Got my 55 gal community tank set up...feeding question now

[Gordinho80]

finally got my 55 gal community tank all set up...

20 Neon Tetras
3 Marble Angels
2 Serpa Tetras
2 Pictus Cats
2 Plecos
2 African Dwarf Frogs

plenty of hiding space for all fish, i have a few artificial plants as well as structures that they have been using as hiding spots...

aside from flake food, what else should i be feeding my tank? i have frog pellets for my 2 little dwarfs, what else should i pick up? how often should i feed?

thanks...
Mario

 

[rubysoho]

frozen blood worms are good. The pictus cats will like shrimp pellets and algea waffers. Peas are good as treats (nuke a pea until it is warm, peel off the exterior, and feed as is) and I've heard other veggies like zuchinni (sp?) are good as well... just make sure you dont leave the uneaten parts in the water. HTH!

 

[BrianNY]

Hey, good luck with the tank Mario . Begin by feeding a small amount once a day. You don't want to overstress the system by having the fish producing alot of waste initially. Then you can gradually increase the amount. It should take the fish no more than 3 minutes to consume what you're feeding.

I'd also pick up some veggie wafers for the plecos. Drop a wafer in the tank right after lights out

 

[tetrin]

hey mario...nice job on the tank...
as long as we are on the feeding issue, just keep an eye on the size of the pictus cats and the marble angels...as soon as they get bigger, ur small neons will start to disappear...

 

[smallfry]

Hi Mario,
Sounds like you have a nice tank.... Also another caution, unless your plecos are of a smaller variety (like Bristlenose, I think?) two of them is one to many for a 55g tank. Even with just one pleco, it may eventually outgrow the 55g - just so you know.

 

[ChileRelleno]

As you've already been told once, watch out for those Marble angels and Pictus cats. The Pictus when they mature will get atleast 8-10" and some say over 12".
Those Pictus will try to eat just about anything they can get in their mouth, your Tetras and frogs will be in danger.
The Angels will bear watching around the Neons but the others should be safe.
Your Plecos depending on type will probably love veggies such as zuchinni, cucumber, peas, sweet potato and the popular algae wafers.

I see another point for future concern.
Once again depending on your particular type of Pleco, what are they?
Pics? Though there are some plecs that stay small (3-5"), alot of the Plecs can reach a pretty good size and are very messy fish (poop alot), combine them with the Pictus (messy eaters/poopers) and you could have four (4) footlong (12") fish in your 55gal tank.
These four fish alone could max your tank biologically, you'll be needing heavyduty filtration.
Also being as all four of these fish are bottom dwellers you could see territory disputes in a 55 gal tank, particularly when mature.

 

[FawnN]

How long has your setup been up and running? I assume you cycled your tank already? If not, you could run into some problems with all those fish.

What are your water readings?

My only concern is with your frogs. Like Chille mentioned, I would watch out to make sure they don't get harassed/eaten by the pictus cats. And since they are unable to see their food and rely more upon their sense of smell, I would make sure your ADF's get enough to eat.

 

[thanew]

IME the pictus love the blood worms... i have one with my dwarf frogs mainly because hes still a little too small for my 55gal at the moment and he just gobbles up the worms befor ethe frogs can get to them i mean he just goes absolutely crazy over them

 

[ChileRelleno]

The pictus Cat, I find I must go further into this fish.

There are two varieties available, Peruvian and Columbian, the Peruvian Pictus max's out at aprox 5", while the Columbian Pictus grows to a 6-10" average with some reporting as much as 12".
There is some good info here, http://www.planetcatfish.com/core/index.php, search the Cat-E-Log by common names.
If you have the Peruvian it should be fine with all but the Neon Tetras.

 

[Gordinho80]

ok...gonna try to respond to everyone's posts...

the plecos were labelled 2.5" Common Plecos at the LFS...not sure how big they'll get...

i got my eyes open on the frogs, i haven't noticed the cats bothering the other fish too much yet...i had the 2 cats in my 10 gal tank with the 2 serpas for a few months and there were no problems...i have had the tank set up for 3 weeks now, the cats and serpas were the first to go in...then i added the angels, then the neons, then the frogs and plecos...i spaced the additions a day or two apart and did it right before lights out...the full tank has been up about a week now, the frogs are always hiding, usually in the same spot, so i put the food in that area...

the cat seems to be the columbian variety...so i think they'll get pretty big...we'll see what happens, how long does it usually take a fish to grow to its full size?

thanks...
Mario

 

[penpitt]

THe common plecos(probably hypostomus plecostomus) will get 12 inches so you may want to get rid of one or possibly both and go for smaller plecos. I have 2 clown plecos(peckoltia vittata) and they max out at 5 inches. Any of the plecos from peckoltia or ancistrus would be a good choice.If you want something odd looking you could get a farlowella acus. They pretty much look like a twig and dont move much except at night but serve the same purpose as plecos.hth

 

[Gordinho80]

i looked up the hypostomus plecostomus and according to liveaquaria.com, that pleco, the trinidad pleco, looks nothing like my plecos...mine are more black than any other color...

