Regarding My Tank of Nightmares

[Vicki]

It’s become the most relaxing place in my home, but the name has stuck! What can I say?
Anyway, I have a few questions, being still new at this hobby. First, I need your advice. I’m hoping to get rid of the super huge sponge filter I have in the tank and replace it with two small ones (or even three, if I need to). I just need y’all’s advice about whether two small Spongies will work in my 55g. I also have a hob, but I’ve given up on it doing much of anything. I have to change the filters in there 2-3 times/week to keep them clean - this tank is still exhausting. If I didn’t love it so much… 
Now - next question. I think I’ve overstocked it. (Shocking, I know.) What do I need to do to make sure I take care of my fish?  It’s so gorgeous, I’d probably do it again - it’s going to be worth all the work I have to put into it. Anyway, the livestock list:

2 female betta, 
2 skunk Cory cats (I need more for their little group to be comfortable) - I’m also considering moving them to my tetra tank. They don’t seem to be doing well in the ToN.
6 reticulated Cory cats
2 Angle fish
10 neon tetras
6 Platys
2 Blue Rams
1 bristlenose pleco
1 clown pleco

So, you see? Over stocked. I just need to know how to take the best care of them now. 
I’ve attached a picture. This is from this morning - I’ll be working on the scaping today. The octopus plants are overgrown and I’ve got some new plants that need to be planted. I keep planting hoping it will help cut back on the green algae that keeps trying to overtake my tank - so far no luck, but I keep trying.  Anyway, thanks for your help!
 

[TOtrees]

My first recommendation is on the human side. Try to disassociate yourself from some of your feelings about the tank, and individual fish. Ie be impartial about receiving recommendations and making changes. If someone asked you what to, how would you advise them? Be willing to take steps towards change, even if it means moving or re-homing fish that you love. Or, as my wife frequently reminds me, if you don't want the answer don't ask the question. 🙂 

If you take the one or both of the bettas and angels out of the mix, you're not in rough shape stocking wise. Even with them in there I think your numbers are manageable, but the compatibility is where you'll have issues. In this almost-expert's opinion. And if your feeding and water change schedule are appropriate. 

I think overall it looks great. Plants are obviously thriving. And that might be your saving grace, if you're unwilling to move/remove fish. If the plants keep filling in and it becomes a jungle, that'll require maintenance and cause some crowding, but it'll really mitigate potential conflicts.  

Why the hate-on for HOB filter? What type do you have? Are you using disposable or reusable media? 

You could easily replace your 1 sponge with 2, but for this size of tank, you'd be better to just add another. At the very least, start towards 2 by adding 1, then replace the original one after a month or so.

So you're cleaning the sponge filter a lot. Change the HOB media so that it captures all the gunk, not the sponge. Then cleaning it will be easier. For that you want finer media in the HOB than what the sponge is. 

[Vicki]

On 10/20/2023 at 11:20 AM, TOtrees said:

but the compatibility is where you'll have issues.

What do you mean by compatibility is the issue? Compatibility with what, each other? The other fish? I tried to do quite a bit of research before selecting the fish to go into this tank to make sure it was a community that would live well together. The only thin limb I walked out on was with the betta girls. And I watched the tank they were in for almost an hour to try and pick two ladies who were fairly calm/peaceful. So far it seems to have worked out that way.  The only fish they bothered were my platys. The bettas and my molly teamed up and tortured the platys on the day they moved in, but since then, the tank has been peaceful (I sit and watch it all day - almost every day. 🫤) I do have a tank I can move my bettas to if I need to. And if it comes to it, I can take the angels back to the LFS where I got them. I’m just not yet sure why I would need to - but it it come down to the welfare of my fish, I’m absolutely willing to do whatever is necessary.
 

 

On 10/20/2023 at 11:20 AM, TOtrees said:

So you're cleaning the sponge filter a lot. Change the HOB media so that it captures all the gunk, not the sponge. Then cleaning it will be easier. For that you want finer media in the HOB than what the sponge is.

I’m cleaning the HOB twice a week. I’m wanting two smaller spongies mainly because they’ll be less intrusive in my aquascape. I just want to make sure that they’ll do enough filtration in the 55 gallon.  And do I need to keep the HOB? I mean, I probably will, largely because the fish seem to like the current over in that area - especially my molly. Right now I’m using some disposable (fine floss from ACO) combined with some reusable - the coarse sponge and some bio rings. 

As for the scaping looking like a jungle - yes, I know it does right now. I mentioned above that that’s on my agenda for today.  I’m taking out some of the octopus plants, trimming back some of the others and planting some of the new background plants I’ve got (the ones floating on the right in the picture.) 

