My First 55Gal, Re Scaped Please Comment!

[BigFish01]

This isn't my first freshwater tank, but it is the first of this size. I currently have 1 black ghost knife, 1 Chinese algae eater, 4 clown loaches, 2 black skirt tetra, 3 white skirt tetra, 3 glow fish and one common pleco. The pleco spends the summer in my 600gal koi pond but I know he wouldn't last the winter out there. I am currently cycling a new filter, going from two hanging filters to a canister filter and one hanging filter. I want to change the substrate from gravel to sand, but unsure how the fish would take the move to a tub while I change it over. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to share them with me as I am learning a lot from this forum and appreciate the knowledge of the members. Here a few pictures of the tank.

Tank

surprised him one evening, he was on his way back under the rocks to hide from the camera.

Big pleco (MR. P) and BGK (Blackie), Mr P don't like to come out for pics, he can hear the camera turn on and swims back under the rocks.

I would like to get some angel fish but I am unsure of compatibility and or overstocking. Like I said before the pleco goes out in the pond for the summer but he is in there for a couple months in the winter. Any suggestions? future plan of a 500 gal tank in my basement, but wont be for a year or two.

 

[BigFish01]

I just noticed last night that something nipped the tail off my black ghost knife. Is it possible that it was the clown loaches? Or more likely the chinese algae eater? any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Tony

 

[Steve GT]

very shy and sensitive things the black ghost knifes. My red tailed shark bullied mine and unfortunatly we lost him. In my experience chinese algae eaters seem to like flat surfaces so things like angels they will tend to go after. thats from what iv heared so id say your roach wouldnt have touched him. could be wrong though

Seeing thats just reminded me of my ghost miss her she was called shadow lol

Lovely looking tank though mate youve done a really good job of it

 

[BigFish01]

very shy and sensitive things the black ghost knifes. My red tailed shark bullied mine and unfortunatly we lost him. In my experience chinese algae eaters seem to like flat surfaces so things like angels they will tend to go after. thats from what iv heared so id say your roach wouldnt have touched him. could be wrong though

Seeing thats just reminded me of my ghost miss her she was called shadow lol

Lovely looking tank though mate youve done a really good job of it

Thank you for your input, was thinking it was the chinese eater. Seen him chasing Blackie this morning. Sad about it because he has such a personality. Now I need to find a home for him due to no other tanks for him. there are no local LFS here, and the closest one is 30 mins away and they only do marine. So I guess I will see what I can come up with.

Sorry to hear about you losing Shadow. I would be pretty broken up to lose Blackie. He has taken to me from the beginning, will swim up to the top and sit in my hand during feeding time and eat out of my hand. As seen by the photo he comes up a lot. Very outgoing and entertaining to watch. He kinda reminds me of a curious puppy when i'm cleaning the tank and re-planting the plants he comes out and wags. Guess I just got lucky to get a friendly one!

 

[IainMac85]

id ditch the chinese algae eater, horrible fish theyre good when theyre small but when they get large they become quite aggressive

 

[BigFish01]

id ditch the chinese algae eater, horrible fish theyre good when theyre small but when they get large they become quite aggressive

Thats what i'm looking to do. I dont want to kill him though. Any ideas?

 

[Fishy friend2]

i love the look of your tank mate! its looking really good so far!

 

[BETTY BOO]

This isn't my first freshwater tank, but it is the first of this size. I currently have 1 black ghost knife, 1 Chinese algae eater, 4 clown loaches, 2 black skirt tetra, 3 white skirt tetra, 3 glow fish and one common pleco. The pleco spends the summer in my 600gal koi pond but I know he wouldn't last the winter out there. I am currently cycling a new filter, going from two hanging filters to a canister filter and one hanging filter. I want to change the substrate from gravel to sand, but unsure how the fish would take the move to a tub while I change it over. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to share them with me as I am learning a lot from this forum and appreciate the knowledge of the members. Here a few pictures of the tank.

Tank

surprised him one evening, he was on his way back under the rocks to hide from the camera.

Big pleco (MR. P) and BGK (Blackie), Mr P don't like to come out for pics, he can hear the camera turn on and swims back under the rocks.

I would like to get some angel fish but I am unsure of compatibility and or overstocking. Like I said before the pleco goes out in the pond for the summer but he is in there for a couple months in the winter. Any suggestions? future plan of a 500 gal tank in my basement, but wont be for a year or two.

looks fab

 

[BigFish01]

Thanks! Glad I am not the only one that likes it

 

[fluttermoth]

I would guess it's the black widow tetras that are doing the nipping; how many do you have?

 

[BigFish01]

I have two of the black skirt tetra, and 3 of the white skirt tetra, so a total of 5. I dont even think they could even fit the tail in there mouth. As much was gone it had to be the chinese algae eater. He chases the clowns now. Even the big one. So he has to go. The tetras rarely go under the rocks and usually swim about in the middle of the tank. Wish I could find a home for the algae eater. Still no luck and not looking forward to taking out all the rocks to catch him! he is fast

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Its a beautiful tank. I hope you BGK gets his tail healed! And be weary, I'm sure you have soem time, but eventually the clowns will need a larger tank. But as it stands now, its a stunning tank!

 

[BigFish01]

Its a beautiful tank. I hope you BGK gets his tail healed! And be weary, I'm sure you have soem time, but eventually the clowns will need a larger tank. But as it stands now, its a stunning tank!

I have done my research on the clowns. I do intend to get more, but I want to make sure I have the proper sized tank for that many fish of that size. I think they are wonderful fish, Very outgoing and entertaining to watch. My biggest one is about 2.5" and the others are between 1" and 1.5" Thanks again for your compliments

 

[Fishy friend2]

that pleco looks huge in comparison to the BGK

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Its a beautiful tank. I hope you BGK gets his tail healed! And be weary, I'm sure you have soem time, but eventually the clowns will need a larger tank. But as it stands now, its a stunning tank!

I have done my research on the clowns. I do intend to get more, but I want to make sure I have the proper sized tank for that many fish of that size. I think they are wonderful fish, Very outgoing and entertaining to watch. My biggest one is about 2.5" and the others are between 1" and 1.5" Thanks again for your compliments

They are wonderful and i had one at one point in time, till i realized what they required in the long run. I want to get some more sooo bad. They are just the cutest, clumsiest little fish!