Community Tanks Journal

[macdaddy36]

I am thinking of moving some fish around as I now have two aquariums.

What I currently have in my 20 high: 2 Honey Gourami, 6~8 Kuhli Loaches (not sure how many are left), 4 Harlequin Rasbora, 3 Espei Rasbora (LFS had them labelled as harlequins), 3 male endlers

This is my idea of how I am going to change it up with my new 10 gallon tank.

20 High: 2 Honey Gourami, 2 Apistogramma, 8-10 Harlequins/Espei

10 Rimless: 6~8 Kuhli Loaches, 6 male endlers, 1 female shortfin betta.

I have lots of plants and cover, and a sponge filter and HOB filter for my 20 high and never have had much nitrates. The thing I am most concerned about would be the gouramis and apistos together. I don't think there would be too much aggression because the gouramis are usually at the top and the apistos would be at the bottom. I was originally going to put the Apistos in the 10 gallon, but I though it would be better if they had more space, and I would rather have them with rasboras then guppies. I really like the look of Apistogramma Panduro, but I would be flexible to what ever is the most compatible.

I would probably start the Apistos off in the 10 gallon because I want to rescape the 20 (I will likely destroy the scape anyway getting the Loaches out.) I will not get the betta until I am sure the Apisto and Gourami will be fine in the same tank. Does anyone see any problems with these stockings? 

Thanks

Edited December 10, 2023 by macdaddy36
clarity

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/12/2023 at 6:28 PM, macdaddy36 said:

10 Rimless: 6~8 Kuhli Loaches, 6 male endlers, 1 female shortfin betta.

I don't really think a betta community tank is the right choice due to temps, but just keep in mind flow requirements, temp, and activity level of the fish.  Maybe the loaches would be too much in a 10 with a betta?

On 11/12/2023 at 6:28 PM, macdaddy36 said:

20 High: 2 Honey Gourami, 2 Apistogramma, 8-10 Harlequins/Espei

the rasbora will want different temp than the other 2 species from what I am aware of.  Just something to consider or further dive into.  (most rasbora are cooler water fish, prefer low 70's as opposed to high).  I really don't know much about what apisto will want, but depending on what the temp is currently, I just wanted to mention it.

[macdaddy36]

I think the temperature should work, but I do worry the tank might be overstocked. Maybe I could keep the guppies in the 20 gallon. I think that the rasboras are fine at 78, I keep them at 77 now and they are very energetic and have a good feeding response. 

I made this spreadsheet to judge compatibility:

Most of this information comes from the aquarium co-op blog.

[macdaddy36]

I think I am going to go with a pair of bolivian rams because it seems like they would be able to tolerate the higher pH better and are smaller, hardier, and less agressive.

[Rube_Goldfish]

I've never kept Apistogramma panduro but have had honey gourami and Apistogramma cacatuoides together for a year now. Sometimes the female apisto will run off one of the gouramis when she's protecting fry but it's never really violent because the gouramis are deferential to the apistos, if that makes sense. Otherwise they basically ignore each other.

[macdaddy36]

I'm making this thread into a journal of my tanks.

My final decision for the stocking of my 10 gallon is in the short term that it will house a pair of Apistogramma Panduro and 7 Nannostomus Beckfordi that I ordered from Dan's Fish. (Expensive!) In the long term the Pencilifish and Apistos will be put into the 20 high after I rescape it and the 10 gallon will house my remaining 3 male endlers and kuhli loaches.

The tank is a 10 gallon frameless from Petco. I really like the tank because it has no top rim but it does have a frame on the bottom. I want to go over what I put into the tank for journaling purposes. 

- Cycled sponge filter

- Boxtech 8-22 HOB filter (cycling)

- ACO 50w heater

- Nicrew 16-24 inch light

- Imagitarium sand (white)

- river rocks

- zoo-med drift wood

- amazon sword from petco

- crypts and java fern from my other tank.

Currently my male guppies are in the tank keeping the cycle alive while I wait for the other fish to arrive next week.

When I get home i'm gonna add a picture.

 

 

[Guppysnail]

On 11/16/2023 at 3:07 PM, macdaddy36 said:

I'm making this thread into a journal of my tanks.

Awesome project.  Im going to move this thread to the journal section for you. 
You can include a link to this in your signature. 

[macdaddy36]

On 11/16/2023 at 4:43 PM, Guppysnail said:

Awesome project.  Im going to move this thread to the journal section for you. 
You can include a link to this in your signature. 

Thanks!

