large tanks as they claim large territories and eels will require a tank at least 3 times there own length to allow them room to swim.

 

[Eelzor]

Well, Im not sure what type the spiny eel is, all I know is that it grows 6" max (Please just assume it grows that long, believe me). Yes so just the Rainbow and the Spiny Eel will be fine in the tank? The tank is 36"Long by 16" Wide and 18" Tall.

 

[CFC]

So its not a 25g tank? Those dimensions add up to about 37 gallons. Yes it will be fine to add a eel (even if it does grow to 12") and a RTBS to that tank without problems, could get away with a few more fish too, though bare in mind the predatory nature of the eel and aggressive behaviour of the shark before choosing tankmates. Nothing smaller than 2", nothing that is going to fight for territory with the shark and nothing that even has the same shape as the shark. Id suggest something to take up the middle and surface of the tank, a nice shoal of rainbow fish would be a good display and should be easily available in oz.

 

[Alien Anna]

So its not a 25g tank? Those dimensions add up to about 37 gallons.

You know, somewhere on this site it ought to mention that we're using US gallons as standard - there's a huge difference between US and UK (Imperial) gallons - 1 US gallon is only 0.8 UK gallons.

 

[CFC]

That is the size in UK gallons, i didnt know we were using the american system as standard i always use the UK measurements.

 

[Eelzor]

I'm australian so I don't know gallons very well, just that 4.5 litres equals 1 gallon. So really, how big is my tank in us gallons?

 

[The_Budmaster]

The tank is 36"Long by 16" Wide and 18" Tall.

thats 45 US gallons i believe

 

[Alien Anna]

That is the size in UK gallons, i didnt know we were using the american system as standard i always use the UK measurements.

Which is why I've given up and use litres mostly - at least that's international and fairly easy to convert into US gallons (4 L = 1 US gal).