Tank Rescue-advice and opinions needed

J

jenricae

AC Members
Dec 27, 2005
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16
Vancouver, BC Canada
I've got a 35 gal long tank that had fallen into quite a mess. I want to restock it.

1. Background:
I've had the tank for 3 years. Over the last year i've really been bad about maintaining it. I had 1 gourami, 1 tiger barb and 1 bengal loach survive for over 2 years. This fall, the Barb and Gourami dropped from the scene. The tank was overrun by algae (hair, bushy, black) and Malaysian trumpet snails. The Bengal Loach (Botias Dario) is the sole survivor along with the algae and MTS.

2. The current situation:
I've been doing water changes and maintaining the tank and filter regularly now for a few weeks. I've also done water testing over the past couple of weeks. They are as follows:

29 Dec 05: PH=8.0 (maybe 7.8), KH=70ppm, GH=220ppm (rougly 12dGH?), Ammonia=0, Nitrate=10ppm

WATER CHANGE

02 Jan 06: PH=8.0, KH=60ppm, GH=220ppm, Ammonia=0, Nitrate=20ppm, Nitrite=0

05 Jan 06: PH=8.0, KH=70ppm, GH=220ppm, Ammonia=0, Nitrate=10-20ppm, Nitrite=0

WATER CHANGE

08 Jan 06: PH=8.0, KH=60ppm, GH=180ppm, Ammonia=0, Nitrate=20-30ppm, Nitrite=0

TAP WATER: PH=7.8-8.0, KH=60ppm, GH=100ppm

how do these water readings look?

3. Going Forward:

I'd like to start slowly restocking the tank. I need advice on tankmates.

Cleanup crew:
a. BENGAL LOACH (BOTIAS DARIO): give the current one some company (i'm thinking 3 more)
b. Siamese algea eaters or
c. Bristlenose Pleco

Midsize:
a. Black Mollies (2)
b. Bolivian Ram (2) (or a pair of Ram Cichlid?)
c. Dwarf Neon Rainbow (4)

small:
a. Leopard Danios
b. Harlequin Rasbora

large:
a. Pearl Gourami (2) or
b. Moonlight Gourami

Any advice or opinions or other stocking suggestions?
 
Defiantly get the loach some play mates. He’ll love them.

And I vote dwarf neon rainbows. I am working on stocking my 30 gal with botia dario and neon rainbows, so I may be a little bias. :D
 
Go with a single SAE as they can get pretty territorial with their species, especially as they get older. The two in my 3ft tank are exceptionally large and chase each other around a fair bit, but there's genuine harm. It's just a 'my space' thing. The reason I regret putting them both in is that they disturb the peace too often and cause general unrest with the other fish as they "duel".
 
jenricae said:
Thanks for the tips. Maybe i might drop the rasbora and go with dwarf neons. How do they do in my water conditions?
Click to expand...
They'll do just fine with the pH and other parameters, but you need to get the nitrates down to ~10ppm. Bows are senstive to bad water and will develop fungus -- especially threads around the mouth -- if you are not careful with the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

I am assuming that your tank is not planted? Rainbows really need a planted tank and at *least* one large water change of 50% per week. Twice a week at 30-50% is even better.

Go for a school of at least six, 2 boys and 4 girls. They're very active, fun and have a great personality. You'll love 'em :)

Roan
 
I would continue waterchanges over time till you get the GH of tap and the tank's GH to nearly the same befor considering adding more fish. If something happens with the new fish you need to be able to do water changes to take care of things. With different values there will be a stress from those values changeing that you won't want to add to the situation.
 
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