[macdaddy36]

Some pictures and information on my tanks. (and a jar)

Tank #1: Jar

This is a garlic jar which I have converted into an ecosphere. It has dirt, pebbles, and stones from my backyard, Anubias, Trident Java Fern, and Dwarf Sage. Its current residents are a few tiny bladder snails. This has been setup without any changes for around 2 years, with no water changes or light except for sunlight and my ceiling light. (I put it in front of the tank to take the picture.) Considering everything, this has done surprisingly well.

Tank #2 Bedside 20g High Community

Above is my 'main' tank. I recently redid the scape and I don't like how it looks. I want to add some wood and more sand to the left corner, and add  more crypts. Previously, the tank was overgrown with dwarf sage, and I gave most of it to my friend but there is still a bit in here, and I want to get rid of the rest so that it doesn't over grow again. Currently, the plants in this tank are Anubias barteri, Anubias sp. arrow head, Java Fern windelov, Amazon sword, dwarf sage, and Tiger Lotus. The fish are 2x Apistogramma panduro, 7x Nannostomus beckfordi, 4x Rasbora het, 3x Rasbora espei, and 2x Honey Gourami. This tank is 1.5 years old. This first rendition of this tank was my first 'aquascape', although I have had planted tanks in the past. Temp 78f, pH 8.0.

The Harlequin (het) Rasbora was the first fish that I ever got for this tank. I started off with a group of 5, but over the last year one died from an infection. These are great fish, really hardy. My plan was always to get 8 of these guys, but the LFS had other ideas. When I went back to get 3 more, they were in stock. They were really small fish at the time, just like my hets were when I bought them. But, unlike the hets, they never grew up. Turns out the fish in the tank labeled "Harlequin Rasbora" were actually Trigonostigma espei, The lamp chop rasbora which is closely related to rasbora het. I actually like these guys a bit better than the hets, because they stay smaller and are more colorful in my tank. They also school with the hets, which is why I decided to keep them. 

The above fish are honey gourami, Trichogaster chuna. I originally was sold them as 'Gold' Honey Gourami, but I have since been told that they actually 'Sunset' Gourami. These guys are also great, really peaceful, lots of good color and personality. The picture above is actually of my old tank.

These are some of my newest fish, the Red Pencilfish, Nannostomus Beckfordi. These guys were ordered from dan's fish and ate flake as soon as I put them in the tank. I have not had them very long, but so far they are great, tight schoolers, and they actually sometimes school with the chops/hets. Some of the males are already sparring, and it is really cool to watch.

These are my other new fish, Apistogramma Panduro, Blue Panda Cichlid. These are the first cichlid I have ever had and I already love them. I especially love how the female has color a lot different than the male. I have already seen what looks like spawning behavior, which is exciting but very unlikely as my pH is 8.0.

Tank #3: Desktop 10g Community

Above is my 10 gallon community tank, currently housing 6 Kuhli Loaches, 1 Male guppy, and 2 endler-guppy hybrids, as well as a nerite snail. In terms of plants it has clumps of windelov java fern, a few crypts, and an amazon sword. All of the plants for this tank and the jar except for 1 amazon sword were grown in my other tank. The guppies I have are remnants of a group I previously had. I would like to get something else for this tank, so if anyone has any ideas, let me know!!! Below is the picture of the cave where the Kuhli loaches must be, because I never see more than 1 or 2 at a time.

Above is one of my Kuhli Loaches hiding behind a sponge filter, which is no longer in the tank. He thinks I can't see him, but little does he know I'm hiding behind my laptop. The 10 gallon tank is on my desk. Out of all the fish I have had so far, the Kuhli Loaches have been the only one which disappointed me. They're not bad, but when I saw them at my LFS (fish doctor's in Ann Arbor, Michigan), I was really excited because they looked kuhl (get it?), but when I got home and put them in the old scape of my 20, they promptly squiggled away and I hardly ever saw them again until I redid that scape recently. I have been seeing more of them in the new tank though.

The hobby for me

I have been keeping fish with plants in a glass box with water for at least 6 years, but in the past 2 years I have gotten into it a lot more especially after watching Serpa Design and ACO. I'm asking for a bag of sand and driftwood for Christmas. Other than the fish I have now, in the past I have had Platies, Swordtails, Otocinclus, Plecos, Neon Tetra, Cherry Barbs, Corydoras, and other things I am forgetting. Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by macdaddy36
pictures.

[Guppysnail]

I love the jar. Your panduro are gorgeous. I love apistos. Last year I fell in love with them and went down the dwarf cichlid rabbit hole. Looking forward to hearing all about their unique personalities from you. 

