BettaFishMommy Posted April 3, 2011 Report Share Posted April 3, 2011 well folks, i've been in the hobby for about three and a half years. over that time i've ran three 10 gallons, three 20 gallons, two 55's, and a motley assortment of small tanks and betta bowls. right now i've got the two 55's, a 20 long, and a 2.5 betta tank. i think it's time for me to scale back for now. over the past little while water changes have become something i don't look forward to at all, i find myself enjoying/watching the fish less, my three planted tanks are becoming a bit more work than i want them to be, and i just had my biggest canister filter crap out on me tonight, with absolutely no funds to get a new one just hope the motor for the rena xp2 canister can handle the media of both canisters packed into the xp4 canister body for a while! now comes the hard part. which tanks do i keep? which fish do i keep? i want to only have two tanks running, and i think i only want one of those tanks to be a 55, since i couldn't bear to part with Gus or Chuck (oscar and paratilapia polleni). and there are some smaller fish that i'm not 'allowed' to let go, since they technically belong to my kiddo, lol. so i think it's going to be the 55, the 20 long, and for now the 2.5 (until the kiddo's betta passes away), that stay. the stocking for the 55 is set, and i can't move either Gus or Chuck to a smaller tank (their 55 is pushing the limit on minimum tank size as it is). i'll be moving one of the filters on the other 55 over to the big guys' tank after the other tank is sold. here's my stock for the other 55 and the 20 long. could you folks please help me in figuring out which fish would work in the 20 long (planted, mopani driftwood, sand substrate, AC 50 hob)? albino rainbow shark - he's a biggun, about 6-7 inches one kribensis bristlenose pleco pair three longfin rosy barbs one black ruby barb four bronze cories two albino cories one emerald cory one barbatus cory one peppered cory two boesmani rainbows turquoise rainbow five zebra danios three rose danios five perugiae limia one male betta one male platy many ramshorn snails (in the 55) six australian rainbows (currently in the 20) i'd really like to keep some cories and the plecos, but the 20 just isn't big enough for all those guys on the bottom. the kribensis, black ruby barb, and platy 'belong' to my kiddo. it'll be pulling teeth to get her to let them go, and i don't know if i can get away with having them leave when she's not home, lol. the zebra danios are actually from the U of A science lab, and i did tell my friend that got them for me that they'd be here forever, but i'm not sure if i want them to stay. the betta in the 55 i really like, and he'll probably stay. he's been in the 20 long with the aussie rainbows before. the rose danios i'd really like to keep, since i've never seen them anywhere except for the 'display only - not for sale' tank i got them from back when Aquarium Enthusiasts was closing down. give me a hand folks, i need your input! after the decision is made, i'll be posting my 55 for sale, a bunch of plants, whatever fish i'm not keeping, and some equipment as well. and thanks for 'listening' to my long winded post. i've been fighting with myself on this decision and posting this thread made things easier for sure. i'll be sad to see some of my finkids go, but it's for the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted April 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2011 i know, i know, i'm double posting, but what does everyone think of this stock list for the 20? all these fish are currently living together in the 55 with no issues. 1 x Betta [Male] 3 x Rose Danio 1 x Kribensis 1 x Platy 1 x Black Ruby Barb 1 x Bristlenose Pleco 2 x Albino Cory 1 x Emerald Green Cory i realize it's a bit of a hodgepodge, but some of the fish, as mentioned, belong to my kiddo. i really don't want to see my female pleco go (the male is such a recluse he might as well not even be there, lol), and the cories i chose are my favourites although i know it's best to have more than 3, they should be alright. i ran the above list through Aqua Advisor and other than the silly warnings it gave regarding how some of those fish couldn't live together (come on now, a betta and a pleco together is not recommended? obviously Aqua Advisor has never heard of a community tank, lol), it says my stocking is 82%, and i know my filter can handle the bioload. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ty_s Posted April 3, 2011 Report Share Posted April 3, 2011 (edited) if you have alot of plants cant you just do a power head for flow or one of the prices auto cheep pond pumps for flow? plants plants plants and lots of them let your plants and substrate do there jobs. so i just went and played with Aqua Advisor and it is on CRACK i got 1/2 way though my stock on my 55gl and it is saying it is over stock on the 75gl i am going 2 Edited April 3, 2011 by 55gallon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted April 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2011 if you have alot of plants cant you just do a power head for flow or one of the prices auto cheep pond pumps for flow? plants plants plants and lots of them let your plants and substrate do there jobs. the filter that is having issues is the rena xp4 canister that i have on an unplanted tank. all my filters on my planted tanks are running just fine. for larger tanks i always run two filters for this very reason, in case one should crap out, but with the 55 that had the canister problem last night, i need all the filtration i can on that tank, since there's an oscar and a paratilapia polleni in there, and they're big messy guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted April 3, 2011 Report Share Posted April 3, 2011 If you run 2 decent sized HOBs on your 20, I'd keep everything except the rainbows and the shark. I am a HUGE fan of a full tank - my 120g is around the 100 fish mark and will be adding another 80 or so in the next month. It looks good and give a big AWE factor when people come to visit... and they feed the plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted April 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2011 oh my Jason! if i put all the fish except the rainbows and the sharkie from the 55 in the 20 they'd have just about no room to swim! lol. the 55 is pushing the limit on stocking IMO, and i think with that many fish in the 20 there would be fights and injuries. i'm thinking of keeping just mine and my kiddo's favourites, and selling the rest. her betta in the 2.5 isn't looking too good these days, and i think it might be his time to go fairly soon but that means one less tank to worry about, what with my interest waning. i'm just going to put the 2.5 in my storage room, and keep it handy for a qt/hospital tank, since the fish i'll be keeping for the 20 are all going to be smaller sized. since last night i've been tweaking the 20's future stock list in my mind over and over, trying to figure out who to keep, who will work well in the 20, and who i absolutely will need to sell. a lot of the 55's plants are going to go in the 20, but some i will be selling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ty_s Posted April 8, 2011 Report Share Posted April 8, 2011 any luck on finding a filter? how old was the one that packed it in? is it something that can be fixed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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