The new tank so far (a couple of pics)

[Spankenstyne]

Thanks again for all the helpful advice so far.

It's 3 days into the first cycle and so far so good. The initial cloudiness is almost gone (bacteria bloom?) and i'm starting to see signs of ammonia and nitrites in small amounts so far in testing.

I just wanted to share a few pics of how it's going so far. We haven't gotten a background yet but will be going with a black or darker blue background. We have a washed playsand substrate with a few live plants so far, we plan on adding more as we go but want to do it gradually as we find what will work well with the lighting and water conditions and what will look nice to us. There is some lava rock and also some driftwood placed to allow some cave spaces and tunnels. Dimensions are 48" x 16" x 24" which if i'm correct is just a hair shy of 80 gallons.

Our plans for stocking when the cycle is done keep changing slightly haha, but as of now we're thinking 5 clown loaches, a bristlenose pleco (as suggested on here), a red tail shark, and some gouramis (probably opaline or some other variety of the 3 spotters) . Most likely a pair but maybe a couple more if it's not overcrowded?

Any thoughts on introduction schedules and if this group will work well in the numbers listed? I'm a bit confused on what will constitiute overcrowding as many places seem to have the inches of fish per gallon "rule of thumb" anywhere from .5" to 2". It's been years since i kept fish and it's nice to see so much more quality information readily available. I come from more of a reptile background so the numbers of potential inhabitants is kinda stumping me a bit.

I'm trying to plan for the potential average size of these guys so am i correct thinking that the clowns get pretty big, varies but most seem to think 7"ish with possible rare giants a few inches bigger. I have heard of 12"+ but most of my reading leads to that being mainly just in the wild and very rare in captivity with the average big ones around 7-8". The shark maybe 5" give or take, same with the bristlenose pleco, and the Gouramis anywhere from 4-6" with the three spot varieties. Is that info pretty much in line?

We could mix some loach types too instead if that might work as well, like maybe 3 clowns and a few yo yo's or something. I'm interested in some input though as i'm new to this on this kinda level and would like to hear from you more experienced at it.

Thanks again and all input is appreciated, you're not gonna hurt my feelings

You can see there's still some cloudiness in the second pic

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Looks good so far. Something that you may want to think about is putting the heater on the back of the tank and lay it horizontally parallel to the substrate. Leave a few inches between, but that way you can easily hide it. Some tall plants in the back would also be able to hide most of the tubes and such.

When it comes to stocking, you'll know when your tank is stocked. I know, it's pretty vague, but once you start to get a feel for your tank and your fish behavior, you'll know when it's stocked. The general "guideline" is 1 inch per gal. But bare in mind that girth also plays a big factor in it. To start out aim for about 1 inch per 2 gal. Then as you start to get to know your fish personalities, then you can start adding more.

 

[Zagz]

Tank is looking good. Cloudiness in new tanks is bacteria bloom and very normal. It will continue to get clearer. I agree with FF you will know when your tank is stocked once you have had a chance to observe your fish. Funny how that works but it does.

 

[Spankenstyne]

Well thanks!

It's a good thing you gave me the tip about the heater because i went to look at moving it and noticed that it's NOT supposed to be fully submerged, there's a water level line. Luckily it's all working fine still, but i won't be able to lay it horizontally. Like a fool i listened too much to the lfs guy who gave me the "oh yeah it's fully submergable" and i hadn't bothered to look in my excitement of setting up.

The more reasearch i do the more i'm thinking we won't be getting clown loaches. I don't want to have to move anything to a bigger tank, so we'll probably go with yoyo's and maybe also skunks instead.

There will be more plants and some larger ones soon as well.

Thanks so far for the tips you're all very helpful!

 

[rich311k]

I would suggest a black or deep blue back ground makes a tank look much deeper.

 

[bosk1]

Looks pretty good! I was going to say the same thing about the heater. Any chance they'll let you return it and get a fully submersible one? It's really nice to NOT have to unplug during a water change and then remember to replug afterward. But you won't really have the option if you can't keep the entire heater below the water line during your pwc's.

