55 gallon stocking
- Thread starter jackwagon
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Luananeko
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yoyo loaches can get as large as 10" in some cases, so they're going to be a bit large to fit a group of them (they prefer groups of 3+, 5 or more would be ideal) in addition to your other choices. If you dropped the pictus catfish from your stocking plan you could fit 5 of them. I'm not sure that they're any easier to find than the dwarf chain loaches, but they are a little less expensive at least.
Luananeko
Aquarium Advice Addict
6" is the most common max size, but they have been seen to grow to 10" depending on the genetics and environment they're in. Even if you go on the 6" max size assumption, it's still overstocking the tank if you go with 5 of them on top of the pictus group.
i dont believe they get to 10 inches. 7 maybe,but not 10
Luananeko
Aquarium Advice Addict
I agree most of them stay around 6", but as I said, even if you go on the 6" assumption I think 5 of them will be too much for the tank in combination with the catfish, barbs, and pleco... Aqadvisor mentioned the potential 10" mark in rare cases, so I thought it should be pointed out is all.
Scott F
Aquarium Advice Freak
Golden Dojo loaches and a not so common pleco.
Luananeko
Aquarium Advice Addict
All of your planned species do fine with a bit of extra current and appreciate super clean water, so a second filter would be a good idea. It's not mandatory, but definitely beneficial.
Luananeko
Aquarium Advice Addict
Not if you have a tight fitting lid. You'll lose a little water evaporating through the gaps where your filters flow into the tank, especially since you're using a HOB filter, but as long as things are snug elsewhere this will trap a layer of humid air along the top of the tank and help reduce your evaporation pretty well.
If you're still worried about evaporation, take a look into a canister filter for your second filter. You can position their outflow under the water surface, plus it doesn't require a big slot to be cut out of the top like a HOB needs. Those two factors combined will drop your evaporation issues from a second filter down to next to nothing.
Luananeko
Aquarium Advice Addict
My Rena Filstar XP3 filter is the first canister filter I've used and cost $129. Not sure how that compares to the price you found on the Emperor. It's been well worth the cost. When you compare how much filtration capacity the XP3 has to the Emperor it's a bit of a joke though. The XP3 has 3 containers worth of filtration media where each container is equal to all 4 of the cartridges in the Emperor. It has a lower water turnover rate, but the water that goes through it is filtered far more. I'm actually decommissioning the Emperor 400 that I was using in favor of just using the XP3, and that's for a 75 gallon tank.
Edit: Missed the red tail question. A red tail might not like your yo yo loaches as he might mistake them for other sharks. If you're still planning on keeping the pictus catfish on top of the loaches I really wouldn't try to fit anything else in, especially not another 4-5" bottom dwelling fish.
Edit: Missed the red tail question. A red tail might not like your yo yo loaches as he might mistake them for other sharks. If you're still planning on keeping the pictus catfish on top of the loaches I really wouldn't try to fit anything else in, especially not another 4-5" bottom dwelling fish.
