Here is my fish and tank setup. Need advice for a newbie.

[CyberPunk]

First I would like to say Hello to everyone!

I am new to this hobby and I am already hooked!

Well I have 3 tanks right now.

75 gallon

3 small discus
1 black ghost knife
2 fire eels
1 tire track eels
1 placaso (Small spikey one that wont get over 4" they say)
1 Motoro stingray
1 small crab
2 snails


All of them are small babies right now

Filters in this tank

2 canister filters one is a 4 stage and the other is a 3 stage with a 9wat UV light in it, I also have a small HOB filter with a bio wheel sitting on the back just for the heck of it (I heard the bio wheels could be beneficiary)


55 gallon

4 Cichlid (3 small one large)
1 Blue lobster
4 balla sharks
1 sword tail
1 placaso (Another small guy)
2 snails

And some small tetras and gupies for feeders that get moved around.

Filters

1 HOB filter and 1 3 stage canister filter with 9watt UV in it.

10 gallon

this tank just has all my ghost shrimp I feel the stingray and soon the eels once they get big enough. I keep like 50 or 60 tiny shrimp in here at a time and pull 3 or 4 out a day for the stingray (He loves them!).

Fiter

1 HOB filter.


I also have a 100 gallon a day RO system that I am using to do water changes for my fish.


Here are some of my questions, and sorry in advance for the long post.

1: Do I have to many filters? lol

2: What media would you recommend in them? Right now I have ammonia eating crystals, activated charcoal, BIO balls, sponge and 2 fine filters in each (And also some pores looking rock things that came with it that I have no idea what they are).

3: My tanks are new, going on 3 weeks now, and I have been battling ammonia hard core, its been going into the danger zone ever once in a while. I was using tap water for water changes and my tap water had a PH of of around 9, this is why I got the RO system. I did a water change on bolth tanks with the new RO water and the ammonia has lowerd to just below the stress level but now I have nitrates on the rise. Are these nitrates just my tank cycling itself? Should I do anything?

4: Do I have to many fish for my aquarium size? All my fish are small right now but I know they will get bigger in the coming years. What size tan k or tanks should i plan on getting? Also, is my 10 gallon going to be enough to keep my feeder ghost shrimp alive for long?

5: I am using about 3 to 4 inches of rock on the bottom of my tank. I would like to make part of my tank sand to make the stingray happy. Can this be done? I heard it can be hard on the ray to be on rock, that and they like to bury themselves.


I was feeding all my fish frozen blood worms and frozen brine shrimp. I belie this is what might have helped with the ammonia spikes as in the rocks when I vacuumed I found a ton of dead rotting little worms. I am now going to only feed my fish live foods like blackworms, ghost shrimp, ground worms, guppies, tetras and a little flakes. Is this a smart move?

Again, I am sorry for the long post! I thank you in advance and so do my pets!

 

[CyberPunk]

dang, I just noticed a TON of typos and spelling errors in my post. Is there a way to edit it? I didn't see an edit link anywhere.

 

[flipstylex]

in the 75g, IMO, take out the crab, it will nip your discus at night and your BGK.
take out the sanil and placaso, it will be food sooner or later by your fire eel.

in the 55g, please specify the type of cichlid and their size, otherwise imo take out the bigger one as it might attack the smaller ones..

 

[Dobsie]

First I would like to say Hello to everyone!

I am new to this hobby and I am already hooked!

Well I have 3 tanks right now.

75 gallon

3 small discus
1 black ghost knife
2 fire eels
1 tire track eels
1 placaso (Small spikey one that wont get over 4" they say)
1 Motoro stingray
1 small crab
2 snails


All of them are small babies right now

Filters in this tank

2 canister filters one is a 4 stage and the other is a 3 stage with a 9wat UV light in it, I also have a small HOB filter with a bio wheel sitting on the back just for the heck of it (I heard the bio wheels could be beneficiary)


55 gallon

4 Cichlid (3 small one large)
1 Blue lobster
4 balla sharks
1 sword tail
1 placaso (Another small guy)
2 snails

And some small tetras and gupies for feeders that get moved around.

Filters

1 HOB filter and 1 3 stage canister filter with 9watt UV in it.

10 gallon

this tank just has all my ghost shrimp I feel the stingray and soon the eels once they get big enough. I keep like 50 or 60 tiny shrimp in here at a time and pull 3 or 4 out a day for the stingray (He loves them!).

