36x18x18 tank

phil82 · Post by **phil82** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:08 am

Hi, im new here and i was just wondering what kind of loaches and how many can i put in a 50gal tank? and what would be the best choice of dither fish(and how many of course). thanks!

san-ho-zay · Post by **san-ho-zay** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:32 am

Your best choices would be the smaller species:

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-striata
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ya ... idthimunki

You might just about get away with:

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-almorhae
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-histronica
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-kubotai

In all cases you ideally want a group of five minimum (perhaps 3 for some species like B. kubotai. I think B. striata is probably the best choice, or Y. sidthimunki if you can find them. You'll have more scope to get a decent group, they'll have more swimming space and you'll have more scope for other fish.

Ashleigh · Post by **Ashleigh** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:00 am

Also have a look at a few of the Pangio species-these are amazing in big groups regardless of their smaller size;

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/pangio-anguillaris
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/pangio-kuhlii
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/pangio-oblonga
to name a few of the more common species

Have a look at some of the barb species -small/medium, some of the rasbora species-both of these make lovely dithers-your choice of these may depend on what loach species you are wanting to keep-fast flowing water etc

Also where are you located-some members may be able to chip in about what species of loach are avaliable in your area

Oh and welcome to the forum

Ashleigh

phil82 · Post by **phil82** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 12:21 am

Thank you sanhozay and ashleigh for replying. I'll probably get 5 striatas and 3-5 kubotais since both species are not that hard to find where i live(philippines). About the dither fish, i really want to get a couple(maybe 2 or 3) SAEs to take care of the algae since my tank gets about 2-3 hours of indirect sunlight everyday. I also want 1 black ghost knifefish to act like the king of the tank.

what do guys think?

ashleigh: would 5 rasbora barbs be enough as dither fish?

Ashleigh · Post by **Ashleigh** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:38 am

I would skip the black ghost knife-they are capable of attaining lengths up to 20 inches and although your tank capacity is quite generous (50 us g), the actual length of your aquarium would be quite restricting for a fish that size, it may also decide to snack on your rasboras when it gets a bit larger depending on what size of species you have-I used to have one who had a soft spot for tetras

Do you know what rasbora species in particular you are interested in??? Either way Id go for a slightly larger shoal of say 8-10

Ashleigh

Laura · Post by **Laura** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 5:36 pm

I too would skip the black ghost knife. Their adult size is just too big for your tank IMO.

I'm a big proponent of keeping a trio of SAE. Mine bicker amongst themselves, but don't bug anyone else. I've heard lots of reports of them being antagonistic when mature and kept alone.

I have the same footprint tank as yours although mine's a bit taller, and it sometimes seems quite full with 3 nearly full grown SAE and 5 other fish that are about 4" SL along with about 10 various little dithers. I've also got a bunch of pangio sp, but you never see them.

I would start with the SAE and 5 of your favourite loach and 10 smallish dithers before deciding if you want to bring in the other loach species. I don't keep any botine sp, so I'm sure wiser folks than I will chime in as to optimum numbers vs tank size, I'm just going from what my tank looks like, and perhaps I'm being too conservative.

phil82 · Post by **phil82** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:24 am

hi all..sorry for the late reply i was busy with work lately..anyway, i chose to get 8 clowns, 6 blue botias (modesta) and 5 yoyos with 6 neon dwarf rainbowfish, 1 pleco, and 1 3inch blackghost knife fish. ok so everything's been fine for the last 3 days but when i woke this morning to feed my fishes, i couldnt find my blue botias. after searching for a while, one of them just popped out from nowhere. now the question is where'd the rest of them go? could the BKG have eaten them? or even the clowns maybe (since they are bigger than the modestas by an inch or two)?!? i dunno... pls help. im really worried about my modestas..

phil82 · Post by **phil82** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:28 am

i doubt that the BKG ate them since my neon dwarf rainbow fish are only about an inch long but none of them have disappeared. if ever the BKG decided to go on hunting mode, i suspect they would be first ones to go right?

DES · Post by **DES** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 11:43 am

That tank is a disaster waiting to happen. I see you chose to ignore the advice that you were given and now your tank is horribly stocked. Clown loaches grow far too big for a 50 gallon tank, as does the black ghost knife. Also, what type of pleco did you get? If it is a common pleco then that fish will also grow far too large for your tank. These fish need to be rehomed ASAP. You also made a mistake in adding so many fish at once. You are in for a huge ammonia spike most likely. Was this tank even cycled to begin with? I'm very concerned for your fish. You really need to rehome many of them and do frequent (daily or every other day) water changes to keep them alive until you can establish the appropriate bacterial colony. Good luck.

newshound · Post by **newshound** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:10 pm

wow that tank went from okay to not okay very quickly...
also is 36x18x18 only 40ish gallons not 50?

phil82 · Post by **phil82** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:30 am

i know its overstocked right now..its just a temp home till i find the time to build them a 75gal or a 90gal river tank. yes the waters been cycled. will test the water parameters later today and will update you guys. btw, the blue botias are all there. phew!

apparently, they're just really good hiders.

hehe. thanks all for replying.

Dutch · Post by **Dutch** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:14 am

With all respect, but that's not responsible. Just the black ghost by itself requires a much, much larger tank. I don't believe even a 90 gallon will do, but rather double that.
You should understand that such a fish is a predator that grows to 20 inch in size. It's equiped with unique electric sensory capabillity, so when it gets larger it will be able to catch anything small enough to eat. A fully grown fish won't be able turn on a dime either and thus the width of the tank should reflect this. I would say 30 inch is a minimum.

Just as an indication... but I have a 92 gallon tank (100 including its custom internal filter) coming and I have very carefully thought out how to stock it. 8 x B. histrionica, 5 or 6 x C. siamensis and a school of ~12 D. rerio (or similar). In that tank I can keep those for life.

phil82 · Post by **phil82** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 4:59 am

appreciate all of your comments.. anyway the main reason why its over populated is because loaches are kinda hard to find here where i live so when i got the chance to get them, i did. as iv said, this is just a temporary home for these fishes til i get them their own river tank(max 1 month). i'm gonna test my water parameters in a while. will post the results. thanks again.

phil82 · Post by **phil82** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:01 am

dutch: i might just give the BKG away.. thanks for your input.

phil82 · Post by **phil82** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:42 am

Water test results:

pH - 7.2
ammonia - 0.25
nitrate - 40
nitrite - 0.25

test was done 3 days after all fish were put in the tank.

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