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March 12th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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Research for a new tank need tips
Stocking ideas for a 30 gal. Freshwater medium- heavily planted tank. With some nice real drift wood pieces. This is going to be my second tank and I’m not going to get it until august but I want to know exactly what I need for it.
I was hoping to go with
1 Black Ghost Knife
2 German Blue Rams (pair)
3-4 Kuhlii Loach
3-4 Otocinclus Catfish
1 Gypsy King Tiger Pleco
The rams, Kuhlii Loaches and the pleco are what I’m really set on unless they don’t get along but I really like the Knife fish. I know this is over stocked but how do I count the Knife?
Last edited by King_Snuggles; March 14th, 2008 at 11:20 AM.
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March 13th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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So what im really asking is can I have all these fish in a 30 gal tank or do i need to x-out some?
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March 13th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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GBR's should go in 3's... 2 females, one male. knives get pretty big for a 30g, i think but get a second opinion on that...
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March 13th, 2008
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Fish Mentor
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Well lets see:
(2) GBR: 6 inches
(3) Kuhli Loaches: 9 inches
(1) Gypsy King Tiger Pleco: 5.5 inches
Total: 20.5 inches
You could stock the tank with about 10 more inches of fish. If you add in the otos:
25 inches (about 4.5 inches for 3 of them)
The ghost knife fish gets 20 inches and is way to big for your tank. You could add in a couple more rams if you wanted since they do well in groups. Or you could add a couple more kuhli loaches. If you wanted, a yoyo loach might do well in your tank (they get about 6 inches). You could also try another pair of dwarf cichlids such as cockatoos or any of the apistogramma species.
I hope this helps!  |
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March 13th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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Thank you that does help. I thought the Knife would be out, o well 
Ok so would 3 GBR 1 male and 2 females; 3 Kuhli Loaches; 1 tiger pleco and 3 cockatoos 1 male and 2 females work well together? |
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March 13th, 2008
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Fish Bum
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since your setting up an acid tank a small school of rasboras will keep the tank nice and lively and help with the rams as they enjoy surface dither fish for security, a school of 6-8 would be nice. just another look, hope this helps, john
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March 13th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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how bad is it to overstock the tank? I can stay on top of the water quality.
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March 13th, 2008
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Fish Bum
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slight overcrowding can be tolerated by most species, by that i mean 1 or 2 fish small ones at that. this becomes a problem on that weekend away and your filter goes down, or your air pump dies; then the surface area of you tank will not be able to supply sufficient oxygen to your water to support the fish life and inveritably you will lose fish till that equasion balances...that is unless you keep only gouramies. lol if more fish are your thing instead of settling and being unhappy upsize your dream to a larger tank. when my freinds ask[and they always do] what size tank do i recommend i always say the largest you can afford. the more water you have the easier to care for and the more forgiving of mistakes it is! gl, i hope this helped...john
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March 13th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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30 gal is the next size i can afford. right now i have a 6 gal lol. So ill think over weither to go with the cockatoos or the school of rasboras.
The next question i have is what kind of substright do i need to both keep the loaches happy and the plants healthy? i plan on getting some sort of CO2 though dont know what kind yet.
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March 14th, 2008
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Fish Mentor
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I think that rams and cockatoos would be fine together. Rasboras are nice too though. It might be nice to go with the rasboras to add some activity to the upper levels of the tank |
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March 14th, 2008
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Fish Bum
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my favorite substrate for use with undergravel filters is a mix of flourite and gravel of your choice, if no ug is used then i would go with eco complete..pretty much available through any online store and even some good lfs. this type of substrate comes complete with all the seeded bacteria you will need. dont forget if you are planting your tank you will need very good lighting. shallow tanks require a minimum of 2 watts per gallon, so a total of 60w would be great for lush plant growth. taller tanks is seems require much more light. it appears you are on a budget so i would recomend you look into coralife dual bulb slim fixtures. they are designed for space saving and are all figured out for you as far as light spectrum is concerned. cost is roughly about 30 bucks for a 24" fixture and they do a good job of supplying plants and bringing out fish coloration
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March 14th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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would the eco complete be fine enough for the loaches to play in? the pictures online make it look like gravel. I was looking into sand, but does black moon sand or pool filter sand suport plants?
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March 14th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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another question why rasboras and not tetras or any other small schooling fish?
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March 14th, 2008
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Fish Bum
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first question: ecocomplete seperates into 2 soft substrates one fine falls to the bottom quickly and one coarse stays on top. no problem for loaches they'll love it!
2nd question: rasboras are a true schooling fish they pretty much always stay and play together, neons, white clouds, and the like will spread out until danger is present then school up. rases are extremely quick, i even have them in with african cichlids as dither fish. when keeping rams, which are generally very shy, they seem to watch the dither fish for signs of danger. if your dither fish scatter, as most tetras and cloud do normally without danger, your rams will hide.
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March 14th, 2008
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Fish Addict
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thank you very good to know. I think ill just go with pool filter sand unless its harmful?
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