75 Gallon Tank 75 Gallon Stocking Journal

[Diotimoss]

Everyone looks good this morning. Cardinals look bright and colorful. Seem to be settling in. I am only counting 13 rasbora this morning though. I think I need to stop trying to count them, lol. No carcasses or remains of any kind have been found in the tank however, so I have no idea where they are going if they are missing, or alive!

I also obsessively count my schooling fish, even without any losses to spook me! But they all look so darn similar...

 

[drat]

Well, my LFS convinced me that the ranger plecos he has will not get any bigger than 3", so I got 3! He claims he keeps 3 in a 40, so I am thinking they will be fine in a 75. Hopefully he is right. I will never forget the shock at how my pleco grew the first time I bought one, but that was back in the 80's!

 

[drat]

Wow, these guys are little poop machines. It looked like a pack of rats ran through the quarantine tank. I vacuumed it out and now they are hiding.

 

[Diotimoss]

Those Rangers are so cute! I love the plecos with the super-defined/high contrast patterns and that stay small!!! I’ll have to look into these guys enjoying following your tank journal!

 

[drat]

Plecos seem to be doing well. 1 stays in hiding most of the time, but was out some yesterday. He is the smallest of the 3, and I would guess the youngest. Still, he looked good when I saw him, and algae wafers left in the tank overnight appear to have been eaten.

 

[drat]

The main tank

Another one

 

[SamMe]

It looks excellent!

 

[drat]

It looks excellent!

Thank you!

 

[drat]

Well, it is a week today since I got the plecos. They look great. I rarely see all 3 at once, so was getting a little nervous I might have lost one, but I saw them all at the same time today! The glass in the tank is pretty much cleaned off, as htese guys re like little lawn mowers. Starting to think about moving them. I know they were at the lfs for a few weeks (I saw them), and they look great. Maybe tomorrow!

 

[drat]

The ranger plecos have moved to the big tank. Already I can only find 1, lol. They should be happy in there, lot's of hiding spots. Hoping they do well! Not sure what is next. Gonna give the QT a couple of days to recover!

 

[drat]

I haven't seen the biggest pleco yet this morning, but the two smaller ones are out and about scooping up algae. I put a couple of slices of blanched cucumber in last night, but it does not appear to have ben touched. There is still plenty of algae for them to eat, and plenty to scavenge off the substrate for now.

 

[drat]

Everyone is doing well! I have decided that 6 kuhli loaches are next, however, my QT has developed a severe case of cyano, and I am concerned about adding fish until I get it cleaned up. Any recomendations for effective control would be appreciated?

 

[drat]

Doing a water change on the 75 g, and just found the smallest of the plecos dead behind the sponge filter. I don't remember seeing him yesterday, but the day before he was out on the glass most of the day. Everyone else seems fine, although I am starting to get an algae bloom in there. Good cleaning and a water change today!

 

[drat]

Okay, I finally felt the QT was in shape for fish, so I went and got 6 kuhli loaches. They are a little small, about 2.5 inches each, but, show pretty good color.

 

[drat]

The Kuhli Loaches seem to be doing well. It is hard to get a count on them because I rarely get to see more than a couple at a time. too many hiding places, but then again, I want them to be comfortable. They are our a little more today! I saw can see 5 of them right now, and am pretty sure the other one is in the log. They look good. No signs of fungus or ich. It is hard to tell how much they are eating, and I don't see whole mess of poop. It looks like they are going for the algae wafers. I put in some sinking pellets, and flake as well, but they are not active feeders. They are definitely out looking for some food today.

That brings me to ... time to start thinking about a center piece fish, or 3. Looking for suggestions? I had thought about 3 pearl gourami, but am not sure. Gourami can be trouble, but I believe they are fairly peaceful. Thoughts? Ideas?

 

[drat]

So, it has been a week since I got the kuhli loaches. I decided it was time for a head count as I rarely see more than two at a time. I pulled all the decorations and hiding places out. I can only find 5 of the 6 that I put in. I am guessing maybe one died and the others ate it? I didn't really find any remains to speak of!

 

[SamMe]

I have not kept them myself, but have read they are escape artists. Have you checked your filter?

 

[drat]

I have not kept them myself, but have read they are escape artists. Have you checked your filter?

I haven't checked it yet, but it is unlikely as I have a sponge pre-filter specifically to prevent it. I am probably going to move these into the main tank, then go to the lfs and get 3 more. That would give me 8, which will be good for them.

 

[drat]

So ... today was moving day. I* took all the decorations out of the QT. Today I saw only 4 kuhli loaches. 2 days ago, there were 5. The motor housing on my whisper 50 is sprung, and there is a little crack just at the water line. I saw some movement inside the housing. I have no idea how to get this housing off, but I started trying. All of a sudden the loach wiggles out and back into the tank. I am more than relieved. I fished the 5 of them out and put them in an acclimation container (cut off distilled water bottle), and started the acclimation process. I cleaned the filter ad started cleaning the tank, while I had the media soaking in a bucket of used water. At least a half hour had gone by since I removed the 5, when suddenly appears in the tank (a tank with absolutely nothing else in it at this point) the 6th original loach. I have no idea where he was. He was extremely difficult to catch, even thought the tank was fairly empty. I am ecstatic to have found him though, because he was missing the other day. I get him in the acclimation container with the other guys and all is well. Halfway through the process I pour some of the water off from the container. As I do, the little guy, the one I just found jumps out of the container, avoids the net, and goes down the drain. He was not meant to be in the main tank. The other 5 are doing well. Not sure I f I will get 3 more, or jut stay with the 5.

