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OK. I did water changes on 5 of the 8 tanks in the house. Way lot of work! Not to mention that I didn't get to the 2 upstairs. The 10g in the kitchen is getting broken down and put away today.

I finally moved the healed clown into the 55. Now there is REALLY too much fish bulk in that tank

I need to downsize before school starts in the fall. The tanks are not heavily stocked, execpt for the 55, so I'm looking at consolidating fish to eliminate a tank or two (or three!). Problem is, I'm too close to the project and can't decide which ones to shut down since I've lived with them so long Any suggestions would be thankfully received.

Three of the tanks are on lovely stands, one is on the kitchen counter, and the others are on homemade or iron stands. The 55 is on an iron stand...I'm not lovin it, but with the situation as it is now I can't even think of shutting down that one due to the large clowns...

Here's the available tanks:

These have pretty stands:

40g bowfront (living room)
3 adult angels
1 ancistrus cat
1 unidentified sae type fish

20g hex (living room)
8 adult cardinal tetras
1 gold pearscale veiltail male angelfish

20g bowfront (bedroom)
empty, except for plants and snails. Still has viable biofilter.
................................................
30g (kitchen--no stand, is on the counter)
1 adult angel
2 otos
1 spotted catfish
1 upside down cat
1 sae

55g (dining room)
2 8" very muscly (is that a word?) clowns
2 6" clowns
2 2-3" clowns
2 angels (breeding pair)
2 juvenile angels
1 bristlenose
1 royal pleco
---eeeek!----

55g coldwater tank (upstairs)
1 4-5" comet goldfish
1 coldwater algae eater
tons of mts and crypts.

20 long hillstream tank (dining room)
2 albino white clouds (don't ask !)
forest of saggitaria

Ideally, I'd like to get down to 3, maybe 4 tanks, preferably the pretty ones. Yeah, right

All of these tanks are planted fairly heavily so clearly some of the vegetation will be going to the lfs...right now, my brain is on overload and I just can't get started with this, but it has to be done. Any help appreciated!

...mikev....you have a pm...

Okay, I'll give it a try:
Consolidate all the angels in one tank, ideally the 40g bowfront, except those in the 55g. Add everything(except the cardinals) from the 30g to the 40g. That might be too many fish, though. You might want to put some in the 20g bowfront with the cardinals.
Get rid of the 30g,the 55g coldwater tank, and the 20g hex.
Find the goldfish a home with a pond owner, put the coldwater algae eater into the hillstream tank (I can't recommend breaking that down ) and add some hillstreams for goodness sakes!!!
That's the best I can do. I hope it helps.

thank you Jim, for making the attempt

It would make sense to put all the angels together if they were good community fish. However, they are cichlids and will tear each other to pieces over mates/territory I may well end up selling a couple of them to the lfs since I'm not going to have the time (or space) to raise any fry for a while.

I think you are right that the 55 cold has to go. the hillstream tank? hmmm, maybe someone nearby would like it? I just don't do it justice, myself

If I sell off my 2 adult male angels I can put the two remaining breeding pairs in with the fish from the 30 that go into the 40 and see if they stay paired or try to mix it up then I'll pass on one of the pairs to either my lfs or someone else who might want them. Gotta keep some angels, after all

That gets rid of the 55 cold, and the 30. The hex tank is nice, and in a convenient place, and not too hard to maintain since it's only 20g. Besides, I painted the background myself and don't think I could give it up... It also has a lovely ocelot fern, a crypt pile and two bogwood pieces covered in java fern. I could take them to the lfs too, but...maybe I can find a spot for them somewhere...

Thanks for the jump start Jim

Gosh, you certainly keep your tanks empty. I thought the rule was 1 gallon per 1 fish...and I break it too, here.
(just kidding, but you do seem to be very understocked)

Jim Powers wrote: and add some hillstreams for goodness sakes!!!

If you follow on Jim's call, I've been just told that there are some interesting ones around here (within a striking distance from you)...should know better tonight.

Nah, that '1 fish per gallon' rule is an accident waiting to happen, imo. Don't get me wrong, I've done it, and grew out of it Though there are fish that it would work with it certainly can't be applied across the board by any means.

for instance the 2 large clowns in the 55. Say, maybe 8" long, BUT they are so bulky that that I'd really recommend measuring them in square inches, rather than linear inches And it would come out to way more than 8...

Get rid of the 30g,the 55g coldwater tank, and the 20g hex.

But I gave her the 20 gal hex <whine pathetically> And its on a nice stand too and the first batch of angels were bred there <more pathetic whining>

I mentioned this morning that I thought the hillstream was a nice looking tank.

I think she should just get rid of the empty 30g on the lower shelf of the wooden stand her dad made for her and call it a day. The hillstream is on the upper shelf of that stand.

Or she could break down and swap the 30 in the kitchen with the hillstream. Then we could have two empty 30s on the stand that her dad built.

Since I have just finished a college algebra class why not do the math?

How many cubic inches of fish are currently in my 55g?

