Leave in grow out tank or put them in final tank?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

Leave them in the 20L or move them to the 160?

  • Keep them in the 20g Long

    Votes: 1 7.1%

  • Move them to the 160g (72x20x25)

    Votes: 13 92.9%
  • Total voters
    14
Aqualoon

Aqualoon

Piranha
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2009
1,787
52
81
Minnesota
So with the passing of my Gold Saum I am now left with the dilemma of putting my grow outs in their final tank/home or leaving them in a 20L until they get a bit bigger.

I have a group of 8 Geophagus Red Heads that are between 1.5-2". These guys are known slow growers so I expected to have them in the 20L for awhile. Currently the only thing in their final tank is 4 Lemon Tetras (will be beefing this number up) and 2 Congo Tetras (will be adding more as well) and 1 female adult BN pleco (might add a fancy pleco down the road) and that's all that is going into this tank. The 20L is a bare bottom tank with just a heater and sponge filter.

The Pros of keeping them in the smaller tank is that I can keep track of all 8 (none go missing) and I can make sure that they are eating. However I can't help but think that they might grow faster with larger water volume and more physical room to grow. Of course I am concerned that one might get stuck in the decor or get sucked into one of the canister filters (XP3 and FX5) but they aren't exactly small fry so that probably won't happen.
 
Shouldn't your canister intake have some kind of plastic screen/grate over it? There should be no way for a .5''+ fish to fit in.
 
probassfisher010 said:
That's only a 5g tank? They definitely need more room...


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Click to expand...

My apologies, I'm use to referring to a 20 gallon long as a 20L - I need to be more careful when posting on a more international site like MFK.

Mount_Prion said:
Shouldn't your canister intake have some kind of plastic screen/grate over it? There should be no way for a .5''+ fish to fit in.
Click to expand...

Maybe this is me being over paranoid about them getting sucked into the canisters - I'm just afraid that they'll suddenly vanish somehow in the 160g as there are a ton of hiding places where the 20g Long I can just glance at and see that they are all there.
 
+1 on the bigger tank. They will definitely grow faster. As an example, a friend of mine bought a batch of krobia guianensis about a year ago. He kept 6, I took 6, and another friend took 6. I put mine into a 5 foot 120. One friend kept them in a 30, one in a 10 then moved them to a 150. My fish and the ones in the 150 were noticeably 20-30% bigger after 9 months.

Plus, with an empty tank sitting there, you will fill it before too long and have another dilemma when the red heads are bigger.
 
Agreed on the bigger tank. All my grow-outs always hit a growth spurt when I upgrade them. As long as you have the guard covers on your canister intakes there shouldn't be much of an issue. If you're nervous, tie a large-pore sponge prefilter around the filter intakes until the fish get larger.

Feeding shouldn't be a problem since they are sand sifters. Get some small NLS or Xtreme pellets, 1mm or so, and they will find it. I've never had a problem with Geos coming to the front of the tank for food, even in a large aquarium.

I recently got some Dicrossus foirni fry at less than an inch long. I put five of them in an empty 55 gallon with some silk plants and driftwood, and they disappeared within minutes of being in the tank. I was afraid the tank size was going to be a problem for such tiny fish (and with there being only five), but they quickly learned that my face meant it was feeding time and now they're out and about every day, waiting on me to walk by. You shouldn't have any issues with the Geos.
 
ryansmith83 said:
Agreed on the bigger tank. All my grow-outs always hit a growth spurt when I upgrade them. As long as you have the guard covers on your canister intakes there shouldn't be much of an issue. If you're nervous, tie a large-pore sponge prefilter around the filter intakes until the fish get larger.

Feeding shouldn't be a problem since they are sand sifters. Get some small NLS or Xtreme pellets, 1mm or so, and they will find it. I've never had a problem with Geos coming to the front of the tank for food, even in a large aquarium.

I recently got some Dicrossus foirni fry at less than an inch long. I put five of them in an empty 55 gallon with some silk plants and driftwood, and they disappeared within minutes of being in the tank. I was afraid the tank size was going to be a problem for such tiny fish (and with there being only five), but they quickly learned that my face meant it was feeding time and now they're out and about every day, waiting on me to walk by. You shouldn't have any issues with the Geos.
Click to expand...

+1
 
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