Edited October 20, 2023 by Vicki

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/20/2023 at 9:16 AM, Vicki said:

First, I need your advice. I’m hoping to get rid of the super huge sponge filter I have in the tank and replace it with two small ones (or even three, if I need to). I just need y’all’s advice about whether two small Spongies will work in my 55g. I also have a hob, but I’ve given up on it doing much of anything. I have to change the filters in there 2-3 times/week to keep them clean - this tank is still exhausting. If I didn’t love it so much… 

Well.... I know from experience there's about a hundred different ways to filter a tank and it's all about trying to make it work for you.

When you mentioned smaller filters, I imagine it's because of a visual thing?

In a 55G I would run 2-3 of the large size sponge filters. In my tank I ran those in addition to the ziss bubble bio filters.

Maybe there is a setup we can work on that makes your experience with what you have better. Can you show the way you have it setup and what you are talking about having to swap out every 2-3 days.

My gut tells me to recommend the marineland penguin pro filter for you as well as 2 of their prefilter sponges for that filter. (one goes on the tube, the other goes inside the HoB itself)

Then you add whatever bag of media and sponge and fine pad you want to use. Very easy!

On 10/20/2023 at 10:53 AM, Vicki said:

I’m cleaning the HOB twice a week. I’m wanting two smaller spongies mainly because they’ll be less intrusive in my aquascape. I just want to make sure that they’ll do enough filtration in the 55 gallon.  And do I need to keep the HOB? I mean, I probably will, largely because the fish seem to like the current over in that area - especially my molly. Right now I’m using some disposable (fine floss from ACO) combined with some reusable - the coarse sponge and some bio rings. 

I'll try to get some photos later, but understanding which model you are using helps. I tend to cut my own foams and use fine foam as opposed to the filter floss. Just less waste and seems to do the job just as well.

On 10/20/2023 at 9:16 AM, Vicki said:

Now - next question. I think I’ve overstocked it. (Shocking, I know.) What do I need to do to make sure I take care of my fish?  It’s so gorgeous, I’d probably do it again - it’s going to be worth all the work I have to put into it. Anyway, the livestock list:

2 female betta, 
2 skunk Cory cats (I need more for their little group to be comfortable) - I’m also considering moving them to my tetra tank. They don’t seem to be doing well in the ToN.
6 reticulated Cory cats
2 Angle fish
10 neon tetras
6 Platys
2 Blue Rams
1 bristlenose pleco
1 clown pleco

I think one of the issues will be temperature. Depending what it is for the Betta, ram, and angels, that might be indicative of why you see the corydoras not doing well. I don't know what the reticulated ones are, but species like the trilineatus/false Julii can handle the heat a little better that others like pandas or similar.

 

Sidenote, that new potted plant looks AWESOME!

[Galabar]

What type of HOB are you using?  Also, when do you decide to clean it and how do you clean it?

If you want an extremely easy filter, with very low maintenance, I would suggest the Sicce Shark Adv:

https://www.amazon.com/Internal-freshwater-saltwater-application-submerged/dp/B007GCFYW4

This is very easy to clean -- I just use filter floss in the bottom container and change it weekly.  It's magnetic, so you just pop it off, change the floss and pop it back on.  I'm supper lazy with tanks and want to make things as easy as possible.

The one issue I recently found with the Sicce Shark Adv is that they are snail killers.  The seam between the powerhead and the rest of the filter sucks in their feet and kills them.  I solved that with some veggie elastics wrapped around that part: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XSBLNDF

For your HOB, there may be ways to set it up to make cleaning much easier.  I like to use filter floss at the start of any filtration, which allows it to be easily changed while never touching the sponge and/or ceramic media behind it.  I want to be able to change my filter in 30 seconds or less and enjoy the fish the rest of the time.

So, share with us your current filter model and approach and we might be able to help.

Edited October 20, 2023 by Galabar

[AllFishNoBrakes]

As far as compatibility it could be a temperature thing like @nabokovfan87said, but I also think you have some harder water fish with some softer water fish. The nice thing about the hobby, though, is that you can do whatever you want!

As far as overstocking and filtration, I think you’re alright. Just watch your nitrates and be ready to do water changes when needed. Also pay attention to your feeding and if you’re able to cut that back a bit that could also help. Finally, plants will help you out there, too. You said the tank is already a jungle, but everyone’s definition of that is different. To me, you could have waaaaay more plants before it becomes a jungle. Like this:

 

Or like this:

This 55 gallon has 4 adult Angels (used to be 6, will be 6 again soon), 4 Dwarf Neon Rainbows, 15 Cardinal Tetras, and like 18 Albino Cory’s. My tank runs on 1 large ACO sponge filter and an undersized Fluval HOB with a pre filter sponge. I change about 17 gallons of water once per week. 

