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Stocking tank

Aqua360

Aqua360

Member
Joined
15 Feb 2016
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2,190
Location
UK
Hi all

I've been away from aquascaping for a bit, messing around with Betta's and shrimp; but may have the chance to do something with a 48x8x8 inch tank, and wanted to ask opinions on stocking.

It'll be open topped, ruling out killifish; the first inhabitants that spring to mind are Betta, shrimp, minnows, it can be cold in my living room so I may also have to factor that in.

Anyway intrigued to hear some responses :)
 
How did your previous tanks go with bettas and shrimp?

I'm setting up similar at the minute, already got my betta but thinking about seeing how he gets on with espei rasboras, celestial pearl danios (galaxy rasboras), ottos and possibly shrimp

Not having a top is a bit risky with bettas as well
 
Kalum said:
How did your previous tanks go with bettas and shrimp?

I'm setting up similar at the minute, already got my betta but thinking about seeing how he gets on with espei rasboras, celestial pearl danios (galaxy rasboras), ottos and possibly shrimp

Not having a top is a bit risky with bettas as well
Click to expand...

I ended up commissioning it to have glass slider lids, won't look as good aesthetically but the evaporation would otherwise be a nightmare, which killed off my previous ventures with these shape of tanks.

I've decided to do multifasciatus again, for their antics so I should have things moving forward by next week :)
 
Edvet said:
How about some cloud minnows (Tanychthys albonubes) can handle cold very well, maybe some ricefish?
Click to expand...

Very tempting to do minnows again, I had them before in a long similar tank and it looked superb; right now I'm setting it up for multifasciatus, but I can probably guarantee in future it will have minnows if I end up changing! :)
 
here's the tank, haven't moved on it as funds are low; as such I've got a little more time to think about this, and I keep coming round to the idea of a shoal, with some albino cories. Nothing concrete yet, either green neons, minnows, or danios, but the colour given off by the neons will likely look good at night
48x9x8 (1).jpg
 
I have a question, for anyone reading, I'd like to move this project forward a bit, namely getting a suitable substrate down.

First question is regarding tropica plant growth substrate, had good results with it in the past, with a covering of 3mm sand, however I wasn't a fan of the clouds of dirt created when disturbed. Has anyone had good results using simple playsand (argos) or even unipac, in conjunction with dosing the water column?

I can't imagine i'll be attempting to grow harder species of plants, but I'd like a MC carpet, some staurogyne, that sort of thing.
 
If your feet dosing and lighting is on point and stable then should work fine for most apart from heavy root feeders

I'm using sand and root tabs and have mixed succss but I'm pretty sure that's down to my lighting mainly and still refining my ferts
 
Thanks for the info guys, someone I work with had mentioned the play sand being far too small for rooted plants to dig into, but thought I'd check in here as always.

I've used it ages ago for cichlids, but those were the days before I discovered the planted side lol
 
Btw I'm also still not decided on stock lol, I've experimented with wood, etc, but I'm putting some existing coral like sand in tonight to see if it sways me back towards the shell dwellers!

Hardest part of the process for me!
 
I have a tank i am setting up very similar dimensions but a bit longer and taller 1500mm x 210mm x 250mm tall or 60in x 8inx 10in...

I looked at that exact same stand you are using from ikea but didnt seem so sturdy, but adding a middle leg and some support would help for peace of mind.

I am going with a high flow river scape, plan to keep either danios or white cloud mountain minnows, perhaps both and some kind of small hillstream loaches, they all do well in cold water... which is something I will battle here in Australia my water often rises to 27 Celsius when the outdoor temp gets in the upper 30s and low 40s on hot as hell days.

Will be watching what you do with this one!
 
doylecolmdoyle said:
I have a tank i am setting up very similar dimensions but a bit longer and taller 1500mm x 210mm x 250mm tall or 60in x 8inx 10in...

I looked at that exact same stand you are using from ikea but didnt seem so sturdy, but adding a middle leg and some support would help for peace of mind.

I am going with a high flow river scape, plan to keep either danios or white cloud mountain minnows, perhaps both and some kind of small hillstream loaches, they all do well in cold water... which is something I will battle here in Australia my water often rises to 27 Celsius when the outdoor temp gets in the upper 30s and low 40s on hot as hell days.

Will be watching what you do with this one!
Click to expand...

I know what you mean about the stand, I'm hoping it's ok, I've sat on it before to test it, I weigh about 85kg so I'm hoping the spread weight of the tank at roughly the same will be fine lol.

Because there is so much flexibility with the footprint of these tanks, its difficult to settle on anything, I'll need to check if you have any threads on your build, these tanks are definitely becoming more popular!
 
Aqua360 said:
I know what you mean about the stand, I'm hoping it's ok, I've sat on it before to test it, I weigh about 85kg so I'm hoping the spread weight of the tank at roughly the same will be fine lol.

Because there is so much flexibility with the footprint of these tanks, its difficult to settle on anything, I'll need to check if you have any threads on your build, these tanks are definitely becoming more popular!
Click to expand...

Lol I did the same sat in the middle of the bookshelf thing but it did felx a bit, I am over 100kg tho. I think with some extra legs and bracing it would be a good stand, being made of solid wood thats a bonus, I am actually using kallax units which are only mdf/chipboard, but I have used them before with no problems.

Here is the 5ft bookshelf tank thread (still planning and getting equipment etc)
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/5ft-bookshelf-aquarium-river-scape.52040/#post-512010

Also have a 3ft bookshelf tank which I recently rescaped to a blackwater tank - https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/bookshelf-blackwater-12g-long.51542/ have also done a iwagumi style layout in this tank
 
doylecolmdoyle said:
Lol I did the same sat in the middle of the bookshelf thing but it did felx a bit, I am over 100kg tho. I think with some extra legs and bracing it would be a good stand, being made of solid wood thats a bonus, I am actually using kallax units which are only mdf/chipboard, but I have used them before with no problems.

Here is the 5ft bookshelf tank thread (still planning and getting equipment etc)
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/5ft-bookshelf-aquarium-river-scape.52040/#post-512010

Also have a 3ft bookshelf tank which I recently rescaped to a blackwater tank - https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/bookshelf-blackwater-12g-long.51542/ have also done a iwagumi style layout in this tank
Click to expand...

I've sat a 200 litre tank across two kallax before lol, with minimum bracing. I apparently like to live life dangerously haha
 
doylecolmdoyle said:
Lol I did the same sat in the middle of the bookshelf thing but it did felx a bit, I am over 100kg tho. I think with some extra legs and bracing it would be a good stand, being made of solid wood thats a bonus, I am actually using kallax units which are only mdf/chipboard, but I have used them before with no problems.

Here is the 5ft bookshelf tank thread (still planning and getting equipment etc)
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/5ft-bookshelf-aquarium-river-scape.52040/#post-512010

Also have a 3ft bookshelf tank which I recently rescaped to a blackwater tank - https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/bookshelf-blackwater-12g-long.51542/ have also done a iwagumi style layout in this tank
Click to expand...

my apologies btw, I have seen these threads! Watching them closely! I like the 3ft blackwater, I very nearly ordered a similar tank in the past, I'm a big fan of the 12 gallon Mr Aqua, I've also seen your posts on the 12 gallon Club on another forum :)
 
Aqua360 said:
I've sat a 200 litre tank across two kallax before lol, with minimum bracing. I apparently like to live life dangerously haha
Click to expand...

Did you run into any issues, my 5ft 20g tank should come in around 120/140kg i guess with rocks and water. I think it will be fine.
 
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