Fiter

1 HOB filter.


I also have a 100 gallon a day RO system that I am using to do water changes for my fish.


Here are some of my questions, and sorry in advance for the long post.

1: Do I have to many filters? lol

2: What media would you recommend in them? Right now I have ammonia eating crystals, activated charcoal, BIO balls, sponge and 2 fine filters in each (And also some pores looking rock things that came with it that I have no idea what they are).

3: My tanks are new, going on 3 weeks now, and I have been battling ammonia hard core, its been going into the danger zone ever once in a while. I was using tap water for water changes and my tap water had a PH of of around 9, this is why I got the RO system. I did a water change on bolth tanks with the new RO water and the ammonia has lowerd to just below the stress level but now I have nitrates on the rise. Are these nitrates just my tank cycling itself? Should I do anything?

4: Do I have to many fish for my aquarium size? All my fish are small right now but I know they will get bigger in the coming years. What size tan k or tanks should i plan on getting? Also, is my 10 gallon going to be enough to keep my feeder ghost shrimp alive for long?

5: I am using about 3 to 4 inches of rock on the bottom of my tank. I would like to make part of my tank sand to make the stingray happy. Can this be done? I heard it can be hard on the ray to be on rock, that and they like to bury themselves.


I was feeding all my fish frozen blood worms and frozen brine shrimp. I belie this is what might have helped with the ammonia spikes as in the rocks when I vacuumed I found a ton of dead rotting little worms. I am now going to only feed my fish live foods like blackworms, ghost shrimp, ground worms, guppies, tetras and a little flakes. Is this a smart move?

Again, I am sorry for the long post! I thank you in advance and so do my pets!

Wow I dont know where to begin. You will soon have problems in your 75 gallon, if you haven't already. You may need to rehouse a bunch of those fish.

I'm guessing the placaso is a bristle nose pleco which if it is is a good choice for the discus and algae cleaner. I don't know how the knife and the three eels will do with the discus. I would decide which one you want and take back or sell the others. You have can never have too much filtration unless your fish get thrown across the tank and struggle to swim.

I would take back the crab no matter which ones you keep. With discus it will nip at it an try to eat them if it ever gets a chance. With the eels they would make a snack out of the crab.

I believe most motoro stingrays can out grow a 180 gallon tank in a little over a year and full grown can reach 30 inches + without the tail.

Put up pictures of your 55 gallon and see if we can identify them to help you out.

 

[David K. Bradley]

It would be helpful to have pictures of you 55 gallon to identify your 4 cichlids.

 

[CyberPunk]

Wow I dont know where to begin. You will soon have problems in your 75 gallon, if you haven't already. You may need to rehouse a bunch of those fish.

I'm guessing the placaso is a bristle nose pleco which if it is is a good choice for the discus and algae cleaner. I don't know how the knife and the three eels will do with the discus. I would decide which one you want and take back or sell the others. You have can never have too much filtration unless your fish get thrown across the tank and struggle to swim.

I would take back the crab no matter which ones you keep. With discus it will nip at it an try to eat them if it ever gets a chance. With the eels they would make a snack out of the crab.

I believe most motoro stingrays can out grow a 180 gallon tank in a little over a year and full grown can reach 30 inches + without the tail.

Put up pictures of your 55 gallon and see if we can identify them to help you out.

I was thinking of getting a 210 gallon that's on sale for $500 at my local fish store to house them.

My main fish in the 75 are my eels and ray, so I will prob just take out everything in there but them and the discus. Well, if the crab is a healthy snack for them I might leave it in there as a feeder , its one of those crabs with one big claw and them one really small claw, so far he has left everyone alone and does his own thing. They all get along fine, no one has nipped at eachother or anything, no fighting. The only thing that happens some times is the stingray like to put his disk over some of them as a sign of dominance but dosent a temp to hurt them in any way, just sits on them form time to time, lol.

I will snap a pic of my 55 gallon real fast for you. I just moved into this house and the old tenants left 2 veary large fish behind, one was a HUGE oscar the size of a dinner plate and the other was this orange fish thats pretty dang big himself. The poor fish where lefft in a tank with only abour 30% of the water in it and it was brown, I don't know how they even survived. With only 30% of the water in there that means they had been left by themselves for at least am month for that much water to evaporate.

