My New Fish Tank Is Finally Set Up(Pics)

[woundedyak]

I've never heard of them before so I am not sure what sort of sizes/power configurations they come in.

I haven't decided what to do with my empty 20 yet, but I am thinking of making it a killifish tank, then maybe once I get a pond dug I can do something interesting with my 55 gallon.

Go with either Shell dwellers or Red jewels for the 20gal

 

[Benny]

I've never heard of them before so I am not sure what sort of sizes/power configurations they come in.

I haven't decided what to do with my empty 20 yet, but I am thinking of making it a killifish tank, then maybe once I get a pond dug I can do something interesting with my 55 gallon.

Can gold fish that are used to living in a tank make the transition to a pond?(I'm thinking about when it's cold outside)



Oh yeah, one of the moderators at Cichlid Forum is telling me that it isn't a good idea to put my p. socolofi in with Peacocks.

Since I'm not getting rid of speedy(socolofi), I think I am going to go with Rustys, Perlmutts and socolofi in the new tank.

I was told they are compatible with eachother and I think it would be a nice mix with 5 of each of them (I'll try for 1m:4F).

 

[RichardR]

Well Goldfish are cold blooded & can survive Indiana winters outdoors so long as the pond is deep enough not to freeze totally solid, I'd probably add a floating horse trough heater to help keep it from freezing during the winter months too.

But I don't expect that I'll get the chance to get out there and dig out the pond before next spring anyway, I still have some other projects to do ahead of it.

Anyway yea as a general rule African cichlid species really don't mix all that well with each other, some will get along better than others but you're always going to run a risk of aggression in a mixed species tank even with "mild tempered" species, especially during breeding & brooding.

 

[Benny]

Well Goldfish are cold blooded & can survive Indiana winters outdoors so long as the pond is deep enough not to freeze totally solid, I'd probably add a floating horse trough heater to help keep it from freezing during the winter months too.

But I don't expect that I'll get the chance to get out there and dig out the pond before next spring anyway, I still have some other projects to do ahead of it.

Anyway yea as a general rule African cichlid species really don't mix all that well with each other, some will get along better than others but you're always going to run a risk of aggression in a mixed species tank even with "mild tempered" species, especially during breeding & brooding.

Yeah, I know there is some risk, but what people are saying over at CF is the three I named are compatible from several people's experiences.

Do you know anything about South American cichlids? No one ever answers my questions about them over there; I guess most people just hang around in the Malawi forum.

 

[RichardR]

Yea I've kept several tanks of South American's over the years, what questions ya got?

 

[Benny]

Yea I've kept several tanks of South American's over the years, what questions ya got?

What SAs are compatible with each other? Whatever I do with this new tank, I'd really like to have three different species, so the tank doesn't look too boring with just one kind/color of fish.



They are fairly pricey, but I'd like to have a small group of these:

 

[RichardR]

Well like African cichlids, South American cichlids are also fairly aggressive generally speaking, on top of that some of the species can get HUGE so you'll want to pay close attention to how big they will get as adults because a species like say for instance Oscars would eventually grow to large to keep even a single one in a 55 gallon tank, at least not comfortably for the fish that is.

Anyway those look like red parrots, they'd probably be ok with similar tempered & sized cichlids but I think you'd probably have better luck with rams or dwarfs if you are wanting more fish in the tank with different variations of coloration's.

 

[Benny]

Well like African cichlids, South American cichlids are also fairly aggressive generally speaking, on top of that some of the species can get HUGE so you'll want to pay close attention to how big they will get as adults because a species like say for instance Oscars would eventually grow to large to keep even a single one in a 55 gallon tank, at least not comfortably for the fish that is.

Anyway those look like red parrots, they'd probably be ok with similar tempered & sized cichlids but I think you'd probably have better luck with rams or dwarfs if you are wanting more fish in the tank with different variations of coloration's.

Yes, Oscars are out of the question. I was just looking at the red/blood parrot cichlid and they can get to be 8", so they are probably out as well...That's unfortunate, because I'd love to have a couple of those.

I'll look more into the rams...Those are definitely some pretty fish and I could stock a 55g with quite a few of them.

 

[RichardR]

Yea after I get my pond dug (or just toss my goldfish out in my garden's composter) I am thinking of making my 55 into a ram/dwarf tank.

I'll probably do killifish in my 20, I don't know much about them, other than they are gorgeous fish though so I'll have to research them prior to stocking my tank.

WoundedYak recommended shell dwellers & red jewels for a 20 gallon so I think I'll start researching those species first.

 

[Benny]

Here are some updated pictures with some minor changes and 4 new yellow labs.

I can't wait to set up another tank, I'll go with a more natural look for the next one.