2 large clowns @ 1.5x1.5x8 =
18" each, or 36" of fish

2 medium clowns
4" each, or 8"

2 small clowns
3" each, or 6"

2 adult angels @ 3" each
6"

2 juvenile angels
4"

royal pleco @ 1x3x5 =
15"

ancistrus
4"

4+15+4+6+6+8+36 = 79"

WAY crowded, I think

OK. So NOW you see my real problem...~sigh~

I live with a man who can't get rid of anything.

I guess this depends on the Angelfish's compatabilities, but this rearrangement might work. Depends on fish sizes, algebraic (is that a word) calculations, gross national income of Sulawezi and stuff likeadat of course.

40g bowfront (living room)
3 adult angels
2 juvenile angels
1 adult angel
1 gold pearscale veiltail male angelfish


20g hex (living room)
2 angels (breeding pair)
2 otos


20g bowfront hillstream tank (bedroom)
2 albino white clouds (don't ask !)
1 coldwater algae eater
forest of saggitaria
plants and snails. Still has viable biofilter.
................................................
30g (kitchen--no stand, is on the counter)
1 spotted catfish
1 upside down cat
1 sae

55g (dining room)
2 8" very muscly (is that a word?) clowns
2 6" clowns
2 2-3" clowns
8 adult cardinal tetras


55g tank add heater(upstairs)
tons of mts and crypts.
1 bristlenose
1 royal pleco
---eeeek!----
1 ancistrus cat
1 unidentified sae type fish


X the 20 long (ex-hillstream tank)....and GET some hillies for the 20 bow.

And re-home this odd man out (1 4-5" comet goldfish)...a pond seems a good idea.

Cut and paste is SO useful. Nice avatar

Martin.

Wait a minute! I still count 6 tanks with this plan. I'm supposed to be DOWNSIZING, remember????

"40g bowfront (living room)
3 adult angels
2 juvenile angels
1 adult angel
1 gold pearscale veiltail male angelfish"

I will probably try this and see what survives (grimace) and send the losers to the lfs.

"20g hex (living room)
2 angels (breeding pair)
2 otos "

this is also a good option. Would look nice, is compatible, BUT...
put a breeding pair in there with only otos? There will be unlimited opportunity for overly fecund fish and there WILL be fry. Which will need raising (read that 2 30's or a 55) because I can't possibly just let them die, yanno. Safest course for my happy pair is a community tank where at least the eggs/fry can provide some caviar to the other hungry inhabitants. Or, let the fry get to free swimming and set them free with the clowns and cardinals...

Clowns and cardinals is good. Will need at least one algae eater in that tank or the green stuff takes over.

The 20 bow is a high tank, no powerhead, etc. If I'm getting hillies I'm keeping the 20 that I got from Justin. Call me lazy... The sag forest is rejuvenating after the horrible large waterchange debacle, and the 'unidentified sae type fish' turned out to be a Garra pingi pingi which is loving that tank. IF I keep the hillstream (gasp! choke! how could you even THINK of not keeping it!!!!) it will go in the kitchen and I'll get rid of the 30 and take mikev's advice and go get some of those very interesting fish a store near him has just gotten. MAYBE. I am not impressed with my hillstream keeping abilities and don't want any innocent fish to suffer on my account

So far all that does is eliminate the 30 and the 10q. But that's better than nothing.

I did talk my daughter into taking care of the 20 bow in her room that is currently empty--so I guess that's off my to do list...

Meanwhile that leaves the 55 cold empty except for the gorgeous plantlife and snails. Breaking up that forest will be sad. You know how it is when everything seems to be working perfectly, you don't have to do anything but the occasional water change, and the whole thing just works.... If I put the plec, bristlenose, and ancistrus in there what kind of havoc am I looking at for the plants? The catfish and sae can go there and will love it but I can see myself now looking for just that right schooling fish to liven it up...maybe I'll put the breeding pair in there. hmmm.

AAARRRRGGGHHHHH! I'll get there. Let you all know what I end up with when I finally bite the bullet. If it makes me crazy I may just do what JBall did and give the whole thing away! Not.

The avatar will be changing, I think. Maybe a hedgehog...(big grin). Loach forum or not, I still get to decide on my avatar

Are you really going to get rid of the avatar I made for you? <Stoically not whining>

Now, now...no whining

i hope whatever you decide goes ok. its a tough question. good luck with fitting in college work with what sounds like it may only be a slightly downsized fish workload.

thanks Helen. I'll sort it out. Just getting rid of 2 and passing one off to the daughter will be helpful, but I'm hoping to do better than that.

We shall see...

Hmm... cubic inches of fish huh? Does that mean all 10 of my inch or less sids count as 1 cubic inch of fish ? Kind of like angels, or loach noses, on the head of a pin? I might like this new fishy math.

Maybe your daughter would like the garra & white clouds in her tank? I'd go with the biggest tanks since for me it's # of tanks not # of gallons. There'd be more room for the bottom guys too. The hex could be repurposed as a bedroom display for a houseplant or objet d'art until your daughter wants more tanks in her room. Can the angel parents be split up into boys tank, girls & immature tank or would that just cause chaos & bloodshed? Or maybe the big plec could live with the breeders & eat the eggs in the kitchen? Tough choices & only temporary since the little angels will cause trouble as they grow up.

Good luck,
Nancy