adamh

I’d be careful with apistos or gourami as they can be aggressive and the others are in the same water column. If you are going heavy on stocking (I don’t really follow the inch rule) I’d be prepared for more than average testing and water changes. In my experience that’s really the key.

I’m by no means an expert and won’t comment on the cause, but I will say in my experience corys and plecos are the last ones to show signs of the problem but the first ones to struggle from medications. If you can separate them for treatment I would. One of my worst days is when I inadvertently killed a couple plecos while treating a nasty (finally figured out...I think) columnaris infection from a really popular Lfs. I still call it my “death tank” and always have regret when I look at it. Also, I totally freaked out and went crazy on treatment, which is probably the worst response. I’d use every available resource to try and really pin down what’s happening and treat appropriately. in a pinch, you can relocate to a plastic bin with an air stone and a usb pump from Aquarium Co-op for the catfish and work on saving the danios. good luck!

The major thing for me is backup on air supply. I think most fish can get through almost everything else. I’d just do water changes the night before you leave. If your tanks are well established and have some algae they will most likely be fine. If your tanks are new or you have fry/juveniles you might need to find someone to feed them. A nice trick is to use pill boxes for the food so you know the person uses the right amount.

It was a great joy when my youngest saw the fry in this tank first! I thought he was looking in a guppy tank, but he was looking at a planted I’ve got started with the ultimate goal of a Bloody Mary shrimp colony. About three or four have made it to about a half inch size, and today was the first time one ventured out into the open. While looking at him/her I noticed several other newly hatched fry. We haven’t done anything to encourage spawning, just one of those “hey, look what I found” situations. So cool when it happens!

Home Depot has a husky line of shelving that has extreme capacity. I’ve got 6 10’s , 6 20’s 1 55 and a 2.5 on one with no issues

If there’s no chloramine in your water you can set up a filter pretty easy on your supply side.

When I drill I use double threaded bulkheads. Inside the tank I thread an elbow with a cut piece of sponge to prevent any accidents. You can also adjust the level to some extent by where you locate the opening. On external side I use a barb elbow with vinyl tube. This gives you all the flexibility for change you’ll ever need. I don’t drill my large tanks, I make an overflow siphon system so I’m never committed to the bulkhead location/can’t crack when drilling. Especially 55’s as they are so often tempered.