Diary of my 55 gallon tank

[nitrous]

well my 55 gallon tank which i payed 50 dollars for which included the stand, 48 inch long tank by 12 inches deep , heater, light fixture, glass top, and undergravel filter which i didnt use.

the tank needed some cleaning becuase it was obviously not cared for well becuase it had what looked like rust everywhere but on the plastic and i got all that off and then filled it.

today i got my filstar xp2 which i have to say is a great filter, it runs great, very silent i cannot tell its running sometimes and it was easy to put together. i am going to buy my pool filter sand tomarrow im going to get two 50 lb bags becasue i like my sand kinda deeper and i have a design i want to do with the sand. i also bought some driftwood which i have soaking now and overnight because it wouldnt sink down.
on the right i will have a rock ornament i have which my rainbow sharks like to hide in all the time, the middle will be the driftwood, and the left will be rocks and teracota pots and ill have the sand slope up in the back and there ill have tera cota pots sunk down in teh sand and rocks all around them for hiding places and general look.

heres my projected stock list
5 cories
5 tetras
3 loaches
2 caes
4 rainbowfish
snails
pleco of some sort
ghost shrimp
my 1 bala which i dont want to give up, will get him a bigger tank later.

ill add that when i take off the filter of my 15 gallon now with a tetra, bala, 2 rainbow sharks, cory, cae, and clown loach and ill move them in the new tank and then run that filter on the new tank along with the xp2 for 2 weeks or so to help the cycle along.

thanks for reading and ill have some pictures soon.

[greenmaji]

Very nice find :P

Im seeing a few issues with your stock list..
what loaches? some can get WAY too big.
a common pleco is quite too big IMHO

OT... My mom's side of the family lives in Lake county IN.. your just on the IL side of Dyer, IN.. thats pretty cool :P

[nitrous]

ya i dont want a common pleco i was going to get 1 that only gets about 6 inches maybe and i may just keep my 1 clown loach which i have now and not get anymore and just get more rainbowfish instead
only problem i have now is that the cories i puit in ther are very scared and always scurry away when they see me or anyone else and my driftwood still hasnt sunk after a full week

[rich311k]

Dont worry the cories will settle down. Maybe you need to attach the wood to a piece of slate. Sometimes it can take a long time for them to get water logged.

[greenmaji]

The clowns grow slow but will end up being way to big in within a few years, I would think about finding it a home in the long run.

there are quite a few pleco's that stay pretty small Im sure someone will chime in with a few more then I know of.. BN's being common and popular.

[EmptyH]

Clown Plecos stay small, 4 or 5 inches I think. I have one in my 55 and I really like him. They need driftwood as part of their diet but since you already have some that will not be a problem. I have heard some people say that they are not very good algae eaters but mine keeps the tank perfect.

[Catalina]

How big is the clown loach you have now, nitrous? If I were you, I'd go ahead and get 2 more because if they're babies, they will take a WHILE to outgrow a 55g, and they will be so much happier in a group. I had 3 clown loaches in a 25 gal. for a little over two years (by themselves), and just upgraded them to a 55 gal., which I don't suspect they will outgrow for another two years or more. They grow extremely slowly; mine are sizable now (4-5") but that's not much if you consider that they were about 2" two years ago. If you're going to be upgrading for your bala eventually anyway, I'd say get a couple more clowns to make the one you have now happier, and you will probably have to upgrade for the bala far sooner than for the clowns. I personally plan to keep my clowns for the rest of their lives, upgrading to the final and biggest tank when it becomes necessary again. I also found a pretty good deal on the 55g I have now (although not nearly as good as yours!) and know I could do the same for a 90g+. I think you're original stocking list looks great.

[Jaybird]

Some plecos can grow to be quite large. They would be an occassional catch when I was living in Argentina. Although, there they called them Vieja del Agua. They got a lot bigger than what I have ever seen in a LFS, but I would believe that those would have the potential too given enough time.

[nitrous]

ya i wanted an ornamental pleco also but will the clown loach eat shrimp? i want to get some cool ghost shrimp or cherry shrimp for the tank but will they be eaten by the loach or anything else on that list? thanks and ya sitll waiting on that driftwood after a week

[kaz]

it be nice to get some snap shots