[macdaddy36]

Quick Update: The Apistogramma panduro from Dan's fish are doing great and seem very healthy. The female has chased the gouramis around a few times but they seem to be getting along mostly fine as the Apistos stay at the bottom and the gouramis near the top. Something I didn't realize is that they sift through the sand and it comes out their gills, like a geophagus. The pencilfish are also doing well.

Also, today I was thinking about the 10 gallon tank on my desk.

I was looking at Aquahuna, and I saw they have Emerald Dwarf Danios (Danio erythromicron). I really like how these guys look and I think they would be perfect for my tank. I have also wanted to keep clown killifish (Epiplatys annulatus) for a while, and Aqua Huna has them too. I would be ordering 8 danios and 6 killifish, and they would be going into the tank on my desk with 5 Kuhli Loaches, 1 male guppy, and 2 male endlers. The other things I was considering were micro Rasboras, like Chili or Exclamation Point Rasbora, (Aquahuna sells groups of 10), Dwarf Chain Loaches (x4) or Corydoras pygmaeus (x6) . Right now, my tank has a tiny bio load. The endlers/guppy eat like 5 flakes a day between them, and the Kuhli Loaches eat algae wafers but mostly scavenge as well. I think all the other fish I'm considering, with maybe the exception of the Chain Loaches, would have a tiny bio load as well.

My question is: Would the 8 danios, 6 killifish, 5 loaches, and 3 endlers with a filter rated for 22 gallons and live plants be overstocked? If anyone has other suggestions that would be great too!

[macdaddy36]

Updates — Good and Bad

Bad first—something got my honey gouramis ventral fin (feeler fin). I think it was one of the a. panduro because the harlequin rasboras have been with them for over a year with no problem, and the pencilfish have such tiny mouths. The apistos are newish and have been showing more aggression. Both gouramis are missing around 25-50% of their right feeler fin. Looking online I think they should grow back quickly on their own but if anyone has medication suggestions that would be great.

The apistos were moved to the 10 gallon for now.

Good News—all the new fish very healthy.

Current 10 gallon—still some tannins and I added another cave because this tank has kuhli loaches and apistos now. They can go under the log too and the Kuhli loaches have dug tunnels under the length of the log.

Also got my master angler patch—not aquarium related but fish related. Brown trout are so pretty and I would be really cool to keep them in a fish tank. They’re definitely too big and require cold water but really nice looking.

[macdaddy36]

Update

I was stupid and thought that apistos would leave the enders/guppies in their new tank alone. Welp, 2/3 now have significant caudal fin damages and tears. Of the 2 injured, 1 seems fine and the other isn't doing well. I moved the endlers/guppies across to the other tank and am debating if I should do the same for the Kuhli Loaches. To catch the Kuhli Loaches is gonna be really hard and I will have to take all of the scape out.

I added melafix to the 20. Not sure how good that will be because I used melafix on a fin damage in the past with no success, but that injury was more severe. I am less concerned with the fin damage and more concerned with how the one Endler seems kind of lethargic and is just floating in place near the surface. It's still right side up so maybe its just exhausted from being chased all day.🤦‍♂️ The endlers/guppys are worse off then the gouramis are. I didn't realize Apistos would be fin-nippers like this and i'm now sure they are the culprit.

If anyone has any ideas to get the loaches out or any medications lmk.

 

[macdaddy36]

Update

MELAFIX KILLS PENCILFISH

4/7 pencilfish dead

1 lethargic

2 fine

Pencilfish out of melafix tank now.

I am so frustrated because these guys are new. Looking online lots of people have had similar experience with melafix. Came back to my tank 30 minutes after adding melafix, they really should put some kind of warning on bottle because it took less than 30 minutes for these guys to die. WTB 4 more pencilfish.

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/10/2023 at 2:04 PM, macdaddy36 said:

If anyone has any ideas to get the loaches out or any medications lmk.

Drain the water to the height of your net, then be persistent and if need be remove hardscape. 

Meds for a lot of the fin stuff would be aquarium salt, botanicals, and kanaplex.

[macdaddy36]

On 12/10/2023 at 7:17 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

kanaplex.

sticking with sea chem from now on.

[macdaddy36]

 

Journal Update

Today I visited preuss pets in Lansing, MI, which is about 1.5 hours from my house. It was really cool and significantly larger than any of my more local fish shops. All the fish seemed great and there was so much stuff I wanted but I didn't want to go overboard. Anyway, I got 4 new fish. 

2x Male Guppy, 2x Copella arnoldi, the Splash Tetra. They were a bit of an impulse buy because I was surprised to find them in person but I had done some previous research.

