My first tank

[Karamin65]

90 Litre Aqua One Aquastyle 620 has been set up since 10th May 2014

3 Balloon Mollies
6 Neon Tetras
1 Albino Rainbow Shark
2 Bristlenose Catfish

Live plants.

Would like to get 6 Kulhi Loaches in a few weeks, not sure if I have enough room for them, any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks.

 

[treemanone2003]

At this point that tank is too small for the shark by at least half the size. As well it could be a bit bigger for one of the cats and a lot bigger for two. I would look to get rid of the shark and at least one of the cats and not even consider adding the loaches at all as they need a much larger tank too.

I would suggest quite a bit more research about the fish you have currently and the ones you'd like to add in the future. Although they may be small now, you need to take into account their overall size when full grown. Live Aquaria is a great resource many suggest and use for reference in stocking.

Edit : I would also look to see if your cycled since the tank in not even a month old yet.

 

[Karamin65]

Though I would put an update on my tank now 6 months old, I have only lost 1 Bristle nose cat fish and that was early one he was the smallest, found what was left of him under the drift wood. The shark is growing like a weed!! Will be upgrading to a 4 ft tank in the next couple of months. The Aqua Grande 120 should give them enough room to move. I have also add 2 Leppard Corydoras and 2 red eye tetras.
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[FWFishTanks]

Move the rainbow and bristlenose to the larger tank, and keep the cories, tetras, and mollies in the small tank. I would bump up both the tetras and cories to groups of six, and call it done.

 

[Karamin65]

Thanks for that,
Can you or anyone else tell me what would be the best type of substrate/gravel to use in a 4foot tank for Albino shark and Bristle nose, I would like to have some live plants in the tank as well. Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks?


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[Patty1980]

Sand is my substrate of choice

 

[Alan79]

I usually go with something cheap with substrate. I dirt most of my tanks with organic potting soil and cap with either sand or fine black gravel. If you use large gravel the plants come loose from the substrate a lot. If you have the funds available then a lot of people recommend ADA aquasoil or Eco complete. Both of these are manufactured substrates that carry some nutrients for the plants already and both actively store nutrients from the tank water. Laterite clay is another product that stores nutrients but should be capped as well.

I said that i use soil with a substrate cap, but not in every tank. You would be fine with just sand or small grained substrate, but if you plant heavy root feeding plants you will need to buy root tabs to feed them.

 

[Karamin65]

Thanks Alan, isn't sand hard to clean? How would you use a gravel vac on it when doing water changes?


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[FWFishTanks]

I just stir up other sand a bit and let the debris settle on top of the sand, then I vacuum it up. Most debris stays on top of the sand anyways. Pool filter sand is heavier sand, so you can't really suck it up.

 

[Patty1980]

Just hover about an inch or so above the sand and it picks up mostly poo. Takes a little practice, but no biggie once you get the hang of it.

 

[Karamin65]

Thanks everyone


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