more tank questions

[oregonian]

1st. so for those who use sand rather that gravel how do you vaccum it w/o it being pulled up w/ the water.

2nd. i've heard that size can be stunted by to small of an aquarium. i was wondering if bichirs can be stunted or if they are like plecos who will just keep growing. right now i have a 20 long w/ a 8" lap, 7" sen and the newest addition is a ~3" del. there are also 2x CL and a common pleco. i'm mostly concerned w/ my lap. she did just gain another inch this last ~2mo when i mixed up her diet some more. i hope to be upgrading to a 75g in a few months, and then >100g when i will have enough room for one.

3rd. of those of you that use canister or sumps. what brands/flow rates or sump setup

once again thanks in advance for all advice.

PS. hope to be posting pics of my babies soon

 

[jdryden]

Any fish can be stunted. I would reccomend getting to that 75 ASAP. All of the fish you have get real big. The 20L would probably be ok for a short period of time. I have been running XP2 canister filters on my turtle tanks and haven't had any issues yet. Canister is definitely the way to go though, and for that many fish in a 20L you need to have some pretty strong filtration. Good luck with them, and let's see some pics.

 

[Delhezi222]

For your first question, some people say that to use a gravel vacuum to clean sand, take off the plastic tube part of the vacuum off, and only use the hose, and put it about one inch above the sand at least.(If not more.) I wouldn't know though, because I've never used sand.

For your second question, yes, the bichirs will get stunted if they're kept in there for too long, as will most fish, so you should probably upgrade as soon as you possibly can.

 

[beblondie]

1st. so for those who use sand rather that gravel how do you vaccum it w/o it being pulled up w/ the water.
A.Practice when you see the sand being drawn into the tube lift the tube slightly till the sand goes back down

2nd. i've heard that size can be stunted by to small of an aquarium. i was wondering if bichirs can be stunted or if they are like plecos who will just keep growing. right now i have a 20 long w/ a 8" lap, 7" sen and the newest addition is a ~3" del. there are also 2x CL and a common pleco. i'm mostly concerned w/ my lap. she did just gain another inch this last ~2mo when i mixed up her diet some more. i hope to be upgrading to a 75g in a few months, and then >100g when i will have enough room for one.
A.you're overstocked get the 75 as soon a s possible that tank really isn't big enough for what you have in the now.This could lead to territorial agression at the very least.
And yes you are running the risk of stunting all the fish in that tank.

3rd. of those of you that use canister or sumps. what brands/flow rates or sump setup
I use a combination of filters on my tanks I use eheim 2217 canisters,aquaclear HOBs and a sponge filter with an air pump with a battery backup built in incase of power failure-Anne

 

[Druu]

Same as the above posters have said. I'd skip the 75 and go straight to the 100. You might want to consider species that are not bottom dwellers...

 

[Keeper of the Ropes]

When you vacuum, just do it normally but keep the tubing in your hand with a bend in it. As the sand gets sucked up, squeeze a kink into the tubing. The sand falls back down, and all the nasties kinda hover. Lift the vac up a bit and let go of the knot you made. Presto clean.

kotR

 

[Cohazard]

those polys are going to stunt sooner than you think. They are not slow growers. My endli went from 3" in april 07', to 10.5-11" now.

 

[oregonian]

thanks for all the input everyone. i am going to work on getting that 75 up and running in the next couple months. meanwhile i think i'll put my little del in the 45 hex i'm setting up until then. i think my other two will be kinda bummed though, they seem to be very social and have all been resting together in the corner of the tank

i'm gonna try and post pics in the show off thread