thanks...
Mario

 

[penpitt]

Hi gordin. You might want to go back to the lfs and see if they have either the scientific name or the 'L' number for the pleco they sold you. Plecos have an 'L' number to categorize them instead of (or in place of?) scientific names. The 'L' stands for loricariidae- the family that all plecos are grouped in. Or you could try and post a picture and i could help id it. Another option would be planetcatfish.com

 

[Gordinho80]

Gonna keep on eye on my plecs and my cats...if/when they start getting too big, gonna have to find someone with a larger tank that wants em...how long should it take these guys to fully grow?

i added a couple more fish to the mix...3 silver mollies and 1 male betta

i have lost 4 fish to my filter...very upset about that...apparently, they decided to swim too close to the intake and decided to do this when they were tired...
2 angels and 2 neons...

my current count is:
18 neon tetras
2 serpa tetras
3 silver mollies
1 male betta
1 marble angel
2 common plecos
2 pictus cats
2 african dwarf frogs

i must say...i really love the addition of the mollies, never figured that a plain jane white fish would look so beautiful in the tank...definately stands out the most among all other habitants...i will be posting pictures up very soon, just got my digital camera this week...

i also managed to finish my 10 gal tank, still need a female betta, but i have the male and i also have 3 lemon cobra guppys in there for some added movement...

 

[SerLunchbox]

how big is the remaining angel? if it is an adult, you will loose more then you know. My angels get snacks when my ameca splendins give birth. The fry of my amcea is about the size of a neon tetra. Common plecos get upwards of 12". at the 7"-9" mark they start to eat plants and not so much algae. I am not a fan of serpae tetras myself as they will strip the fins off of your betta and angel fast. This is, however, my own personal experience keeping those fish. Also, your pictus catfish, be EXTREMELY careful when it comes to this fish. It has 3 barbs on its body that will cause a human to become VERY ill. These same 3 barbs get caught and tangled in fish nets. not only will this cause injury but it will also increase the chance you you getting stung. If you ever have to move the pictus, try and capture it by getting it to swim into a bucket or jar. it will save your nets (because you will most likely have to cut the nets to get it free without injury to you or the fish).
Dwarf frogs. great littel creatures. mine used to play games where they would jet to the top, get a gulp of air and then zoom down to the bottom, wait till there was afish hovering above it and then release the air. Great game!

 

[Gordinho80]

ok...this filter issue is becoming a royal PITA...i lost my last angel to it and almost lost one of my dwarf frogs...luckily i was watching the tank when it happened, the poor thing's leg was sucked right into the intake...

is there anything i can do to prevent losing more fish to this filter aside from going with 2 smaller filters? i am running an AquaClear 500...

i decided to get 3 older angels, they currently measure 4"-5" long as of right now, they have been close to the filter already and have not had problems...thankfully...

would anyone in the Central NJ area be interested in the any or all of the following: 2 Pictus Catfish - 2 Common Plecos...i am willing to take my chances with the angels and neons, however, if the others guys each do get up to 10+ inches, then i would have 40" of fish with just those 4...not cool...i am willing to part with these guys at no cost, it would just have to be locel pick up or delivery...if interested, please email me... gordinho80@gmail.com

thanks...Mario

 

[Menagerie]

the plecos were labelled 2.5" Common Plecos at the LFS...not sure how big they'll get...

That is the size you bought them. My LFS does this too :? Common plecos can have all sorts of markings. I have seen some gorgesous ones and some dull ones, but they are all lumped together as commons. Plecos are slow growers. We have a pleco that is about four years old and 7-8" living in an 80 gal.

this filter issue is becoming a royal PITA

I don't understand, a healthy fish should be fine, which makes me wonder if some of the fish were stressed/ill. Try putting an AC sponge around the intake. If the current is that strong, at least the fish will have something to bump up against. Could you post a pic of the tank with the intake tube?

would anyone in the Central NJ area be interested in the any or all of the following: 2 Pictus Catfish - 2 Common Plecos

That's a wise move There are some wonderful plecos out there that stay in the 5" range, including clowns, rubber lip/face and bristle nose. There are many more, but these seem to be the most common. Here's a couple of pics from my gallery:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=6033&sort=1&cat=500&page=2
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=5723&sort=1&cat=500&page=4

 

[Gordinho80]

Try putting an AC sponge around the intake. If the current is that strong, at least the fish will have something to bump up against. Could you post a pic of the tank with the intake tube?

forgive my ignorance here, but what is an AC Sponge and where can i get one? I will have pics of the intake tomorrow...i must either go with 2 smaller filters or something i can put around the current one which wont suck up my inhabitants anymore...i noticed my 2 dwarf frogs on there today...luckily, i got to each one in time...i have since moved them to my smaller tank...much smaller filter...my girlfriend would have been very upset if we lost our froggies...she's the one who wanted me to get them...if we lost Bud and Kermit(she named them) i'd have a major problem on my hands...

 

[penpitt]

I believe Menagerie is refering to aquaclear. I will try to find what he's talking about at bigals