#1x pleco

[z0mbyw00f]

guys I got a fish tank!!!

Look at my babies!!

[sunfish-exotics]

Worked on this tank some for fun yesterday.. but I forgot to take a before pic ;-;

Added all the rock work and rearranged it completely. The most dramatic branches haven't waterlogged yet either. Not cleared up fully. I want to add maybe another plant species (just have helanthium rn). I'm going for a flooded forest / small creek look. Most of the fish are Rio Ucayali native but I do have a biotope breaker... but he is very cute so I don't care that much lol.

Planning on adding a large group of cories, another small pleco or two, and a school of larger sized tetra as dithers.

Current stock list

- 9x Heros efasciatus (green / turquoise color form)

- 1x Angelfish (wild, Peru locale)

- 1x bristlenose pleco (wildtype, female)

- 1x Peckoltia sp (I think L377 but not sure, was sold unlabeled)

- couple garnet tetras I couldn't catch

[fishy-birdy-catty-snakey]

Murdoch's last picture is old ok so here's my planning for this aquarium

I plan to keep

1x Blue Gourami (aka Murdoch)

1x Bristlenose Pleco

1x Apistogramma Cacatuoides

1x German Blue Ram

1x Kribensis

1x Rio Negro Dwarf Cichlid

1x Red Breasted Acara

Keep in mind it's a 37 gallon so I guess it's fine

Dang i wish i could have a betta in there as well ,_,

[bettagetkraken]

Hey so are we rating setups? Because I’ve been feeling kinda bad abt how bare my 2nd 8gal betta tank is currently, but then again consider:

5x neon tetras

5x firehead tetras

5x cherry rasboras

2x bristlenose pleco

1x male betta splendens

And 1x incoming Mystery Catfish she got for free, last owner didn’t know what it was either

In a 14 gallon.

[narelleart]

Why I dislike AqAdvisor.

I’ve seen AqAdvisor gaining traction again and I am really not a fan. It has a lot of flaws, so much so that I don’t at all recommend bothering with it. I think it’s too easy for it to mislead you. Really, I’m sugar coating it. I think it’s a nice idea, but the calculator just doesn’t actually apply to real life tanks, so to me its pretty much worthless. I cannot stand how much positive attention this thing gets when it can so often be very VERY wrong.

Just check this out:

I trimmed it down to the important bits, but this is me just playing around real quick to see how ridiculous I can get this. I would hope you can all look at it and immediately see the things wrong with this imaginary tank without my help, but just in case I picked some fish you’re unfamiliar with I’ll break it down.

So first off, I started out with a 180g tank (the favorite of “monster” fish keepers that like to keep their fish in undersized tanks - I guess 180g just feels really big or something), with 200g filter capacity. I overshot the filter because one of AqAdvisor’s biggest flaws is that everything revolves around filtration capacity - it seems to run on the premise that overfiltering effectively creates a larger usable volume. I’m sure I could get really ridiculous and make a tiny tank with massive filtration capacity, and REALLY see how far I can push it. Maybe I’ll do that next.

Then I started tossing in a horrible mix of incompatible fishes, to see what it would let me get away with. Let’s look at those: 1 x “Lima Shovelnose Catfish”, Sorubim lima - A 19.9″ SL fish that really ought to have a tank no smaller than 500g based on size alone. Aqadvisor thinks it’s acceptable to house a fish in an tank closer to 3 times its length. I have so many complaints with this, but I’ll move on. 5 x “Neon Tetra”, Paracheirodon innesi - A schooling fish naturally found in massive groups, that really ought to be 12+. Aqadvisor let me put a minimum of 5. Oh hey also, check that out. S. lima is a huge predatory catfish, but AqAdvisor isn’t concerned about these little guys getting eaten. 1 x “Guppy”, Poecilia reticulata - These are social, shoaling fish that should not be housed singly. But AqAdvisor thinks a solo guppy is okay, and doesn’t think S. lima is going to eat this lonely little fish either. Also hardwater to brackish? But supposedly they’re compatible with all these soft water fishes. 1 x Royal Pleco, Panaque nigrolineatus - This is no small fish either, maxing out at 13.4″ SL. But AqAdvisor is only concerned about the availability of wood for this fish. This fish does actually fit in this tank size (bare minimum based on size, without waste or activity taken into account), and the tank being overfiltered is good for it being a pleco. I mostly tossed this one in here to see if a waste producing machine would make a measurable impact on water quality values. (Hint: It didn’t.) 5 x Denisoni Barb, Puntius (Sahyadria) denisonii - Tossed them in for fun. 5 is apparently an acceptable shoal size. Another group to fill space. They are river fish though. (See WCMMs below.) 5 x “Galaxy Rasbora”, Danio margaritatus - See my notes on neons, except wow true nano, still supposedly not S. lima food. Maybe AqAdvisor just thinks these fish are too small for the cat to notice or care? (Not accurate.) 5 x “White Cloud Mountain Minnow”, Tanichthys albonubes - Same notes as above small schooling fish, but I’m skeptical about how well their water needs match these other fish. These are clear water, basically hillstream fish that like it cool. The others are tropical, and I know off the top of my head that Neon Tetras are blackwater fish. But AqAdvisor is fine with them living together. 1 x Licorice Gourami, Parosphromenus dessineri - Hang on, hang on, REALLY? Monster cats in little tanks is a special sore spot for me, but I think this upsets me the most. I can have a solo rare fish from a disappearing habitat that needs to be preserved by the hobby, in this mess of a tank? A blackwater specialist that belongs in a breeding project? And oh hey, snack sized for S. lima. But nope, AqAdvisor has no qualms with this. 1 x Zebra Oto, Otocinclus cocama - Did a zebra just for fun. But hey, ALL otos are shoaling fish that require large social groups and established tanks. I’m hesitant to even suggest that 6 is a sufficient minimum - they’d do best if you shoot for more. Aqadvisor let me keep one solo, maybe they thought it was intentionally in there as another snack for the S. lima. (Either way, it will be.) 1x Dwarf Cory, Corydoras hastatus - Also a shoaling fish that needs a group, which AqAdvisor somehow seems completely unaware of. Also will be S. lima food. 1 x African Butterfly Cichlid, Anomalochromis thomasi - Okay, I was trying to last minute tack on the African Butterfly Fish and grabbed this guy by mistake. I know nothing of cichlids. I’m sure there’s something wrong with him being here too, who knows. (For those curious, if I had added the ABF it wouldn’t have told me anything about it eating my nanofish - it just warned me that they jump. Thanks AqAdvisor.)

