new tank startup ..help

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onepawnup

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Jan 2, 2006
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I am very new to this hobby
I bought an established tank from a friend 45 gal it contained an ocsar (12 inches) a pleco (about 8 inches) and a clown loach (4-5 inches) my wife really disliked the oscar as he was a bully so i gave him to a friend where he lives in a 50 gal with a pleco. i have added mostly cheap fish (mollies platies, danos, and neons (they disapeared, not sure what ate them ) i wanted to make sure i could keep them alive before adding other more expensive fish
my question for this tank is about the clown loach, i have never seen him eat
i have had the tank for two months so im sure he does also he is very shy.. would adding anothe clown loach help even if its much smaller ??

2nd question
Now that im getting hooked on all this
i found a friend that can get me a tank built for cost so im looking at getting one thats 7-8 ft by 28 inches deep by 2.5 tall aprox 285-300 gal
according to volume calc i found on the net. Any way tank is all i would have so i will be needing filters lighting ect ect. im thinking of housing african cichlids in it but not sure

what all do i need ? how many fish can i keep ect
all help is appreciated ...i know next to nothing so please talk as simply as possible
if you had a bare 300 gal tank what would you do ???

Thanks
onepawnup
 

Bosemani Fan

AC Members
Oct 15, 2005
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Tennessee
onepawnup said:
I am very new to this hobby
I bought an established tank from a friend 45 gal it contained an ocsar (12 inches) a pleco (about 8 inches) and a clown loach (4-5 inches) my wife really disliked the oscar as he was a bully so i gave him to a friend where he lives in a 50 gal with a pleco. i have added mostly cheap fish (mollies platies, danos, and neons (they disapeared, not sure what ate them ) i wanted to make sure i could keep them alive before adding other more expensive fish
my question for this tank is about the clown loach, i have never seen him eat
i have had the tank for two months so im sure he does also he is very shy.. would adding anothe clown loach help even if its much smaller ??

2nd question
Now that im getting hooked on all this
i found a friend that can get me a tank built for cost so im looking at getting one thats 7-8 ft by 28 inches deep by 2.5 tall aprox 285-300 gal
according to volume calc i found on the net. Any way tank is all i would have so i will be needing filters lighting ect ect. im thinking of housing african cichlids in it but not sure

what all do i need ? how many fish can i keep ect
all help is appreciated ...i know next to nothing so please talk as simply as possible
if you had a bare 300 gal tank what would you do ???

Thanks
onepawnup

Ok, all three fish you listed are/where to big for a 45gal.tank, The clown loach will need to be moved to a bigger tank ASAP and also the Pleco, a 300 gal. would be perfect. after you get the 300gal; and get it "cycled" you should add 2-3 more Clown loaches, They do better in groups. The clown Loach will get to between 12-18" and The common Pleco up to 20", and It would be safe to say that The Oscar east the other fish you bought! you have to be careful what you put in a tank with Large fish, You did good by getting rid of the Oscar.

Now, A 300gal. will give you ALOT of options, African Cichlids can be a little tricky for a beginner, You have to be very careful what you put in there with them. With Cichlids, you will have to have a species tank, you cannot mix Lake Malawi, and Lake Tanganyika, They require a Higher PH that other trops. They are Aggressive fish, so must be kept in groups of 1 male to several females. I would suggest doing alot of research on them!

As far as Filters, I would suggest 2 Rena Filstar xp3 filters, substarte would depend on if you keep African cichlids or not, If you do you will want a substrate to buffer the water. as far as lighting I couldn't really help much there, I have built Canopys for my tanks, but you could look into light strips or perfecto hoods.

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/afcichlids.html

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/index.php

http://www.cichlids.com/
 
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