 

[photoshooter]

Question for all of you "fishies":

What is the tank cleaning proceedure and schedule. One of the reasons I haven't tried to start the hobby back up is because I couldn't compete with the algae and I hated cleaning the tanks.

But, from reading through these threads, I made several mistakes:
1. I didn't understand about the micro-organisms in the filters
2. I was cleaning way too often trying to keep that stuff out

 

[woundedyak]

Question for all of you "fishies":

What is the tank cleaning proceedure and schedule. One of the reasons I haven't tried to start the hobby back up is because I couldn't compete with the algae and I hated cleaning the tanks.

But, from reading through these threads, I made several mistakes:
1. I didn't understand about the micro-organisms in the filters
2. I was cleaning way too often trying to keep that stuff out

You really don't want to over clean the tank. The gunk in your filter is what keeps the tank clean and cycled. Once your tank goes through the cycle process and depending on what filter and how many fish you keep, will determine how often you need clean. I generally do a 30% water change every 7-10 days and clean 10-20% of the substrate. You don't want to over clean the substrate, because that's were all the good stuff lives. About every 4-6 weeks I will do a 50% water change and clean everything I can take out of the tank. Put a few gallons of tank water into a bucket and use that water to scrub and clean decoration in your tank. You don't want to use water out of the tap. To make a long story short, Set your tank up and we will get you through it

 

[Benny]

Hey Ssssssspit Fire, are 50% water changes every few months mandatory or can you just do a water test to see if it needs to be done?

I've only had this tank for 3 weeks now, but I've been doing a 20-25% water change every Sunday and was planning on changing 1-2(of the 4) filter cartridges every month.

Also, I tried vacuuming the substrate last night and it didn't seem like it was sucking up that much fish ...It was sucking up sand more than anything.(I'm using a python vacuum with a pressure valve)

How long after doing a 100% water change(from when I moved the tank) should I wait before doing a substrate change? I want all white sand, but right now I have white rocks and black sand.

 

[tyler34]

Question for all of you "fishies":

What is the tank cleaning proceedure and schedule. One of the reasons I haven't tried to start the hobby back up is because I couldn't compete with the algae and I hated cleaning the tanks.

But, from reading through these threads, I made several mistakes:
1. I didn't understand about the micro-organisms in the filters
2. I was cleaning way too often trying to keep that stuff out

running co2 in your tank will get rid of algae, also your lighting schedule has a lot to do with how the algae grows. on a side note my angels are spawning so yay!

 

[Benny]

A couple people at Cichlid-Forum told me if I rearrange my tank and get something like I now have in my tank, there's a good chance the green terror can stay, because he will claim that and the other fish will have their rocks, so I rearranged the tank yet again...I hate the rocks like they are, but until I switch to sand, these rocks will have to suffice.

I also plan on getting rid of all of the fake plants and putting real ones in there...I just found some today; they look like the tall one in the back left corner, but real.

I also switched to a black background, but haven't flattened it out completely.

 

[tyler34]

real plants huh?.........

I also plan on getting rid of all of the fake plants and putting real ones in there...I just found some today; they look like the tall one in the back left corner, but real.

 

[Benny]

real plants huh?.........

Yeah, I finally found some I like.

I'm not a fan of the big, bushy ones, but I was at PetSmart and saw a tank full of the tall, skinny ones...I also wouldn't mind having some short floating plants too.

(Notice I got rid of the bubblers?)

 

[tyler34]

Yeah, I finally found some I like.

I'm not a fan of the big, bushy ones, but I was at PetSmart and saw a tank full of the tall, skinny ones...I also wouldn't mind having some short floating plants too.

(Notice I got rid of the bubblers?)

if you want plants I can hook you up. 99% of the plants at petsmart/co are not meant to be submersed and will not make it.

 

[Benny]

if you want plants I can hook you up. 99% of the plants at petsmart/co are not meant to be submersed and will not make it.

Sounds good to me.

I want 3-4 tall, skinny plants for the back and a few small, not-so-bushy, short plants to scatter around the front and middle.

For the tall plants, I want around the same dimensions as the back-left plant(a bit shorter is fine). For the short plants, I mainly want something that looks like a tuft of ~3" tall weeds/thick grass.


Do you have any pictures/prices of what you may have in mind?

 

[Benny]

Hell, now that I think about it, I could pick them up this weekend and save on shipping.

I'm going to Indy on Friday and picking up that 55g tank on Saturday.

Unfortunately, the guy that offered me all that Texas Holey Rock backed out, because he hasn't responded to the 2-3 PMs I've sent him, but he's been online...I even offered him money, but I guess he decided to keep it and not humor me with a reply.



I'm really looking forward to this new tank though.