I only got a pair of these guys. There is not much information out there about them but I have an old book and it said they should be kept in pairs. The employee at the shop agreed with this so I only got a pair. They are really interesting fish because they jump out of the water to spawn on leaves. They went into the 10 gallon with the A. panduro but that is not their permanent home. So far though, they are kind of boring and dull in color but they should become better over time. Next, an update on them and the Apistogramma and their tank.

They are doing really well and I think the male is approaching full size. Not much spawning behavior yet though.

This tank is cloudy in the picture so don't mind that because I just did a water change to remove tons of tannins. Now an update on this tank as a whole. I don't like how this tank looks. In my opinion it's just a bit boring, especially because it is on my desk. I think this is a combination of fish and scape. I feel like the 10 gallon is incredibly limiting and I think I can see this reflected in the fish behavior as well. That's why I want to phase this tank out as a permanent display and change it into a quarantine/breeding tank that I can keep in the cabinet. I want to breed my Honey Gourami in it soon. 

Now an update on my main bedside tank. 

Don't mind my bad iPhone photos but I am really happy with how this tank looks. I think it showcases the fish really well but this tank is a bit overstocked, but all the fish get along well and this tank now has both a canister and sponge filter. I got the green neon tetras a little while ago from aquatic arts and they really make this tank look amazing. 

View from sitting on my bed.

Now I am planning a new tank: An Amazon Paludarium semi-biotope tank. This tank will be 20-40 gallons and house the Pencilfish, Splash tetras, Apistogramma, and maybe the green neons or others. I am planning to build a double stand to have a poison dart frog vivarium on top. This project will be probably a little while but I am really excited.

More pictures below:

 

Thanks!

 

 

Edited February 19 by macdaddy36

[Setiawan]

On 2/19/2024 at 8:05 AM, macdaddy36 said:

2x Male Guppy

I wonder what PH in ur tank?

Bc some says Guppies prefer harder water

[macdaddy36]

On 2/28/2024 at 1:07 AM, Setiawan said:

I wonder what PH in ur tank?

Bc some says Guppies prefer harder water

ph 7.8

[macdaddy36]

Update

I finished building my stand for my new 25 gallon cube today. (It was finished last weekend but I just finished painting it.) Now I am going to be ordering a mr. aqua 18” cube to go on top, and my desktop 10 gallon to go on bottom. The 10 gallon is turning into a quarantine/breeding tank.

I’m going to move my community tank into the new tank and make the old 20 gallon into an Amazon biotope.

[nabokovfan87]

Great work, nice choice!

[macdaddy36]

Quick Update

New tank arrived today:

(I may have had to steal the light from the bottom tank for this picture)

Its an 18” Mr. Aqua cube. It was packaged incredibly well with expanding foam all over and it was a pain to get out of the box but I got it done.

apistos and splash tetra tank. They are getting upgraded soon.

Main tank. Temporarily overcrowded with fish that will be going into the new tank.

[macdaddy36]

I did a waterchange today on the 25 gallon cube. I went through with the API master test kit for a while. Usually I use ACO strips but I have trouble distinguishing between pH, kH, and gH values since the colors are so close so I mostly just use it to test for nitrates. Anyway my pH used to be 8.2 (a year ago) but now it has dropped to 7.6~7.8 in both tanks oddly even though I just did a water change last week. I know my kH is high but my gH is low.

I also discovered ZERO nitrates in both tanks. I got some wisteria a month ago and I think that caused it because it was growing well but now its showing sign of deficiencies like you can see below:

The wisteria in the other tank looks like this too. I think I am going to need to start using ferts.

Whole tank shot:

The amazon sword has been growing a lot recently, as have the luminatus.

Thanks for reading!

[macdaddy36]

Quick update

I got my QT setup because I ordered some new fish yesterday

8x Inpaichthys kerri, AKA Blue Emperor/Royal/Kerri Tetra

and 2x Reticulated Hill-stream Loach

They will both go in 10 gallon QT but longterm the Kerri tetra will go in the cube and the loaches will probably end up in the 20 high. The 20 high actually has an Aquaclear 30 HOB, fluval 107, and sponge filter so there is a decent amount of flow.

I also ordered some plants which were Red flame sword, red melon sword, crypt spiralis, and anubias something or other

Can anyone who has hillstream loaches comment on what they eat?

Right now I have repashy soilent green and lots of algae. The loaches will be having a shorter QT because I want to get them into the algae tank quickly.

Edited April 22 by macdaddy36

[macdaddy36]

I got the confirmation email. The new fish and plants should be arriving Thursday and I'm very excited!