what to do with my 55g, 10g and 2g

[mumrah]

It's time for some changes i've decided.

Let me start with the 55g. I have 5 young clown loaches (3-4" each), 1 angel (5" tall), 1 rainbow shark (4" long), 2 blue rams, and a common pleco. Until last week, i had another angel in there who was relocated due to abuse from the loaches. The loaches in this tank are being super aggressive to the chiclids. My rams are getting torn up (now that the small angel is gone), and they even pick on the big angel who is much larger than them. I thought loaches were passive fish - guess not.

So my question for the 55g is what to do about these loaches? Should i put more similar chiclids in there so they have strength in numbers? Or should i move all the chiclids out and make it a loach only tank? I'm stumped on this one.

On to the 10g. I've currenlty got 3 zebra danios (glofish) and the one abused angel. I think i just want to add some more danios (glo and normal) and plant it a little more. That tank is getting about 3wpg, so i was considering [acronym:69772feddd="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:69772feddd]. What's the easiest way to get started with [acronym:69772feddd="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:69772feddd]? one of those sugar/yeast reactors?


Finally, the 2g. It currently houses a single male betta. I really want to try out a "natural" tank with this. I've seen pictures of these and i really like how they look. Any tips on where to get info on them?

Thanks,
David

[Andos99]

As your loaches get older, it's best to only keep one adult so I would get rid of four of them and make your tank a less aggressive cichlid tank. In your 10 I would move back the angel after you get rid of the loaches and some smaller fish like neons or a few platies or something.

[Kerrinne]

See, I heard clown loaches do better in schools than alone. But then again, this was not a documented fact. Just what someone told me. They were telling me I shouldn't keep mine by himself.

[firestar]

If by "natural" you mean like the betta's home in nature, you're gonna need some rice plants and a shallow tank about the size of a football field.

I found this cool article about "Planted Nano Tanks" that shows lots of examples of really cool looking planted containers that are 2.5 gallons or less. Check it out: http://www.petfish.net/nano_plant.htm I have sand as substrate in one of my tanks, and it's a bit of a bother sometimes and I find it's more a little work than gravel but in a small tank, I personally think that the aesthetic value outweighs the disadvantages.

I come in peace.

[Felf]

i almost never hear of clown loaches being that aggressive so idk what advice i can give you are there a lot of hiding places and plants? maybe you're not feeding enough? *shrug*

If by "natural" you mean like the betta's home in nature, you're gonna need some rice plants and a shallow tank about the size of a football field.

he means a planted tank without aid from filters, pumps, etc (except maybe a heater and/or lights).

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewto...atural+planted

[mumrah]

i did hear that loaches like to be fed many times a day. and i only feed the whole tank once a day. i'll try adjusting the feeding schedule a bit and see if the situation improves. I also think i will add some taller plants in the 55g. Any suggestions? current it has 2 crypts, 1 annubis, and a banana plant.

[mumrah]

now that i think about it. the water in my area makes for basic pH. I use [acronym:1ff2243dd4="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:1ff2243dd4]-down when i do water changes, but the pH of the tank never gets below 7.8 or so. I know that loaches perfer acidic conditions, so could this contribute to their bad behavior?

[Felf]

do you have driftwood? loaches need lots of hiding places so i can imagine that being the most likely cause. you should post a pic of your tank so we know what you're working with. idk too much about adjusting water parameters and such but most ppl will tell you not to use chemical means because the [acronym:19ae5c2ffb="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:19ae5c2ffb] will just swing back and forth.

http://www.loaches.com/species_pages...racanthus.html
http://www.loaches.com/cloachfaq.html