Queen Loaches- possibly river tank?
Posted: 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.
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.