Regarding your fish, my tank is stocked similar to what you have in mind (see my sig.). I can verify that clown loaches DO get large in home aquaria if you keep them long enough. Perhaps the reason the larger ones don't seem as common is because most people don't end up keeping them long enough (either kill them because they don't know what they are doing, or they get out of the hobby long before the loaches get full size). There is a multi-thousand gallon tank at Capitol Aquarium near me that has several that are 8-10" and they had one that was about 14" until recently. The good news is, they are relatively slow growers and live a long time, so it will be a while before they crowd out your tank. If you really like them, I would go for it. There is a really good clown loach profile in the freshwater fish profiles section of this site: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=64446
Mine are fairly small. My "big" one is about 2 1/2" and my others are just under 2. Unfortunately, my three small ones brought in an ich infestation, so I am having to treat my tank. They seem to be doing alright, so let's hope they pull through. They are really fun fish!

Gouramis. I bought both of mine small. I thought they were both females, but now that they are growing, I'm starting to thing the blue might be a male. They are both total food hogs. These fish can get somewhat aggressive, but usually only toward other gouramis. I did a LOT of research and asked a LOT of questions because I originally planned to have 2 blue, 2 gold, 2 pearl, and it just seemed tricky in a 55 because of possible aggression issues. My blue is growing so quickly that if I don't find some fairly large pearls, I'm going to have to scrap the idea of getting pearls altogether or else risk having them be bullied. But I think I'm happy keeping my tank stocked as it is, with the exception of adding 2-3 more roseline sharks, and maybe another small pleco. Here is a good gourami profile: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=14141 The blue and gold opalines are my favorite color variety.

I don't keep either bristlenoses or redtail sharks (at least, not right now), so I can't offer personal experience, but here's a good bristlenose profile: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=68483

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Someone from Canada may be able to verify this, but I believe in Canada that they write on all boxes that heaters are not fully submersible, even though they are. Can anyone verify that? I remember hearing it quite a long time ago though (about a year or so). Do you know the brand of heater?

 

[rich311k]

FF that is true. What kind of heater is it, The brand and model?

 

[verucaproduce]

Looks like a Jager.

Take a look at this.


http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=22150&highlight=

 

[Spankenstyne]

It's a Jaeger 3607 200W. Interesting about the different standards and whatnot, i am in Canada so that would make sense. I also noticed that the local Big Al's also had the same heaters and fully submerged. Would be nice to know for sure if i can submerge it again or not safely.

 

[verucaproduce]

I see where some places say it can, and some say it can't. I say, why does it come with a 6 foot cord if it can't.

Maybe if you start a new topic or change the title of this thread, someone who uses one can tell you how they have it set up?

 

[Spankenstyne]

I'm pretty positive that it can after reading several threads about this in several different boards. Right on the side of the box it even says "submersible", Big Al's and a few local pet stores all have them fully submerged in their tanks as well.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Well thanks!

It's a good thing you gave me the tip about the heater because i went to look at moving it and noticed that it's NOT supposed to be fully submerged, there's a water level line. Luckily it's all working fine still, but i won't be able to lay it horizontally. Like a fool i listened too much to the lfs guy who gave me the "oh yeah it's fully submergable" and i hadn't bothered to look in my excitement of setting up.

The more reasearch i do the more i'm thinking we won't be getting clown loaches. I don't want to have to move anything to a bigger tank, so we'll probably go with yoyo's and maybe also skunks instead.

There will be more plants and some larger ones soon as well.

Thanks so far for the tips you're all very helpful!

Question, does the instructions say fully submersable or not. Many of the submersable ones have a water line on them, which is used as a minimum water level so the heater doesn't burn up from being too far out of the water. Might want to double-check that. That's how my heater is. And it's UL compliant as well, and has a built-in shut-off protection..

 

[Spankenstyne]

Good tip to check, but the instructions inside the box say not to submerge the unit beyond the water line. The text stamped onto the heater says "do not immerse beyond water line" with a water line stamped on. The text on the actual box says "submersible".

I'm now very confident it's a Canadian standards thing, many different unrelelated sources have suggested it, and i've now seen several of these heaters used fully submerged working perfectly after years of service.

I'm sure your heater has what it has on it due to it being US certified & purchased there, they don't need to repackage like they do up here.

Oh and small update on what loaches we're now setting our sights on, are Darios and Yo Yo's. lfs has plenty of both.