Queen Loaches- possibly river tank?

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queenloachfanatic
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2015 1:35 pm

Queen Loaches- possibly river tank?

Post by queenloachfanatic » Sun Nov 01, 2015 1:53 pm

So I finally have a school of queen loaches after months of searching for a few more to round out the family. They are in a 55 gallon with a fluval 305 canister filter and a sponge filter. Lots of drift wood, gravel substrate, some java moss and fern tied to drift wood. there are 9 queens, 2 zebras that I bought to keep the queen company while I looked for more queens, and a random clown pleco. I am thinking of redesigning the tank.

I'm torn between a river tank manifold and upgrading my canister (or possibly both?). I'm definitely getting sand at some point (if I do the manifold, then that's when i'll do it). I think they need more water flow and filtration. The current fluval canister is ages and ages old, it doesn't seem to be moving nearly enough water. (it's probably ten years old?)

If I do a manifold, what turn over do the queens need? From what I've read, there are conflicting quotes of 6-7 turn overs/hour and 13 turn overs/hour. If I do the manifold, what other filtration do you pair it with? Is there a brand of sand that does best with the powerheads? A preferred powerhead brand? (I've never used powerheads before)

I have a temp controller on there to stabilize temperature, but am going to upgrade heaters soon, they don't seem to be keeping up. (that's what I get for buying them secondhand at a LFS closing sale). I'm also going to line the wall the tank is against with a blanket to keep the tank better insulated from outside cold (it's an outside wall). Also going to upgrade lights soon, to LED's with plant strength and night time settings.

Anything I'm forgetting? I want them to thrive and be amazing and playful. My favorite fish by far.

Diana
Posts: 4675
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:35 am
Location: Near San Franciso

Re: Queen Loaches- possibly river tank?

Post by Diana » Sat Nov 07, 2015 11:20 am

I would aim for 10x or more. Use the manufacturer's rating. This is not accurate- the flow is not that much. I have some tanks with double that. Then you start to see something more like a river flow.

Fluval 305 is not enough water movement for this tank. I use several Fluval 400s (403, 404) in 4' long tanks from 45 to 50 gallons. I use the 304 in my 40 gallon breeder. As a filter it may be just fine- how often does it slow down because of the debris it has collected? If you have to clean it more often than you want, you may need a larger filter simply for the larger debris holding capacity. If you got another similar filter that could be a good way to go, too.

I would add a power head. One of my favorites is the Koralia series of circulation pumps. I have the older ones, that are supposed to move over 1000 gallons per hour. They are a gentler, more diffuse flow than a power head. My Clown Loaches used to surf in one. I have it set up so it sheets along the front of the tank. The Clowns would swim in the mid tank until they were close to it, then jump into the main flow and go surfing along almost to the far end of the tank. (this is in a 6' long tank- they got about 4-5' of surfing)
This style does not supply the complete river type of circulation as per the 'Life in the Fast Lane' article, but is very good for fish that are not quite from hill stream settings, but need pretty good flow.
If you want to set up the plumbing sort of river flow then you will need an actual power head, with a focused intake. I have used the Aquaclear series, they work fine, and there are others on the market.

Filter removes debris, and provides circulation.
Power head or circulation pump provides circulation.

No matter what combination you end up with, set up the intake and outlet on opposite ends of the tank so they work together to maximize the flow. Do not set them up to attempt a cross-flow. All you end up with is a swirling mess.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

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