Watch and make sure all your fish stay healthy, and be ready to water change when you need to. If you wanna change up the filtration, do it, but I don’t think it’s an absolutely necessary thing. 
 

This hobby is awesome because you can do anything you want!

Edited October 21, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[Cinnebuns]

On 10/20/2023 at 11:16 AM, Vicki said:

I have to change the filters in there 2-3 times/week to keep them clean

If by this you mean the cartridges the tank comes with, then thats your problem. They are bad. Throw them away and replace them with sponges and other filter media. Here's a video explaining it:

 

On 10/20/2023 at 12:53 PM, Vicki said:

What do you mean by compatibility is the issue? Compatibility with what, each other? The other fish? I tried to do quite a bit of research before selecting the fish to go into this tank to make sure it was a community that would live well together. The only thin limb I walked out on was with the betta girls. And I watched the tank they were in for almost an hour to try and pick two ladies who were fairly calm/peaceful. So far it seems to have worked out that way.  The only fish they bothered were my platys. The bettas and my molly teamed up and tortured the platys on the day they moved in, but since then, the tank has been peaceful (I sit and watch it all day - almost every day. 🫤) I do have a tank I can move my bettas to if I need to. And if it comes to it, I can take the angels back to the LFS where I got them. I’m just not yet sure why I would need to - but it it come down to the welfare of my fish, I’m absolutely willing to do whatever is necessary.
 

 

I’m cleaning the HOB twice a week. I’m wanting two smaller spongies mainly because they’ll be less intrusive in my aquascape. I just want to make sure that they’ll do enough filtration in the 55 gallon.  And do I need to keep the HOB? I mean, I probably will, largely because the fish seem to like the current over in that area - especially my molly. Right now I’m using some disposable (fine floss from ACO) combined with some reusable - the coarse sponge and some bio rings. 

As for the scaping looking like a jungle - yes, I know it does right now. I mentioned above that that’s on my agenda for today.  I’m taking out some of the octopus plants, trimming back some of the others and planting some of the new background plants I’ve got (the ones floating on the right in the picture.) 

Part of the problem with the compatibility of the bettas and the angels is not in the short term but in the long term. Angels become more aggressive as they age and want to mate. Female bettas also will become more aggressive with each other as they are forced to be together for longer periods of time. There are some people who advocate for betta sororities, but even they will say you have to have an odd number of fish, and a specific setup for it to work. Angels would not fit in that setup. They also need to be introduced all at once as any introduction of a new fish means a new intruder into the old fish's territory. Also, many experts who once supported betta sororities have started pulling their support of it as it tends to be something that works till it doesn't. NOW, that said, there is ALWAYS going to be exceptions to the rule. Fish are individuals and are unique and there will always be those rare situations in which something that shouldn't work does. You should still be aware of the risks you are taking on and have multiple backup tanks incase of disaster. 

Edited October 21, 2023 by Cinnebuns

[Cinnebuns]

On 10/20/2023 at 11:18 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

This hobby is awesome because you can do anything you want!

I highly disagree with that. There are many things people may want but is not responsible or ethical to do. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 10/21/2023 at 1:09 AM, Cinnebuns said:

I highly disagree with that. There are many things people may want but is not responsible or ethical to do. 

That’s fine, and I never said I was going to do irresponsible or unethical things. But I’m not gonna demand that someone give up their tank or rehome their fish or demand that someone add another filter or whatever. 

[Tanked]

 

On 10/20/2023 at 2:26 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I’m cleaning the HOB twice a week.

I would not get rid of the HOB.  If you need to clean the HOB twice a week, it is doing the job for which it was intended.  It is also providing the water movement which you need.  You my want to revisit your feeding routine.

While the supply lasts, I still use the disposable cartridges that came with some of my HOBs.  A high pressure stream from the garden hose or kitchen sink allows me to reuse the same cartridge for months or years instead of days.  I use the Bio Bags from the Whisper filter that Cory mentioned in place of filter floss. 

 

[Galabar]

On a good day, you can get those Whisper Bio Bags for < $1.00 per bag.

[Tanked]

Traveling around yesterday, the large bags ran $.90-1.75 ea.   Mediums were as little as $.68 ea.  I keep a few around, for other than aquarium purposes, as well as in the HOB filters.