A story and some questions... read!

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TryinFishOut

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Jul 16, 2004
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Alright, I have a 10g tank that, as of today, is very overstocked (I think).

It has:

-6x Red-tip Glass Tetras
-2x Shell dwelling cichlids (forget names)
-2x Large (3") corys
-1x Pleco (2")
-2x Golden Apple snails
-1x Amino shrimp
and it's most recent addition,
-1x Chaca Chaca catfish (2".. so cute!)

Now, not counting the chaca, I've had this setup for a few months with no problems or deaths... I've done the weekly water changes religiously, run extra amounts of sponge+carbon in my filters, etc etc. Water quality is pristine, and although some nitrates causing some algae growth (hence the anti algae crew) I'm considering getting a nitrate sponge to reduce them.

Anyways, I've always wanted to make a 'chaca' tank but they were never in stock at my local LFS so I got a 'semi community' tank, with sand substrate, plenty of sea shells, and lotsa of natural-esque decorations. However, today I found a chaca at my lfs at last... last one, and it was heavily undernourished (mostly because the employees never noticed it and hence never fed it lol) and yeah I got it practically free.. so yeah, it's tiny and feeding frozen bloodworms and I'm confident in my abilities it'll make a comeback.

My question is- do I need to change anything in this setup to accomodate him? I want to (ultimately) make this tank just for him, and besides a total tank reconstruction, wouldn't mind adding/removing some things in there to make him more comfy. I DO expect him to eat some smaller livestock as time progresses... but at the moment he's itty bitty.

Comments on this? Suggestions? Advice?
Thanks
/Rob
 
TryinFishOut said:
Alright, I have a 10g tank that, as of today, is very overstocked (I think).
Click to expand...

You think right.

You have added a predatory catfish that can grow to 8-12 inches to a 10 gallon tank. It is capable of eating, and will readily eat any fish up to and maybe even over half its own size. It also is known to have the ability to secrete a chemical into the water that will cause a rapid drop in pH (to the neighborhood of 5.5) that will kill everything else in the tank.

Also keep in mind, catfish are very effective at turning food into body mass. They grow VERY fast.

TryinFishOut said:
Now, not counting the chaca, I've had this setup for a few months with no problems or deaths... I've done the weekly water changes religiously, run extra amounts of sponge+carbon in my filters, etc etc. Water quality is pristine, and although some nitrates causing some algae growth (hence the anti algae crew) I'm considering getting a nitrate sponge to reduce them.
Click to expand...

The Nitrate problem will only get worse, and quite rapidly so. Incidentally, what is your Nitrate level?

TryinFishOut said:
Anyways, I've always wanted to make a 'chaca' tank but they were never in stock at my local LFS
Click to expand...

You know, there may be a good reason for the LFS not keeping them in stock.

But don't worry, if it survives, it WILL be a Chaca only tank - whether you want it to be or not.

TryinFishOut said:
and it was heavily undernourished (mostly because the employees never noticed it and hence never fed it lol)...

...and I'm confident in my abilities it'll make a comeback.
Click to expand...

You really need to do a bit of research. This fish cannot live on prepared foods. It needs live food.

TryinFishOut said:
My question is- do I need to change anything in this setup to accomodate him?
Click to expand...

Yes, you need to turn that 10 gallon tank into a 150 gallon tank.

The best thing you could do is take that fish back and wait until you have a suitable tank if you want to keep this kind of fish. You're just not set up for it at this point.
 
Yes, having researched a bit more the chaca's size and feeding habits, I figure he's gonna need a better home. So yeah, I'm going to return him.

As for the pleco- only reason I got him was to eat some algae off the walls that the shrimp couldn't reach. He was (and still is) tiny and when he starts getting bigger, I'll return him to the store.

For the shell dwellers... that's why I got tetras too.. see, I got a pair, and they soon established territories and stuff but they'd still be pricks to one another once a while. So I got a small school of tetras to help alleviate the problem (and it has worked to an extent). As I change this tank, I'll probably end up returning the cichlids as well.

Thanks anyways guys
/Rob
 
im still just scatching my head :huh:
 
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