# First time fish owner. Just a bunch of questions.



## Aaron92 (Jul 31, 2013)

Hey all, to start I'm a university student, so all my stuff is pretty much 2nd hand or jerry rigged. I am working to fix some of the make do parts of my set up, eg- my light is much too small for my tank

Below are some images of my current set up, just for viewing.

http://prntscr.com/1j3xit
http://prntscr.com/1j3xgh
http://prntscr.com/1j3xb2

I have, 2 dwarf gouramis, 12 neon tetras, 3 clown loaches, 3 kulhi loaches, 3 peppered catfish and 2 glass catfish (I am getting 3 more of these, the local store only had 2) and a sucker catfish. I am aware the clown loaches will grow too large, I will move them on when that happens. I bought them to combat my unwanted snail guests. Are there any other types of loaches that will eat snails? I don't want crayfish as they could eat my fish as well as the snails.

My tank is about 50 gallons, 190litres (that's to the water level). My equipment is as follows-
Resun Ae-808 canister filter. I have charcoal, bioballs, biomesh and a filtermesh in it's 4 sections.
A 200W heater
An 18W sunlight light
Dual valve air pump
And all the chemical odd and ends.

My pH is...well I dont know exactly, I lost the colour chart. I have bro-methyl blue, and its green or very very light blue. Which I know from memory is 7-8, which seems to be fine. I beleive its the shells in the gravel making it slightly basic. The hardness is at 80-100mg/litre. Which imo is a little high, I'm planning on setting my water changes at 60 and slowly bringing that down. But I don't know what I'm basing that off.

I am aware I will get some algae growth as my tank is near a large glass door, so it gets direct sunlight. Will a little group of sucker cat help remove some of the algae? Or any other peaceful fish help control it? I'm not trying to skimp on cleaning, I was just wondering and I like the suckercats

I want to get a type of Pacific Blue Eye. Does anyone have any experience with these? I am australian, and they're native but seem rare to find. Would they survive in 25'C water, all the site says is above 19'C.

My clown loaches, kuhli loaches and glass catfish are very timid. They wont come out of the plants or decorations when I feed them. I assume the loaches can eat the snails, but will the others get the left overs when I feed them at night? They've been in the tank for about a week, just worried they'll starve to death.

I am planning a water changed this week. About 30%. Actually the 1st water change this tank will have had since I have put fish in it. I am on town water, so it's chlorinated. I have a 70Litre bucket, my plan was to fill it a day or two before the water change and just sit it outside in the sun. Will that be enough time for the chlorine to completely leave my water?

All help appreciated and any criticism about my tank set up would be nice


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

I think that your stocking is about it for now, your fish will grow much bigger then they are in the store. Also, how long was your tank cycled before adding fish, the nitrogen cycle is very important. You also said you would move the loaches when they got to big, do you have specific plans? 


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## Aaron92 (Jul 31, 2013)

TheJakeM said:


> I think that your stocking is about it for now, your fish will grow much bigger then they are in the store. Also, how long was your tank cycled before adding fish, the nitrogen cycle is very important. You also said you would move the loaches when they got to big, do you have specific plans?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


My freinds parents have a large tank, was going to give the loaches to them. The store won't take them back, so they seem happy for now where they are.

I set the tank up, filled it with water and gravel. Let it run for about 5days. Added some plants and some stuff I bought that adds bacteria to start the tank off. Waited about another 5days, then added the neons. They lived, so I've been adding a few every 3days. The nitrite is still at 0ppm and the pH is staying stable, so I think it's ok =/


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## Pleco (Sep 22, 2012)

5 days should be good, but the real experts say that a couple months is best. Yo yo loaches eat snails, mine harassed one to death...i don't know about sun treatment? Chlorine removing drops from your LFS work for me. Remember that about half the size of your tank is how many fish can live in it (yours is 50g, so approx. 25 fish), there's another way with sq. inch of fish, but i forget that one.

Good luck and make sure to post finished photos!


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## Aaron92 (Jul 31, 2013)

Pleco said:


> 5 days should be good, but the real experts say that a couple months is best. Yo yo loaches eat snails, mine harassed one to death...i don't know about sun treatment? Chlorine removing drops from your LFS work for me. Remember that about half the size of your tank is how many fish can live in it (yours is 50g, so approx. 25 fish), there's another way with sq. inch of fish, but i forget that one.
> 
> Good luck and make sure to post finished photos!


