Nafe420 Posted October 5, 2013 Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 Hi all Just cleaned one of my tanks today (hence cloudiness) and thought "**** there's a lot of fish in there" haha. I have only owned this particular tank and all of its occupants for around 2 months and love it but not being the original stocker, I just wanted to know peoples opinions on this amount of fish in this tank. 14 x Rainbow Fish (3 species) 12 x Corydoras (7 species) 18 x Tetra (5 species) 6 x Scissortail 2 x Giant Danio 1 x Hatchet Fish 1 x UpsideDown Catfish 3 x Congo Tetra 3 x Glass Catfish 4 x Silver Fish (unsure of species) 3 x Keyhole Cichlids 5 x Bristlenose (3 Species) 4 x Tiger Plecos 4 x Clown Plecos I have added a couple and taken a few from the tank since having it but no big changes and as you can see there is a lot of plants and driftwood. Tank is a 5x2x2 holding 470Lts with 4xT5 4ft Tubes on 6.5 hrs a day, 300W Jager Heater, FX5 and air curtain along the back. Water change is 25% fortnightly and nothing has gone wrong/died since purchase. Any feedback is good feedback Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny@ageofaquariums Posted October 5, 2013 Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 I like your tank. Its sounds excellent to drink beer in front of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nafe420 Posted October 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 Certainly is, when i get sick of watching my Festae be a ***** to everything i just swing around and there's always something going on in this tank. Can't remember the last time i watched TV shows to be honest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanesFish Posted October 5, 2013 Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 Get a nitrate test kit but until then test pH closely as nitrates are acidic and will drive your pH down as they build up Pleco & bristle nose have a huge bio load Generally Anything less then 50% water change will only allow nitrates to build up higher over time A keen eye will determine what fish are effected first. Ie. split fins / fin rot, lost of colour and scratching. I have an overstocked 300 litre and perform 50% water change four days a week. Cloudiness is a bacterial bloom and could be from a few factors.. Incorrect food, newly setup aquariums, high level of nutrients, mini cycle ect. I use to get blooms all the time from doing water changes until my tank was atleast 6 months old, I believe it's a sign that something is out of balance but like I said could be caused from a range of factors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bully Posted October 5, 2013 Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 Hey [MENTION=9141]Nafe420[/MENTION] nice tank there looking good.. Fish list sounds alright just keep the big fx5 clean should be all good... I'd also look at maybe putting heater out of sight and pointing the filter outlets up 4 water movement.. Did I say very nice tank tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nafe420 Posted October 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 Thanks guys Yea I was in a bit of a rush setting up so its not set up how i wanted it but now the plants are established i guess it just looks more natural haha so yea just have to hide those air hoses and heater and should look better. The previous owner basically cleaned the filter once after owning it for 14 months. I washed the biological in tank water and had to hose the sponges as they were so blocked with sludge. Is this ok? its how i clean my eheims and never had a problem that way and the FX5 is pumping way better. The bubble curtain breaks the water surface a lot, do you think i should get a power head to stir the surface more? I aim the outlets down to try lift as much waste from the bottom as possible. Yea never really tested for much apart from PH but have never really had this heavily stocked tank before and do regular water changes in my other tanks. Keeping in mind i cleaned the sponges in the FX5 a week ago and did a 25% water change yesterday PH 7 - Ammonia 0ppm - Nitrite 0ppm - Nitrate 10ppm Should my Nitrate be higher? Will keep an eye on these more closely now. I feed shrimp bites, tetra colour flakes, Hikari wafers and once a week defrost a cube of bloodworms as a treat and my fish are all nicely coloured and healthy. A lot clearer today Any more tips, tricks or advice will be appreciated and thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unheatedtank Posted October 6, 2013 Report Share Posted October 6, 2013 Love it. [MENTION=9141]Nafe420[/MENTION] Your tank has enough plants to take care of nitrate, 20-30% wc is good and enjoy your fish and post some more pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nafe420 Posted October 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2013 Love it. [MENTION=9141]Nafe420[/MENTION]Your tank has enough plants to take care of nitrate, 20-30% wc is good and enjoy your fish and post some more pictures. Cool, that's good news then, hope it stays that way. And thanks, would love to put all this into my 6x2x2.5 I have sitting here but think my festae need it more. Will get more pictures up soon. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny@ageofaquariums Posted October 6, 2013 Report Share Posted October 6, 2013 As above, you always want at least 2 things rippling the surface in heavily stocked tanks. Thats insurance. If the airpump fails on a hot day........ the difference between it being no biggie, and it being a total wipe out........ will be decided by whether the filter output disturbs the water surface. Not trying to be dramatic mind you lol It also has the added benefit of reoxygenating water after it has passed through the biological filtration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unheatedtank Posted October 6, 2013 Report Share Posted October 6, 2013 As donny said, maybe move the fx5 output up to spray? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nafe420 Posted October 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2013 All good, will do guys. Thanks a lot for the tips, feeling more comfortable that I'm doing the right thing now. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanesFish Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Unless the bubbles are damaging your tanks hood ect. They look good anyways. As far as i understand, Unless your plants grow intensively fast I am skeptical of such low nitrates. Don't forget to shake the bottles gently for 30sec and wait 5mins but even then it's still only a rough indication. Your fish look well enough looked after, so all I know is stable clean water is most important, yes overstocked can be risky but very possible under the right circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nafe420 Posted October 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Nah the bubbles arent doing any damage, the tank, hood and stand are oldies but goodies 'G & J Maher' so has full sliding lids. The plants are mainly anubias and java fern but there's A few other plants and ferns I'm yet to research in there. Definitely never have a problem with leftover food but yea I can only imagine how much fish waste its becoming but just so happy to have such a big variety of fish living peacefully. Thanks Danesfish, will post up my water conditions and some pics of the fish this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nafe420 Posted November 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2013 Thought the old tank was a bit crowded so got the little guys a 6x2x2 and they're loving the space. Problem with so many plants, didnt realise how many hundreds of ramshorn snails were actually in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mackayman Posted November 23, 2013 Report Share Posted November 23, 2013 Tank looks nice mate, credit to you. Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nafe420 Posted November 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2013 Thanks Brendan Should look a bit better once the plants grow out a bit. Considered an African cichlid set up but love the natural look and my plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
