Setting up a new Loach Tank, need advice.

[Kelly]

Hey everyone, I am in the process of planning out a new tank.

Currently I have the following tank:
20 Gallon planted with gravel and flourite mixed in.
4 x 1.5" Clown Loaches
5 x fancy guppy
5 x tetras
1 x 1.5" rainbow shark
1x 2.5" common pleco

Absolutely love the clown loaches, but I realize that this tank is much too small for them. My plan is to upgrade to a 55 gallon tank. Will this be big enough, and if not, for how long? If its not, I may have to get rid of them after they outgrow the 55, as I really do not have long term, permanent residence right now (college student).

I've been doing a lot of reading and looking around, and reading articles on this site and others and I have decided that I want to create a planted 55 gallon aquarium with a sand or sand-like substrate. I also want to use the undergravel powerhead current-creating system that is mentioned on this website several times with PVC pipe, sponge filters, and one or two powerheads. I am worried however that a system like this will ruin the sandy substrate... What is your opinion?

My plan right now as far as the substrate goes is to put a 1 to 1 1/2 inch layer of some sort of plant substrate like this: http://www.petco.com/product/111998/Eco ... dSubtrates

The second step will then be to take play-sand from Home Depot and put another 1 1/2 to 2 inches on top as I have read that this works fairly well in aquariums and provides a more natural look which is exactly what I am looking for.

Another question that I have is about plants. I really have a hard time picking out plants. Right now I have...
Hornwort
Java Moss
Java Fern
Cobomba
Jungle Val
.. I think a couple others too, but I can't remember

This is the look I'm going for, only with a sandy bottom...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfbspqOI ... re=related

Here is a video of what I have so far in my 20 gallon...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqqhabt2G9o

[Diana]

Eco Complete is a very good plant substrate. I would mix that with the flourite you already have, or use it by itself. Do not get play sand. It has too much fines in it and can plug up the pore spaces in the substrate so there is very poor water movement. This can create anaerobic pockets that go foul.

EC is heavy enough to handle the water movement from the river tank system. If you see a spot where the water hits and hollows it out just put a rock or something there.

A 55 is a very narrow tank, only a foot from front to back. If you can find a tank that is not so tall, but deeper front to back you will find that aquascaping works a lot better in that tank, and there is more floor space for your Loaches and other bottom fish.

A tank with enough floor space, and 55 gallons will probably be fine for a year to 2 years for Clown Loaches.

Plant list looks good. I would not add more species, just get more of the same and create small clumps of each species.
Cabomba: Rooted at the back, nearer the powerhead end of the tank, will stream across the top of the water. Each time you prune it, plant the trimmings in the same area as the parent plants to make it a thicker clump.
Jungle Val: Will do about the same. It will spread by runners.
Hornwort: Does not form roots. I usually wrap it around tall branches and let it flow in the water.
Java Moss and Java Fern: Tie these to rocks and driftwood.

[Kelly]

Thank you for the reply, I apologize for my long response, been a busy few weeks here at university.

I settled on a 30 gallon tall tank as I realized that I would be unable to manage the larger 55 gallon here on campus. My current plan on substrate is to do a layered substrate with soil bellow and sand on top, sort of following this guide: http://gwapa.org/wordpress/articles/min ... substrate/
Comments?

What do you think of this? I also want to grab another type of loach, I have been thinking about Kuhli loaches, Yoyo, or weather loaches. Do you have any advice/opinions on this?

[fain]

A 30 gal. tall tank is much to small for clowns or yoyos. Height of the tank doesn't matter, just floorspace and that isn't really an upgrade from your 20 gal. Weather loaches and Kuhlis should do just fine in this size of tank however. One thing to remember is that weather loaches prefer cooler water. They should be kept in 50-77F. Saves you the trouble of running a heater and you don't have to worry about them outgrowing your tank.

I would highly recommend returning that common pleco. My dad is friends with our lfs owner and he has several common plecos in his shop. They are HUGE. The largest one he has is over a foot long and probably weighs more than my cat.
I don't know much about rainbow sharks, but from a quick google search, it looks like they get too big for a 30gal tall as well. (Their suggested tank size is around 55 gallons)

My recommendation is to return the clowns, pleco and rainbow shark; they need a larger aquarium than you are able to provide. If you want to stay tropical and still have loaches, then a batch of striata, sidthimunki or kuhlis would be great . If you want to have weather loaches, then return everything and start up a cold water aquarium.

As far as the substrate idea goes, it sounds interesting, but I don't know enough about it to give any advise. Let us know how it works out for you if you chose that substrate!

[Francois van Brederode]

After reading about your plan to use the minaralyzed substrate from the website you posted, I have a lot of doubt if this work with Loaches.
It might work very well in creating a wonderful green aquarium setup, but do remember that most (if not all) Loaches like to dig or at least rummage in the substrate.
This will eventually bring up the muddy soil with all the cloudy water that comes from that.

Just a thought.