Well to make a long story short, I nursed the big orange guy back to health (He had a bad fungus eating his fins form that nasty water) and the large Oscar was given to my land lords and I dont belie he survived. I never wanted a fish tank but ended up with 3, I felt bad for this poor fish and had to save him! I really do not have any idea what type of fish he is so this will be cool to find out. He is really timid and hides a lot, he never messes with other fish but likes to beat up the plants and dig holes. I did however figure out that he loves to eat tetras, ghost shrimp and guppies, so I always leave a couple in there for him since I couldn't get him to eat anything else (But still try with bloodworms and pellets form time to time).

 

[CyberPunk]

Oh, and I know my water level is a little low, I am waiting for my RO system to fill up some jugs so I can change out some water tomorrow.

 

[Dobsie]

Looks like a midas cichlid is the huge one. The other is a convict and can't tell what the yell one is. The midas I believe will need at least a 75 gallon or bigger they get mean and territorial. Convict can be in anything bigger than a 29 gallon. Idk how a convict and midas will get along.

That motoro will still outgrow the 210. What are the dimensions of that tank? I'm not a 100%, but the motoro needs when fully grown like an 8 ft long tank.

If you found the tanks in your home when you moved in and thats how you got started in the hobby. Good for you. Rescue those poor little guys. Get ready to be poor and addicted for years to come. Enjoy your new "sickness".

 

[CyberPunk]

Looks like a midas cichlid is the huge one. The other is a convict and can't tell what the yell one is. The midas I believe will need at least a 75 gallon or bigger they get mean and territorial. Convict can be in anything bigger than a 29 gallon. Idk how a convict and midas will get along.

That motoro will still outgrow the 210. What are the dimensions of that tank? I'm not a 100%, but the motoro needs when fully grown like an 8 ft long tank.

If you found the tanks in your home when you moved in and thats how you got started in the hobby. Good for you. Rescue those poor little guys. Get ready to be poor and addicted for years to come. Enjoy your new "sickness".

lol, yeah, this is how i got started. Found some dirty stained nasty tanks and cleaned them up, bought a bunch of new filters and everything else. I think I am at around $1000 into saving the dang fish now. I did have the big guy in the 75 but he did not get along with the ghost knife, ray or eels so he is now in the 55 where he seems to get along with everyone. The ones that are a little mean are the convicts, they like to chaise the yellow guy around. Big Orange (As I call him) never gets messed with as he is so HUGE, being huge also make him slow, so he can never catch any of the other guys in that tank.

What I might do is get a 220 (I will get the demintions form the shop tomorrow) and move the cichlids and other fish to the 75. Then in the 220 I will put the ray and eels in there.

Maybe I could get the big orange guy in the 220 since it will be much larger and he can have his own turf? Think he might learn to leave the ray alone? I am sure one poke of that poison spike to his nose and he would never bug him again, lol (Or maybe never big anything cause he would be dead????).

What would you do?

I have a feeling I am going to end up with 4 damn tanks here soon!!!!! I would like to only have one, or two if possible.

 

[MonsterMinis]

Also watch out for aggression between your eels. they should be fine w/ your ray.. but not gonna beat a dead horse. You will need much larger tanks. TTs and Fires get 24"+ most get 30"+ I would hesitate to put the cichlid in w/ the eels and ray.. at least until they are all settled into their tank (3+ monthes imo) and get abit of bulk to them. Though a tenacious cichlid could spell disaster. when looking for a tank for these 3 species go for depth and width, not so much height. and look into something around 400+ gallons long-term. the ray will need more eventually.

Your balas will get approx 12" apeice as well. I'm not sure what their aggression would be, but I susspect they may make Ok tank-mates w/ your eels and Ray instead of the cichlid.

You're cichlids may end up needing a min 125.. but you may want to go to a 180. not a cichlid expert by any means but looks like you have a few "large ones". the smaller guy looks like an African cichlid, maybe a peacock? ( not the black/grey striped one, def a convict)

the BGK may or may not be fine w/ your eels/ray long term. some fires (very territorial ones) will harass these fish thinking their similar enough to their own species. or may out-compete the BGK for food, so watch for that as well.