Well, I've had a bit of a drastic change around this weekend.
My 160l previously had a leak, which we 'repaired' by putting sealant over the seam. A month later, and it started leaking again.
I decided to close the tank down and move my existing fish into the other tanks.
The fairy cories went in with the lampeyes and pandas, and whilst I'm now heavily stocked (which I don't like), they actually seem to be really happy with it. The adult pandas used to be quite skittish and zoom into the corner when they saw me, but now they quite happily 'dance' in the front of the tank whilst I'm watching, and the fairies and pandas seem happy to mingle together, with the 3 babies joining the big group as well. I've had a change around within the tank, and swapped the black sand for silica sand, the vallis for swords, and put the in line heater and external filter from the 160l on it. It means I am *slightly* over filtered in the 60 litre as the filter is rated for 300 litre tanks!
I was more worried about adding the diamonds and gouramis to the big tank, fearing bullying from the tigers and firemouth. Surprisingly, the tigers and diamonds are getting on great, schooling together in one or two mixed groups most of the time. I'll continue to monitor it for signs of aggression but may be able to keep them all. The diamonds also seem much happier - they had become increasingly skittish and shy, mostly hiding in the corner, but the bigger tank has more bogwood and plant cover, so they seem more confident in all areas of the tank.
The gourami I'm not so sure about. I've not seen them much as they are hiding in the plants, but I have seen the firemouth (still a juvi, currently the same size as the biggest gourami) chase them off a couple of times. I suspect I will have to rehome one or the other at some point.
Overall, I'm unexpectedly delighted with the way things have turned out. I would never have chosen to stock so heavily, but I don't think I'm overstocked and anyway have over filtration, lots of cover and very good management. Both tanks look lovely and active, and I seem to have a lot of happy fish
My 160l previously had a leak, which we 'repaired' by putting sealant over the seam. A month later, and it started leaking again.
I decided to close the tank down and move my existing fish into the other tanks.
The fairy cories went in with the lampeyes and pandas, and whilst I'm now heavily stocked (which I don't like), they actually seem to be really happy with it. The adult pandas used to be quite skittish and zoom into the corner when they saw me, but now they quite happily 'dance' in the front of the tank whilst I'm watching, and the fairies and pandas seem happy to mingle together, with the 3 babies joining the big group as well. I've had a change around within the tank, and swapped the black sand for silica sand, the vallis for swords, and put the in line heater and external filter from the 160l on it. It means I am *slightly* over filtered in the 60 litre as the filter is rated for 300 litre tanks!
I was more worried about adding the diamonds and gouramis to the big tank, fearing bullying from the tigers and firemouth. Surprisingly, the tigers and diamonds are getting on great, schooling together in one or two mixed groups most of the time. I'll continue to monitor it for signs of aggression but may be able to keep them all. The diamonds also seem much happier - they had become increasingly skittish and shy, mostly hiding in the corner, but the bigger tank has more bogwood and plant cover, so they seem more confident in all areas of the tank.
The gourami I'm not so sure about. I've not seen them much as they are hiding in the plants, but I have seen the firemouth (still a juvi, currently the same size as the biggest gourami) chase them off a couple of times. I suspect I will have to rehome one or the other at some point.
Overall, I'm unexpectedly delighted with the way things have turned out. I would never have chosen to stock so heavily, but I don't think I'm overstocked and anyway have over filtration, lots of cover and very good management. Both tanks look lovely and active, and I seem to have a lot of happy fish
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