How to screw up two tanks at once

[grimlock3000]

I am planning to do a small marine tank soon and decided I would get my freshwater tanks squared away first. I decided to move one of the two algae eating fish from my 10g tank into my 26g tank. The Pleco in the 26g just does not eat algae. He would try chewing up the filter tube for food instead of eating algae off the glass. Anyway, the two algae eaters in the 10g are an Oto, which loves algae, but eats it slow, and a baby Clown Pleco, which eats anything (algae, wood, flakes...). I decided what the heck, I can try them both. While I was at it, my wife really wanted the 4 Neons in the 26g tank, which seemed like an OK request and she has been asking for weeks now. That was going to leave one Betta, and one female Guppy in the 10. Pretty boring. I moved the female Guppy without a problem, only one of the males in the 26g is a real Guppy. The other is a Feeder Guppy that never got eaten and never grew past 3/4 inch long. Anyway, then it was just the Betta in the 10g. Well, what the heck, might as well go all the way, and put the Betta in the 26g too.

This whole process took place pretty quickly, and was really uneventful. The Betta does his Betta things (sitting around, doing nothing), the Neons make a little school, and the two algae eater chomp away. The tank is overstocked now (23 fish), so I am keeping a really close eye on it. I still have the 10g tank running, and I am going to toss in bits of food to keep it cycled for a while.

Now, what really kills me is that I have NOTHING in my 10g tank. That was my first tank, and this is the first time it has ever had no fish in it. It is just lonely, makes me sad to walk by it. The 26g makes me sad too, because I have such a messed of mixture of fish. They all get along, but I would never put them all in the same tank if I had to do it over again... So I pretty much feel like I screwed up both tanks.

 

[krap101]

hmm. you could move your cherry barbs/neons into the 10 with the uhh h..a..t..l.. tetra into the 10 with the oto. err why didnt you move ne fish back into the 10? anyway its not really screwing a tank. and by all means not 2 tanks. only problem is you might have moved them to quickly and at the same time so the bacteria might be overworked.

anyway can a bacteria just quit if it has to eat to much?

 

[Menagerie]

Why don't you put the betta back in the 10 gal and arrange other inhabitants around it?

 

[krap101]

i think its because his wife really wanted it to be in thw 26 gallon or something. kinda skimmed through it... i got the main picture but i mighta missed some of the littler details

 

[grimlock3000]

"anyway can a bacteria just quit if it has to eat to much?"

Bacteria never quits, you just go through a mini-cycle if you do too much at once I will be light on the feedings for a while I do not forsee any problems, or a mini cycle. The tank has been through worse and never flinched. I have a huge quantity of bio media in the canister for the bacteria to expand upon.

I am thinking about moving some fish back into the 10g, however I want to hold off on that for a bit. No sense stressing fish out with two consecutive moves. This whole thing depends on the Betta, and how he reacts in the new larger tank. So far, he actually prefers the larger tank

Might just end up turning the 10g into the marine tank instead of having two 10s and a 26g. I really have no idea how this is going to pan out. I usually do two water changes a week on the 26g anyway so water quality would not be an issue if everything gets along.

Or maybe I can get a 55g for freshwater and use the 26g for marine (wishful thinking).

 

[glasstapper]

grimlock, that was funny! i hope you meant it that was but i was fortunate enough to pass ich from to 3 tanks in just a shade under 2 days hi-five

 

[RocketSeason]

use the 10 gallon as your QT tank for your marine fishes.

a ten gallon will make an extremely lousy first marine tank. I dont think anyone recomends anything lower than a 40 gallon for your first marine tank.

 

[krap101]

yeah i think the 10's a lil small for a marine tank.. i probally would do it myelf but one problem. the smaller amount of water means that when the water evaporates then there will be small or large (dont know) fluctuations of the salt in the water. it could work but ive heard that salt water fish are more sensitive to water conditions and that their especially sensitive to the salt flucuations.

 

[grimlock3000]

a ten gallon will make an extremely lousy first marine tank. I dont think anyone recomends anything lower than a 40 gallon for your first marine tank.

yeah i think the 10's a lil small for a marine tank.. i probally would do it myelf but one problem. the smaller amount of water means that when the water evaporates then there will be small or large (dont know) fluctuations of the salt in the water. it could work but ive heard that salt water fish are more sensitive to water conditions and that their especially sensitive to the salt flucuations.

I can manage Evaporation is not that much more of an issue for a 10g than for other tanks. Look at it this way... A 10g tank has 200 sq inches of surface water exposed to evaporate. A 20g Long has 360 inches of water exposed, or 180 per 10 gallons. Per gallon, there is not much of a difference on exposed water. I have put a lot of thought into this, I know what I am getting myself in to:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=31650

I have been planning this out for a while I have yet to find many instances of a small marine tank failing that was not directly caused by basic neglect or lack of research. When neglected, a smaller tank is more likely to fail. Same as it is in freshwater. As long as I perform basic maintenence, testing, and keep a low bio load, I should be fine.

Look here for some Nano Tank example:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=403056

Also, I really like the look of a small reef tank, and I always look forward to a challenge

 

[Menagerie]

Or maybe I can get a 55g for freshwater and use the 26g for marine (wishful thinking).

I was pulling for you to get the 55!!

 

[grimlock3000]

I was pulling for you to get the 55!!

 

[TankGirl]

I think a 10-gal is a great quarrantine/hospital tank, and unless it is really breaking your heart, I would hold it aside for that purpose, and go ahead and get the 55, and the smaller tank can be your marine tank.

Otherwise, I like a betta in a 10, with maybe some harlequins and some cory cats.

 

[grimlock3000]

After some aquascaping and watching the fish, everything appears happy in the 26g now. Especially the Betta, he apparently does not mind the rest of the fish, he just likes having more room to swim around. I got a couple of large plantss for the fish and moved the decorations from the 10g into the 26g:

Pic was taken with no tank lights on so it looks a little plain. I am waiting for the replacement ballast for my PC light anyway...

The only weird thing I have seen is one Loach confusing the Oto Cat for another Loach and harassing it. This only happens when the Oto swims around a lot, maybe the Loach sees the movements as similar.

Anyway, the 55g tank will not happen. I like the looks of smaller tanks and I have to move in the next few months anyway. When I go bigger, I want to go BIG with a 120 or 180 gallon tank, both are 24 inches front to back 8) Only having 13 inches front to back in a 55g would drive me nuts

The current plan is to keep the 26g freshwater, make a 10g marine tank, and have a 10g QT. After I move, I am sure another tank will find its way into my house...