Hi all Im new here. My name is Justin and am possibly looking at starting a small 10 gallon fish tank again, with loaches and 1 other kind of species. Now i have done hours of research today. Some opinions I need from you guys is:
-When starting a new tank, should I buy just my loaches first and medicate them for ICH then after a few days, go buy my other kind of fish? this way its a qurantine?
-Should I only medicate them for Ich when i first buy them, and then after that, only when symptoms show?
-Is ICH treatment something i should do on a regular basis? and if so, how often of a regular basis?
thanx for your opinions!
New to Loaches, Need new tank advice!
Moderator: LoachForumModerators
FIRST--cycle your tank! DO NOT add loaches to an uncycled immature tank. They will get sick and die of either ammonia/nitrite poisoning or ich, or stress.
Second--read about fishless cycling.
Third--most loaches will be too large for a 10g tank in VERY short order.
Is this your first foray into keeping loaches? Keep reading Justin. There's lots to know
Ich treatment is done when ich seems to be present in your fish. Read about ich here or google it:
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/fish/notes_ich.html
About the only loaches your can keep in a 10g would be Botia striata, and not many of them (maybe 3) and a few small dithers.
Thanks for asking first
That's a great way to start!
Second--read about fishless cycling.
Third--most loaches will be too large for a 10g tank in VERY short order.
Is this your first foray into keeping loaches? Keep reading Justin. There's lots to know
Ich treatment is done when ich seems to be present in your fish. Read about ich here or google it:
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/fish/notes_ich.html
About the only loaches your can keep in a 10g would be Botia striata, and not many of them (maybe 3) and a few small dithers.
Thanks for asking first
That's a great way to start!
Hi Justin,
(concurring with Shari and adding)
If you are indeed limited to 10g, you have one other option: Khulis.
They are very interesting and different species, and they will be happy in a 10g tank; you can surely have 2 or 3.
They also seem to be immune to ich, so this is likely one less concern for you.
But: Khulis are very sensitive to uncycled tanks, so what Shari said above is quite important.
(concurring with Shari and adding)
If you are indeed limited to 10g, you have one other option: Khulis.
They are very interesting and different species, and they will be happy in a 10g tank; you can surely have 2 or 3.
They also seem to be immune to ich, so this is likely one less concern for you.
But: Khulis are very sensitive to uncycled tanks, so what Shari said above is quite important.
wish i could get a bigger tank, but with a road trip in a couple months coming up, theres no room in the budget for a bigger tank, maybe i should wait till after may and sell my 10 gallon and buy a 20 or so gallon tank.
do you guys feel that a 20-25 gallon tank would be sufficient size for say 5 clown loaches, a corydora(or other kind) catfish for janitorial cleaning
, and say 5 more of another specie fish(of course a school, that is active and of similar size to the clowns)?
do you guys feel that a 20-25 gallon tank would be sufficient size for say 5 clown loaches, a corydora(or other kind) catfish for janitorial cleaning
, and say 5 more of another specie fish(of course a school, that is active and of similar size to the clowns)?-
Jim Powers
- Posts: 5208
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:15 pm
- Location: Bloomington, Indiana
Since Ich treatment can be stressful to fish, I'm not sure I would treat them unless they actually had ich. Others may disagree. Its always good to check out the fish thoroughly before you buy, plus all the other in the tank, to see if they have Ich. Even with that, you can't always tell. That's where a quarentine tank comes in.
Clowns get rather large, so a 20 or 25 gallon tank would be way too small for them before too long.
Clowns get rather large, so a 20 or 25 gallon tank would be way too small for them before too long.
Last edited by Jim Powers on Sun Feb 19, 2006 9:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Uggh, sorry, not really.do you guys feel that a 20-25 gallon tank would be sufficient size for say 5 clown loaches
You should not put any number of clowns into a 20g tank, because pretty soon they will need a bigger tank.
At the very least, if you want to keep clowns, you need to budget for something like 55g tank in a year or less, and an even larger tank later.
But the good news are that you can have many more loach choices in a 20g tank: for example, polkadot loaches will be just fine.
I'd have to agree with Ken that even a 25g is still too small for clowns. They look little in the store, but they grow into big fat buggers if you keep them healthy and happy
Khuli's are alot of fun, if you can get healthy ones, but they'd prefer a sand substrate to a gravel one. Pool filter sand is cheap, and you'd not need alot for a 10g. How long is your road trip? You may want to keep researching and then set it up (whatever size you decide) when you get back...tank maintenance will be needed on a regular basis to keep any fish, which is hard to do when you're not around
Khuli's are alot of fun, if you can get healthy ones, but they'd prefer a sand substrate to a gravel one. Pool filter sand is cheap, and you'd not need alot for a 10g. How long is your road trip? You may want to keep researching and then set it up (whatever size you decide) when you get back...tank maintenance will be needed on a regular basis to keep any fish, which is hard to do when you're not around
)-
Jim Powers
- Posts: 5208
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:15 pm
- Location: Bloomington, Indiana
I agree with the Kuhli idea. I currently have three regular kuhlis and 3 black kuhlis in a 10 gallon tank. I set it up with some small gravel on one end and sand on the other. Plenty of hiding places and some fern that's taken over one end of the tank. The kuhlis love working their way around under it.
There's a plastic cave for them on one end plus the two log places for them to hide as you can see. The sandy end also has some dwarf plants that are slowly coming along and they love hanging on them.
There's a plastic cave for them on one end plus the two log places for them to hide as you can see. The sandy end also has some dwarf plants that are slowly coming along and they love hanging on them.
-
Jim Powers
- Posts: 5208
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:15 pm
- Location: Bloomington, Indiana
Another cool loach option for a 10 gallon would be Schistura beavani or some other small schistura species. Check out the link below.
http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/sc ... avani.html
I have a 10 set up with some of these and a school of danio nigrofasciata and it makes for a nice active tank. Both species stay small so a 10 works well for them. Just provide flat stones and plenty of hiding spaces and a lettle current and your in business.
http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/sc ... avani.html
I have a 10 set up with some of these and a school of danio nigrofasciata and it makes for a nice active tank. Both species stay small so a 10 works well for them. Just provide flat stones and plenty of hiding spaces and a lettle current and your in business.
You could also set it up as a planted tank with one of those hagen co2 kits about 20-30 watts of flourescent light and some water sprite, java fern and java moss.
Add a small filter like an ac mini and you can skip cycling( gasp).BUT this must be done very carefully. Check out the NANO tank forum on plantedtank.net theycan set you perfectly there.
Lot's of people there don't cycle planted tank because the plants are bio filter, whereas the electric filter is for mechanical filtering.
Caveat: Please only do this if you are serious and committed.
Erik
Add a small filter like an ac mini and you can skip cycling( gasp).BUT this must be done very carefully. Check out the NANO tank forum on plantedtank.net theycan set you perfectly there.
Lot's of people there don't cycle planted tank because the plants are bio filter, whereas the electric filter is for mechanical filtering.
Caveat: Please only do this if you are serious and committed.
Erik
16G bent corner planted ,pressurized Co2, turbotwist 9w, jebo 828 , 36 led
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 338 guests