Question about 36 gallon tank

CoBo

New Fish
Sep 10, 2016
6
0
1
#1
Hey guys,

So I've recently got into keeping fish after my father in law gave us his Electric Blue Acara to nurse back to health after it got bullied.

He has had tanks his whole life from thousands of dollars in saltwater tanks to currently having to large freshwater tanks.

His tanks are always crystal clear and has healthy fish for years and years so he obviously knows what he is doing but being an obsessive compulsive hobbiest, I tend to study in depth anything I get into and some of the stuff he is doing seems like corner cutting at the very least.

I set up a tank pretty quickly and stocked it fairly fast not heavily researching like I typically to because I was just asking him questions. Now that I have these fish and I've gotten into it, my obsessive researching habits have kicked in and I'm wishing I would have done things more methodical and patiently.

That said, my tank isn't having any crazy issues at the moment and the fish all seem fine and happy but would like to share my set up and get some advice moving forward.

Equipment.
Aqueon 36 gallon bowfront aquarium
1 Marineland emperor 280 power filter with bio wheel
1 Marine land penguin 200 filter with bio wheel
1 odyssea T5 quad light with timer
Double Aerator Pump
Python no spill water changer
HT55 200w automatic heater (tank stays around 78 degrees)



I have a total of 13 live plants in my tank, two peices of driftwood.

1 adult Electric Blue Acara
2 clown loaches
1 Gheophagus
1 Angel fish
1 powder blue gourami
8 zebra danios
8 tiger barbs
1 Electric Yellow Lab
2 tinfoil barbs
1 common plecto
1 crawdad
30 ghost miniature ghost shrimp. (I add these for food and stimulation. It seems to give the fish purpose to actively search for elusive food as opposed to just hanging out. They seem happier and I have created an heavily planted environment with caves so the shrimp aren't just placed on a dinner plate. It seems pretty balanced.)

I tried to create different mini environments in each part of the tank to allow more stimulus and for each fish to find its niche.

The angel fish and powder blue gourami love handing out under the hornwort and watching the ghost shrimp in there or picking out some food that gets trapped in there.

The yellow lab and clown loaches loves zooming in and out of driftwood caverns and the little forests I've made. The yellow lab, even though it can only fit the smallest of shrimp in its mouth still loves searching for them.

The crawfish has his cave and open sandy area he patrols.

The acara has a spot under the bonsai tree when he isn't hunting for shrimp.

Tinfoil barbs have ADDHD and never stop moving and swim back n forth

Etc.

So I haven't had any issues with fish fighting or anything. They all have their different areas they like and different activities that seem to keep them busy.

I ran the tank for 48 hours with bio wheels and an aquarium start up formula that adds bacteria. Then I added the Electric Blue Acara and nursed it back to health for about 2 weeks. He got his color back, his eye healed and he became active and lost his shyness.

I then slowly added the listed fish over the next 3 weeks. I wish I would have known about a fish less cycle because I would have wanted to do it but the injured blue acara was sort of dropped in my lap. We are doing a fishless cycle for my daughters 20 gallon tank so that is why I want to lay everything I did on the table and get any advice I can before we start stocking my daughters next month.

Currently this is my water conditions. I am doing partial water changes twice a week to handle the nitrites while in this midcycle. Still need the bacteria to break down the nitrites into nitrates.

My PH: 7.7
My ammonia: is 0- .25 (hard to to tell what it say)
Nitrites: had a spike to 2.0
Nitrates 0 - 5.0 (hard to tell what it says)

Video of my tank.
 

arcab4

The Big Fish
The Big Fish
Oct 22, 2002
1,554
30
48
46
Sunny Southern California
#2
video isn't showing up. just fyi.

but it looks like you really put ALOT of thought into your tank. one thing you'll experience all the time is like...I should've done it that way instead. it happens. it usually likes to MTS (multiple tank syndrome too). haha. post a pic of your tank when you can!
 

CoBo

New Fish
Sep 10, 2016
6
0
1
#5
video isn't showing up. just fyi.

but it looks like you really put ALOT of thought into your tank. one thing you'll experience all the time is like...I should've done it that way instead. it happens. it usually likes to MTS (multiple tank syndrome too). haha. post a pic of your tank when you can!
Trust me, I get it. Lol. I already have a small tank next to it for breeding shrimp. A 20 gallon tank upstairs in my daughters room going through a fishless cycle and I'm buying a 150 gallon tank for our entertainment room because I know some of the fish in my current tank might outgrow it.

Do you have any advice/criticisms or comments on my tank so far? Would love to hear them.
 

big54bob

Superstar Fish
Dec 20, 2006
1,486
6
38
30
On my office chair playing Runescape
#7
So here is my 2 cents about your horrible tank stocking and what you really should do a bout correcting it.

1 adult Electric Blue Acara: I gennerally prefer keeping acaras in a 36" tank since they can get up to 8" in length. He might eat your danios down the road so be prepared for that.
2 clown loaches: Get up to 12 inches but grow stupidly slow so not too bad of an issue. Should be kept in groups of 5 or more.
1 Gheophagus: If it's the species im thinking of it will outgrow your tank in no time.
1 Angel fish: Should be fine, watch out for fin nipping from the tiger barbs.
1 powder blue gourami: Again should be fine, the acara might go rougue and kill it but I don't think that will happen.
8 zebra danios: Acara might eat them
8 tiger barbs: Probably a little too rowdy for your angel fish and gourami. Should be fine.
1 Electric Yellow Lab: Won't work in your current tank setting. Requires harder water and a higher PH then the rest of your fish. Should only be kept with other africans tbh. Also will eat your plants.
2 tinfoil barbs: Jesus christ nononononononono. Rehome these immediately since they get up to 12" and require a 125 gallon tank minimum. Will eat your plants and danios no exceptions.
1 common plecto: Also reccomend rehomeing since it also gets up to 12-15" and is a giant poop machine. I would personally replace him with a bristlenose pl*co as those guys only get 6" or so and do a way better job at eating algae.
1 crawdad: Will eat your fish and your acara and lab might dismember him when he molts. The higher temps in your tank will shorten his lifespan.

So heres what i would do, get rid of the geophagus, tinfoil barbs, common pl*co, and the lab. Then i would set up a species tank for your clarkii crayfish. You can put the danios with the crayfish since those buggers are on meth 99% of the time and the cray shouldn't be able to catch them. A ten gallon should do for this. This leaves you with the acara, clown loaches, gourami, tiger barbs, and the angelfishin your 36. The clown loaches should be fine for now since they grow stupidly slow. The only problems you would have left is that the gourami might get bullied and the fin nipping issues the tiger barbs tend to have but with a school that size it shouldn't be an issue. You could add a couple more tiger barbs to the school but thats it.