Take a look at the temperature range. These fish can only be housed together in a way that some of them don’t end up in inhospitable conditions if they are maintained at this one precise temperature. (That means they’re incompatible!) That pH range is a bit narrow too.

And the only note is the concern about providing the pleco wood. At least they don’t want the kiddo (a xylivore) to starve. But for those unfamiliar, AqAdvisor DOES let you know about incompatibility issues right here in this note section if the species has had anything programmed in about it. It doesn’t think these fish are incompatible at all.

AND IT SAYS I’M STILL OVERFILTERING, ONLY NEED TO CHANGE 18% PER WEEK, AND AM ONLY 66% STOCKED! The Panaque alone could be a fully stocked tank. The Sorubim is an overstocked tank. This is ridiculous. This is unacceptable.

This is why you don’t use AqAdvisor.

(Anyone else feel free to see what other horrible stocking it lets you get away with and add them on!)

[sixlegnag]

stocking concepts:

present (sad, depleted schools): 4x Pangio oblonga (CB), 1 x Botia histrionica (WC), 1 x Pimelodus blochii (WC), 1 x Ancistrus sp (CB, probable hybrid), 1x Pterophyllum scalare (CB)

immediate future (as in this year, hopefully winter!): 4x Pangio oblonga (CB), 4 x Botia histrionica (WC unless hormone spawned become available in the US), 1 x Pimelodus blochii (WC), 1 x Ancistrus sp (CB, probable hybrid), 1x Pterophyllum scalare (CB), 2-3x Pangio kuhli (preferably CB)

post-Pimelodus (possibly as soon as next year, but perhaps not for another five - mine is past average age, but they can go well past that on occasion): 4x Pangio oblonga (CB), 4 x Botia histrionica (WC unless hormone spawned become available in the US ), 1 x Ancistrus sp (CB, probable hybrid), 1x Pterophyllum scalare (CB), 2-3x Pangio kuhli (preferably CB), 2x Pseudomystus leiacanthus (WC unless CB available by then!) post-Pterophyllum (likely years from now - my angel is five, the average lifespan is ten and as the worst he’s ever had is a mild case of hexamita and some loach-hazing, he’s likely to keep trucking on): 4x Pangio oblonga (CB), 4 x Botia histrionica (WC unless hormone spawned become available in the US ), 1 x Ancistrus sp (CB, probable hybrid), 1x Pterophyllum scalare, 2-3x Pangio kuhli (preferably CB), 2x Pseudomystus leiacanthus (WC unless CB available by then!), 6?x Neocaridina davidi var. red (CB, number will likely vary with breeding rate and successful loach catching rates, but six would be a good average to maintain) if brown algae/biofilms are terribly obnoxious while the angel is still about, I may do 6x Otocinclus vittatus (likely WC, though I can dream) instead since they’re so very good at scooting around eating, and while I’m obviously trying to work my way towards a SE Asian biotope here, there really are not any detrivores from that region that aren’t too huffy to live in a fleet, and even little loaches WILL systematically decimate even large snails. I know about hillstreams, but I’m not a fan of keeping hillstream loaches out of special set ups just for them - without high flow and obscene amounts of algae, they tend to squabble over whatever rock does have good stuff on it, whereas in thin times, otos will happily share a nice slice of zucchini. they are also fine without aggressive flow, and since I’m going for more riverbend than rapids, they’d be happier. I could also see if my angel isn’t a shrimp killer and skip a step, but they usually . . . are. well fed loaches, surprisingly, apparently often get along with them, hence the final destination.

the pleco is involved eternally because the pleco is like two and unless she has more issues stemming from her hybrid status than her funny size, she’ll be around a good long time

[sunfish-exotics]

New fishy day for the 125g. All catfish! I'm definitely gonna pick up some more of the meesi cats whenever I find them for sale again, I originally wanted a group of 6 but when I got my confirmation they only had 2 left.

10x C splendens

1x L204 Panaqolus albivermis pleco

2x Brachyrhamdia meesi

Shout out to The Wet Spot Tropical Fish for always sending me incredibly healthy animals and packing them properly! I've never had a DOA with them which is pretty impressive!