I think I'll try and give the loaches to a different pet store, maybe sell them and get some other loach instead. The yoyo ones can also get pretty big, about 12cm (6inches).

Is there a limit of how many plants I can have. I'm wanting some grasses just for some ground cover. I like the ones I have now, but theyre more for the vertical height, not actual coverage


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

The more plants, the better. You could sell your fish on aquabid later on, or give them to a friend. The rule is typically 1 inch of fish per gallon, but that doesn't work for very large or fast fish. (Ex: A 50 inch shark in a 50 gallon would not work). I would have waited longer for the cycling, but you should be fine. I would like to see some fish pics.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

ok....for now your stocking level is fine.while the clown loaches will reach 15" long , it will take many years for that..you should be good for another 5-7 years.i don't know about Australia but here in the state s an 8" clown will bring 75-100 dollars..
some slightly poor information from pleco..under normal circumstances it take 8-12 weeks for a new tank to completely cycle.there is no half tank=number of fish..
the clown loaches need a couple of nice caves to hang out in..jake is right..more plants are better ; but the clowns will dig them up looking for food.better to tie some anubias and java ferns to pieces of driftwood.
get a few clean 5 gallon buckets for water changes...you really don't have to put the water out in the sun.just sitting 24 hours will get rid of the chlorine.or you could use a dechlorinating agent from the fish shop.
25C is a little too cool..i would suggest 28 or 29..the clowns like to be warm and can be very susceptible to ick when the water is too cool..


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

Listen to Loha, he knows what he is talking about. It takes about 14 hours for chlorine to evaporate from water, I would wait a little longer though.



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## Pleco (Sep 22, 2012)

But with a 50 gal. tank a yoyo should be fine, they're pretty funny too.


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

It really depends pleco, technically he would be, but you would need to keep less fish. That rule about half as many fish as gallons wouldn't really ever work. With that rule you could keep a great white in a 2 gallon bowl. Which, while undoubtably funny, would be cruel. 



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## Pleco (Sep 22, 2012)

Touche. How on earth would he fit in there anyway?

Guess that means I gotta "take care" of some of my fish...lol


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## Aaron92 (Jul 31, 2013)

The plants I have in the middle keep falling out and floating to the top. It's hard to see in the image because the stand has a large lip on the front and sides, but they're in about 5-7cm of gravel (is it less in other areas, but I built it up around the plants). Should I buy a lump of wood to tie them to, or are these the wrong type of plant to do that to? The others are staying in just fine.

Related to that, if I put grasses in, how to I clean the gravel without sucking the grass up in the siphon cleaner?

And regarding the loaches needing places to hide, the log is plastic and hollow, as is the ship. All the corys and loachs fit in the log easily, so theres no lack of hidey holes for the time being.


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

You could tie the plants, I'm pretty sure you could do it with pretty much any plant, just keep the roots in the gravel. You could do with a little more gravel in there as well. Another thing I am noticing is that this is a tall tank, so you can't do as many bottom dwellers as middle and top dwellers, just keep that in mind.


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## Aaron92 (Jul 31, 2013)

TheJakeM said:


> You could tie the plants, I'm pretty sure you could do it with pretty much any plant, just keep the roots in the gravel. You could do with a little more gravel in there as well. Another thing I am noticing is that this is a tall tank, so you can't do as many bottom dwellers as middle and top dwellers, just keep that in mind.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I wasn't going to add any new fish to the tank at all. According to the calculator on the general section of this forum, I'm overstocked and my filter isn't big enough. The filter is rated for a 600L tank though, so I dunno.

I'm just watching to see if my loaches are living, they hide all the time and I'm paranoid they're dead because I can never see them.

And yah, the tank is oddly tall. I'm 6foot tall and lanky, still takes my whole arm to reach and clean the bottom  I don't want anymore bottom feeders. So I think should be ok sticking with what's already there.

I'm looking to get a new light, the 18W is too low for the plants. I'm looking at this . My tank is about 60cm deep, so I think I need one with a bit of grunt.

Also uploaded some pics of the fish for you  - http://imgur.com/a/xXjdo -


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