Your help in setting up a new 6x2x2 loachy tank

[catdogfish]

Hello all,

I've had so much help from the forum members here (and tried to give some back when I could) and it has been greatly appreciated. My thanks to you all.

I now have a big ask of you all and would be happy if you could help.

I will be getting my 6ftx2ftx2ft aquarium in the next few weeks and need some advice regarding the best way to set it up. I'll let you know my hopes for the tank:

Inhabitants:

4 clown loaches (with 2-3 more to be added once mature and established)
2 Botia Striata (get on fine with the clowns but again I'd like 2-3 more to ease their social situation)
3 Yo Yo loach (maybe 2 more so they have a gang)
catfish
Synodontis
4 striped barbs

Lots of soaked bogwood and fine gravel substrate so their barbels don't get damaged.

My hope is to have the lights on a timer so I get a period of "moonlight" in the morning and evening before the main lights come on. It is also going to be in the living room so I'd like the tank/filtration system to be as quiet as possible. So, here are the questions:

Taking into account the size of the tank and the need for quiet -

what filtration should I opt for?
Could I use 2 canisters rather than a sump?
Do you have any experience/recommendations for filters/heaters?
What is my water change schedule going to look like if I keep the tank relatively understocked?
Am I taking on a massive commitment? (My 3ft tank takes me about an hour a week to maintain)
Lighting suggestions?
Decor?
Powerheads - I'm thinking about setting it up like the one on the site with the undergravel tubing fo I get a constant flow of water. Could I just add some powerheads at one end or will I get a swirling vortex of water at the other end of the tank?

Ultimately I'd like to make it a natural habitat for these loaches as I want to observe them behaving as naturally as possible.

If you have any thoughts or experiences you would like to share I would be very grateful.

Many thanks in advance!

[Mad Duff]

You could easily do it with two large externals, I think eheims are probably the best but I use both aqua-pro and tetratec and have no problems or issues, there are a couple of companies that now have heaters built into the externals which gets them out of the tank.

Extra flow for the tank is personal choice, I was going to put the manifold in my 7ft but it means that the substrate has to be deeper to cover the pipes and it can be hard to reach the powerheads and sponges in a fairly deep tank with a hood on. I just went with a couple of large internals filters just to add extra oxygenation and flow.

Even understocked I would still carry out 25% to 30% weekly water changes, with the use of something like a python you shouldn't take much longer than you do now.

Lighting depends on if you want live plants and which plants you want, I have a 5ft twin T5 setup on my 7ft and my Java fern and crinum's grow fine and the tank is bright enough.

For a natural looking setup, plenty of pipes at the back with bogwood on top and plenty of cobbles (big towards the back and getting smaller towards the front of the tank). Lots of Java fern tied to the bogwood.

[OneWay]

Ill take on a few of your questions,, with questions of course

Filtration
Is there any way to plump the tank to a sump? If so this would remove nearly all the noise from the room the tank is in. With some silent overflows the noise is from powerheads at most.

From there you can use a trickle filter, heaters and and more back there; as to which canister to use, im sure someone else is a far better judge of those than I am. I use 2 400 watt heaters set at 2 different temps, it takes a bit to get that much water to temp, but they do the trick.


Water changes
How much time it takes will be based off of the water conditions.
However, if you are hauling buckets compared to having water supply/drain lines plumped to the tank, the time it takes can vary considerably.

The amount and frequency of water changes varies a lot from person to person and from tank to tank, 25-50% weekly in some cases. Start with 25% and then by watching your water parameters you can see if you need more or less. Depending on your biomass, biological filtration, and source water quality it will all vary.


Ciculation
I use 3 powerheads and sump returns to create a swirling vortex; it works out nicely.


Time Commitment
The maintenance is not as bad as the initial set up. Once you get past the initial set up it is just like any other tank. I do find having lots of circulation helps keep the tank cleaning than with out it.

good luck

[mickthefish]

my main tank is just a bit shorter in width than yours catdogfish but i have the same substrate as you are proposing and loads of bogwood placed at the back of the tank plus a couple of tube towers that with a bit of work can be hidden to give as natural appearance as poss in a tank.
i'd go with two external filters as they are almost silent plus a couple of decent sized powerheads without the ventura on as this can do your head in if it's in the lounge get a few big bunches of javafern to put around the tank.
but i think you've sorted yourself out already , as to lighting i would suggest getting T8 tubes as they give a good amount of light and a bluemoon seperate, or on a seperate timer.
on my tank i have two T5's and 3 4 ft striplights and it gives adequate lighting.

mick

[mickthefish]

sorry i missed a one of your questions.
WC's for your tank one 30% would be ok, if your doing it by the bucket instead of that order yourself a python water changer, there is one with a long length of tubing it saves your back.

heating well it's up to you and how warm your room is as i don't have any heaters in my tank as they are'nt needed but saying that i don't have clown in there.

mick

[catdogfish]

Wow! I didn't expect answers so fast, and such detailed ones at that. Your helpfulness continues to amaze me. All great tips that I will begin researching further, especially the "python" - never heard of this.

I'm in work at the moment but will get back to this thread tonight. I'm still stuck on the sump vs canister situation, does one set up hold more work to maintain than the other?

[OneWay]

in my personal experience, the canisters are more work to maintain than a sump, but then I am very supportive of sumps


I use the sump for extra circlution and aeration as the water just cycles through the trickle filter and return pumps. I also have my heaters, snails, shrimp, damaged plants, and algae in it as well. I do my water changes and testing out of it too. For me this is the best solution, but what may work for you may be different. I did have a buddy who put his sump in his basement from his living room.

You can see my last two posts here on my sump: My Page

I have since added 1 additional trickle filter as i got my other MAG 9.5 up and running.


good luck in whichever method you choose,

One