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90x40x30 stocking/height query

castle

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19 Dec 2015
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Thinking of having a 90 width 40 deep 30 height tank built, but I can't find any information on whether my stocking will be okay; I do have spare tanks to move fish into if it's not going okay, but that's not ideal.

Apistogramma bitaeniata Shushupe, probably male and female(s).
Nannostomus Marginatus probably 20 or similar.


Is the height of the tank going to be an issue?

w/ relatively wild planted plans, with plenty of Oak branches (lucky to have access to many Oak trees with fallen branches).

Thanks
 
Sounds like an awesome mix of fish :)

tank is a bit shallow (for my comfort re flying fishes, as tank is being built, I'd go with 36cm height) so you'd want to be careful with substrate depth, floating plants can reduce jumping - within reason
- still need to be careful with the "startle reflex" ... if open tank, I'd set it up with a "night light" so that tank/room is never completely dark.

Consider tank location - re midnight traffic & sudden "room lights on" :eek:
 
@alto I really like the idea of a shallow tank, but I didn't think about jumping as a main issue, but now perhaps it will be. Tank is in the living room, so yeah, a little more concerned now. I'm trying to keep the tank 'shallow' but another 5cm isn't going to kill me either. I didn't think about a night light...

@cooling yeah, I'm understocked, but I tend not to use calculators, tho that one doesn't seem too off.
 
I'm assuming these "pencilfish" Nannostomus Marginatus are surface dwelling (I had N eques & they spend much of their time close to the surface) - if you can run the water level 5-6 cm below the top edges of the tank, this does seem to reduce "out of tank" leaps - but it's not so aesthetically pleasing in a rimless tank (the frosted rim on the Fluval F series tanks was a nice compromise, sadly discontinued)

In some ways, more frequent traffic past a tank can de-sensitize fish to movements (shadows & vibrations) during day or "normal" hours, but fish can still startle (badly :arghh: ) if there's sudden night movement including lights coming on.
Having a "night light" in the room or near tank can help with the severity of the "startle" (& often people won't feel the need to turn on a light ;))

Of course you can also try adding one of the mesh covers rather than a glass (though with my luck, a poor fish would get trapped in the net :( ... yeah I lost a favorite fish this week, never jumped, or showed signs of jumping, found him having an out of tank experience in the morning & am just devastated, blaming my lack of forethought ...)
 
Thanks for the input guys, decided to put these fish in the 75x45x45, which I think will be a better fit overall and allows me to fully realise a large Heteranthera zosterifolia plant. Now setting this up.

However after reading an article by @George Farmer here and the fact, my main fish are CPD i'm going to go for a 90x40x28 tank. I suspect my realised tank will be a good few divisions lower tho haha. I have 20 CPDs or so now, in a 60L cube (started with 8, they bred) so this home will be a good upgrade. Tho I am looking for a species, (catfish, loach) to go along with them comfortably
 
Sounds a plan :D

Apistogramma bitaeniata Shushupe - I'd begin with a group, then select permanent residents ... can you get them from a local breeder?

Nuno M. has Ap. Bitaeniata ''Shishita'' in several of his scapes (home bred) - excellent photos in his journals, also tmiravent has them in Disobedience II
:)
 
Ahh I can't get them from anyone local, they're going to be wild caught. I'll probably take them all and be putting pairs in 50cm cube tanks for a while until they're stable, and then I'll just be giving them away.

I just had a look at the scapes, thank you :)
 
I've kept fish since a teenager and now 10+ years later as an adult... I'm really struggling with the ethics of wild caught fish; having never 'put an order in' for a fish, I didn't really think too much about it. I think this will be the only instance where I ever explicitly order fish. I need to think deeply about how this affects me. I take great care of my fish, but still.

Haven't ever kept apisto's I just looked for one which grew to favourable size, showed good colour and was in a biotope I felt I could recreate. It looks like my tank dimensions are spot on in both instances, with the shallow tank being able to house a group with more than one male. I'm able to collect/have collected 100;s of litres of rain water which I use for my tanks, and it's a good ph for these. I think my filter is a little under powered tho.
 
Tom C wrote

Fish from the wild often bring with them some parasites.

All the A. bitaeniatas I've caught in the wild, were forund in quite shallow water with little or no water movement. There were allways dead leaves on the bottom, in witch the fish were hiding, and looking for food.
When I give them surroundings that resembles those of the wild, and give them small food like newly hatched BBS, they seem to have a good time.
No problem having several males in a 160 liters tank (if provided with lots of structure/territory dividers like plants and wood), and I let the fry grow up in the same tank, with the oher fish.

Make sure you have a plan (& the meds) to quarantine & treat wild fish

provided with lots of structure/territory dividers like plants and wood
- please post specifics of your tank designs on Apistogramma.com



Mike Wise wrote
I always found male A. bitaeniata to be eager/aggressive when courting females. In this respect they easily intimidate females, especially younger females. As they age the male IME tend to slow down and become less eager, something the females seem to prefer. A. bitaeniata is a rather shy species

I'd be cautious about placing 2 randomly chosen wild caught fish in a 50cm x 50cm area ... again, posting tank details/photos over on Apistogramma.com will significantly increase chances of success

:)
 
Ahh, I was referring to this..

http://apisto.sites.no/fish.aspx?fishIndexID=2415&gruppeID=1

No problem having several males in a 160 liters tank (if provided with lots of structure/territory dividers like plants and wood), and I let the fry grow up in the same tank, with the oher fish.

the 50cm cube would be for pairs only/breeding projects, I've been lurking on apistogramma.com for a long time, but I feel my questions were answered; this post was really in relation to the height of the tank with Nannostomus Marginatus ;)
 
Not to belabour the point (even while doing so :oops: :sorry: )

there's a big difference when someone as Apisto experienced as Tom C sets up a (successful) tank.


I hope you journal the setups of these tanks, it's an intriguing project :)


this post was really in relation to the height of the tank with Nannostomus Marginatus
apologies for the (determined) hijack
(or snakeshand should you be a John Crowley fan :D )
 
Oh no, it's good to be questioned; it means I really have to think through my decisions; I could probably start a journal on the tanks; but I'm busy with life. We'll see!

You're right too; my knowledge compared to others will be much lower or higher (depends who we're talking too ;) ) but I am really happy keeping fish, love the challenge and responsibility. Hopefully this new tank will be a success, I'm going to go to lfs today to have a chat about these fish.
 
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