Current stock in 75 gallon main tank

13 Brilliant Rasbora
10 Cardinal Tetra
2 Ranger Plecos
5 Kuhli Loaches

What next?

 

[drat]

Thought I would give a little update. Not much going on as I thought I might give the system time to catch up, and my favorite lfs is pretty much out of stock as they are moving. Still, there are a couple of things going on. 1, I have not seen hide nor hair of the kuhli loaches, except for 1 short glimpse for a second about a week in, since I put them in the tank. Too many places to hide, I guess. I had suspected they were under the porcelain log, but when I did my water change, I removed it to vacuum, and I didn't see any sign of them. When I did see one, it was in the tangle of plastic plants, Maybe they are under the hollow tree I don't know. I am still debating whether or not to get more of them, in an effort to bring them out more, but I hate having fish I cannot see! I am still dropping shrimp pellets to the bottom, most nights, just before turning off the lights, so I hope the are getting enough to eat, and that they are still in there somewhere! Everything else is doing well! 10 cardinal tetras, 13 brilliant rasbora, and 2 ranger plecos all appear to be doing well. 1 of the rangers has grown quite a bit since I got him, although he is still only about 3", the other seems to not have grown that much at all, and is considerably smaller. The smaller one can disappear for a day or two sometimes, but then reappears. The bigger one, I see almost every day now. Again, there are lots of hiding spots. I have been having a problem with water clouding up at times. It seems to clear up with a water change, then comes back after a few days. Will keep working on it. Have a happy!

 

[drat]

I knew it had been a while, but I didn't realize it had been quite so long. Although I have not added any fish to my tank that were not listed above, it seems to be doing quite well and I finally have some more fish finishing up quarantine and going into the 75g today. I bought 6 more kuhli loaches (black). As far as I know, the other 5 are still in there alive, although I only see them 1 at a time during water changes, lol. Maybe, by adding these, it will bring the others out a little more, or as the guy at the LFS said, run them out of hiding places. I do have a lot of hiding places. Anyway, the other fish are doing pretty well. I lost the smaller of the 2 plecos. Not sure why, just found him dead one day. The other one has grown to probably about 5" and owns the space under the log. Beyond that 10 cardinal tetras are absolutely beautiful, as are 13 brilliant rasboras. Looking for some snails to add in now. Hoping everyone out there is well!

 

[drat]

The 6 Kuhli loaches made it through quarantine, and I just picked up 6 nerite snails today. They are in the quarantine tank now. Plenty of algae in there for them.

 

[drat]

So, a little over a week ago, I went to the LFS and purchased 6 nerite snails and added them to my quarantine tank. Initially, 5 of them were clump together, and 1 remained separate. The 5 clumped together stayed like that for a full day on the bottom of the tank The other snail first climbed up onto a fake log that is covered in algae and began eating. After about a day of lying in the clump. 3 of the snails separated and climbed the glass to the top of the tank/waterline and stayed there. This is my quarantine tank, so there was plenty of algae on the glass. On about the 4th day. all of the snails were back down on the bottom of the tank and the last two had separated. After that, they did not seem to move again. This morning, I gave them all the sniff tests, as they have not moved in about 4 days, and they are definitely dead. This tank has loads of algae, but is definitely cycled. My water is very soft, but ammonia is 0 ppm, nitrites 0 ppm, and nitrates about 20 ppm. I tested a couple of times to make sure the ammonia didn't spike, and never say one. Any ideas on why all 6 would die like that? The only medications that have ever been added to this tank are melafix and kanaplex which to the best of my knowledge do not contain copper, are snail safe, and even those were many, many, water changes ago. Worth noting that just prior to the snails, I successfully quarantined 6 new kuhli loaches in this tank for 2 weeks with no problem.

 

[TClare]

It seems that the snails were not in very good condition to start with? I also have very soft water and have refrained from getting any snails other than ramshorns, which came originally with plants. Having said that I doubt if the soft water would cause them to die so quickly.

 

[drat]

It seems that the snails were not in very good condition to start with? I also have very soft water and have refrained from getting any snails other than ramshorns, which came originally with plants. Having said that I doubt if the soft water would cause them to die so quickly.

I honestly was hesitant to get them as I don't know enough about keeping them, I have kept snails with mixed luck in saltwater, but not in fresh. Maybe I should get some trumpet snails, I hear those are hard to kill lol!

 

[drat]

Finally got some pearl gouramis. They are young, and all my lfs had were females, so I got 3. They have already gone through an 8 day quarantine. LFS had them 2 weeks and they look great, so I went ahead and put them in. They are adjusting very well. Still never see the kuhli loaches, although I know that I have lost 2, 1 striped, and 1 black, over the course of time. I have also lost a couple of cardinals, but overall the tank is doing well. I have one ranger pleco left who is about 5 or 6 inches, and hides under the log all the time. That is his spot. That puts the current stocking in the tank as 1 ranger pleco, 9 kuhli loaches (maybe), 12 Brilliant Rasbora,, 8 Cardinal tetra, 3 pearl gouramis. I am already thinking about getting 3 more of the gouramis. I am also considering gettting some more cardinal tetras to beef up the school.